Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Salmon Cannon (HBO)

What Was Blackwell's Island?

Blackwell Island was named for Robert Blackwell, like Dad and renamed Welfare Island, then Roosevelt Island and its history is something I want to study, now that there's more available to peruse.    It seems the name was a coinkidink, but the place, having had a mental ward, prison and hospital would be haunted as hell!
(if you believe in that sort of thing..   *cough*)


The actual historic bits in the game refer to a writer from the Bohemian era.

re: Joe Gould's Secret
1965

Pioneer Work of Elizabeth Blackwell

I don't see where Elizabeth leads to my folks yet, but she is SO relatable!
It's frustrating to be undereducated when your potential demands so much more of you...worse, to be expected to learn a thing through inferior/convoluted/unavailable methods.  At some point, I'll add my own comments to these passages, but for now..  I'm in awe of her ovarian fortitude.


http://books.google.com/books/reader?id=GHkIAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&source=gbs_atb_hover&pg=GBS.RA1-PR5


CHAPTER I
EARLY LIFE IN ENGLAND 1821


 It is a great advantage to have been born one of a large family group of healthy, active children,     surrounded by wholesome influences. The natural and healthy discipline which children exercise upon one another, the variety of tastes and talents, the cheerful companionship, even the rivalries, misunderstandings, and reconciliations where free play is given to natural disposition, under wise but not too rigid oversight, form an excellent discipline for after-life.

------------
It was years after learning of her work that I'd 100% rejected the idea of becoming a doctor.  By then I'd learned of holistic healing methods.  Dad, who was into Yoga,  told me of Elizabeth's work after Church.  We were finding out where the beef was when Wendy's was new to our neighborhood.  

I found the "birth control pill" a woman put between her knees, rather amusing...but mostly the gear seemed ghastly.  I couldn't imagine cutting into actual people or dissecting anything of any kind.  I was told it was necessary in high school biology and when the day finally presented itself, instead of a frog or fetal pig, a ginormous earthworm was the victim.  I couldn't stomach it. Fortunately,  my regular lab partner, Jill, and I were saved by my friend, Jackie who didn't mind doing the cutting while we did the rest of the assignment.     

Our second home, the Smithsonian Institute, had an abundance of olde tyme medical tools I couldn't believe were used on human beings.  They seemed more suited for use on an old Chevy!  There was no way I could see myself inflicting that on anyone. 

But the struggle with natural repugnance to the medical line of life was so strong that I hesitated to pass the Rubicon, and fought many a severe battle with myself on the subject. At this time I had not the slightest idea of how to become a physician, or of the course of study



I wrote to and consulted with several physicians, known to my family, in various parts of the country, as to the possibility of a lady becoming a doctor. The answers I received were curiously unanimous. They all replied to the effect that the idea was a good one, but that it was impossible to accomplish it ; that there was no way of obtaining such an education for a woman ; that the education required was long and expensive ; that there were innumerable obstacles in the way of such a course ; and that, in short, the idea, though a valuable one, was impos sible of execution.

--------

It was at this time that the suggestion of study ing medicine was first presented to me, by a lady friend. This friend finally died of a painful disease, the delicate nature of which made the methods of treatment a constant suffering to her. She once said to me : ' You are fond of study, have health and leisure ; why not study medicine ? If I could have been treated by a lady doctor, my worst sufferings would have been spared me.'

--------

Elizabeth Blackwell Quotes

• For what is done or learned by one class of women becomes, by virtue of their common womanhood, the property of all women.

• If society will not admit of woman's free development, then society must be remodeled.

• I must have something to engross my thoughts, some object in life which will fill this vacuum, and prevent this sad wearing away of the heart.

• It is not easy to be a pioneer -- but oh, it is fascinating! I would not trade one moment, even the worst moment, for all the riches in the world.

• A blank wall of social and professional antagonism faces the woman physician that forms a situation of singular and painful loneliness, leaving her without support, respect or professional counsel.

• Our school education ignores, in a thousand ways, the rules of healthy development.

• Medicine is so broad a field, so closely interwoven with general interests, dealing as it does with all ages, sexes and classes, and yet of so personal a character in its individual appreciations, that it must be regarded as one of those great departments of work in which the cooperation of men and women is needed to fulfill all its requirements.

Samuel Charles Blackwell, an abolitionist!

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Charles_Blackwell



http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch00050

JUSTIFICATION!!!!

As my BFF always told me, "True Talent Will NOT Be Denied"

(My BFF and I on her coming out.  The Links Cotillion.  My dress is actually pink)

Although my life has occasionally sucked beyond the telling of it,
and this is one of them there times,
I vehemently refuse to be pushed into a corner by crabs demanding I die the barrel of THEIR choosing.

What has always gotten me through, has been the strong foundation that could never be broken down..
especially not by the bloviating ignorati, set on throwing their slave mentalities in my face.  
If we're all to be slaves, and as much as I reject that notion,
do not presume to tell me who I am and to whom I must to be a slave to.

A divergent thinker MUST multitask or the mind takes it out on the body.
"Stress kills" is not just a meme from the 70s, but a proven FACT of life.
When aggravated by pettiness, Newtonian physics does what nature demands.

When woken by a moron cussing me out while slamming my walker into the bed
...and the walker has my MacPro on it,
the slammer of my livelihood and interrupter of my sleep was in danger of learning that this
VA issued mobility assistance device sports the color of chocolate,
But doesn't say "Wonka" for a damned good reason!
...but I have stickers and may remedy that situation....as it is, I've decorated it with Hello Kitty stickers.  Like many of my generation,  I've been a fan since long before I could afford it's cuteness.

So while I was chilling out in the snow flurries...ranting it out, my phone rang and it was Richard Marcus!  He told me things were the same as they were the last time we spoke and I expressed how happy I was for him...tho he's NOT happy with the work he's not finished.

He set me straight..  told me to get back on track and keep on plugging at it...as I know I must because if I'm going to be a slave to something, it's most definitely not going to be chosen by an old hag wing nut who thinks Christianity will miss her.  The other night she was ranting about some priest stepping down because the Church won't hate "faggots"...  smdh.. as if Jesus said anything about it.  And this old black woman thinks the repugnicans will save her?
Because they care about families..  ?

and

So, yeah...just when I was calming down, my phone ran and it was a great talent who'd passed me the writer's torch lets me know he's also dealing with stuff derailing his train of thought and sleep.  I needed to know that and promised to do my homework...

Richard and I rehashed our Chicago Pie vs New York cheese cracker rant of the summer before the last and decided the real abomination is Hawaiian pizza.....
DAMMIT....it's a clear sign the end is nigh...


Note to self:  Send him a Japanese Pizza Hut menu..  ROFLMAO


yeah, yeah..  I'll edit when I get a chance, but meanwhile...

I AM..   SOMEBODY....

or will be when I get my shit together again.

Going back to sleep...  with "One Nation Under a Groove" on the brain like I did when I raised my hand and got myself into this hot mess.

Some Fun Machinima Projects

Speaking of Legacies...

Generally, I prefer to forget being a veteran, but this year's Veteran's Day brought much love from the Chicagoland community and some amazing artists from back in the day.     

We were treated with a heartfelt program by the folks keeping the Chi-Lites legacy alive.

“Have You Seen Her” hits my heart in a very soft spot...a craft day with my big brother, Vince.

It was a rainy day in Levittown and we were working on one of those mosaic kits from the 70s.  Instead of paint by numbers, the kit came with yarn, different colored sands, buttons and beads to make an abstract design.  I've actually seen it a few times in thrift shops.  

"Oh Girl" broke me up because he'd rightfully called Mother "boss", when it was clearly her jurisdiction.  When our cousin George called after walking off the Washington Redskins field for reasons he'll never talk about, *cough*, Dad answered the phone, but told him to talk with "the boss" who was carrying me at the time.  It's been a running joke in the family ...speculating why he left, but he won't talk about it.  ;-)  The Washington Post had a bit of fun looking for him, but it was extremely lame of them to mention Dad's workplace when they figured out where he'd been after getting picked up by the Bears.

The song was a big hit and we lifted the arm on the record player so the 45 played over and over, nearly wearing the record grooveless in order to learn the words...and just cuz it was THAT great!

The song took on a different meaning as it was 5 years after Mother passed unexpectedly after her miscarriage.  Her body probably would have recovered naturally, but science intervened and it was a crushing blow to the family and the neighbors who loved her outgoing,  farm-girl nature.   Dad was devastated, my 10 and 11 year old siblings were in shock and I was 3 and a half... didn't really get the whole death thing.  Since it was so hard for him to talk about it, I picked up what I could from anyone who could bear the conversation.  Few could tell me stories without getting all choked up and I tried to avoid that, but I really needed to know what happened to her!   

I was told that she was with God and His angels, and I'd be with her again someday.  To a child with no concept of death, I figured she was gone for a visit, and people were just coming to help Dad out until she returned.  "Death" seemed like a special invitation from God and Mother was chosen... I just couldn't figure out why people were so sad.

Her nickname was "Mimi", since her brother Tommy couldn't say, "Armenta" until he was older.

 Ballcaps from Uncle Tommy who went the distance in the Army.
And my ball cap from my P-3 Orion squadron in NAS Jacksonville, FL  I was an AX3

Dad looked like his mother and so does my brother.  Dad was one of the first Navy corpsmen of color when he joined in 1949, right after high school.  My big brother joined the Army and went to boot camp just about the same time I reported for duty on September 10th, '87.  I'd been waiting to build on Dad's work on the internet, but absolutely hated coding.  Yes, I get the logic, but it was flight simulator software and gaming that drew my attention.  Dad was also top of his class.  He and Mother had ** after their names for honor society and as genetics happen, perhaps two geniuses shouldn't reproduce and end up with an ambidextrous freak of nature like me!  *snortles*

Suffice it to say, the IQ of the world crashed for me when Dad passed.

Late 1987 at A-School in Millington, TN.  It wasn't ez finding a good spot to study.  This A/C unit outside of the barracks was one of my favorites.  The Petty Officer's Club on surf and turf night was the other.  Good music was an absolute necessity when  burning out braincells on electronics math problems.   High effort thinkers are the greatest pride of my legacy and I was stressed, but motivated to work through it for a peacetime Navy.   Military bearing?  Yeah, well...  not so much off the clock.  But on the flight line, we were swivel-headed Cracker Jacks.  

Meet Orison Grant!  This is the oldest photo I have of our folks in uniform so far.

This is Marshall Thompson of the (drumroll please....) Chi-Lites!  I was so pleased to meet him and his dedicated crew!

Earlier this week, we were treated by some funky legacies who also honor the legacy of the arts and it's funky qualities to uplift the mind, body and spirit.  Look what our Funkadelic legacies are cooking up for Chicagoland!  Claude and Deena Allen Spivey had me pledging a Groovallegiance to the funk again!

It's not easy to describe the 3D web, Metaverse, or whatever geek nation is calling it these days, but here are some of the videos I did to bring new life to some of my favorite dusties.

We loved this cut at the roller rink and I ended up working with the "crew" following Gerrard Butler on guitar.  I'd not figured out theory very well and wrote down whatever he needed me to play on keyboards to back up Mike Hughes.

I left DC for Milwaukee to work at the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, where another guitarist, Julian Ortiz, taught me from his 12-string guitar.

And this is from an ongoing challenge to rework the Dr. Who theme song.

Sonya Jevette-Mama Said-Original

Metaverse magnificence.  I just love her easy breezy style and her avatar's adorable!

New Tour of Xanadu on the hyper grid.

It's temporarily offline and being reworked.

Rudely Interrupted.....

Once we get over the many ToS violations interrupting our work,
the grids will be completely independent on the hyper grid.

The 3D social network is coming up as hoped.

OSGrid is still offline and we hope they return better than ever.
I have a lot of work to do on Xanadu's var region, but the demos are still available in my dropbox.

The Richard Pryor Show - To Kill A Mockingbird

Highland Christian Center Easter Gospel Explosion -HCC Choir "I Come To ...

Standard metaverse rant...

[03:36] Muze Ackland: AAAAUUUGGGHHH!!  I can't freaking believe this bullshit eviction process!  WTF part of DISABLED do these people NOT understand?  These bloviating ignorami thought I was FOS and a fraud, so launched the dumbest, most obvious, sting operation you ever saw lampooned on Comedy Central!

All of this shit was because they thought I was NOT Andrea Maria Monica Blackwell, daughter of a grand pooh pah?  I always knew we went back to Battle of Hastings and that we were probably related to Elizabeth Blackwell ...

I never got around to reading much about her except that she was a suffragette and the pirate thing?  Yeah, they had more ethics than the corporate doucherati running this place into the ground.  So all of this was ....OMG..  All these years?  across state lines and crossing over to um..  whatever...  he's an asshole and I lost contact with mini-me when she was NOT in places near me related to "Washington".
She was in freaking BOGOTA, Colombia and yeah, I had myself a fucking panic and these jackasses interrupted my comm with HER while they were kidnapping kids in Africa and killing teens in Gaza!  (the rant)  My dad also told me how to fake out the low-effort thinkers by thinking like a pirate!  Shoot, but the time I got to the navy, they were so suck at it, I had no interest and went in with the mind to get OUT!  They screwed my school up and made sure I wasn't I-level (circuit board level)..ended up O-level which meant pulling black boxes on the flight line.

 Congress cheated first, so they can kiss every inch of my mocha latte ass, the fact is...NOBODY joins the Never Again Volunteer Yourself, for it's FINE, PHYNE, Navy Health care benefits.  If you do, you might wanna re-evaluate your priorities....and fix something.  IDK...how about CONGRESS?
[03:36] Tommy: User is not logged in. Message saved.
[03:36] Tommy: User is not logged in. Message saved.
[03:37] Muze Ackland: the rant...
[03:37] Tommy: User is not logged in. Message saved.


Helen Wright of Detroit used to say,
"Lawd, I'm scared of the children!"

Now I have a good idea what people are afraid of...
Are you KIDDING ME?

anyway, I'm beyond exhausted..  will edit later.
In Spanish Knights of Columbus is "Caballeros de Columbus" or something like that....
I needed to know...but your mileage may vary...as it should.

42 all day....yay GOD