Category: Rev. Joe Dirt’s Ramblings

The unsolicited, unreasoned, uninformed, unapologetic opinions of Rev. Joe Dirt

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #2,754

yeah I know you did not ask!

I was returning home from a Wally World run when I ended up behind a pickup at a long traffic light.  Well pickup is not quite the right description.  It was a reasonably new 4×4 pickup jacked up to stratospheric levels, sporting 4 massive tires that extended at least a zip code from the side of the vehicle, and so pimped out I did not know where to focus my gaze.

I was feeling a bit snobbish, well actually more than a little judgmental about such a ride, when I noticed that my dream car, a Porsche 911 Carrera, was in the next lane beside the tricked out 4×4.

It dawned on me that both were forms of conspicuous consumption expressed in different fashions.

I sometimes wonder where the control is for whatever mental function it is that causes me to be so judgmental. Of course at this point in my life it is so rusted from lack of use as to be inoperative.

And so it goes.

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #123

yeah I know you did not ask!

Years ago it was very common for houses to have big front porches, and people used them.  Probably at least in part due to the lack of air conditioning, and it was also a a way of staying connected to your neighbors.

Now days we have decks and patios and they are at the back of the houses, frequently behind fences.  Many of us of little or no connection with our neighbors, seldom even talking to them.

There is a statement, message, lesson in there somewhere.

What started me down this random thought path was that for some reason I was thinking about my grandmother’s house.  The house she lived in longest during my childhood was an old three story house that had a huge porch, wrapping around three sides, sitting just on the edge of the small farming town of Checotah, OK, birthplace of this curmudgeon.  And that porch was used extensively.  I slept out there multiple times when her house was full of visiting aunts, uncles, cousins and other assorted folks.

I have seen this other places, but when I lived in Memphis it was exceedingly common.  One could drive around neighborhoods on a nice evening and there would be a multitude of folks sitting around in lawn chairs in their driveways.  Most of the houses did not have front porches, but the driveway must have been a good substitute.

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Pobrecita

Robin would not let me take a picture, but she looks like the victim of spousal abuse!  The reality is that is not my style, and I am not near brave enough to do such a horrible thing.  I am  convinced she would make Lorena Bobbitt look like an angel.

We had her son’s dog, Osho for a  few days.  Osho is absolutely convinced that my conjunction-function in life is to take him on walks.  Of course, if I take him I cannot leave The Wee Dog behind.  All of which is fine, but two dogs on leashes can be a bit of a chore.  They are generally pretty good walking together, but occasionally they will each discover odors needing investigation that are in opposite directions.  I end up feeling like the proverbial wishbone.

Normally, Osho wants to go around dark-thirty, just after we feed him.  Monday was a nice day so I thought I would do it earlier, as it was warm and sunny.  I asked Robin if she would like to tag along, both for her company and so we could split the two dogs between us.

All was fine until we started to enter the garage.  Robin saw what was left of a decorative gourd in the garden she could not leave, so she handed me Lily’s leash.  I took it, and was promptly entangled with both dogs.  I managed to get Lily unwrapped who decided she had to head for the door leading from the garage to the kitchen immediately.   Unfortunately, Robin was headed  towards the trash can just beside that door in the garage.  Before I could act or say anything, Robin tripped over Lily’s leash.  I am not sure I ever saw anyone fall quite so fast – despite what Galileo espoused.  She had no time to put her hands in front, partly because she was carrying the gourd.  She landed directly on her nose, skinning her knees.  All I could think of was her two back surgeries.  She was obviously very shook up.  Just to be on the safe side we went to urgent care.  She  was basically fine, but she has been very sore for a couple days.   I was fully expecting a raccoon mask that is so common when the nose receives such a blow.  Her nose is bruised and her left eye looks like mine after one of my karate matches (back in the day).

We are both thankful that is was not worse.

And so it goes.

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Angels Sometimes Wear Bathing Suits

It was the mid 1960s.  My father, a technical representative for an aerospace company, had been assigned to work with the US Navy in Naples, Italy.  Because it was to be a long stint the whole family moved with him to Naples.

The first year we lived in the actual city of Naples.  However, four rambunctious American boys living in a city of apartment dwellers was not working out well. At the time of this story I was the eldest at 13 years old, Paul was 11, Mike was 10, and Jeff the youngest at 6 years old.  My parents would soon have a fifth son, Mark, born while we were there.

My father found a villa to rent several Continue reading “Angels Sometimes Wear Bathing Suits”

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Jerusalema Dance Challenge

Danger Will Robinson Danger… I fell down the YouTube rabbit hole on this one. Just a word to the wise.

Okay, I am a Johnny-come-lately to this global phenomena, but here I am. This really put a smile on my face, and a gladness in my heart.  It became meditative after a while.  For me it was a reminder that we are all just one people… perhaps it is time we started acting that way.

If you have some time, put “jerusalema dance challenge”  into your YouTube search box.  While I  didn’t understand the language they were singing, the music is beautiful.  The original language is isiZulu, a language out of South Africa. As my dive into the rabbit hole deepened, I found versions in a couple of other languages.

Here is a link to the English translation of Jerusalema from isiZulu

What really interested me was the dance challenges from around the world.  I am including a video that compiled many of these dances.  However, if you do the YouTube search, the results will have you scrolling for pages… which I did.

Before you watch the mix of dance challenges from around the world here is a link to the official music video of the song: Master KG – Jerusalema [Feat. Nomcebo] (Official Music Video) As I re-watched this video it strikes me it has a subtle anti-drug message.

How South Africa’s ‘Jerusalema’ Became a Global Hit Without Ever Having to Be Translated

I apologize if you too get lost in this technological rabbit warren, I just really enjoyed it.

And so it goes.

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #500

yeah I know you did not ask!

I am currently watching a Great Courses series (we have a streaming subscription) called: Maya to Aztec: Ancient Mesoamerica Revealed. I was utterly fascinated by the unit on Mayan math. They used a based 20 system and only needed 3 symbols to represent all the possible numbers.  It was a positional system like our decimal system and unlike Roman numerals. The professor said the joke was that they counted on their fingers and their toes.  He then reinforced that it was a joke and went on to say that no one was quite sure why they came up with a base 20 system.

Obviously we all work with base 10, more or less daily. As a programmer I worked extensively with a base 16 system of math and symbology.  I occasionally also worked directly in base 8 and base 2.

All which started me thinking about an Okie I once knew who invented a base 21 system.  Of course, he was skinny dipping at the time he had this brain storm.

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Race on Census Forms Starting 1790

To state the obvious, race continues to be fractious subject in this country and worldwide.  It has all too often in history, including recent history, morphed into a reason for genocide. In my conversations with folks in Central and South America,  I find interesting their perplexity with how racist a country the United States is.  They  tend not see skin color as a reason to exclude, minimize or even hate another person… then I think of the history of many of these countries and how they have mistreated their indigenous populations and continue to mistreat them. And racism becomes a story without end.

I forget what I was reading or listening to, but whatever it was, it claimed that Jews and Italians were not considered “white” until very recently.  So to Google I went to research that statement a bit.  I stumbled across this Pew Research article listing the race question on all census forms since 1790.  I found it interesting.

What Census Calls Us

 

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Strange Bedfellows

We just celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day this third Monday of January , the 17th, which started me thinking about an anecdote I have been telling for years.

In the fall of 1983, much against the desires and better judgment of my now ex-spouse, I weaseled – and weasel is the operative word – my way back into her abode after a very long separation.  I don’t remember exactly how long this particular separation had been, probably somewhere around 18 months. While we stayed together, more or less,  for another dozen years, the marriage had been a tumultuous relationship nearly from day one.  At one point in my life I spent a lot of time ruminating Continue reading “Strange Bedfellows”

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #9,163

yeah I know you did not ask!

Señora and I were together in my pick-em-up truck this chilly morning, running errands. I’m not sure how it got started, but we got into a playful contest trying to out “smart-ass” each other.  After a few minutes of this Señora threw her hands in the air  towards the headliner of my vehicle mirthfully conceding, “you win, you are king of smart-asses.”

All of which got me to wondering, does that make me the better smart-ass or the worse smart-ass?

Inquiring minds want to know, and me too.