Monthly Archives: November 2018

The Color Of Ancient Statues

Posted on November 30, 2018 by Roger Walck

“Color Blind,” by Margaret Talbot. The New Yorker, 10/29/2018. We are all familiar with the white marble Greek and Roman statues with the blank eyes of Little-Orphan-Annie. But they were originally painted, as was the entire statue, often garishly so. … Continue reading →

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Philly’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

Posted on November 28, 2018 by Roger Walck

I first wrote about Philly’s Thanksgiving Day Parade 5 years ago, of a time about 5 years before that when my wife joined her family in St. Louis for the holiday while I stayed home. Having nothing to do, and … Continue reading →

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World’s Dumbest Christmas TV Commercial And Alice’s Pearls

Posted on November 25, 2018 by Roger Walck

My vote is for the latest GMC car commercial. It starts out with a young couple—he especially looks to be in his 20s—yet they are in a house that in my neighborhood would be a many-million dollar house, if we … Continue reading →

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Parenting

Posted on November 23, 2018 by Roger Walck

“Parenting lessons from Pooh: Spend time with kids,” by Julia Beck. The Wilmington News-Journal, 10/17/2017. (Reprinted from The Washington Post.) The headline says it all. You can skip the article itself. And I already knew this. Years ago, I attended … Continue reading →

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Deedle, Deedle, Dumpling

Posted on November 21, 2018 by Roger Walck

About midnight last night, I woke up with this nursery rhyme going through my head: Deedle, deedle, dumpling, my son John, Went to bed with his stockings on. . . . But that’s all I remembered. What was the rest? … Continue reading →

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Ray Charles And Blindness

Posted on November 18, 2018 by Roger Walck

My wife and I were driving home when she mentioned how terrible it must be to blind. I replied that the famous blind singer—I had forgotten his name—said that restoring his sight was not high on his wish list. “I’m … Continue reading →

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Sakurajima

Posted on November 16, 2018 by Roger Walck

Years ago, my wife and I took a Road Scholar tour (then called Elderhostel) of Japan that was meant to show the difference from north to south. A Road Scholar tour strives to be educational, not to wallow in luxury. … Continue reading →

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Vocabulary: Torpedo

Posted on November 14, 2018 by Roger Walck

(Vocabulary postings are words or phrases I recently came across in reading, did not fully understand, looked up, and discovered something new.) We are all familiar with this weapon of naval warfare, but I heard the word used in a … Continue reading →

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The Minstrel Show

Posted on November 11, 2018 by Roger Walck

I actually saw a real minstrel show, in the East Lansdowne Public School auditorium, of all places. My grandparents took me! It had a Mr. Bones and all. Very strange. It was at night, and there was a charge to … Continue reading →

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Armistice Day

Posted on November 9, 2018 by Roger Walck

“The Eleventh Hour,” by Adam Hochschild. The New Yorker, 11/5/2018. I was always vague about World War I, never got into the details. It was always old-fashioned for me. Some of our older male teachers were in the war. They … Continue reading →

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