Disneyland came into existence just when I was born. Disneyland opened on July 17, 1955, in Anaheim, California, and is the only Disney theme park personally built and opened under Walt Disney’s direct supervision. Walt got the idea in the late 1930s/40s while watching his daughters play at amusement parks and wishing there was a place parents could enjoy too. He wanted something clean, family-friendly, and immersive, unlike the seedy carnival parks of the era.…
For people of a certain age and temperament, there is a wonderful Chris Farley and David Spade movie called Tommy Boy, made in 1995. The duo are on an epic roadtrip to sell brake pads and Tommy (Farley) has a hard time containing his natural exuberance. Spade, on the other hand is a cynical young man who finds everything Tommy does as some combination of distasteful and idiotic. In one scene, Tommy is trying to…
In my recent meanderings through anthropology and human development, I stumbled on a book titled Unbound: How Eight Technologies Made Us Human and Brought Our World to the Brink by anthropologist Richard L. Currier. Currier’s thesis is that over roughly five million years, eight key technologies (broadly defined) gradually freed humans from the limitations of our animal origins. Those eight he defines as tools, fire, clothing/shelter, symbolic communication, agriculture, technologies of interaction (wheels, ships, travel),…
On this early July morning, Kim was getting her morning coffee and, sure as June Gloom goes away by July 1, so the Argentine red ants that have marched their way up from Patagonia have returned for another summer of fun, watching Kim pull out the stops with all her anti-ant programs. Kim will not kill a spider, but she gives no quarter to ants. They are her mortal enemy because ants impugn her good…
Today is our first activity day of summer vacation with our grandkids. One of the things we like to do every year is go to the San Diego County fair at the Del Mar fairgrounds. Like much of California, San Diego County is truly a blend of urban coastal elite areas with expensive homes overlooking the Pacific Ocean and rural ranch country where cattle and coyotes are still the main topics of conversation. In between…
Today I saw a reposting of the June, 2024 cover of Rolling Stone that had a picture of Donald Trump adjusting his tie with the headline: “The Most Corrupt President Ever. Ever.” It went on to say, “From self-dealing to abuse of power, no president in history has put personal greed ahead of the country like Donald Trump.” And of course, that was BEFORE he started his second term and his recently exposed $2.2 billion…
Starting around 1887, foot races started with a “mark” or a line drawn to indicate the starting point of a race. Before that the lineage of “mark” meant a target or marked point, the same root behind “marksman” and “to make one’s mark.” Before starting blocks existed, race officials would scratch or paint an actual line into the dirt or track at the starting point. Runners had to position their feet exactly on or behind…
When we are kids, we revel in having fun. The world revolves around having fun at the early stages of life. You can see the instinct clearly in Buddy, who is still a young dog at three. When he wakes up in the morning, all he wants to do is play. He will come up to our faces in bed and try to convince us that its time to get up to play. He is…
In a few weeks Kim is heading off for her 50th high school reunion in Wabash, Indiana, her home town and where she spent the first 20 years of her life. Kim is not only connected to Wabash for family reasons…though she has very little family left there now, but also because it’s where her musical roots began. Over the years that Kim and I have been together, she went back to Wabash twice to…
It’s that funny transitional time of the summer when every morning starts out in a cloud and we wait and see when this hilltop will break through to the sun. It always does because summer is simply not a time for rain on this hilltop. I remember when I lived in Maine for three years back in the mid-60s. I worked on the golf course each of those three summers and so I was acutely…