Talking Tombstones Part II

Happy Halloween! I hope you enjoy Part II of Talking Tombstones.

Maria Raunio lived in Finland when the country was ruled by Russia. Maria worked as an editor for a Socialist paper and was instrumental in securing the women's right to vote. She went on the become a member of the Finnish Parliament. As the situation changed in Finland she fled to the USA where she again worked on a Socialist paper. She was eventually murdered in her sleep with an overdose of morphine because of her beliefs. Note the Communist symbol draped on her headstone.

Margaret Grant Barry was a teacher,the part I found interesting about Margaret was her mother made her living by shang-haing hapless men who were either new to the area or young and naive. She employed several crimps,which was the name used to describe the men that drugged or otherwise impaired the men being shang-haied for slave labor on the ships. For some reason I failed to get her picture,sorry about that.
Minnie Mardesich was a young mother who lost her 3 year old son to the Spanish Flu which was brought to the area by soldiers. Minnie also died of the flu and perhaps of heartbreak.

Boot Hill Bill was not one of the ghosts,instead he was selling white bronze grave markers,built to outlast the traditional stones that erode and crack. Below is the example of the white bronze marker.

Last but not least a character that makes an appearance at every Talking Tombstones,that specter that needs no introduction...The Grim Reaper!

Talking Tombstones

I was planning on saving today's blog for Halloween,but I got carried away taking pictures and notes,so I decided to divide it into two parts so as to not take as big of chunk of your time in one long blog.
Talking Tombstones is a local event sponsored by Clatsop County Historical Society and Astoria Granite Works,it takes place at a different cemetery in the area every year on the last Sunday in October. This year (the ninth annual) it was held at Greenwood Cemetery along Young's Bay. There are usually around ten "ghosts" to relate the stories of ten people buried in the cemetery. You are put into a group of around 15 people and move with that group from plot to plot.

Our first encounter with the past was Sheriff Jack Williams who along with his deputy was killed in 1898 trying to arrest Charles Willard in Seaside. Williams was the first sheriff killed on duty in Oregon.

The second actor was portraying Hilma Riippa who was married and widowed three times.

Third up was Job Ross,Ross was born in the same years as Astoria (1811),he was a spiritualist who held seances and was once accused of chicken theft.

Kristina and Victoria Gimre a mother/daughter who died in a car accident in 1914,husband/father Sven survived to found Gimre's shoes.

The Improved Order of Redmen was an organization dating back to the settlers that dressed up as Indians and dumped tea overboard at the Boston Tea Party.
Check back tomorrow for more pictures and "Stone Cold Stories"!

Hate to Wait?

I have never been a fan of waiting,but I doubt many people actually enjoy the waiting game. I thought once I was retired waiting would get easier for me as I wouldn't be as pressed for time,but it got worse. I have known this about myself for a long time,but it really got driven home to me Friday. I was just returning from my afternoon walk when I noticed the rear passenger side tire was low,now mind you I have nothing with me but my drivers license, a credit card, and my cell phone so I am not exactly equipped for any long term waiting. I got some air in the tire and saw the hole where the damage was and headed across the bridge to the tire shop to get the tire repaired. Why the tire shop is always swamped is another mystery to me...it seems like if is that busy all the time,which it is,that they would either add on to the shop and hire more people,or another tire shop would open up to compete for the tire business. I told the desk person what the problem was and also asked for them to check the tires for wear as long as I had it out there. (Keep this in mind) After about 45 minutes they finally took my rig into a bay,after about another 15 minutes a guy came to talk to me,he told me that they couldn't fix the tire because the tire on the front driver's side was worn to the point of needing replacing and by law they couldn't work on any tire until that one was replaced. At this point I need to include the fact that I am hypoglycemic and had no snack with me and no change to buy one,that is if I wanted chips or cookies,which I didn't,so I was beginning to get shaky and crabby and knew if I didn't get a snack soon I would also be looking at a headache. It is not making sense to me what this guy is saying,but finally it sinks in and I tell him to just put a new tire on the front and fix the one in the back because I really need to be on my way. So off he goes again after adding that I would probably need an alignment because of the uneven wear on the front tire,so I make an appointment for this morning and wait another hour. I go in for the alignment this morning which was yet another hour out of my life and when it is complete the guy asks me if I want an estimate for replacing the rest of the tires. I am pretty sure at this point my mouth must have fallen open, I said "I need 3 more tires?" he said yes and I said I specifically asked the tires to be checked the last time I was in and they said only the one in front needed replacing and now I would be forced to wait at least another hour when I came back in to get the other three tires. It wasn't his fault of course,but I think this is the last time I will go there unless they allow me to babysit my rig and tell them step by step what I want done,which of course they won't.

Which Came First?

Some people may think nature mimics man,but that can't be right,it has to be the opposite,man mimicking nature. As an example I present the bowerbird.
To compete for the females,the male bowerbird swaggers and croons,nothing out of the ordinary so far...but the bowerbird also builds and decorates a bower in hopes of making one the females can't resist. First using his beak as a tool,he weaves sticks and twigs into a spire,then he collects shells,nuts,flowers,tin foil,CD's and anything he can find to make his nest the most attractive in the forest. Some bowers are so intricate they end up resembling a doll house. The Mary (nickname for the female bowerbird) is choosy because all they get for their portion of the deal is fertilized eggs,as the males mate with more than one female and do not help incubate the eggs or raise the chicks. The males also fight over the decorations and steal ornaments from other bowerbirds. Researchers attribute aesthetic sense and culture to bowerbirds,traits rarely found in any species aside from our own. My conclusion is early man watched these birds and began mimicking them and in time it evolved to what passes for human courtship.

UFO's and Yoga

First off let me give you a fair warning: If you are easily offended by less than reverent thoughts on religions,quit reading here!
The Aetherius Society is a religion combining UFO claims,yoga and ideas from various world religions. Their stated goal (unlike most religions that are sometimes at the center of armed conflicts) is to prevent the annihilation of the Earth by improving relationships between humanity and various alien species. They also believe disasters may be prevented by prayer,aided by "Spiritual Energy Batteries" meant to store healing psychic energy. The "Next Master" will descend on Earth in a flying saucer,possessing magic more powerful than all the world's armies. The society is named after Aetherius,a being the founder George King claims to have telepathically contacted and channeled. In 1954 King took up yoga and developed psychic powers that allowed him to learn the secrets of the universe. According to King this training enabled him to receive telepathic messages from Venus,the first coming from Aetherius. Based on his experiences and these messages,Kind found the Society in 1955,the membership,although international, is not very large,approximately 650 members.
Strange as all this may sound,it could explain a few things...like Stone-henge or Easter Island,and on the plus side it doesn't involve secret underwear.

Guides

Guide dogs are a fairly common sight and finding them in training in various places is also common. Miniature horses are not as widespread,at least I have yet to see one at work. They are not a new invention,and date back as early as the 17th century. Miniature horses range from anywhere between 19-38 inches in height. In the United States Seeing Eye began training guide dogs in 1929,it wasn't until about 13 years ago that someone got the idea to train miniature horses as guides. One of the biggest advantages of the miniature horses is their lifespan,since mostly large dog breeds are used as guide dogs once their training is complete it only leaves 6-8 years of service. While a miniature guide horse requires the same amount of time to train,their life expectancy is 30-40 years.
Guide horses also offer an alternative to people with dog allergies or phobias. They have a 350 degrees wide field of vision and eyes which are highly sensitive to motion,they also have excellent night vision.
A guide horse uses a harness similar to that of a guide dog,and are outfitted with special horse sneakers to help them keep traction on a variety of surfaces. They weigh 55-100 lbs. and they are trained to be fully housebroken. Just like guide dogs they are allowed pretty much anywhere a blind person is able to go.

Polite Pirates

The Somali pirates not only have spokespeople and guns to get the demands across to their victims,they also have a form letter complete with letterhead. The letter politely informs the ship owners/insurers what they need to do to get their ship back and is adorned with a skull and crossed swords. Their translation skills could use some work,but they get their point across.

Pampered Pets

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when I read about Dog TV,in fact after checking it out it seems like it should have been introduced long before now. Apparently there is more than one offering of Dog TV, One channel offers a 24/7 service while another offers an 8 hour block. Both are designed to keep your dog relaxed,stimulated and entertained while you are at work. They shoot the footage from the dog's point of view,low and long. In production the colors are muted,the sounds altered and music is added that is written specially for dogs. There are no commercials,ratings or reruns. One million subscribers have access to Dog TV in the San Diego,CA area,and the parent company plans to eventually offer it nationally. People have been leaving television or radio on for their pets for years,so this is the next logical step. The new technology of digital TV and high definition allows dogs to see more than just a flickering screen. Not only do dogs recognize other dogs on TV they also respond differently to their own breeds. Based on dog sleeping pattern studies they alternate footage designed for stimulation with footage for relaxation.
My cats watch TV if they hear something that excites them,and they say they are working on a cat channel.

Secret Ingredients

Do you ever wonder what some of the ingredients are in everyday use items? After reading about a health craze in the 1920's and 30's when people thought radiation was good for you and items like Radithor,a radioactive water, and Doramad, a radioactive toothpaste, were thought of as wonder cures,it makes a person wonder.
In 1932 the government reversed course and decided radiation was bad for you. Radithor had a lot to do with that,people started dying from it,including a millionaire who used 3 bottles a day until his jaw came off!
Doramad was a more recent (1940-45) product produced during WWII in Berlin,Germany. It contained thorium in trace quantities and claimed to give your cells new energy,hinder bacteria,help heal gingival diseases and make your teeth white and shiny (also glow in the dark?).
It is enough to make a person consider using baking soda for dental care, rather than risk more government misinformation on health related care.

Semi-Steamed

I think I have mentioned in the past that I don't watch a lot of TV,there are really only two 1/2 hour shows that I enjoy enough to bother with. One of those shows comes on at 12:30pm and is Who Wants To Be a Millionaire. I usually tune in a little early while the noon news is still on and listen while reading to see if anything interests me enough to watch. Today after playing the noon news,they promptly played it again at 12:30,the exact same show! Needless to say I was a bit steamed,why play the same news over back to back? Never mind for those who want to watch news there are channels devoted solely to the news that can be viewed anytime of day. Then good old serendipity stepped in again...I happened to be reading about how TV programming worked and if an affiliate runs shows that are not part of the network programming,they get a greater share of the money from the commercials. So there you have it,once again it boils down to greed,it has absolutely nothing to do with what the viewing audience wants.

Early Banking

In case you were wondering how the piggy bank came into being,I just happen to have that story.
No one invented the piggy bank,it owes its origin more to the history of language than an inventor. In old English the word pygg referred to a type of orange clay. The clay was used to make dishes and other useful objects including jars to hold change. One of two things happened next,either someone thought to make a pygg jar shaped like a pig,or maybe the potter misunderstood the order and thought they wanted a pig shaped jar. Another theory suggests that the piggy bank acquired the name because it was fed scraps and leftovers of change until it was fat enough to be smashed,as the hole on the bottom was yet to be invented.

Not as Popular Today

Is the dog name Fido still popular? It doesn't seem like I hear Fido or Rover much anymore. Fido comes from Latin for faithful,to trust,believe and confide in. The Italian word fido means trusty,okay sounds like a good dog name so far. Some people associate the name with an abbreviation for "firehouse dog" as dogs were routinely mascots at firehouses.
Abraham Lincoln named his dog Fido which made many people give the same name to their dogs,even in 1863 most of the population knew the president's dog's name and from the popularity of the name it also took on the meaning of any dog as a "Fido". Lincoln's Fido was not allowed to move to the White House when Lincoln became president as his wife objected. Fido was left behind with a neighboring family with specific instructions for his care. His sons were upset about leaving Fido so Lincoln took the boys and Fido to a Photographic Studio and had Fido's photographed as the boys watched. Fido became the first Presidential dog to ever be photographed.

Behind the Rhyme

I am a proactive type person, I wade right into the thick of the problem,so when I get a song or phrase going through my head in a repetitive loop I have several methods I employ to break the loop. When it is a song it's usually an easy fix,put on some music and that seems to do the trick. Jingles and rhymes seem a bit harder to wipe away. This morning Peter,Peter Pumpkin Eater was making the rounds,I went about my morning routine thinking that by being busy it would probably stop on its own,but NO! I finally decided I would get on the computer and check out the origin of the rhyme. I wasn't too hopeful as I figured it was mostly nonsense words put together for their sounds...wrong again! As it turns out most nursery rhymes came from historical events or situations and some were invented as a way of spreading gossip about royalty. In the case of Peter,Peter haunting me,the story behind it was a surprise. Peter was a poor man who had an unfaithful wife,she kept cheating on him (he couldn't keep her). His solution,fairly common in the middle ages,was a chastity belt (pumpkin shell) so that only the holder of the key could enter the private region. Once in the belt,he kept her very well. Who would have guessed that meaning from a children's nursery rhyme?

A Bizarre Talent

Today's blog boggles even my mind! Joseph Pujol aka Le Petomane (French for fartomaniac),flatulist,farteur or fartiste was a French flatulist (professional farter). His act consisted of taking in air and by controlling his abdominal muscles could fart at will. He did not pass intestinal gas,but could inhale air and move it into his rectum and control the release with his sphincter muscles. He eventually ended up with his act at Moulin Rouge where he would make sound effects including cannon fire and thunderstorms as well as playing an ocarina through a rubber tube in his anus. He could also blow out a candle from several yards away. Not strange enough for you yet? He could also use this same talent to take water into his anus and expel it,which is how he discovered his "talent" while swimming as a boy. There have even been Broadway plays about his strange talent. Is it just me,or does this seem way out there?

Size Doesn't Matter

Liechtenstein is one of the two doubly landlocked countries in the world,the other being Uzbekistan. Liechtenstein is not quite as large as Washington,D.C.,the total area is 62 square miles and it is located between Austria and Switzerland. When most people think of Liechtenstein they think of the banking industry,tax havens or on the shadier side,as a center for money laundering. Liechtenstein is a principality,meaning the reigning monarch is a prince like Monaco,rather than being a kingdom which is ruled by a king. The Prince lives in Vaduz Castle atop a hillside above the country's capital. The country also has the lowest external debt in the world and second lowest unemployment rate. Impressive for such a small place I am thinking. Everything seemed to be pretty standard information so far,until you get to the country's industries. Schann the largest city is headquarters for Vivadent and manufactures the most false teeth in the world. I found this fact astounding in that I would have thought that when it came to dentures they would be made closer to where the wearer lived. Then I found the missing piece,it is the teeth that go into the dentures that they make. 60 million artificial teeth annually,in 10,000 different shades and shapes. There's something to sink your teeth into!

Wizards Among Us

Pinball wizards that is,if not for one pinball wizard New York City would probably not have lifted the ban on pinball machines to this day,but I am getting ahead of the story.
Pinball was banned in the early 1940's in most US cities including Chicago where the game was born and where most manufacturers are located. My thoughts on why it was banned are because it was fun and anything fun or distracting at that time was looked at with suspicion. The reason given for the ban was it was a game of chance not skill,so it was a form of gambling. Many lawmakers believed it was a mafia run racket,taking the lunch money of schoolchildren. Like most bans it didn't work,it just moved to less than savory locations. During World War II like much of America's industry few new games were made,instead conversion themes were sold which changed the artwork to wartime motifs. Because pinball was illegal for so long it became a symbol of youth and rebellion,characters portrayed in TV shows or movies as a rebel were often shown playing pinball. It wasn't until the 1960's that pinball started making a comeback and not until the 1970's that the bans were lifted.

Mobiles

One of the drawbacks to living in a small town is missing promotional campaigns,including such things a visits by the Weinermobile,The Cadbury Creme Egg Car,The L.L.Bean boot car,The Peepster,and The Kissmobile,but chances are I wouldn't be in the right place at the right time anyway. I do have a Weiner Whistle to console me,so that is something.
The Oscar Mayer Weinermobile first appeared in Chicago in 1936. It has been redesigned six times since then,the current fleet measure 27 feet long and 11 feet high. Each Weinermobile has its own vanity plates,BIG BUN,Yummy,Our Dog,Lil Link,Oh I Wish,Weenr and WRN MBLE. They feature a bun roof,hot dog shaped dashboard and computerized condiment control panel. Each vehicle has a driving team of "Hotdoggers" who have attended Hot Dog High in Madison,Wisconsin,where they learn about the company's products,history and receive specialized driver training. The Weinermobile also tours other countries,so be on the look out!

 

Talk About a Rock!

A planet named 55 Cancri e in the constellation of Cancer is about 40 light years away,so you can pretty much dismiss any get rich quick schemes. The planet is believed to be twice the size of Earth and made mostly of diamond. It is so fast moving that a year there lasts only 18 hours (and you thought Earth years were bad!). It is also incredibly hot with temperatures reaching 3,900 degrees Fahrenheit. An estimate of the worth of the diamond planet is $26.9 nonillion ($26.9 followed by 30 zeroes).

Just Another Man and His Dog

I don't remember ever hearing the Michelin Man's name before,and until I read he had a dog (Bubbles) I didn't remember that either,I am still not sure about the dog!
Bibendum was born in 1898,his name is Latin for "drinking to be done". What was meant to be said by that was that Michelin tires drink up road obstacles (nails,glass,and etc.) Bibendum has been voted greatest logo in history by various panels at various times. If you have ever wondered why Bibendum wasn't black if he was made of tires,the answer is tires weren't black until 1912 when manufacturers began adding carbon black as a preservative. In his earlier persona Bibendum was often depicted as a brutal,cigar smoking gladiator,but with his iconic status his sharp edges were toned down to appeal to a wider audience. Unlike humans most iconic symbols instead of aging they seem to grow younger,which makes them more lovable (I don't agree that all youth is lovable!). At present Bibendum is mute,but the creative director for Michelin says that could change in time,at 114 Bibendum is still finding himself.

Active Until the End

For some reason I have Phyllis Diller (real last name Driver) on my mind today and was pretty sure she must have died by now. I checked her out and she had died August 20,2012 at age 95 (disproving the longevity of fall babies theory!). She was still working in 2012,she had quite a long career as she started her comedy act in 1952. Her first job was on the radio in Oakland,CA. I hadn't realized how extensive her acting career was,she was in over 40 movies and features and voiced several animated characters. She accompanied Bob Hope to Vietnam in 1966 with his USO troupe. Phyllis had numerous TV credits and also had a 3 month run on Broadway in Hello Dolly!. She studied music and between 1971-1981 appeared as a piano soloist in 100 orchestras across the country. Known for smoking from  long cigarette holders in her act,Diller was a lifelong nonsmoker. Her son found her in her Brentwood,CA home on August 20th in bed with a smile on her face.