The 5th of May

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(top row l to r) In the early 1860’s, Napoleon, III thought it’d be a good idea to own Mexico; The battle of Puebla; President Benito Juárez said to Napoleon, III “not on my watch, dude” or something like that. (middle row) Two depictions of the revered Benito Juárez leading his people through troubled times. His birthday, March 21, is a national holiday. (bottom row l to r) Dancers at the annual Cinco de Mayo Festival in Washington, D.C.; Who doesn’t love some chips and salsa? We have a great recipe below. What can I say, I express my feelings through food. 

 

My Spanish vocabulary is limited to “taco” and “cerveza,” so I took this Cinco de Mayo as an opportunity to learn more about the significance of this holiday. A relatively minor holiday in most of Mexico, in the United States Cinco de Mayo has evolved into a celebration of Mexican culture and heritage, particularly in areas with large Mexican-American populations.  For me, it’s a chance to share a little heritage with my neighbors, enjoy some great food and beverages with my staff and friends, and officially commemorate the date of the Mexican army’s 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War (1861-1867). Here is a little history you can use to impress your friends while passing the salsa…(try mine below).  And thanks to history.com for the info.

  • In 1861, Benito Juárez, a lawyer and member of the indigenous Zapotec tribe, was elected president of Mexico. At the time, the country was in financial ruin after years of internal strife, and the new president was forced to default on debt payments to European governments.
  • In response, France, Britain and Spain sent naval forces to Veracruz, Mexico, demanding repayment. Britain and Spain negotiated with Mexico and withdrew their forces. France, however, ruled by Napoleon III, decided to use the opportunity to carve an empire out of Mexican territory.
  • Late in 1861, a well-armed French fleet stormed Veracruz, landing a large force of troops and driving President Juárez and his government into retreat. Certain that success would come swiftly, 6,000 French troops under General Charles Latrille de Lorencez set out to attack Puebla de Los Angeles, a small town in east-central Mexico.
  • From his new headquarters in the north, Juárez rounded up a ragtag force of 2,000 loyal men—many of them either indigenous Mexicans or of mixed ancestry—and sent them to Puebla.
  • The vastly outnumbered and poorly supplied Mexicans, led by Texas-born General Ignacio Zaragoza, fortified the town and prepared for the French assault. On May 5, 1862, Lorencez gathered his army—supported by heavy artillery—before the city of Puebla and led an assault.
  • The battle lasted from daybreak to early evening, and when the French finally retreated, they had lost nearly 500 soldiers. Fewer than 100 Mexicans had been killed in the clash.
  • Although not a major strategic win in the overall war against the French, Zaragoza’s success at Puebla on May 5 represented a great symbolic victory for the Mexican government and bolstered the resistance movement.
  • In 1867—thanks in part to military support and political pressure from the United States, which was finally in a position to aid its besieged neighbor after the end of the American Civil War—France finally withdrew.
  • The same year, Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, who had been installed as emperor of Mexico in 1864 by Napoleon, was captured and executed by Juárez’s forces. Puebla de Los Angeles was renamed for General Zaragoza, who died of typhoid fever months after his historic triumph there.
  • Within Mexico, Cinco de Mayo is primarily observed in the state of Puebla, where Zaragoza’s unlikely victory occurred, although other parts of the country also take part in the celebration. Traditions include military parades, recreations of the Battle of Puebla and other festive events. For many Mexicans, however, May 5 is a day like any other: It is not a federal holiday, so offices, banks and stores remain open.
  • In the United States, Cinco de Mayo is widely interpreted as a celebration of Mexican culture and heritage, particularly in areas with substantial Mexican-American populations.
  • In the 1960’s, Chicano activists raised awareness of the holiday in part because they identified with the victory of indigenous Mexicans, such as Juárez.
  • Today, revelers mark the occasion with parades, parties, mariachi music, Mexican folk dancing and traditional foods such as tacos and mole poblano. Some of the largest festivals are held in Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston.

Hot + Spicy “Can’t Stop Dippin” Salsa Recipe

  • 2 10 oz. cans diced tomatoes and green chilies
  • 1 12 oz. can whole tomatoes (with Mexican flavors ok)
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 chopped onion
  • 1 or 2 whole jalapeno, quartered & sliced thin with seeds/membrane
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher or sea salt
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon sugar
  • 1 fresh lime – squeeze out all the juice you can
  • for fun, add one can of black beans and cup of frozen corn

FOOD PROCESSOR: Combine the diced tomatoes, whole tomatoes, cilantro, onions, garlic, jalapeno, cumin, salt, sugar and lime juice in a blender or food processor. (This is a very large batch. I recommend using a 12-cup food processor, or you can process the ingredients in batches and then mix everything together in a large mixing bowl.) Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you’d like. I do about 10 to 15 pulses. Test seasonings with a tortilla chip and adjust as needed.

HAND METHOD: Pour whole tomatoes and juice into bowl and slice up into small bite sized pieces. Chop cilantro, garlic and onion into small pieces and add with rest of ingredients. Hand mix and set texture to your preference.
Refrigerate the salsa for at least an hour before serving. Check amount of liquid and drain as needed. Serve with medley of white and black chips.
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Let The Sunshine In

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(top row) Some original Hair production photos. Diane Keaton (far right) was in one of the early shows. (2nd row l to r) The Duluth Minnesota News Tribune sensationalized (on page one!) the 10 seconds of nudity at the end of act one with this censored photo and the headline “Does ‘Hair’ cast go all the way?” I’m thinking they sold more papers that day; Love beads; The cast at one of the performances in Germany. (3rd row left) The original show poster (3rd row middle) Four of the album covers of cast recordings (the original in the upper left) and a promotion banner created through the years. (3rd row right) Everyone gets into the act including Lulu, the hairiest of them all at bottom right.

 

Wow, what a glorious day here in Cleveburgh. After my run this morning, I found myself really enjoying spring in all its glory, watching the sun come up from my office overlooking Lake Erie – birds chirping, trees and flowers blooming and the fresh budding smells of the season. And, like you may often do, I found myself singing out loud that so familiar “sunshine” tune, as I cracked open my window to feel the warmth and rays of the sun. Now, it’s important to keep in mind that I can only sing in my office when no one else is around! It’s hard to describe in words, but fresh air and sunshine just puts me in a great mood as I head off to work and tackle your fun and challenging PIA (Pain In The @%$) Jobs of the day. For this week’s post, I did some digging, too, to learn more about the famous musical that rocked our culture of the day, and personally spoke to me years later (yes, as you know I am follicly challenged). Here is some fun reading about this awesome musical HAIR, a link to the Aquarius/Sunshine soundtrack and few of the other great tunes in the show – and thanks again Wikipedia and history.com.

  • In a year marked by as much social and cultural upheaval as 1968, it was understandable that the New York Times review of this controversial musical newly arrived on Broadway describes the show in political terms. “You probably don’t have to be a supporter of Eugene McCarthy to love it,” wrote critic Clive Barnes, “but I wouldn’t give it much chance among the adherents of Governor Reagan.” The show in question was Hair,
  • The now-famous “tribal love-rock musical” that introduced the era-defining song “Aquarius” and gave theatergoers a full-frontal glimpse of the burgeoning 60s-counterculture esthetic, premiered this weekend on Broadway almost 50 years ago.
  • Hair was not a brand-new show when it opened at the Biltmore Theater. It began its run 40 blocks to the south, in the East Village, as the inaugural production of Joseph Papp’s Public Theater. Despite mediocre reviews, Hair was a big enough hit with audiences during its six-week run to win financial backing for a proposed move to Broadway, exceedingly rare for a musical at the time, and a particularly bold move for a musical with a nontraditional rock and roll score.
  • The novelty of the show didn’t stop with its music or references to sex and drugs. Hair also featured a much-talked-about scene at the end of its first act in which the cast appeared completely nude on the dimly lit stage. It turned out that these potentially shocking breaks from Broadway tradition didn’t turn off Broadway audiences at all, as Hair quickly became not just a smash-hit show, but a genuine cultural phenomenon that spawned a million-selling original cast recording and a #1 song on the pop charts for the Fifth Dimension.
  • Hair tells the story of the “tribe”, a group of politically active, long-haired hippies of the “Age of Aquarius” living a bohemian life in New York City and fighting against conscription into the Vietnam War. Claude, his good friend Berger, their roommate Sheila and their friends struggle to balance their young lives, loves, and the sexual revolution with their rebellion against the war and their conservative parents and society. Ultimately, Claude must decide whether to resist the draft as his friends have done, or to succumb to the pressures of his parents, and conservative America, to serve in Vietnam, compromising his pacifist principles and risking his life.
  • Hair was conceived by actors James Rado and Gerome Ragni. The two met in 1964 when they performed together in the Off-Broadway flop Hang Down Your Head and Die, and they began writing Hair together in late 1964. The main characters were autobiographical, with Rado’s Claude being a pensive romantic and Ragni’s Berger an extrovert. Their close relationship, including its volatility, was reflected in the musical. Rado explained, “We were great friends. It was a passionate kind of relationship that we directed into creativity, into writing, into creating this piece. We put the drama between us on stage.”
  • The inspiration for Hair as “a combination of some characters we met in the streets, people we knew and our own imaginations. We knew this group of kids in the East Village who were dropping out and dodging the draft, and there were also lots of articles in the press about how kids were being kicked out of school for growing their hair long”. 
  • Said Rado, “There was so much excitement in the streets and the parks and the hippie areas, and we thought if we could transmit this excitement to the stage it would be wonderful…. We hung out with them and went to their Be-Ins [and] let our hair grow. “Many cast members (Shelley Plimpton in particular) were recruited right off the street. It was very important historically, and if we hadn’t written it, there’d not be any examples. You could read about it and see film clips, but you’d never experience it. We thought, This is happening in the streets,’ and we wanted to bring it to the stage.”
  • The first recording of Hair was made in 1967 featuring the off-Broadway cast. The original Broadway cast recording received a Grammy Award in 1969 for Best Score from an Original Cast Show Album and sold nearly 3 million copies in the U.S.  It charted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, the last Broadway cast album to do so (as of 2016). It stayed at No. 1 for 13 weeks in 1969. The New York Times noted in 2007 that “The cast album of Hair was… a must-have for the middle classes. Its exotic orange-and-green cover art imprinted itself instantly and indelibly on the psyche…. [It] became a pop-rock classic that, like all good pop, has an appeal that transcends particular tastes for genre or period.”
  • Forty years after its initial downtown opening, Charles Isherwood, writing for the New York Times, placed Hair in its proper historical context: “For darker, knottier and more richly textured sonic experiences of the times, you turn to the Doors or Bob Dylan or Joni Mitchell or Jimi Hendrix or Janis Joplin. Or all of them. For an escapist dose of the sweet sound of youth brimming with hope that the world is going to change tomorrow, you listen to Hair and Let the Sunshine In.”  Listen to Hair and Let the Sunshine In!

Watch & Listen: “Hair” LIVE @ The 2009 Tony Awards HERE
Listen to the original cast version: The Flesh Failures (Let the Sunshine In) HERE
Listen to the 5th Dimension version: Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In HERE

 

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Do April Showers Really Bring May Flowers?

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Walking into the office early this rainy morning, I marveled at the color explosion of the trees and flowers in the neighborhood. Around here, the tree buds are just turning that awesome bright green, birds are singing everywhere, signaling the much anticipated transition from winter to spring. As heat treating professionals who obsess with temperatures and quenching all day when solving your pesky PIA (Pain in the #$%) Jobs, I was wondering where the expression “April Showers Brings May Flowers” came from, and just what triggers all of these early blooms. So here is a little science (thanks Wikipedia), a little history (thanks Library of Congress), a little poetry (thanks feelingsandflowers.com) and some fun random facts about the arrival of spring.  Enjoy.

The poem as we know it today originated in 1557, in the form of a short poem written by Thomas Tusser, found in the April section of a collection of his writings titled, “A Hundred Good Points of Husbandry.” The poem goes as follows:

“Swéete April showers,
Doo spring Maie flowers.

While this poem is clearly a direct ancestor to the version we know today, we need to go back to the Fourteenth Century, where legendary poet Geoffrey Chaucer had his own say on the month of April in his famous collection of stories titled, “The Canterbury Tales.” Chaucer’s version goes as follows:

“Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote

The droghte of March hath perced to the roote

And bathed every veyne in swich licour,

Of which vertu engendred is the flour;”

Translation:

“When in April the sweet showers fall

That pierce March’s drought to the root and all

And bathed every vein in liquor that has power

To generate therein and sire the flower;”

  • While Chaucer speaks of April in relation to March rather than April, it could certainly be said that while Thomas Tusser may be the father of this saying, Geoffrey Chaucer is certainly the grandfather.
  • There is meaning behind the words, as well. “April showers bring May flowers” is a reminder that even the most unpleasant of things, in this case the heavy rains of April, can bring about very enjoyable things indeed – an abundance of flowers in May – a good lesson in patience.
  • The proverb is an example of the spring cycle of renewal that many parts of the Earth go through, and can be scientifically analyzed. There are actually several contributing factors to the appearance of flowers in spring, primarily driven by temperature (yeah baby, we love temperature!!). As the days grow warmer, plants find it easier to grow, as they are genetically hard-wired to begin growth as the soil thaws and the frost becomes more distant. This combined with the rain is a perfect signal to the plant that it’s time to return to life, or begin life in the case of a seed or bulb.
  • Rain is at the forefront of positive stimuli bringing about floral displays in May. Increased levels of moisture in the soil help plants to grow faster and healthier. The water helps nutrients reach the roots faster as well, but an abundance of rain can actually slow the blooms.
  •  Springtime sees the return of many animals, birds and insects. The renewed ecosystem involving things eating and being eaten provides nourishment for new plants in the form of fecal matter and decaying organic compounds. The presence of insects also helps to pollinate the plants, which in turn allows them to reproduce.
  • In the United Kingdom and Ireland, one of the major causes of the often heavy April downpours is the position of the jet stream. In early spring, the jet stream starts to move northwards, allowing large depressions to bring strong winds and rain in from the Atlantic. In one day the weather can change from springtime sunshine to winter sleet and snow. The track of these depressions can often be across Ireland and Scotland bringing bands of rain followed by heavy showers (often of hail or snow) and strong blustery winds.  The same holds true in the US, as jet stream patterns can move northward, capturing chilling temperatures, and sweeping them down into the Great Lakes region.
  • Usually, we try to dodge April showers, but the one that arrives on the morning of April 22 may be worth seeking out. Every year in late April, the Earth passes through the dusty tail of Comet Thatcher (C/1861 G1), and the encounter causes a meteor shower – the Lyrids. The best time to look, no matter where you live, is during the dark hours before dawn. (Geek alert: Comet C/1861 G1 (Thatcher) is a long-period comet with roughly a 415-year orbit discovered by A. E. Thatcher. It is responsible for the Lyrid meteor shower. Carl Wilhelm Baeker also independently found this comet. The comet passed about 0.335 AU (50,100,000 km; 31,100,000 mi) from the Earth on 1861-May-05 and last came to perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) on 1861-Jun-03.
  • Annuals, the flowers you have to replant each year, are different than perennials in that they can’t be planted each year until after the threat of frost passes. Once planted, what matters is the amount of rainfall in the months after they’re planted, not the month before. They need enough rain in the months after they’re planted to sustain their growth and health.
  • In some areas, a “false spring” may result in great harm to flowers and fruit crops. Early warm spells may trigger flowers to begin to bloom. If those warm spells are short-lived and are followed by a hard frost, flowers and fruit trees may die and not bloom again until the following year.
  • According to the 2017 Farmer’s Almanac, REGION 7: OHIO VALLEy – Spring will begin with cold rain and snow showers. April and May will be warmer than normal, with rainfall below normal in the east and above normal in the west. The end of spring will be predominantly sunny and mild, with occasional thunderstorms (pretty much what happens every year).
  • April showers also bring May rainouts – come on Tribe, let’s get rolling!

 

 

 

Masters

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(top row l to r): Golf courses are beautiful, but this one is exceptional; Nice photo of Danny Lee of New Zealand playing his second shot on the fifth hole during the second round of the 2016 Masters (second row l to r): In 1934 Horton Smith won the very first Masters; Arnold Palmer used to say “Drive for show, putt for dough.” Amen; Jack Nicklaus has the most Master’s wins at six; Gary Player rounds out the top three greatest of their era with Palmer and Nicklaus (third row l to r): Tiger Woods is tied with Arnie at four Masters wins and tied with Nick Faldo and Jack Nicklaus as having the only back to back Masters wins; The Masters flag; the Masters trophy (fourth row l to r): Don’t know who’s lining up his putt here but it sure shows the intensity of play at the Masters; I’m on the far right of this motley crew photo at our recent (23rd annual) South Carolina Golf Trip; I love Phil Mickelson and I hope he joins Tiger and Arnie this year by winning his fourth Masters, but I ran out of room for his photo.

 

One of my favorite spring traditions is to watch the Masters golf tournament. For me, it’s more than just a great sporting event – it kicks off “spring” in my mind, and usually follows my traditional golf trip with 7 really, really, really determined golfing buddies! We celebrated our 23rd year by playing 139 holes over a recent 4 day period! Now, after all of our efforts there is something really special about the Masters, beyond just the competition. Great setting, typically great weather, dogwoods and azaleas in bloom, and sort of a salute to professionalism, sportsmanship and tradition. I decided that this week I’d poke around on the internet and capture some of the known and no-so known trivia about the tournament. Thanks as always to Wikipedia for the details. Enjoy.

  • The Masters Tournament, also known as The Masters or The US Masters, is one of the four major championships in professional golf, scheduled for the first full week of April, and it is the first of the majors to be played each year.
  • Unlike the other major championships, the Masters is held each year at the same location, Augusta National Golf Club, a private golf club in the city of Augusta, Georgia, USA. The Masters was started by Clifford Roberts and Bobby Jones. Jones designed Augusta National with course architect Alister MacKenzie.
  • The idea for Augusta National originated with Bobby Jones, who wanted to build a golf course after his retirement from the game. He sought advice from Clifford Roberts, who later became the chairman of the club. They came across a piece of land in Augusta, Georgia, of which Jones said: “Perfect! And to think this ground has been lying here all these years waiting for someone to come along and lay a golf course upon it.
  • The tournament has a number of traditions. Since 1949, a green jacket has been awarded to the champion, who must return it to the clubhouse one year after his victory, although it remains his personal property and is stored with other champions’ jackets in a specially designated cloakroom.
  • A golfer who wins the event multiple times uses the same green jacket awarded upon his initial win (unless he needs to be re-fitted with a new jacket).
  • The Champions Dinner, inaugurated by Ben Hogan in 1952, is held on the Tuesday before each tournament, and is open only to past champions and certain board members of the Augusta National Golf Club.
  • Beginning in 1963, legendary golfers, usually past champions, have hit an honorary tee shot on the morning of the first round to commence play. These have included Fred McLeod, Jock Hutchinson, Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Gary Player.
  • Since 1960, a semi-social contest at the par-3 course has been played on Wednesday, the day before the first round.
  • Nicklaus has the most Masters wins, with six between 1963 and 1986. Palmer and Tiger Woods won four each, and five have won three titles at Augusta: Jimmy Demaret, Sam Snead, Gary Player, Nick Faldo, and Phil Mickelson.
  • The first “Augusta National Invitational” Tournament, as the Masters was originally known, began on March 22, 1934, and was won by Horton Smith. The present name was adopted in 1939. The first tournament was played with current holes 10 through 18 played as the first nine, and 1 through 9 as the second nine[9] then reversed permanently to its present layout for the 1935 tournament.
  • Gene Sarazen hit the “shot heard ’round the world” in 1935, holing a shot from the fairway on the par 5 15th for a double eagle (albatross). This tied Sarazen with Craig Wood, and in the ensuing 36-hole playoff Sarazen was the victor by five strokes.
  • The tournament was not played from 1943 to 1945, due to World War II. To assist the war effort, cattle and turkeys were raised on the Augusta National grounds.
  • The Big Three of Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, and Jack Nicklaus dominated the Masters from 1960 through 1978, winning the event 11 times among them during that span. After winning by one stroke in 1958, Palmer won by one stroke again in 1960 in memorable circumstances. Trailing Ken Venturi by one shot in the 1960 event, Palmer made birdies on the last two holes to prevail. Palmer would go on to win another two Masters in 1962 and 1964.
  • Jack Nicklaus emerged in the early 1960s, and served as a rival to the popular Palmer. Nicklaus won his first green jacket in 1963, defeating Tony Lema by one stroke. Two years later, he shot a then-course record of 271 (17 under par) for his second Masters win, leading Bobby Jones to say that Nicklaus played “a game with which I am not familiar.” The next year, Nicklaus won his third green jacket in a grueling 18-hole playoff against Tommy Jacobs and Gay Brewer. This made Nicklaus the first player to win consecutive Masters. He won again in 1972 by three strokes and in 1975, Nicklaus by one stroke in a close contest with Tom Weiskopf and Johnny Miller in one of the most exciting Masters to date.
  • Gary Player became the first non-American to win the Masters in 1961, beating Palmer, the defending champion. In 1974, he won again by two strokes. After not winning a tournament on the U.S. PGA tour for nearly four years, and at the age of 42, Player won his third and final Masters in 1978 by one stroke over three players.
  • Player currently shares (with Fred Couples) the record of making 23 consecutive cuts, and has played in a record 52 Masters.
  • The golf course was formerly a plant nursery and each hole is named after the tree or shrub with which it has become associated.
  • The Masters has the smallest field of the major championships with 90–100 players. Unlike other majors, there are no alternates or qualifying tournaments. It is an invitational event, with invitations largely issued on an automatic basis to players who meet published criteria. The top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking are all invited.
  • CBS has televised the Masters in the United States every year since 1956 when it used six cameras and covered only the final four holes. Tournament coverage of the first eight holes did not begin until 1993 because of resistance from the tournament organizers. In 2008, ESPN replaced USA and Universal as the weekday coverage provider. Westwood One has done the radio broadcast sine 1956.
  • As traditional as the green jacket, the Pimento Cheese Sandwich is another one of those beloved, (but odd) icons of the Masters.  Priced at $1.50, the sandwich, and its price, seem to be frozen in time.

 

 

 

New Future for Building 13

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(center) A labor of love. My love of family and food (not necessarily in that order). (clockwise from top right) Make spaghetti great again; Make a hot dog worth eating; Perfect on pancakes; Oh-yea! Ribs!!; Super spicey shrimp; This sauce was made for dipping!; Wonderful, wonderful wings.

 

You all know my passion for food and eating new and exciting things.  After years of lab development, iteration after iteration, discussions, planning, and late nights, the KHT New Products Team has finally completed the long-awaited development of our custom hot sauce line.  Beginning in April, we will be launching KHT HOT, starting with single 12 oz. bottles and a holiday two pack.

KHT HOT is made entirely from locally grown, organic ingredients, blended and then processed in our reserve K-VAC ovens.  Using my Grandma K’s recipe, we’ve been able to capture an amazing taste profile mirroring something we know and love – big intense heat at the front end, with a soothing tail of cooling sensation on the back end.

Said lab technicians Matt and Corey, “The vacuum approach gives us better surface control in the absence of air, with no surface oxidation, scale or decarburization.  We think the key was applying our Level 5 Certification, microstructural examination and failure analysis to the heirloom blends, and then confirming the approach in a parallel surface hardness test to be sure the ingredients can hold up under product application stress.  From our findings, ribs, chicken and roasted vegetables scored the best, with steak, pancakes and chip dip coming in a close second – simply put, we are stoked at the results.”

Plans are underway to fully convert Building 13 into a fully automated production and retail facility, including a walk up storefront, rooftop outdoor dining patio looking out at beautiful Lake Erie and drive thru window. Discussions are underway to implement local drone deliveries in early 2018.

Beginning in May, our K-GLOW team will be market testing K-COOL, and unique “chiller” sauce, featuring superior hardness and enhance wear resistance, increased lubricity, uniform coating distribution and low temperature (-300F) outcomes. Said Peggy, our lead researcher, “so much of the market is focused in the hot arena.  We decided to look at things a bit differently and went cool.  It’s a different eating experience, but something, so far, our customers can’t get enough of.”

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(Happy April Fool’s Day!)

🙂

 

 

 

Birds, Bees, Baseball

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(top) View of the sun from the north pole in springtime. All day and all night. (row two l to r) The birds; the bees; etc. (row three l to r) Nothing says spring like cherry blossoms; Did you know that the face of the Great Sphinx points directly toward the rising sun on the spring equinox? How did they figure that out? (row four l to r) Fact: children grow faster in the spring; True or false: eggs balance on their ends during the spring equinox; Go Tribe!!!

 

Got that “can’t wait” feeling? This week marks the official start of spring – and it can’t have come soon enough. We’ve been teased this year, enjoying days in the 70’s, and then snow storms in the teens. As our parking lot begins to thaw, and the plow piles melt away, I find myself enjoying the sights and smells of spring. For my trivia buffs, here are some fun facts about spring, and why it is so great turning the calendar page over to warmer weather. Thanks to factretriever.com. Enjoy!

  • The first day of spring is called the vernal equinox. The term vernal is Latin for “spring” and equinox is Latin for “equal night.” The word “season” is from the Latin sationem meaning “sowing” or “seed time.”
  • The fall and spring equinoxes are the only two times during the year when the sun rises due east and sets due west. The first day of spring in the Southern Hemisphere is the first day of fall in the Northern Hemisphere.
  • On the first day of spring, a person at the North Pole would see the sun skimming across the horizon, beginning six months of uninterrupted daylight. A person at the South Pole would see the sun skimming across the horizon, signaling the start of six months of darkness.
  • If Pope Gregory XIII would not have established the Gregorian calendar, which most of the world now observes, in 1582, then every 128 years the vernal equinox would have come a full calendar day earlier, eventually putting Easter in midwinter.
  • Spring almost always arrives on March 20 or 21, but sometimes on the 19th. The reason the equinoxes and solstices don’t always come on the same day is that Earth doesn’t circle the sun in exactly 365 days.
  • While the spring equinox typically occurs on March 20 or 21, meteorological spring begins on March 1, a month when average temperatures increase by 10 degrees over the month.
  • A flurry of gorgeous birds migrating back from South America and the southern US will be flying to your very own backyard. Species like the pine warbler, hooded warbler, Vesper sparrow and common yellowthroat will arrive as early as March, and every week, more and more species will arrive until late May. During the spring migration, a feeder might be a useful source of food for traveling birds.
  • During the spring, birds are more vocal as they sing to attract mates and warn away rivals. Look for an increase in red-winged blackbirds. Just like lots of teen age boys and girls!
  • Children actually grow faster in the spring than during other times of the year.
  • If Earth rotated on an axis perpendicular to the plane of its orbit around the sun rather than on a 23.4º tilt, there would be no variation in day lengths and no variation in seasons.
  • Pay close attention to those trees in your back yard, because soon, you will begin to notice small buds opening up for pollination. The silver maple is one of the first trees to have their buds fully emerge in the spring time, followed by the red maple in early March. Tiny red and golden flowers will emerge from these buds where fresh, lime green leaves will eventually appear.
  • The first spring flowers are typically lilacs, irises, lilies, tulips, daffodils, and dandelions.
  • Honeybees are more likely to swarm during the spring. They swarm as a way to start new colonies from successful ones. Surprisingly, swarming honeybees are very docile and the most friendly they will ever be all year.
  • The myth that it is possible to balance an egg on its end on the spring equinox is just that: a myth. Trying to balance an oval-shaped object on its end is no easier on the spring equinox than on any other day.
  • In China, the coming of spring coincides with celebrations for the Chinese New Year. The holiday falls on the first day of the first lunar month, in January or February. For the Japanese, the opening of the cherry blossom, Japan’s national flower, in March or April signals the start of spring.
  • The early Egyptians built the Great Sphinx so that it points directly toward the rising sun on the spring equinox.
  • Every year on the first day of spring, people in Poland gather to burn an effigy and throw it in the river to bid winter farewell.
  • Remember all real Clevelander’s know the “official” start of spring, with the crack of a bat on Opening Day.

 

 

 

“Top of the Mornin’ To Ya”

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“And the rest of the day to yourself” – Stephen O’Shannessy O’Brien McMurphy Patrick Michael O’Kowalski here … hope your Patty’s Day is as good as mine. Around here at the shop, and all over Cleveland, St. Patrick’s Day is a blast. We have a 5 hour 100 year+ traditional parade that attracts tens of thousands of visitors downtown, crazy pub crawls, kegs of green beer and shamrocks galore. Many of the areas school kids are out, moms and dads with kids in wagons – all because, of course, “everyone” is Irish today. We’re feelin’ the love and luck of the Irish, and wishing all our friends, customers, vendors and neighbors a great day indeed.

And my day is not complete until I get home and sink my teeth into our traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner, with an ice cold Killigans. Every year I promise myself that I’ll take it easy, but then find I go back to the stove again and again. My wife Jackie knows me too well, and plans ahead, to be sure there is more than enough for leftovers – MAYBE!

To reap the benefits of your feast, here are a bunch of totally delicious, creative recipes to help you use up your remaining loaf n’ fixin’s (only one of them is a Reuben). Special thanks to boston.com for the great list and the websites skinnytaste.com, foodnessgracious.com, tasty-trials.com, susikochenundbacken.blogspot.com, aducksoven.com, familyfreshmeals.com, thefoodinmybeard.com, hispanickitchen.com, and foodnetwork.com. Enjoy!

  1. Corned Beef and Cabbage Soup – the whole shebang in a soup bowl — perfect for snow days. (Recipe)
  2. Corned Beef Sliders with Spicy Mustard – mini meaty sliders made with biscuits and gooey cheddar cheese. (Recipe)
  3. Corned Beef Tacos with Guinness Dipping Sauce – because almost everything tastes better in a taco and with a Guinness!. (Recipe)
  4. ‘Irish’ Hot Pockets – buttery, flaky little pockets filled with all the goodness of your St. Patrick’s Day feast. (Recipe)
  5. Irish Nachos – a magical hybrid you should share — but won’t. (Recipe)
  6. Corned Beef and Cabbage Quesadillas – just hide your maniacal laughter when everyone else is stuck eating a plain old sandwich. (Recipe)
  7. Corned Beef Hash and Egg Sandwich – like the best sausage McMuffin you’ve ever had. (Recipe)
  8. Corned Beef Empanadas with Pickled Cabbage Slaw – use up both your leftover beef and beer with these tasty little treats. (Recipe)
  9. Zingerman’s Reuben Sandwich – traditional, but yummy! (Recipe)

Be sure to call me next week with your favorite – or send me a family recipe I can try at home. Erin go Bragh!

 

 

Is It Time Yet?

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(top row left) Instructions: In Ohio, move your clocks one hour ahead (spring ahead) at 2:00 AM on Sunday, March 12. (top row right) colored areas show where in the world daylight saving time is observed.  (rows 2, 3 & 4) Telling time can be done in so many creative ways but you still have to manually set them for daylight saving. (bottom row middle) You can get that neat-o kids Lego watch for around twenty bucks.  (bottom row right) If you want that incredible Devon Tread-1 wrist watch, it’ll set you back $27,300.00 and you still have to “spring it forward” by hand.

 

Is it me, or is this year flying by. We’re into March already, and moving in on the close of the first quarter. Here in Ohio it’s been a crazy winter, with the thermometer registering in the 70’s. I can see the smile and energy it’s putting on my gang’s faces – rather than the ashen looks we typically get this time of year, my guys are flying around reacting to your PIA (Pain In The @#$) Jobs!™ And with the sun setting later, I find myself looking up to see it’s past 6pm already – even though it felt like the day just got started.

When we were kids, it seemed to take forever for the clock to move forward. Some days Mom would make us “wait” for a specific time before we could jump into action. (I think the worst one was waiting an hour after eating before swimming). We’d sit and squirm, wiggle and watch the clock, then leap out of our seats and run to the door, like we were let loose from solitary confinement.

This weekend, we recognize Daylight Saving Time, or what I like to call “time to get the clubs out of the garage and get them back in my trunk” time. Here is some fun trivia about its origins and where we find ourselves today. Special thanks to timeanddate.com for the info.

  • DST normally adds 1 hour to standard time with the purpose of making better use of daylight and conserving energy. This means that the sunrise and sunset are one hour later, on the clock, than the day before.
  • Daylight Saving Time (DST) is used to save energy and make better use of daylight. It was first used in 1908 in Thunder Bay, Canada (it’s Saving, not Savings).
  • Although DST has only been used for about 100 years, the idea was conceived many years before. Ancient civilizations are known to have engaged in a practice like modern DST where they would adjust their daily schedules to the Sun’s schedule. For example, the Roman water clocks used different scales for different months of the year.
  • American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin wrote an essay called “An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light” to the editor of The Journal of Paris in 1784. In the essay, he suggested, although jokingly, that Parisians could economize candle usage by getting people out of bed earlier in the morning, making use of the natural morning light instead.
  • In 1895, New Zealand scientist George Vernon Hudson presented a paper to the Wellington Philosophical Society, proposing a two-hour shift forward in October and a two-hour shift back in March. There was interest in the idea, but it was never followed through.
  • In 1905, independently from Hudson, British builder William Willett suggested setting the clocks ahead 20 minutes on each of the four Sundays in April, and switching them back by the same amount on each of the four Sundays in September, a total of eight time switches per year.
  • Willett’s Daylight Saving plan caught the attention of Member of Parliament, Robert Pearce, who introduced a bill to the House of Commons in February 1908. The first Daylight Saving Bill was drafted in 1909, presented to Parliament several times and examined by a select committee. However, the idea was opposed by many, especially farmers, so the bill was never made into a law. Willett died in 1915, the year before the United Kingdom started using DST in May 1916.
  • In July, 1908, Port Arthur which today is known as Thunder Bay in Ontario, Canada became the first location to use DST. Other locations in Canada were also early to introduce Daylight Saving bylaws. On April 23, 1914, Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada implemented DST. The cities of Winnipeg and Brandon in Manitoba followed on April 24, 1916.
  • According to the April 3, 1916, edition of the Manitoba Free Press, Daylight Saving Time in Regina “proved so popular that bylaw now brings it into effect automatically”.
  • Germany became the first country to introduce DST when clocks were turned ahead 1 hour on April 30, 1916. The rationale was to minimize the use of artificial lighting in order to save fuel for the war effort during World War I.
  • The idea was quickly followed by the United Kingdom and other countries, including France. Many countries reverted back to standard time after World War I, and it wasn’t until the next World War that DST made its return in most of Europe.
  • In the US, “Fast Time” as it was called then, was first introduced in 1918 when President Woodrow Wilson signed it into law to support the war effort during World War I. The initiative was sparked by Robert Garland, a Pittsburgh industrialist who had encountered the idea in the UK. Today he is often called the “Father of Daylight Saving”.
  • Only seven months, later the seasonal time change was repealed. However, some cities, including Pittsburgh, Boston, and New York, continued to use it until President Franklin D. Roosevelt instituted year-round DST in the United States in 1942.
  • Year-round DST, also called “War Time”, was in force during World War II, from February 9, 1942, to September 30, 1945, in the US and Canada. During this time, the US time zones were called “Eastern War Time”, “Mountain War Time”, “Central War Time”, and “Pacific War Time”. After the surrender of Japan in mid-August 1945, the time zones were relabeled “Peace Time”.
  • The UK applied “Double Summer Time” during World War II by setting the clocks two hours ahead of GMT during the summer and one hour ahead of GMT during the winter.
  • From 1945 to 1966 there were no uniform rules for DST in the US and it caused widespread confusion especially for trains, buses, and the broadcasting industry. As a result, the Uniform Time Act of 1966 was established by Congress. It stated that DST would begin on the last Sunday of April and end on the last Sunday of October. However, states still had the ability to be exempt from DST by passing a state ordinance.
  • The US Congress extended DST to a period of ten months in 1974 and eight months in 1975, in hopes to save energy following the 1973 oil embargo. The trial period showed that DST saved the energy equivalent of 10,000 barrels of oil each day, but DST still proved to be controversial. Many complained that the dark winter mornings endangered the lives of children going to school.
  • After the energy crisis was over in 1976, the DST schedule in the US was revised several times throughout the years. From 1987 to 2006, the country observed DST for about seven months each year. The current schedule was introduced in 2007 and follows the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which extended the period by about one month.
  • Today, DST starts on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November.
  • Daylight Saving Time is now in use in over 70 countries worldwide and affects over a billion people every year. The beginning and end dates vary from one country to another. In 1996, the European Union (EU) standardized an EU-wide DST schedule, which runs from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October. Click HERE to see the global schedules for DST in 2017.

 

 

 

“It’s A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”

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(top row l to r) President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967; Mr. Rogers putting on his sneakers. (second row) National logos and our own WVIZ Cleveland logo. (third row l to r) Early years: Rita Moreno and Morgan Freeman on the Electric Company; Jim Lehrer; Alistair Cooke; Louis Rukeyser; Big Bird. (bottom row l to r) Betty Cope, founding president of WVIZ Channel 25 in Cleveland retired in 1993; The next face of the station, Kent Geist, retired in 2014 after 46 years; Current home to WVIZ-TV and WCPN radio in the Idea Center at Playhouse Square.

 

Like many of you I’m guessing, I took some time the other night and decided to watch our President’s first address to Congress. I grabbed the remote and flipped around the different stations, eventually landing on our local PBS station – (I figured they would likely be the most neutral of the bunch on the commentary side). Sure enough, the “talking heads” were focused on the event, the news, the history and more of the educational/informational side. It got me to thinking about public television broadcasting in general and the great shows I watched and enjoyed as a kid. So, I did a little digging to see what I could find and share. Like so many of my searches, I ended up uncovering some really interesting info about public tv, public radio and educational broadcasting in general – all of which I’d never be able to uncover without the help of my trusty computer, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (cpb.org) and Wikipedia. Come to find out, it’s almost 50 years since the Public Broadcasting Act was signed into law by President Johnson back in 1967, eventually bringing us great children’s programming, music and concerts, comedy, and investigative reporting specials. Rather than try and list everything, I thought I’d share President Johnson’s remarks, outlining his vision and hope for television education and knowledge sharing across the nation. If you want more info on the CPB, click HERE  After reading President Johnson’s remarks take a moment to ponder how prophetic he actually was! Enjoy.

 

… It was in 1844 that Congress authorized $30,000 for the first telegraph line between Washington and Baltimore. Soon afterward, Samuel Morse sent a stream of dots and dashes over that line to a friend who was waiting. His message was brief and prophetic and it read: “What hath God wrought?”

Every one of us should feel the same awe and wonderment here today. For today, miracles in communication are our daily routine. Every minute, billions of telegraph messages chatter around the world. They interrupt law enforcement conferences and discussions of morality. Billions of signals rush over the ocean floor and fly above the clouds. Radio and television fill the air with sound. Satellites hurl messages thousands of miles in a matter of seconds.

Today our problem is not making miracles–but managing miracles. We might well ponder a different question: What hath man wrought–and how will man use his inventions? The law that I will sign shortly offers one answer to that question.

It announces to the world that our Nation wants more than just material wealth; our Nation wants more than a “chicken in every pot.” We in America have an appetite for excellence, too. While we work every day to produce new goods and to create new wealth, we want most of all to enrich man’s spirit. That is the purpose of this act.

It will give a wider and, I think, stronger voice to educational radio and television by providing new funds for broadcast facilities. It will launch a major study of television’s use in the Nation’s classrooms and their potential use throughout the world. Finally–and most important–it builds a new institution: the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

The Corporation will assist stations and producers who aim for the best in broadcasting good music, in broadcasting exciting plays, and in broadcasting reports on the whole fascinating range of human activity. It will try to prove that what educates can also be exciting.

It will get part of its support from our Government. But it will be carefully guarded from Government or from party control. It will be free, and it will be independent–and it will belong to all of our people.
Television is still a young invention. But we have learned already that it has immense–even revolutionary–power to change, to change our lives.

I hope that those who lead the Corporation will direct that power toward the great and not the trivial purposes. At its best, public television would help make our Nation a replica of the old Greek marketplace, where public affairs took place in view of all the citizens. But in weak or even in irresponsible hands, it could generate controversy without understanding; it could mislead as well as teach; it could appeal to passions rather than to reason.

If public television is to fulfill our hopes, then the Corporation must be representative, it must be responsible–and it must be long on enlightened leadership. I intend to search this Nation to find men that I can nominate, men and women of outstanding ability, to this board of directors…

… What hath man wrought? And how will man use his miracles? The answer just begins with public broadcasting.

In 1862, the Morrill Act set aside lands in every State–lands which belonged to the people–and it set them aside in order to build the land-grant colleges of the Nation. So today we rededicate a part of the airwaves–which belong to all the people–and we dedicate them for the enlightenment of all the people.

I believe the time has come to stake another claim in the name of all the people, stake a claim based upon the combined resources of communications. I believe the time has come to enlist the computer and the satellite, as well as television and radio, and to enlist them in the cause of education.

If we are up to the obligations of the next century and if we are to be proud of the next century as we are of the past two centuries, we have got to quit talking so much about what has happened in the past two centuries and start talking about what is going to happen in the next century beginning in 1976.

So I think we must consider new ways to build a great network for knowledge–not just a broadcast system, but one that employs every means of sending and storing information that the individual can use.
Think of the lives that this would change:–the student in a small college could tap the resources of a great university –The country doctor getting help from a distant laboratory or a teaching hospital; –a scholar in Atlanta might draw instantly on a library in New York; –a famous teacher could reach with ideas and inspirations into some far-off classroom, so that no child need be neglected.

Eventually, I think this electronic knowledge bank could be as valuable as the Federal Reserve Bank. And such a system could involve other nations, too–it could involve them in a partnership to share knowledge and to thus enrich all mankind. A wild and visionary idea? Not at all. Yesterday’s strangest dreams are today’s headlines and change is getting swifter every moment.
I have already asked my advisers to begin to explore the possibility of a network for knowledge–and then to draw up a suggested blueprint for it.

In 1844, when Henry Thoreau heard about Mr. Morse’s telegraph, he made his sour comment about the race for faster communication. “Perchance,” he warned, “the first news which will leak through into the broad, flapping American ear will be that Princess Adelaide has the whooping cough.”

We do have skeptic comments on occasions. But I don’t want you to be that skeptic. I do believe that we have important things to say to one another–and we have the wisdom to match our technical genius. In that spirit this morning, I have asked you to come here and be participants with me in this great movement for the next century, the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967… President Johnson went on to recognize those who worked on the act.

 

Thanks to the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library for archiving the text of President Johnson’s remarks.