z is for zed

z is for zed, the 26th and final letter of the basic modern latin alphabet.

according to the portal of all knowledge (aka wikipedia), zed can also refer to:

• Zed (band), a pop-rock group from New Zealand.
• ZeD, a Canadian variety television series
• Zed (Kiba), the main character of the anime series Kiba
• Lord Zedd, the villain of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
• Chief Zed, the head of MIB in Men in Black (film)
• Zed or Djed, an ancient Egyptian symbol for stability
• Zed, slang for zombie in the novel World War Z
• Zed, a character in the movie Zardoz
• Zedd, a character in the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind, whose full name is Zeddicus Zul Zorrander
• Zed, a character in the video game Wild Arms
• Zed, a character in the movie Pulp Fiction
• Zed, the central character in the movie Killing Zoe
• Zed, the main villain in the video game Zombie Revenge
• Zed, a robotic villain in the series SWAT Kats
• Zed, a character in the film and animated series Police Academy
• Zed, a character in the film "Back to the Beach"
• Zed, a fictional robot in The Ed and Zed Show
• The Zeds, characters in the Dr. Seuss's book One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish
• Zed (company), a company that markets entertainment products to the mobile phone industry
• Zed card or comp card, a "portfolio on a card" used by models and actors
• Zed, a Cirque du Soleil production in Japan
• Zed, a text editor for UNIX
• Zed (1995-2000), a defunct annual design journal edited by Katie Salen
• The Zed or Kawasaki Z1000, a motorcycle
• ZED, a zero energy development building
• The Zed Runners, a biker gang in the original Mad Max
• Zonal Employee Discount, a multilateral agreement for reduced rate personal travel by airline employees
• Rajan Zed, an Indo-American Hindu statesman

and zed or zedo is the term for grandfather that my family of origin sometimes uses when a man becames a grandfather. my father goes by zed, his father, however, went by grandpap, but grandpap's father was called zedo.

the photo above is of four generations of yanoshik men all named stephen! from left to right: my uncle stef (with his son on lap), grandpap, and zedo. photo taken in 1949.

me with my mom and dad who we now call zed. taken this year at my dad's 86th birthday party.

z is also for zorro, thanks to sesame street, which ms t and I watched yesterday I learned that zorro is the spanish word for fox. even at my advanced age I can still learn things from sesame street!

this particular fox lives at cleveland's museum of natural history. the museum takes in animals that have been injured and can no longer live in the wild. yes, that is snow on the ground, this photo was taken in january on a visit to the museum.


zz top performing sharp dressed man

y is for youth

How beautiful is youth! how bright it gleams with its illusions, aspirations, dreams! Book of Beginnings, Story without End, Each maid a heroine, and each man a friend!

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) poet

yikes!! one letter and one day left in september!

x is for xiphophorus

the title that I wanted for today's post is "x is for extinction." but since extinction starts with an e and not an x, I couldn't quite swing it; in the blogabet game one must be exact!

on friday night f and I saw an excellent documentary at the cleveland museum of art. the film examined the state of the world's fishes. I am excited about the film and exhort everyone who cares about our planet to see it. the film exposes the extremely disturbing truth about how we are exhausting the ocean's fish populations. instead of exerting control and sensible stewardship we are exulting greed and exploiting many species of fish at the expense of the future of the world's fishes. according to experts many species are near point of extinction because of overfishing.



it does not have to be the end of the line for the world's fishes; the campaign which accompanies the film has 3 messages for consumers, citizens and companies:

Ask before you buy - only eat sustainable seafood.
Tell politicians to respect the science, cut the fishing fleet
Join the campaign for marine protected areas and responsible fishing

to learn more about the film end of the line, the campaign, and what each of us can do visit the end of the line website.

by the way, in case you were wondering, xiphophorus is a type of fish

photo: marche richard lenoir, paris october 2005

w is for word

I love words

I love wordplay

I love weaving words

I especially love reading words

this year I learned about bananagrams

and the wonderful world of fb scrabble

there are some who don't really like to play but do like to watch



although I love to play scrabble I'll never reach the level of play of competitive scrabble players - which is fine with me. by the way, have you watched word wars? we're talking serious word freaks!

v is for verdant

Green fingers are the extension of a verdant heart.

Russell Page (1906-1985)landscape architect

joan baez singing green green grass of home, the vid is from the smothers brothers comedy hour which ran from february 1967 to september 1969



photo: hartford, connecticut june 2007

u is for understanding

Life is the first gift, love is the second, and understanding the third

Marge Piercy (b. 1936)novelist, essayist, and poet

unbelievable that we are nearing both the end of the alphabet and the end of september! to say this month has flown by quickly would be an understatement!

u is also for union! if u are like me and like weekends, well we have the unions to thank!!

from U1TV the following vid includes unique archival footage and an utterly wonderful version of which side on you on? by the dropkick murphys (the song starts 36 seconds) I've always been partial to billy's version of this classic union song, but now I'm uncertain, the dropkick murphys version rocks........



photo: ms t under her umbrella, august 2009

t is for thing - wild thing that is!

And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.

G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936) essayist, novelist and poet

A cat is a lion in a jungle of small bushes.

Indian Saying

Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) philosopher, poet, essayist

In our natural state, we are glorious beings. In the world of illusion, we are lost and imprisoned, slaves to our appetites and our will to false power.

Marianne Williamson (b. 1952)author and lecturer

An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind.

Prince Gautama Siddharta (563-483 B.C.) founder of Buddhisml

Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) poet, novelist, dramatist and critic

Vegetation is the basic instrument the creator uses to set all of nature in motion.

Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier (1743–1794) father of modern chemistry

We must protect the forests for our children, grandchildren and children yet to be born. We must protect the forests for those who can't speak for themselves such as the birds, animals, fish and trees.

Qwatsinas (aka Chief Edward Moody), Nuxalk Nation

notes about photos:

1. wild things parading the circle. cleveland's annual kick off to summer, sponsored by the cleveland museum of art, june 2007
2. a portrait of tsuki taken by em, date unknown
   
3. a view on the hike up to mont jacques-cartier, a truly wild place on the gaspe, quebec, transferred from film (unfortunately the photo of the photo lacks the color and clarity of the original), mid 1990s
4. the naked children parade. I wonder if the kids remember painting their bodies and their musical march down the street! transferred from film. this was one wild spontaneous event - I never heard if it ever happened again. undisclosed date and place.
   
5. yours truly having fun with a stuffed grizzly at bass pro - an outdoor gear shop, texas july 2007
6. oscar wilde's grave père lachaise cemetery, paris march 2007
7. a house returning to the wild, lakewood july 2009
8. a native american headdress constructed from wild animal relics. taken at a washington state pow-wow, summer 1998 transferred from film
   

do you have a favorite baseball movie? major league makes it into my top 3 - not only does it have the most intriguing collection of players in the underdog team that beats all underdog teams, the movie's music includes a cover of the troggs hit song wild thing and randy newman's burn on a melancholic and atmospheric ode to cleveland.


speaking of movies and wild things it won't be long until the film adaptation of sendak's where the wild things are opens - I can't wait, but you probably knew that!

s is for silence

Saying nothing sometimes says the most.

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) poet

s is also for season - today is the first full day of the new season. happy fall or spring depending on your hemisphere!

s is also for summarizing and sewing - mouse states for the day

skennen'kowa*

simon and garfunkel's sound of silence - vintage vid



*walk in peace

photo: kateri shrine, fonda, new york june 2007

r is for rock(er)

Why can't we build orphanages next to homes for the elderly? If someone were sitting in a rocker, it wouldn't be long before a kid will be in his lap.

Cloris Leachman(b. 1926) actor, vegetarian activist

cloris leachman is an interesting person. in researching the portal of all knowledge to find out her birth year, I learned that cloris is the oldest dancing star to compete on the tv show dancing with the stars. I've never seen the show, but I understand it is quite popular. even though cloris came in last place after 5 weeks, her performance was a big hit. as an octogenarian, I'm sure cloris was an inspiration. gosh she's an inspiration for me just reading about her performance!

in 1997 cloris parodied the famous "au naturel" photo of demi moore and posed for the cover of alternative medicine digest clad only in images of paint. in 2009 she posed for a peta advert clad in lettuce (at age 86)

what can I say this grand dame really rocks!

speaking of rocking, on friday marco werman wrapped up the world with an interview with the italian musician lorenzo jovanotti. the show ended with an sampling from the song mani libere. the (english) lyrics of the song have stuck with me all weekend. unfortunately, I don't do italian, so I don't understand some of the song, but perhaps is just italian for the english words or the english is english for the italian words? I love the sentiment of the song not to mention that it rocks! early this morning I found a version of the song to share. yeah for youtube. there are actually a few versions, audio-wise this is the one I latched on to, although the 'art' says michael franti, lorenzo is the main man and michael and spearhead are in on the performance.




in case you want to sing along or read along with the vid, here are the lyrics:

Make your body rocka move it move it...
Quante domande mi affollano la testa
In questi giorni di grande dolore
Oggi ? il primo giorno del tempo che ci resta
Un giorno buono per incominciare
Quante persone ci son passate gi?
Da questo incrocio pieno di domande
Milioni di milioni da qui all'eternit?
Ma la risposta non ? mai abbastanza grande
Per riempire il vuoto che ci manca
Per riempire il cuore dell'umanit?
I got so many questions running up inside my mind
Life is so long but it isn't still enough time
To answer all the questions I got inside my mind
Io vorrei spingermi un poco pi? aldil?
Dove la musica ? un fuoco che ci unisce
E fa brillare tutta la realt?
Dove la verit? non appassisce
Sunshine is a friend of mine
Rainfall is a friend of mine
Earthquake is a friend of mine
Bodyshake is a friend of mine
Technology is a friend of mine
Electricity is a friend of mine
Bassline is a friend of mine
La conga is a friend of mine
Il ritmo is a friend of mine
Il cielo is a friend of mine
Underwater is a friend of mine
The holy spirit is a friend of mine
Silence is a friend of mine
Violence NOT a friend of mine
My friend is a friend of mine
My enemy is a friend of mine
Mani libere, mani mani libere oh oh oh oh
Mani libere, mani mani libere oh oh oh oh
I got so many questions running up inside my mind
Life is so long but it isn't still enough time
To answer all the questions I got inside my mind
Quante persone ci son passate gi?
Da questo incrocio pieno di domande
Milioni di milionio da qui all' eternit?
Ma la risposta non ? mai abbastanza grande
Per riempire il vuoto che ci manca
Per riempire il cuore dell'umanit?
Sunshine is a friend of mine
Rainfall is a friend of mine
Earthquake is a friend of mine
Bodyshake is a friend of mine
Balla questo ritmo che ti fa buon sangue
Schiarisce le idee e poi ti scioglie le gambe
Crea una connessione con le onde e le distanze
Un solo ritmo sei milioni di altre danze
Balla questo ritmo che ogni cosa si trasforma
Quello che era strano poi diventer? la norma
Quello che non c'? ancora ? gi? da qualche parte
Quello che ? passato ha influenza sulla sorte
Mani libere, mani mani libere
Io sono un punto esclamativo al centro del mediterraneo
Niente di umano mi ? estraneo
Make your body rocka move it move it

photo: peace rock pillow on rocker. this pillow was constructed especially for the lucky winner of the c is for contest question featured on the mouse. recycled peace show t-shirt, constructed in the magical mouse studio. now you probably wish you would have won, ha ha!

q is for quick

Life seems but a quick succession of busy nothings.

Jane Austen (1775-1817 novelist and writer

quicksilver messenger service's classic what about me? (1970)

how many of us identified with the song's lyrics back in the day.....

And most of what I do believe
Is against most of your laws
I'm a fugitive from injustice
But I'm goin' to be free.
Cause your rules and regulations
They don't do the thing for me

And I feel like a stranger
In the land where I was born
And I live just like an outlaw.
An' I'm always on the run.

and how many of us still do?

photo: quick snap - chicago september 2008

p is for piece

Creativity is a lot like looking at the world through a kaleidoscope. You look at a set of elements, the same ones everyone else sees, but then reassemble those floating bits and pieces into an enticing new possibility.

Rosabeth Moss Kanter (b. 1943) educator and sociologist

p is also for peace, not surprisingly peace was the first p word played when the mouse premiered the alphabet game!

this week I have been immersed in assembling and reassembling pieces - I'm not talking metaphorically but rather quite literally as I have been busily working on constructing a quilt. it is difficult to say what is my favorite part of the making a quilt, but piecing a quilt is right up there with selecting the fabrics for a project.

I'm almost finished piecing the quilt pictured above, all I have left is to add the borders; once the borders are done the piece will be ready for quilting. quilting is the perfect word for the letter q - but, alas, I used that word the second time I played around with the alphabet.

p is also for pesto.

the word pesto is derived from pestâ - and means to pound. the traditional process for making pesto is to pound the ingredients - basil, nut, garlic - with a mortar and pestle.

instead of a mortar and pestle I use a small food processor (but you can also use a blender). so one could say my sauce is made from the pieces of my ingredients. this is the time of year I put up pesto to last until next year's basil harvest.

recipe for perfect pesto:

2-3 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves
3 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon of salt
1/4 cup of pine nuts
1-2 tablespoons of freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

first chop up basil, garlic and salt into fine bits with the small food processor. next, crush the pine nuts and then add to basil and garlic, chop some more and throw in the cheese. finally add the olive oil a small amount at a time - my appliance has a small hole on top and I slowly pour the oil through that while mixing.

use any way you like. some people say not to add the cheese if you are planning on freezing the pesto. I have both added the cheese and not added the cheese, and to tell you the truth, I haven't found that the cheese in anyway compromises the integrity of the pesto.

buon appetito!

and now for something completely different. betty hutton (as pearl white) singing the sewing machine song from the 1947 movie the perils of pauline

o is for over the hill

since I don't want to encourage thinking which associates aging to be related to being past one's prime - (the conventional understanding of what the phrase over the hill means) I decided this week to share a few snaps of some pretty hills I've gone over and match the hills up with a few quotes that I find to be good mouse medicine!

Creating a new theory is not like destroying an old barn and erecting a skyscraper in its place. It is rather like climbing a mountain, gaining new and wider views, discovering unexpected connections between our starting points and its rich environment. But the point from which we started out still exists and can be seen, although it appears smaller and forms a tiny part of our broad view gained by the mastery of the obstacles on our adventurous way up.

Albert Einstein (1879-1955)physicist, philosopher, peace activist

There can never be peace between nations until there is first known that true peace which is within the souls of men.

Black Elk (1863-1950) Lakota Medicine Man

Confidence in the goodness of another is good proof of one's own goodness.

Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) philosopher and writer

Life is mostly froth and bubble, Two things stand like stone, Kindness in another's trouble, Courage in your own.

Adam Lindsay Gordon (1833–1870) poet, jockey and politician

Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing it is not fish they are after.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) essayist, poet and philosopher

A test of a people is how it behaves toward the old. It is easy to love children. Even tyrants and dictators make a point of being fond of children. But the affection and care for the old, the incurable, the helpless are the true gold mines of a culture.

Abraham J. Heschel (1907-1972) theologian and philosopher

I never feel age...If you have creative work, you don't have age or time.

Louise Nevelson (1900 - 1988) sculptor

Every man should keep a fair-sized cemetery in which to bury the faults of his friends.

Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) minister, abolitionist, and writer

notes about photos:

1. the climb up mount pisgah, oregon april 2006
   
2. black hills south dakota 1999
3. gordes - a picturesque hillside village in the luberon region of southern france october 2005
   
4. the druids altar county cork ireland 2001
5. cape breton nova scotia 1996
6. me in front of some hills that have been raped and pillaged (in other words, strip-mined), northeastern pennsylvania july 2009
7. vineyards in southern vermont, june 2007
8. cemetery in simsbury connecticut june 2007
   

continuing yesterday's bit of beatlemania, paul's sweet and touching song the fool on the hill (1967)

n is for nuts

Mellow nuts have the hardest rind

Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) poet, novelist, historian

don't you think that on some level we are all nuts? if so, then ol' walter's adage holds an nutritious kernel of wisdom for survival.

john's 1968 song "everybody's got something to hide except me and my monkey" - the song with the longest title of any in the beatles' catalogue; according to ian macdonald's book revolution in the head (2005) the title originates from a quote by the maharishi, the beatles spiritual leader .

photo: nut and fruit vendor, october 2005 france

m is for museum

The city as a center where, any day in any year, there may be a fresh encounter with a new talent, a keen mind or a gifted specialist / this is essential to the life of a country. To play this role in our lives a city must have a soul / a university, a great art or music school, a cathedral or a great mosque or temple, a great laboratory or scientific center, as well as the libraries and museums and galleries that bring past and present together. A city must be a place where groups of women and men are seeking and developing the highest things they know.

Margaret Mead (1901-1978) anthropologist

mmmmmm.....so many magnificant words begin with the letter m! the one that comes to mind immediately is museum. I like what margaret mead had to say about cities - and how museums can bring past and present together.

this was a special weekend at the cleveland museum of art. saturday was member appreciation day and saturday and sunday was the annual museum sponsored chalk festival. f and I took advantage of member appreciation day ~ it was marvelous. we particularly enjoyed the gallery talk on the museum's photography collection and the tour of the museum's ingall library. we were totally mesmerized by several of the books - the manuscript william morris designed of chaucer's canterbury tales was magical. speaking of magical, have you ever heard of fore edge books?

no sense mincing words, enjoy the shows - in the first you will see how the museum's major renovation is coming along - the original 1916 building is nearing completion (the floor which houses the armor court and other galleries is complete) and the new east wing is open and home to the museum's first ever gallery devoted to photography (along with galleries housing the modern european collection, contemporary art, etc.) after a brief walking tour of the museum, the second show takes us outside for day one of the chalk festival. I had hoped to have returned yesterday, but was too busy being lazy and missed seeing the finished masterpieces.

l is for lazy

Human nature is above all things lazy.

Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) abolitionist and author

I plan to spend this lovely day lazing around getting in touch with my humanness

I'd write up something about the importance of being idle by oasis, but I'm too busy being lazy.



photo: gwen and rosie lazing. cats can teach us a thing or two about human nature. today, lakewood

k is for kindness

Whether one believes in a religion or not, and whether one believes in rebirth or not, there isn't anyone who doesn't appreciate kindness and compassion.

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama (born 1935)

no longer a kit, this squirrel is very grateful for the kindness he receives in our backyard. yesterday chris commented that the u.s. spends more on birdseed than we do on the homeless. when it comes to extending kindness to the vulnerable in our society we certainly have a long way to go!

and another thing that isn't kind is the usa's health care system. here is a totally kooky song by paul hipp rekognizing the usa's ranking 37th by the world health organization

j is for justice

The noblest worship is to make yourself as good and as just as you can.

Isocrates (436–338 BC) ancient Greek rhetorician

justice is a noble and worthy pursuit. alas, justice is not always viewed through the same lens. there is no room for hatred and vengeance in the pursuit of justice.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) minister, civil-rights leader

j is also for jalapeno

one of my guilty pleasures are jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese, wrapped in bacon and secured with a toothpick and grilled to perfection.

photo: top - detail of mural inside the metzenbaum courthouse, cleveland july 2008

i is for instrument

Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace.

May Sarton (1912–1995) poet, novelist, memoirist

Life is the sacred mystery singing to itself, dancing to its drum, telling tales, improvising, playing

anonymouse

Music is love in search of a word.

Sidney Lanier (1842-1881) musician and poet

Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) monk, writer, photographer

The girl who can't dance says the band can't play.

Yiddish Proverb

Bang-whang-whang goes the drum, tootle-tetootle the fife; No keeping one's haunches still: it's the greatest pleasure in life.

Robert Browning (1812-1889) poet

The human voice is the organ of the soul

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

Everything has rhythm. Everything dances.

Maya Angelou (b. 1928)poet

putting together this month's blogabet theme with this week's theme thursday's theme wasn't difficult at all. for me instruments - both literal and metaphorical, create the rhythm of life.

notes on photos:

1. the great lakes brewery's pint sized garden at hale farm and village, bath, ohio july 2008
2. steel drum cleveland, date unknown
   
3. a one man band sharing some rhythms with a friend at the tremont neighborhood arts festival, september 2007
4. john flower, cleveland area juggler and environmental activist, the tremont neighborhood arts festival, september 2007
5. cats on holiday - cleveland based band playing at market square park, july 2008
6. drummer for the kreellers, cleveland irish festival, july 2009
7. a young friend sharing her soul and singing a beautiful rhythmic tune. cleveland, july 2009
8. a whole lot of rhythm going on! taken at out of many: a multicultural festival the national museum of the american indian, january 2009
   

I was oscillating between something from paul simon's rhythm of the saints and rhythm of life from sweet charity as today's theme song, then I found this version of rhythm of life, well, that clinched it! slainte!

h is for hope

Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without words, and never stops at all.

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) poet

h is also for health care.

many american presidents have attempted to reform the u.s. health care system. during his presidency, fdr asked congress to pass an 'economic bill of rights' for all americans and singled out access to adequate health care as fundamental to this bill of rights.

next came harry truman (#33) who advocated a single system that would cover all americans. like today, health care reform faced resistance by special interests with deep pockets. during the 1940s the biggest special interest against the truman plan was the american medical association (the a.m.a); in fact, the a.m.a was so against the plan it hired a public relations firm to come up with a strategy to defeat the plan; this p.r. group coined the term 'socialized medicine' to describe the truman plan. considering the anti-communist hysteria which was sweeping the country, the tactic proved quite effective; in fact so much that a house subcommittee called the truman plan a communist plot.

today we see that this anti-communist hysteria lingers on, the rhetoric used in the late 40s is still held out to obstruct reform.

as I was musing about this I reflected back on paul starr's groundbreaking and award-winning book, the social transformation of american medicine - I got to wondering if professor starr ever wrote a sequel (he hasn't) however, I did stumble upon an interview bob garfield conducted with starr last month on npr's on the media program.

In discussing national health care plans, reporters, politicians and especially critics have been fond of invoking the failed Clinton plan of '93 & '94. Paul Starr, Princeton professor and author of The Social Transformation of American Medicine, says the history of national health care and its discontents is at least a century old and that for proponents and critics alike, most everything old is new again. (click to listen or read the interview)

let's hope that tonight president obama delivers one helluva address on health care!

let's hope obama take's bill moyer's advice given at the end of this video essay on health care, which aired last week on the bill moyer's journal

until then I'm holding holding hope in my heart






jimmy cliff's singing the ever hopeful you can get it if you really want





happy 9.9.09!!

photo: graffiti tag, lakewood ohio, august 2009