Ohio River, Left Bank, MP 606

Eggner's Ferry and other bridges comments

2012-01-27T13:00:00.004-05:00

The Eggner's Ferry Bridge, a portion of which has collapsed into Kentucky Lake after being hit (or taken out) by a barge, has been mentioned in this blog at least three times since I began writing a little over five years ago. At just under 2/3 of a mile in length, it takes one - if headed eastbound - from near the Calloway and Marshall County line across the Tennessee River and Kentucky Lake into Trigg County and the famous Land Between the Lakes. It is a narrow two-lane structure first opened in 1932 which has been on the obsolete list for some time and plans have been in the making to replace it. A construction plan for a new bridge calls for that to happen between now and 2017. (The picture at left is taken from the WPSD website in Paducah).

I've driven across it many times, most recently in August 2011, when after making the eastbound trek into the LBL, I stopped to dip my feet into the waters of the Tennessee River and Kentucky Lake at Elbow Bay. The bridge is part of the famous southern Kentucky highway corridor of US68/KY80. Once in the LBL, the road has been widened considerably as part of a plan to three- or four-lane the route from Bowling Green west to Paducah (which includes the KY121 (new KY80) route to Mayfield and US45 route into Paducah). About the only portions left to be widened are the Eggner's Ferry Bridge at one end of the LBL and the Henry Lawrence Memorial Bridge at the other leading into Canton.

The loss of the bridge is devastating for the local community. Approximately 2800 cars cross the narrow span each day on average. My guess is this number is much higher in the summer during the vacation season to the LBL than it is in the winter, so if there are any silver linings, something I always search for, it is that the span will hopefully be back in place sometime this year at the ready for summertime travellers. Otherwise, travellers will have to trek either the 30 miles to the north to cross at Gilbertsville along the new US62 or I-24, or 45 miles to the south and the crossing on US79 at Paris Landing, Tennessee. Either way makes for a long commute.

Putting the closing of the bridge into perspective is easy. I often complain, especially in the spring, when my street, or those in my neighborhood, is closed for a few hours on Saturday or Sunday mornings to accommodate runners in some competition. There seems to be one every weekend leading up to the big daddy, the Kentucky Derby Mini-Marathon. It creates delays for me that I don't appreciate, even on a lazy Saturday or Sunday morning, but this is, frankly, a minor problem. Here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606, we have been living, since September 9th of last year, with a major bridge closure. The Sherman Minton Bridge carrying I-64 and US150 across the Ohio River connects Floyd County, Indiana, population 74578, with Jefferson County, Kentucky, population 741096 - a combined population of 815674. The Sherman Minton is estimated to carry approximately 80000 cars a days, or just under 10% of the local population. It was closed by Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels - Indiana owns the bridge even though Kentucky owns the river - after a routine inspection found some loose bolts and "cracks in the main load-bearing structure" [official words]. While the Eggner bridge wasn't closed after an inspection, it has, as previously stated, been deemed structurally obsolete. Using the population of Trigg County and the average of Calloway and Marshall counties, one arrives at a total of 47132. Carrying 2800 cars daily works out to about 6% of the local population. Even though the impact is only three-fifths as much as that of our local brdige closing, it is still significant and shouldn't be dismissed.

But, as the title of this entry reads, there are other comments to be made with regard to bridges in general. Bridges have been a topic of discussion in this community for many years, the last fifteen of which have focussed on completing the I-265 loop from Prospect, Kentucky to Utica, Indiana, a proposal I support but something we just can't seem to get accomplished. There is also the plan to rebuild and reconstruct the I-64/65/71 intersection in downtown Louisville and build a second span carrying I-65 across the Ohio from Louisville to Jeffersonville, Indiana, a proposal I do not personally support.

We've recently seen the completion of US231 across the Ohio at Maceo in Daviess County to Rockport in Spencer County, Indiana and can witness the ongoing construction of the Milton-Madison Bridge carrying US421 traffic from Trimble County, Kentucky to Jefferson County, Indiana. The point here is that there must be a commitment to infrastructure, both for replacement costs as well as the occasional and unfortuante accidents such as that on the Tennessee River and the Eggner's Ferry Bridge. But that commitment isn't limited to bridges over major rivers such as the Ohio or the Tennessee. Our system of highways across the country are, for the most part, in great disrepair. And while they fall further and further into disrepair, we continue to build newer roads connecting an ever-increasing driving public. We presently have plans on the books in Jefferson County for four entirely new highways, two of which connect Shelbyville and Taylorsville roads - one inside and one outside the Snyder; another connecting Preston Highway with Bardstown Road - again, outside the Snyder; and another connecting the Outer Loop and I-65 with the Snyder, west of the present Minor's Lane.

At some point, we have to question the logic, financially, of the continued building of new roads. At some point, the allegedly high costs of light rail both within cities and connecting cities must be recognized as being a long-term advantage economically. My friend Daniel Borsch knows a lot more - a whole lot more - about this matter than I do and he and I have been discussing it for years. His discussions have been ahead of their time - but the times are catching up and we must sooner or later address them. Sooner would be better.

719. Seven Fewer Counties

2012-01-20T16:23:00.002-05:00

No, this isn't an entry calling for Kentucky to reduce its number of counties to a workable amount. That subject was covered in an entry on January 8, 2010 where I proposed reducing our county-count from 120 to 55. This entry, though, is about counties.

Every year, shortly after the turn-of-the-year, I update my schedule of counties-visited, a schedule I've been keeping since 1979, the first year I visited all 120 of Kentucky's counties within the 365 day period from January 1st to December 31st. Last year's count was 57. Alas, 2011 saw visits to seven fewer counties.

I keep posted in my office a highway map of the Commonwealth and as each county is visited, I outline it in some way indicating the visit. At the end of the year, I number the counties tallying the visits. Moving from the left side of the map to the right, as Cawood used to say on WHAS when speaking of the University of Kentucky Wildcats, we begin with #1 which in 2011 was Graves County, home of Fancy Farm, site of the annual picnic for the Saint Jerome Parish Picnic. If I had trekked just three miles west of the little hamlet along KY80 I could have added Carlisle to the list, but, alas, I didn't. Moving across the map, the mid-points are, at #24 and #25, Spencer and Carroll, respectively. Spencer, adjacent to Jefferson, which is #18, and to the southeast, shows up regularly in the annual report. The Sixth Congressional District, as it is configured as of this moment, is well-represented on the charts. Finally, moving across the state to the east, Boyd County comes in at #50. Keep in mind, these aren't listed in any chronological order, just a listing. Last year's extremes were Fancy Farm in Graves County to the west; just north of Murray along the new KY 80 in Calloway County to the south; along Riverside Drive, Newport, in Campbell County to the north; and crossing the Big Sandy River on I-64 from Boyd County, Kentucky into Wayne County, West virginia.

Usually by this time in January I've already visited about ten counties for the new year. That isn't the case so far, as my visits have been limited to Jefferson (which is impossible to avoid), Shelby, Franklin, Woodford, and Oldham (recently with my friend Michael down along Rose Island Road). Shelby and Franklin were added on January 2nd as part of the Swearings-In of Kentucky's new Constitutional officers. In all likelihood, Hardin, Nelson, and Meade will be added this weekend.

I never really plan where I am going; I just plan to go.

Happy Trails to you for 2012.

718. The Twelfth Lesson

2012-01-05T23:38:00.001-05:00

A LESSON FOR THE TWELFTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, which is today, January 5th

As many of you know, I like to drive - a lot. In these trips, labelled in 2006 by the then-Yarmuth for Congress Campaign Manager Jason Burke as "nobling" it often appears that the drives are aimless wandering. I know my "greener" friends will not appreciate the idea that I like to drive aimlessly here and there. The truth is it usually isn't aimless at all. I often have a desitnation in mind, whether it be Frankfort or Perryville or Madison (IN) or Corydon (IN) or Maysville, as was the case a few weeks ago, or even Washington DC or Brooklyn NY. The wandering part comes in the route getting from Point A, somewhere near the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606, to Point B, wherever the destination might be. There is an entry on the blog called the Twelve Roads to Frankfort (or something like that). It could have just as easily been titled the Twelve Roads to Bardstown or Owensboro or wherever. Owensboro, technically, is not the easiest place to get to unless you are in Henderson or Evansville, just for the record.

In any event, I've known all along what the Lesson for the Twelfth Day of Christmas would be. It is a poem I've written about before on the blog, James Whitcomb Riley's My Philosofy. I learned it as an eight year old at the direction of my late great-uncle, Bob Lewis, Jr. I recite it all the time, to myself, and often to friends. I recently recited it at the 30th birthday party of Elizabeth Sawyer, a successor to Jason Burke as manager of the Yarmuth campaign. At the time I was with Kathy Wright, a Democratic Party activist from southeastern Jefferson County. It is my favorite poem.

Earlier today on Facebook, I rhetorically asked "who would provide the Twelfth Lesson?" I got feedback from several people including my friend Thomas A. "Tony" McAdam, who offered a 1925 quote from Lord Arthur James Balfour, "Nothing matters very much, and few things matter at all." I am familiar with that quote and really like it. I reduced that to the words from Bobby McFerrin's a capella song from September 1988 - "Don't Worry, Be Happy." McFerrin borrowed the line from an Indian guru/mystic, Meher Baba, who used it as part of his teaching in the mid 20th century. Interestingly, McFerrin's song and Tony's suggestion from Lord Balfour aren't far from the snetiments expressed in the poem which I knew would be the final lesson. Of course the poem is a much longer version, but it is one I have always known and somewhat followed.

I am understood by many to have a philosophy - I'm fairly liberal, fiercely partisan, and have sometimes been called a socialist, probably deservedly. I was so earlier tonight, in fact. But I have tried with great earnest throughout my life not to hold another's religion or creed or personal mantra or family status or any other distinction from having and keeping friends who are different than me. I believe I have been successful as most of my friends do share differences of opinions, beliefs, lifestyles, social strata, and many other measures of differentiation. I've never, or perhaps rarely minded. I am more of a process person than policy person. Sure, I support policy but I especially support policy if it is attained through the proper processes. I've been criticised for that over the years, most recently by Curt Morrison, but I haven't changed much in response to that criticism.

James Whitcomb Riley's poem has been a guiding light since the age of eight, which at 51 now was a long, long time ago. Here is the poem with its original rural gothic spelling -

MY PHILOSOFY

BY JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY

I ain't, ner don't p'tend to be,
Much posted on philosofy;
But thare is times, when all alone,
I work out idees of my own.
And of these same thare is a few
I'd like to jest refer to you--
Pervidin' that you don't object
To listen clos't and rickollect.

I allus argy that a man
Who does about the best he can
Is plenty good enugh to suit
This lower mundane institute--
No matter ef his daily walk
Is subject fer his neghbor's talk,
And critic-minds of ev'ry whim
Jest all git up and go fer him!

I knowed a feller onc't that had
The yeller-janders mighty bad,--
And each and ev'ry friend he'd meet
Would stop and give him some receet
Fer cuorin' of 'em. But he'd say
He kindo' thought they'd go away
Without no medicin', and boast
That he'd git well without one doste.

He kep' a-yellerin' on--and they
Perdictin' that he'd die some day
Before he knowed it! Tuck his bed,
The feller did, and lost his head,
And wundered in his mind a spell--
Then rallied, and, at last, got well;
But ev'ry friend that said he'd die
Went back on him eternally!

Its natchurl enugh, I guess,
When some gits more and some gits less,
Fer them-uns on the slimmest side
To claim it ain't a fare divide;
And I've knowed some to lay and wait,
And git up soon, and set up late,
To ketch some feller they could hate
Fer goin' at a faster gait.

The signs is bad when folks commence
A-findin' fault with Providence,
And balkin' 'cause the earth don't shake
At ev'ry prancin' step they take.
No man is grate tel he can see
How less than little he would be
Ef stripped to self, and stark and bare
He hung his sign out anywhare.

My doctern is to lay aside
Contensions, and be satisfied:
Jest do your best, and praise er blame
That follers that, counts jest the same.
I've allus noticed grate success
Is mixed with troubles, more er less,
And it's the man who does the best
That gits more kicks than all the rest.

*****

Merry Christmas on the Twelfth Night. Tomorrow is Epiphany. Thanks Be To God.

717. Gatewood - and a birthday

2012-01-04T18:41:00.004-05:00

Gatewood. You already know exactly who I mean if you have spent any time in Kentucky over the last three decades. I needn't give his first and last name - it isn't necessary.

My mother called earlier with the simple message, "Gatewood died." No explanation as to who she was calling about. And it isn't like she knew him, although like most Kentuckians, including me, she probably has cast one or more ballots in his favor on Election Days Past.

Gatewood Galbraith, of Lexington, died today at the age of 64. He was one of Kentucky's most colorful, insightful, and influential politicians never to hold office. As I said, everyone has voted for him for something, sometime. He ran for governor five times, including two months ago as an Independent.

Gatewood never hesitated to speak his mind and, perhaps, if he had four more elections to campaign in, he might have made it. What he did do was bring ideas and arguments to the table that otherwise would never have seen the light of day. Not all were good, nor were all bad. But they were all attention-getting. We will not be so fortunate to hear of his thoughts again.

Rest In Peace, Mr. Galbraith. You've got a whole new Kingdom to offer up ideas. God Bless.

*****

The only other news, outside of the GOP circus going on across the Republic, is today marks the Fifth Birthday of the blog. With today's post, we enter our sixth year. Thanks Be To God.

716. A Lesson for the Tenth Day of Christmas for The Iowa Caucuses

2012-01-03T21:52:00.002-05:00

A LESSON FOR THE TENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, which is January 3rd

Will Rogers, a beloved American actor, writer, and satirist, offers up today's quote - not necessarily "one to live by" on a regular basis, just one to ponder on the first day of Election 2012. There is probably a lot of truth in it. Briefly, first, about Rogers, he was born in 1879 in what was called at the time "Indian Territory." We now call it Oklahoma. He died in an airplane crash 55 years later in another soon-to-be-an-American-state, the "Alaska Territory." Of his Native American heritage, he once remarked, "My forefathers didn't come over on the Mayflower, but they met the boat at the shore." Here is today's quote:

"More men have been elected between sundown and sunup than were ever elected between sunup and sundown." (1924, The Illiterate Digest)

715. Happy New Year - a day late

2012-01-02T18:16:00.003-05:00

One of my seven faithful readers happens to be one of the biggest fans of The Beatles this side of Liverpool. Olivia Fuchs, who is otherwise an attorney, makes endless You-Tube posts, newsletters called the Bea-letter (or something), and other event-related comments about the Fab Four, especially as the Abbey Road on the River, conventiently abbreviated as AROTR in most of the posts, makes its way to Louisville late each Spring. Olivia, however, knows that while I share a great love for music in general, the Fab Four aren't among my favorites. That isn't to say I do not like their music. There are a few songs in particular I love - I Wanna Hold Your Hand and Twist And Shout come to mind immediately. Below is a quote from a different Beatles' song, one written by Paul McCartney with input from the late John Lennon. The song was written and recorded in March 1967 and released on June 1st of that year. The song is my story as it relates to the last few weeks. The quote below was the working title and it appeared on the Sgt. Peppers Lonely Heart Club album.

I get by with a little help from my friends. (1967)

Followers of my Facebook page may recall a status update of mine posted back around Thanksgiving. It expressed my concern, for myself and others of my ilk, who find the holidays - now thankfully past - difficult at best and extraoridnarily lonely at times. Yet, we manage to make it through the seven weeks or so from Thanksgiving to yesterday, New Year's Day. And, again for folks of my ilk, we could not do so without (more than) a little help from our friends. Late in the night, actually about 3:15 am on New Year's Day, one of those friends called me. It was a call I was hoping for, worried about getting and not getting, and most pleased to have received. The caller, Michael, reminded me of our friendship, the other friends I have, and the support they have all given me, some in large and known ways, others in the quiet corners of the season. Each year I do dread the holiday season. Thankfully, each year at this time I get by with a little help from my friends.

Thanks to all of you.

Happy New Year.

*****

Below are the full lyrics for the song. I'm going to work on the chorus in my own life for 2012.

What would you think if I sang out of tune,
Would you stand up and walk out on me.
Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song,
And I'll try not to sing out of key.
Oh I get by with a little help from my friends,
Mmm,I get high with a little help from my friends,
Mmm, I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends.

Do you need anybody?
I need somebody to love.
Could it be anybody?
I want somebody to love.

What do I do when my love is away.
(Does it worry you to be alone)
How do I feel by the end of the day
(Are you sad because you're on your own)
No, I get by with a little help from my friends,
Mmm, get high with a little help from my friends,
Mmm, gonna to try with a little help from my friends

Do you need anybody?
I need somebody to love.
Could it be anybody?
I want somebody to love.

Would you believe in a love at first sight?
Yes I'm certain that it happens all the time.
What do you see when you turn out the light?
I can't tell you, but I know it's mine.
Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends,
Mmm I get high with a little help from my friends,
Oh, I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends

Do you need anybody?
I just need someone to love.
Could it be anybody?
I want somebody to love

Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends,
Mmm, gonna try with a little help from my friends
Ooh, I get high with a little help from my friends
Yes I get by with a little help from my friends,
with a little help from my friends

714. 2011, briefly

2011-12-31T07:15:00.004-05:00

Today is the end of 2011. Thanks Be To God. I have had much better years in my life - 1977, 1978, 1985, 1991 (both very good and very bad, perhaps the worse), 1998, 2006, 2008, 2010. Toward the end, there is a trend, you might note. I'm ready to add to that trend and 2012 is promising.

A stroll back through 2011 is troubling on many fronts. Prominently, two of my friends were unemployed for large parts of the year. Thankfully, both were working as of yesterday. One of those will probably have to work today. I was unemployed for several months in 2003. It is difficult on everyone, disheartening, discouraging. I am hopeful 2012 brings, if nothing else - nothing at all, an improved economy for my friends and family and others.

Strolling through 2011 was for me meant to be something of a rebirth - the second half-century of my life. Rather than celebrate that new beginning, that renaissance, I have looked ahead to the end and for the first time in my life felt old. I hate that idea, I hate that prospect. I'm not prepared for such a station. And yet, there is little I can do about it, except, perhaps, work around it as long as possible.

Late in 2010, I was challenged by someone I no longer speak to (and I really am not happy that I have found it in me to no longer speak to someone, anyone, no matter who they might be), challenged to restart my life by doing new things, reviving old things, seeing new people, and generally getting on with my life. I've began to begin that process but such a beginning takes me back to the fact that I am not just getting old, but old.

Have I progressed? I suppose it is the eternal wish of humanity to move from one year to the next with some progress behind them as motivation to move ahead. This is how you feel in the late 20s and 30s and into your 40s. I know - I've been there and gauged that progress, or often, the lack thereof.

Yes, progress was made, but only in the smallest of gains, nearly imperceptable, and that is unacceptable. While not content with the progress, I am more content with myself than I have been in years, and that alone is worth celebrating. That isn't to say I've fully accepted that particular contentment, only to acknowledge it.

I wander out of 2011 alone at home. My personal friendships grew in small, small doses in 2011. I've ended the year on an upbeat note with one friend in particular, something for which to be thankful; and a downbeat note with another and in the latter must - must is such a strong word - yield to the idea that some gulfs are, in fact, to broad to bridge. I do not like that at all and reserve in a prominent and large corner of my soul wherein might be proven that no bridge is too far as this particular friend has been an exceptional friend on many levels for me in 2011 and I do not want to lose that relationship, not at all.

So, be gone 2011, be gone. You weren't all that bad, but certainly weren't much good. As my fourth grade teacher wrote every six weeks in the Conduct section of my report cards, "Room for improvement."

Room for improvement will be the purpose which sends me - and the world - into 2012.

713. The Twelve Days of Christmas - Lessons from Quotes

2011-12-25T22:32:00.016-05:00

PREFACE

There is that old carol which begins "On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me," which presupposes a true love, which I haven't. Still, I am offering below, one Christmas Day at a time - for the next twelve of the calendar - a short quote which has advised me, either in recent times or in the long distant past, or perhaps from the "dark vast and middle of the night."

A LESSON FOR THE FIRST DAY OF CHRISTMAS, which is today, December 25th

Today's quote is from Abraham Cowley, a 17th century poet from the City of London. It applies specifically to, first, the events of a party held at my friend Aaron Jent's a few nights ago. And twice now of the same person, the first being an Election Night party in 2010, I've felt some betrayal - which is far too strong of a word yet I can think of no other - by certain actions. Here is the quote --

A mighty pain to love it is,
And 'tis a pain that pain to miss;
But of all pains, the greatest pain
It is to love, but love in vain. (1656)

An other lesson from a quote will follow tomorrow.

A LESSON FOR THE SECOND DAY OF CHRISTMAS, which is December 26th

Today's entry comes to us from Stanley Kunitz, an American poet who died in 2006 at the age of 100. He twice served as the Poet Laureate of the United States, most recently from 2000-2001. He was a conscientious objector in the Second World War although he did serve in the military. Such status may offer insight to a line in his work called Foreign Service, which serves as today's entry.

Doomsday is the eighth day of the week. (1958)

I have not read the context in which the line is written, but it does work for me. There is no eighth day of the week. I am an optimist and have always been, although I am often a quiet optimist. For me optimism doesn't mean that things will always turn out well. It does mean that our lives have purpose and every event in them can be used for learning. Some of those events are not pleasant and others are as endearing as possible. Optimism lies in the idea that tomorrow there is more of life to be lived, and I think that a good thing.

An other lesson from a quote will follow tomorrow.

A LESSON FOR THE THIRD DAY OF CHRISTMAS, which is today, December 27th

Know your station.

Sounds a little elitist, I know. It can be, but it isn't meant to be. During the 1990s and the first few years of the 21st century's single digits years, I worked in the private sector for attorneys. One of those was Norma Miller. She was a school teacher-turned-lawyer who at one time taught at my alma mater, Durrett, as Norma Osborne. She offered this advice with good intentions. Know who you are, where you stand, and what you can and cannot get away with. She didn't mean to limit yourself forever to a station in life in which you are unhappy. Just understand there are processes which can move you up and down the ladder and one part of a trip in either direction is to understand your present starting point. Having been around some of both Louisville's wealthiest and poorest of people, and counting friends in both spheres, I've appreciated this advice. Unfortunately, I haven't always followed it.

An other lesson from a quote will follow tomorrow.

A LESSON FOR THE FOURTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, which is today, December 28th

For many of us, the image we have of Four-Star General George Smith Patton is that portrayed in the movie starring George C. Scott. I prefer to remember Scott in Dr. Strangelove, but that is a different story for a different day. Today's quote is from the general to his son, George Smith Patton IV, who was a cadet in the Army on June 6, 1944, a well-known day in American history. Among the advice given is the letter is the following:

"Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash."

This is another piece of advice I wished I had began following earlier in life. Calculated risks means just that - you've made a calculation as to the outcome of whatever, and assessed the risks of both success and failure and are prepared to live with either outcome. Being rash involves no calculations, nor any plans for either outcome. There is a reason Patton rose to his four-stardom. He assessed risk and executed. It is great advice.

An other lesson from a quote will follow tomorrow.

A LESSON FOR THE FIFTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, which is December 29th

In my Facebook profile you will find a quote of mine which reads "Remember your yesterdays, Celebrate your todays, Pray for your tomorrows." That quote is in the running to end this litany of "quotes to live by" and may show up again on the 5th of January. Today's, however, is a corollary of sorts taken from the Bard - I'm surprised it took me this long to get to Shakespeare. From his play King Henry the Sixth Part II, in Act IV, we find

"I will make it felony to drink small beer."

I'll be honest - I do not know the context in which the words are spoken. However, it must have been a common expression as it appears in at least two other of Shakespeare's plays, Othello and King Henry the Fourth Part II. I take it as an encouragement to celebrate life, something many of us at times fail to do. We know that we are appointed a certain number of days to live and to each of us once to die. The problem is we don't know when any of them are. Therefore, rejoice and be glad. Celebrate and enjoy. And while one should do all things in moderation, or so the saying goes, do not have "small beers." If your way of celebrating is drinking Diet Cream Soda, do so with gusto. If, like me, you like a glass of Merlot on the days which end in "Y" make sure you smell the bouquet and drink to the end. Some of you may be partakers of Kentucky's most infamous product, hemp, in its smoking form. Far be it from me to judge you for that either. The Gospel of Matthew, in fact, at Chapter 7, tells me not to. The point is this - we are all one in the eyes of our Creator. He did not mean for us to be gloomy or sad or mean or morose. "Don't drink small beer" is what he meant, I think.

An other lesson from a quote will follow tomorrow.

INTERIM OBSERVATION - I stated yesterday that I was "surprised it took me [to the Fifth Day of Christmas] to get to Shakespeare." Well, it didn't. The closing phrase of the Preface to this entry, written back on Christmas Day, is from, perhaps, the most well-known play in the world, a work of the Bard of Stratford.

A LESSON FOR THE SIXTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, which is December 30th

Today's "quote to live by" is from a Louisville native, Louis Dembitz Brandeis, nominated by President Woodrow Wilson as Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court on January 29, 1916 and confirmed by a strongly divided United States Senate on June 1st of the same year. Brandeis is one of the leading lights of American jurisprudence and liberalism. His face is familiar to eastbound Liberty Street drivers as one of the large murals adorning Louisville's buildings. And for those readers who wandered in and out of the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville, a small cemetery greets you at the entrance under the portico where the remains of Justice Brandeis and his wife are interred. The words and works of Justice Brandeis are many. For me, the following is an underpinning of my belief in government and liberalism.

"What are the American ideals? They are the development of the individual for his own and the common good; the development of the individual through liberty, and the attainment of the common good through democracy and social justice." (1915, True Americanism)

My seven faithful readers will recall that I have often railed against the individualism which has controlled this Republic for the last thirty years, "rugged individualism" fostered by a president who lead the country deep into debt and did very little to correct the problem he created - Ronald Reagan, one of America's worst presidents as far as the common good is concerned. And it is in this last instance where Brandeis guides us. The American ideal is both the successes of the individual and the common good. While Brandeis lists only one avenue for the success of the individual - liberty, he offers two for common good - democracy, and as a back-up, social justice. I have been in an ongoing conversation With a dear friend who has become enamored of liberty and individualism. And while I have often been frustrated by his beliefs, it isn't because liberty and individualism are bad. But they are if they stand alone. Standing alone they will lead to the fall of the Republic. We are well on the way. Restoration of the "good old days" will require restoration of both a belief in and support of the strong central government, one strong enough to provide for the common good of all 308,000,000 people who call themselves Americans, as well as one strong enough and willing to create and sustain social justice. That is my America and I believe it was the ideal America of which Justice Brandeis wrote.

An other lesson from a quote will follow tomorrow.

A LESSON FOR THE SEVENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, which is December 31st

John Greenleaf Whittier was a 19th century American poet, politician, and newspaper writer. O that we would have such people today. (As an aside, Louisville had a newspaper writer-turned-politician in Henry Watterson. I do not know if he was into poetry). Whittier was a native of Massachusetts and failed in his only run for Congress, which we are told led to a nervous breakdown. He also founded a political party called Liberty (of all things). One must wonder what this man of peace and ardent abolitionist wished to do had he been elected to the Congress. Today's quote leaves much to the imagination.

"For all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: 'It might have been.'" (1856, Maud Muller)

Most questions in life, ultimately, have only one answer from a choice of two, either Yes or No. Certainly there are shades of grey here and there, but from the ridiculous to the sublime, most answers end up being some form of either Yes or No. Yet, some questions go unanswered because they go unasked. We've all heard presenters make the statement, "there are no stupid questions" to which some will add, "only those not asked." Whether the topic be politics or religion or love, things either are or aren't, answers are either yes or no. The sole exception to this is mathematics, where it is my belief there is always only one answer, the correct one. Mathematicians leave much to be desired when it comes to imagination. I prefer those who, while fearing the answer, do go ahead and ask. I have tried to follow this maxim, often knowing the answer, especially when it wasn't the answer I wanted to hear. The lesson here is fear not to ask, and fear even less the answer. For some answer is better than none at all. A corollary for New Year's Eve, as I find myself single in the largest sense of the word, is "'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." This, from Tennyson.

Happy New Year's Eve, one and all.

An other lesson from a quote will follow tomorrow.

A LESSON FOR THE EIGHTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, which is January 1st

Today is New Year's Day, usually celebrated the night before with revelry and fun. I was among those reveling in fun well into the night. But we all have holidays all the time, and we are prone to celebrate them in our own private ways, based on a song or a scene, or a cold snowy day or a splash in the cooling waters of North Benson Creek on a hot summer day in our youth. I have all of these. Listening to Jackson Browne's Running on Empty immediately places me, sometime in the early 1980s, in Mary-John Celletti's old brown Mercedes she called Winston along the Old Frankfort Pike in Woodford County. Watching the Kentucky Derby on TV evokes memories of when I attended in person with regularity, along with my grandfather Dan Hockensmith, my uncle Noble Hedger, and another so-called uncle, Harmon Moore. I recall the deep snows of January 1994 and driving to work where my friend Evan and I played Jeopardy on the earliest of computer-based games. North Benson Creek, especially along the Devil's Hollow Road in far western Franklin County, has been a cooling refuge for generations of my mother's family - both sides - and I often swam there in my teenage years when I was chasing after a girl named Ann Rochelle "Shelly" Dean. Such thoughts bring me to today's quote, to wit -

"The holiest of all holidays are those kept by ourselves in silence and apart; The secret anniversaries of the heart." (c. 1879)

These words were penned by another of America's 19th century poets, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a native of the "Maine district" of Massachusetts, Harvard lecturer, and historical lyricist. He was born in 1807 and died in 1882. Many of us learned to recite a part of one of his most famous poems as part of our American Revolutionary History course, the lines from Paul Revere's Ride. "Listen, my children, and you shall hear, of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, on the Eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five, hardly a man is now alive, who remembers that famous day and year." We all have those "famous days and years" which we will always cherish in our heart, our own collection of these holiest of holidays.

An other lesson from a quote will follow tomorrow.

A LESSON FOR THE NINTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, which is January 2nd

One of my seven faithful readers happens to be one of the biggest fans of The Beatles this side of Liverpool. Olivia Fuchs, who is otherwise an attorney, makes endless You-Tube posts, newsletters called the Bea-letter (or something), and other event-related comments about the Fab Four, especially as the Abbey Road on the River, conventiently abbreviated as AROTR in most of the posts, makes its way to Louisville late each Spring. Olivia, however, knows that while I share a great love for music in general, the Fab Four aren't among my favorites. That isn't to say I do not like their music. There are a few songs in particular I love - I Wanna Hold Your Hand and Twist And Shout come to mind immediately. Today's quote is from a different Beatles' song, one written by Paul McCartney with input from the late John Lennon. The song was written and recorded in March 1967 and released on June 1st of that year. The song is my story as it relates to the last few weeks. The quote below was the working title and it appeared on the Sgt. Peppers Lonely Heart Club album.

"I get by with a little help from my friends." (1967)

Followers of my Facebook page may recall a status update of mine posted back around Thanksgiving. It expressed my concern, for myself and others of my ilk, who find the holidays - now thankfully past - difficult at best and extraoridnarily lonely at times. Yet, we manage to make it through the seven weeks or so from Thanksgiving to yesterday, New Year's Day. And, again for folks of my ilk, we could not do so without (more than) a little help from our friends. Late in the night, actually about 3:15 am on New Year's Day, one of those friends called me. It was a call I was hoping for, worried about getting and not getting, and most pleased to have received. The caller, Michael, reminded me of our friendship, the other friends I have, and the support they have all given me, some in large and known ways, others in the quiet corners of the season. Each year I do dread the holiday season. Thankfully, I get by with a little help from my friends. Thanks to all of you. Happy New Year.

(This entry will be amended and re-posted as the first official entry for 2012)
An other lesson from a quote will follow tomorrow.

A LESSON FOR THE TENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, which is January 3rd

Will Rogers, a beloved American actor, writer, and satirist, offers up today's quote - not necessarily "one to live by" on a regular basis, just one to ponder on the first day of Election 2012. There is probably a lot of truth in it. Briefly, first, about Rogers, he was born in 1879 in what was called at the time "Indian Territory." We now call it Oklahoma. He died in an airplane crash 55 years later in another soon-to-be-an-American-state, the "Alaska Territory." Of his Native American heritage, he once remarked, "My forefathers didn't come over on the Mayflower, but they met the boat at the shore." Here is today's quote:

"More men have been elected between sundown and sunup than were ever elected between sunup and sundown." (1924, The Illiterate Digest)

I find the quote appropriate tonight, even for a slight smile. At 7:00 pm CST, 8:00 pm here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606, and thus after sundown tonight and before sunup tomorrow, voters in the midwestern state of Iowa began their infamous quadrennial caucus where just a few minutes ago, it appeared to be a three-way tie between Congressman Paul, Governor Romney, and the latecomer, Rick Santorum. Santorum has never impressed me. Paul once held my fancy, but that was many years ago and until he disavows the racist and homophobic statements made in his name, I have no plans to ever support him again. I have spoken to one of his more ardent supporters, Preston Bates, on this matter and Preston agrees with me that Paul should say these were not his thoughts, words, or beliefs. Preston is, as we speak (and assuming he has told me the truth) working for the Paul campaign in New Hampshire, where voters will next week take to the polls in the latest installment of the long and winding road which will probably lead to the nomination of Governor Romney as the GOP standard-bearer. We'll see - the show goes on. Happy Election Year, 2012.

(This entry will be re-posted as an entry of its own).

An other lesson from a quote will follow tomorrow.

A LESSON FOR THE ELEVENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, which is today, January 4th

Gatewood Galbraith, who passed away today at the age of 64, was known to be something of a "happy warrior." Serious about his political platform, he was, as far as everyone seems to say, a very happy person to be amongst. Today's quote to live by, more for the Republic than any single one of us, comes from a man who was known in national politics as "The Happy Warrior," Hubert Humphrey, who is one of my personal political heroes. Humphrey lived from 1911 to 1978 and served as Vice President of the United States under LBJ, another personal political hero. Both before and after his term as Vice President, Humphrey represented Minnesota in the United States Senate. As we enter the 2012 election season, let's not forget these words, undated, offered by Humphrey -

"Compassion is not weakness, and concern for the unfortunate is not socialism."

All too often in the national discussion compassion is looked upon as weak and silly. It is a result of that "rugged individualism" that President Reagan, one of America's worst presidents as far as the core fibers of our democracy are concerned, taught us to be a good thing. It isn't. We are Americans first and individuals second. Our sovereignty is granted through our citizenship as Americans. Humphrey understood this. Socialism is basically a four-letter word in the lexicon of American politics. Yet, we have been practicing forms of it throughout the history of the Republic, all the way back to the Revolution when one famous American is said to have commented "we must all hang together or we may all hang separately." Socialism has moved into the way we help young people in college, help lead adults into home ownership, and provide medical needs to our elders. And while there is no doubt that corruption has bred itself into the system, and needs to be systematically removed, our way of life - our uniquely American way of life - has benefitted from the veins of socialism which course through our government. Most of the Republican candidates for president are working hard to bring to an end our American way of life. Humphrey would have fought those efforts, but also would have done so smiling all the way.

(This entry will be re-posted as an entry of its own).

An other lesson from a quote will follow tomorrow.

A LESSON FOR THE TWELFTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, which is today, January 5th

As many of you know, I like to drive - a lot. In these trips, labelled in 2006 by the then-Yarmuth for Congress Campaign Manager Jason Burke as "nobling" it often appears that the drives are aimless wandering. I know my "greener" friends will not appreciate the idea that I like to drive aimlessly here and there. The truth is it usually isn't aimless at all. I often have a desitnation in mind, whether it be Frankfort or Perryville or Madison (IN) or Corydon (IN) or Maysville, as was the case a few weeks ago, or even Washington DC or Brooklyn NY. The wandering part comes in the route getting from Point A, somewhere near the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606, to Point B, wherever the destination might be. There is an entry on the blog called the Twelve Roads to Frankfort (or something like that). It could have just as easily been titled the Twelve Roads to Bardstown or Owensboro or wherever. Owensboro, technically, is not the easiest place to get to unless you are in Henderson or Evansville, just for the record.

In any event, I've known all along what the Lesson for the Twelfth Day of Christmas would be. It is a poem I've written about before on the blog, James Whitcomb Riley's My Philosofy. I learned it as an eight year old at the direction of my late great-uncle, Bob Lewis, Jr. I recite it all the time, to myself, and often to friends. I recently recited it at the 30th birthday party of Elizabeth Sawyer, a successor to Jason Burke as manager of the Yarmuth campaign. At the time I was with Kathy Wright, a Democratic Party activist from southeastern Jefferson County. It is my favorite poem.

Earlier today on Facebook, I rhetorically asked "who would provide the Twelfth Lesson?" I got feedback from several people including my friend Thomas A. "Tony" McAdam, who offered a 1925 quote from Lord Arthur James Balfour, "Nothing matters very much, and few things matter at all." I am familiar with that quote and really like it. I reduced that to the words from Bobby McFerrin's a capella song from September 1988 - "Don't Worry, Be Happy." McFerrin borrowed the line from an Indian guru/mystic, Meher Baba, who used it as part of his teaching in the mid 20th century. Interestingly, McFerrin's song and Tony's suggestion from Lord Balfour aren't far from the snetiments expressed in the poem which I knew would be the final lesson. Of course the poem is a much longer version, but it is one I have always known and somewhat followed.

I am understood by many to have a philosophy - I'm fairly liberal, fiercely partisan, and have sometimes been called a socialist, probably deservedly. I was so earlier tonight, in fact. But I have tried with great earnest throughout my life not to hold another's religion or creed or personal mantra or family status or any other distinction from having and keeping friends who are different than me. I believe I have been successful as most of my friends do share differences of opinions, beliefs, lifestyles, social strata, and many other measures of differentiation. I've never, or cpehaps rarely minded. I am more of a process person than policy person. Sure, I support policy but I especially support policy if it is attained through the proper processes. I've been criticised for that over the years, most recently by Curt Morrison, but I haven't changed much in response to that criticism.

James Whitcomb Riley's poem has been a guiding light since the age of eight, which at 51 now was a long, long time ago. Here is the poem with its original rural gothic spelling -

MY PHILOSOFY

BY JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY

I ain't, ner don't p'tend to be,
Much posted on philosofy;
But thare is times, when all alone,
I work out idees of my own.
And of these same thare is a few
I'd like to jest refer to you--
Pervidin' that you don't object
To listen clos't and rickollect.

I allus argy that a man
Who does about the best he can
Is plenty good enugh to suit
This lower mundane institute--
No matter ef his daily walk
Is subject fer his neghbor's talk,
And critic-minds of ev'ry whim
Jest all git up and go fer him!

I knowed a feller onc't that had
The yeller-janders mighty bad,--
And each and ev'ry friend he'd meet
Would stop and give him some receet
Fer cuorin' of 'em. But he'd say
He kindo' thought they'd go away
Without no medicin', and boast
That he'd git well without one doste.

He kep' a-yellerin' on--and they
Perdictin' that he'd die some day
Before he knowed it! Tuck his bed,
The feller did, and lost his head,
And wundered in his mind a spell--
Then rallied, and, at last, got well;
But ev'ry friend that said he'd die
Went back on him eternally!

Its natchurl enugh, I guess,
When some gits more and some gits less,
Fer them-uns on the slimmest side
To claim it ain't a fare divide;
And I've knowed some to lay and wait,
And git up soon, and set up late,
To ketch some feller they could hate
Fer goin' at a faster gait.

The signs is bad when folks commence
A-findin' fault with Providence,
And balkin' 'cause the earth don't shake
At ev'ry prancin' step they take.
No man is grate tel he can see
How less than little he would be
Ef stripped to self, and stark and bare
He hung his sign out anywhare.

My doctern is to lay aside
Contensions, and be satisfied:
Jest do your best, and praise er blame
That follers that, counts jest the same.
I've allus noticed grate success
Is mixed with troubles, more er less,
And it's the man who does the best
That gits more kicks than all the rest.

*****

Merry Christmas on the Twelfth Night. Tomorrow is Epiphany. Thanks Be To God.

712. On the passing of Mrs. Violet Doyle

2011-12-21T19:35:00.004-05:00

In today's paper - or on the internet - you can read the obituary of one Mrs. Violet Doyle, 91, who died two days ago. The obit will tell you her occupation, that she was married to her husband for over 70 years, and that there are lots of family members left behind - besides her husband, children, and brothers and sisters, there are grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and a great-great grandchild. What it doesn't tell you is that she was my grandparents's neighbor, and thus mine, my brother's, and my mother's when I was growing up out on Whippoorwill Road in southern Jefferson County off South Park Road.

When my grandparents moved out to what was then (and remained so until 1994) a gravel lane off a new section of South Park Road, so new that it was still called New South Park Road, there were a few houses already erected on what was originally called Whippoorwill Lane but has come to be known as Whippoorwill Road. (Interestingly, most Google maps and other electronic media call it Whippoorwill Drive). Most the houses were built in the 1950s, a few in the 1960s, and one was moved in "over the barricade" in the 1970s from its previous location at Blue Lick Road and Maynard Avenue, in the path of the new Jefferson Freeway, now known, appropriately, as the Gene Snyder Freeway.

One of those earliest of homes along Whippoorwill belonged to a woodcrafter, or turner, named Foster Doyle and his wife, Violet, or Vi, both of whom were in the 30s at the time, the early 1950s. Vi worked "up in Okolona" as if it were miles and miles away as opposed to about a mile and a half at the local dentist's office, Dr. William G. Penny. Foster was known for the lathe that stood on the left side of his garage, where he worked out dowels and rods and, now and then, baseball bats for some of us kids. Mrs. Doyle, whose name was always pronounced as "Miz-Dull" by everyone who didn't call her Vi, which was most of us including my mother, was known as the lady who could cook most anything and was always offering up some dish to "take to your grandmother" or "down the street to Mrs. Rogers" or wherever.

The Doyle's lived at 9011, while we lived at 9012, which wasn't directly across the street as you might think, but one door over from directly across the street. My grandfather built the home in which I was raised, 9012, in the mid 1950s and other than the few years my mother was married to my father, she has lived in that home ever since. 9009 was directly across the street, the house belonging to the Kesler family. Mr. Doyle, whose name was properly pronounced with all the vowels, D-o-y-e-l, kept a fine yard and a fine house. Their house, in which was raised three children, one of whom, Jeannie, was my first babysitter, seemed a bit smaller than some of the others but the yard was majestic. Most of the yards along Whippoorwill are about 100 feet across and 220 feet deep, approximating a half-acre kingdom for their dwellers.

The Doyle's front yard was adorned with flowers, trees, and shrubs, all meticulously kept. For several years while a teenager, I cut their grass, usually making $4.00 and something to eat. Amazingly, after I moved away, Mr. Doyle returned to that chore and continued the yard work until past the age of 90.

The back yard was, for the most part, garden - lots of garden. I do not know what all the Doyle's raised, but it was a little of everything and a great deal of it made its way across the street to the Hockensmith and Noble household of five. And, all the years the Doyle's were there, the food kept coming. I especially remember pies - persimmons, pumpkin, cushaws, and other varieties. And there was the asparagus patch that Mr. Doyle began, telling me at the time that the good asparagus was five to seven years off, frankly an eternity for a young kid.

I cannot remember ever while growing up and for many years as an adult any time that Mrs. Doyle did not have food fresh from the garden, or fresh from the freezer, or fresh from the stove. She was a provider not only to her family but to her neighbors on all sides. It was all good.

As time took its toll, both Foster and Violet fell victim to old age in their late 80s, her moreso than he, as he survives as a man in his mid 90s, but in the frailiest of health. All of their children lived away for most of these years. After they both quit driving, my mother served as their chauffeur, taking them to the grocery, the doctor, and importantly, the polls. They each voted well into these final years. Mr. Doyle always allowed me to place yardsigns in their yard, which sort of surprised me given how well kept it was.

Finally, a few years ago, not many, maybe three, the Doyle's were moved away from Whippoorwill Road and into the home of their daughter, which I understand to be in Fern Creek. My mother visited a few times before Mrs. Doyle was re-settled into a nursing home where she remained until a few weeks before her death. Their home remained empty for most of that time. It was finally sold earlier this summer.

Mr. and Mrs. Doyle will always be remembered as good neighbors; good friends. Emerson wrote "The only reward of virtue is virtue; the only way to have a friend is to be one." These people were examples of Emerson's words. Rest in peace, Mrs. Doyle. And thanks for the meals.

711. Section 73; Section 228, and a visit to Choateville

2011-12-13T21:43:00.002-05:00

Section 73 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky reads as follows:

The Governor and the Lieutenant Governor shall commence the execution of the duties of their offices on the fifth Tuesday succeeding their election, and shall continue in the execution thereof until a successor shall have qualified.

Today was the fifth Tuesday succeeding the recent election for governor and lieutenant governor wherein the slate of incumbent Governor Steve Beshear and the former mayor of both the City of Louisville and of its successor-in-law the Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government Jerry E. Abramson defeated the slate of State Senate President David Williams and the now-former Commissioner of Agriculture Richie Farmer. As such, Beshear and Abramson today celebrated their inauguration by taking the celebrated Oath of Office, as prescribed in Section 228 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which reads, in part:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of this Commonwealth, and be faithful and true to the Commonwealth of Kentucky so long as I continue a citizen thereof, and that I will faithfully execute, to the best of my ability, the office of [governor, lieutenant governor] according to the law, and I do further solemnly swear (or affirm) that since the adoption of the present Constitution, I, being a citizen of this State, have not fought a duel with deadly weapons within this State nor out of it nor have I sent or accepted a challenge to fight a duel with deadly weapons, nor have I acted as second in carrying a challenge, nor aided or assisted any person thus offending, so help me God.

Both gentlemen having sworn or affirmed that they were in the business of upholding constitutions and not in the business of duelling with deadly weapons, even as a second, even in another state, they were dutifully sworn into office by the Chief Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court, the Hon. James Minton.

As I have done twelve previous times, I attended these ceremonies up and down Capital Avenue in Kentucky's very beautiful capital city of Frankfort. My first inauguration was for Governor Ned Breathitt as a three-year-old with my mother, Barbara Hockensmith, and her mother's aunt, Dorothy Borden Collins Austin Hedger, who, at the time, lived on Second Street just east of the VFW Post. The house is gone and the lot now serves as a parking lot for the VFW.

I participated in the inaugurals of three successive governors, Martha Layne collins (1983), Wallace Wilkinson (1987), and Brereton Jones (1991), although the latter was purely by accident, being invited at the last minute by a high-ranking official to whom I could not say no.

I was fortunate enough to have seats in the inauguration of Steve Beshear four years ago and even better seats for today's event, which I attended with my dear friend Michael (Eli) Garton, also of Louisville.

While there are at this hour festivities continuing, we have returned home, here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606. We had viewed parts of the parade, which included marching bands from 54 high schools across the Commonwealth and a total of 4150 participants. We were treated to some food and drink in several places, among which were offices of the House Leadership including Speaker Greg Stumbo (of Prestonsburg) and Speaker Pro-Tem Larry Clark (of Okolona). We also spent some time at the public reception held in the Thomas Clark Kentucky History Center on Broadway in downtown Frankfort.

Before leaving town, we dropped in on my maternal grandmother's younger sister, Frances Moore, 91, of Choateville. She was taking a break from making candies and bourbon balls for the holidays and chatted for about a half hour. We looked through a picture album from her 90th birthday event last Summer at the Choateville Christian Church where she has been a lifelong member. (Although my grandmother, Frances' sister, was not a regular at church, she was also a member of Choateville, having been baptised there in 1930). We talked about family, friends, and politics, all common themes in Frankfort talk. Politics is a mainstay in my family. Aunt Frances reported having retired from "working the polls" - something she did for 53 consecutive years in the Choateville precinct of Franklin County.

We've returned home and the Commonwealth goes to work tomorrow under the continued guidance of Governor Steve Beshear and his second lieutenant governor, Jerry E. Abramson.

Incidentally, the best line of the day came from the governor's speech when he said, "We need leaders who will build bridges instead of dams." So true on so many levels.

God Bless the Commonwealth.

Below is a picture from Kentucky's leading newspaper, the Lexington Herald-Leader, from the parade review stand of Mrs. Abramson, Lt. Gov. Jerry Abramson, Gov. Beshear, a Beshear grandson, and Mrs. Beshear, who was also celebrating her birthday today. An unscheduled part of the governor's speech was to invite the crowd in attendance to join him in singing Happy Birthday to Mrs. Beshear.

Photo from www.kentucky.com, the Lexington Herald-Leader

710. December 13

2011-12-13T21:03:00.002-05:00

Today would have been the 38th birthday of my dear friend Rob Spears. May he and all the departed souls Rest In Peace.

Joseph Robert Spears
December 13, 1973 - July 24, 1991

709. The advent of snow and other seasonal commentary

2011-12-07T07:47:00.005-05:00

Ok, it's December and I've been away for a while. I have had a few of my seven faithful readers ask if I have given up on the blog, a logical conclusion given I have made few visits here recently, or for that matter in a long while. The end of the blog shows the number of entries for each month and year and as we approach the fifth birthday of the blog, now less than a month away, the numbers - as they always do - speak for themselves. There has been a steady decline month-by-month, year-by-year. My hope is to reverse that trend and given that 2012 is an election year, and my highest numbers of viewers and page visits came in 2008, I am hopeful to get the blog back on track. Today's entry will be simply a few catching=up items and little more.

First, you all know I am a big admirer of the heavens when they open up with the white stuff. I cannot remember any year where we had to wait until December 7th for some of it to fall here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606, but that is the case for 2011. As I am typing, off to my right is a mirror through which I can see the weather outside to the north (along with the garage door and window, and the factory mill on the other side of the floodwall). And there it is - snow, glorious snow. I'm not sure if it was in the forecast or if this is just a few flakes passing through the area. In any event, now that I've seen the snow, I am a little recharged for the season.

Speaking of seasons, I snuck one in the title of the entry - Advent. In the liturgical calendar, we are in the season of Advent, the few weeks in preparation for the birth of Jesus and the concelebrated Mass honoring His birth - Christ's Mass, or Christmas, as it has come to be called. In Advent we wait, recall, preprare, and then celebrate. It is akin to Lent in preparation for Easter. I've written about Advent before and you can use the search bar at the top of the page to look at that entry. Christmas, then, and its "Twelve Days," arrives the night of the 24th and extends to Epiphany in the New Year. So, if any of you are out singing "On the First Day of Christmas, My True Love Sent to Me," you are ahead of schedule.

The immediate future has enough on its plate as it is. Today, of course, is the National Day of Remembrance for Pearl Harbor, a day which lives in the infamy promised to it by President Franklin Roosevelt in his speech after the attack, which took place seventy years ago today at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, back when Hawaii was still a territory, or possession, of the United States. On this day I think of my grandfather, Dan Hockensmith, who wasn't there but was a Seabee in the United States Navy during the Second World War, and loved to sing the Song of the Seabees, where one of the lyrics is "And we always will remember, the Seventh of December!" So, as I always do on this day, I am thinking of him and his war buddies, many of whom I knew when I was a little kid, almost all of whom have probably passed on to their eternal glory.

Next week marks the 23rd birthday of a favorite person of mine, Preston Bates, who is often mentioned in these entries as well as those of my Facebook page. Now, understand Preston and I are miles and miles, chasms, even canyons apart in our political beliefs. He is a libertarian of sorts and at times has called himself an anarcho-capitalist (although he has backed off that for the moment). I, on the other hand, believe in a strong system of governments at all levels, from the local municipality - something we gave up in a vote back in November 2000 (I voted NO) - to the County to the State and to the Federal, along with a willingness to work with other governments worldwide in an effort at peace and stability. Suffice it to say, Preston doesn't. But in our discussions, we find room for agreement here and there. Some of it is simply the experience of politics and government. There were many things I didn't do when I was his age that I wish I had of. One was to participate in a meaningful way in a presidential campaign at the earliest of stages. The only presidential campaign I was ever a part of to any degree at an early stage was that of United States Senator Paul Simon (D-IL) in 1988. That didn't get far, but it was fun and quite an experience. I've expressed to Preston that should he ever be offered the opportunity to have such an experience to do everything he can to make it happen, even if it is a candidate and party I could never support. And, I've promised to help him however I can. Irrespective of the candidate, the party, and the outcome, being involved in a presidential campaign is a near-unique experience and I hope he gets to live it. After all, in the 235 year history of the Republic, only 43 men have been chosen as a leader of the free world and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States of America.

A different discussion Preston and I had a few weeks ago at the Granville Inn on S. Third Street in the U of L neighborhood focussed on music and math, two things we both enjoy (in different ways) and can easily agree on. In that conversation, we discussed the relationship between the two, or even the idea that they are ultimately the same. A few days later I went to see a theatrical performance at the indoor venue of the Iroquois Amphitheater. The play called Broadsword, a production of a local theater company, Theatre [502], whose artistic director and one of the founders is Gil Reyes - see their website at www.theatre502.org. The play's run, locally, is over and I meant to post about it before it was over. The play is set in urban New Jersey and is centered on a reluctant reunion of a heavy metal band after the death of one its members. Pretty cool play but the thing that stood out - gave me cold chills, in fact - was one of the lines in the play wherein was discussed the relationship between math and music, mimicking the earlier discussion between me and Preston. It wasn't a theme, just a line in the play, but it underscored the proposition of that relationship that Preston and I had posited a few days earlier. As for Mr. Reyes, I've been following his work, or works in which he has been invovled, since about 2002 if memory serves me. It was through Gil I first met Stuart Perelmuter, another friend mentioned here and there in the blog. In one of Gil's productions, another friend of mine, Josh Peters (who celebrated a 32nd birthday a few days ago) played a key part. The Theatre [502] troupe produced three plays this year, two of which I had the good fortune to see.

That's all for now. I'll be back soon.

I would ask, since it has been so long since I've posted, that if you've read this far - to the end - please post a comment below - even anonymously - to let me know I still have some readership out there in the ether.

708. Theater Review - H2GT2G

2011-11-12T23:02:00.003-05:00

Tonight's activity was a visit to the theater, in this case The Alley Theater, which isn't a theater at all but a performing troupe which uses space in the nearby group of buildings known as "The Pointe." The Pointe is located not far from my house in Butchertown in a collection of old industrial warehouses which have been converted for a variety of uses, including at least one large hall which serves as a makeshift theater. The buildings are located on East Washington Street, just east of the R. J. Corman RR line and west of Cabel Street. "The Ponte" name probably refers to the name of an old neighborhood just north of Butchertowm, no longer extant, which was washed away by the Great Flood of 1937.

Lynn Fischer and I attended a performance of "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" which originally aired on BBC Radio 4 in Great Britain the year I graduated from Durrett. The series of radios and books has something of a cult following and there was a time I was an unofficial member of that cult. There really isn't a guide, per se, but there are radio shows, books, and movies, and this play tonight, which internally refers to a book entitled The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, sometimes shortened, as I have in my title, to H2GT2G. My seven faithful readers will know that I am fond of the play-within-a-play genre and this is a perverted twist on that, being that the title is that of a fictional book within the play.

The play as performed covers the work as performed on the BBC network back in '78, telling the story of one Arthur Dent, portrayed tonight by Kent Carney, a veteran of several local productions. The narrator of the play is acted by Alan Canon, a Louisville native. He also plays several other roles, all speaking roles, as this is a play about a radio show.

Another actor playing several speaking roles is Tom Dunbar. His various voices add to the fun of the play, from that of one of the other-galactic leaders to the seemingly simple scientist/engineer who had the job of "creating the fjords of Norway" as one of his projects in the experiment known as Earth.

The "love interest" in the play is Trillian, acted by Kimberly Taylor-Peterson, a WKU grad in Theater and Music, who has been involved in various performing companies here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606. Like the other actors, she covers several other roles in the play and other than Arthur Dent, Trillian, formerly Tricia McMillan, is the only other "earthling."

Another Louisvillian in the play is Scott Goodman, the love interest in the role of Zaphod Beeblebrox, to the abovementioned Trillian. His portrayal of a money-grubbing but somewhat shortsighted businessman is set-off by some extraordinary pants which no person should be caught dead in, onstage or off, something straight out of the late 1960s/early 1970s.

The title of the show refers to a book introduced to Mr. Dent by a alien who has inhabited the Earth for fifteen years in the person of Ford Prefect, named for a small car popular in Europe in the 1970s. Prefect is understatedly played, in the tradition of a good Britisher, by John Aurelius, who bears a striking resemblance to two friends of mine, Aaron Jent and Chris Payton. Aurelius (what a name!) is a recent U of L grad in music, and plays a recorder in different scenes of the play.

The play is directed by Dana Hope and the stage manager is Amelia C. Pantalos.

In the rear of the room, refreshments were available which included a nice Cabernet for me and a Chardonnay for Lynn. And popcorn.

This was a fun, lighthearted trip into the future and the past hitchhiking our way through the galaxy. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy was written by Douglas Noel Adams. He died in 2001 at the age of 49.

707. Beshear Wins! Ok, I got that one right; let's look at the rest

2011-11-09T16:54:00.003-05:00

In the previous entry I made several predictions as they pertain to yesterday's near-sweep by the Democratic Party of Kentucky's statewide offices. Let's see how I did. I will list the predictions followed by what actually happened. A quick look-see shows that I did not do well. Here we go.

I predicted the Democrats will win all races.
The Democrats won four out of five, losing the race for Agriculture Commissioner.

I predicted statewide turnout prediction of 28.2%.
The actual turnout was 28.63% statewide.

I predicted eighteen counties would have a greater turnout percentage than the state average which was 28.63. Below is my list, followed by their turnout. My winners are in bold; my losers in italics. I didn't do so good.
Anderson, 38.32; Bath, 22.54; Boone, 21.79; Butler, 25.11; Campbell, 25.76; Daviess, 30.09; Fayette, 32.74; Floyd, 22.84; Franklin, 51.17; Henderson, 26.28; Jefferson, 32.13; Kenton, 24.01; Meade, 29.89; Nicholas, 27.34; Ohio, 26.13; Oldham, 33.94; Scott, 32.21; Woodford, 40.33.

One of the several factors I use in determing "numbers" is a precinct, or in this case a county, which outperform the overall area in turnout. There are always the usual suspects - Anderson, Fayette, Franklin, Jefferson, Scott, Woodford, and a few others.

Here is the actual list of those counties which outperformed the statewide average of 28.63%, listed from a high in Franklin of 51.17%. I had said there would be 18; there were actually 53.

Franklin, 51.17; Elliott, 43.62; Woodford, 40.33; Cumberland, 40.09; Lyon, 39.33; Shelby, 38.57; Anderson, 38.32; Henry, 36.85; Caldwell, 36.13; Carlisle, 36.11; Monroe, 36.11; Ballard, 36.02; Marshall, 35.71; Taylor, 34.29; Powell, 34.13; Russell, 34.03; Oldham, 33.95; Hickman, 33.71; Spencer, 33.52; Graves, 33.51; Owen, 330.05; Crittenden, 32.94; Boyle, 32.74; Fayette, 32.74; Livingston, 32.55; Marion, 32.49; Scott, 32.21; Jefferson, 32.13; Harrison, 31.72; Bourbon, 31.43; McLean, 31.28; Jessamine, 31.02; Larue, 30.88; Clark, 30.71; Fleming, 30.71; Hancock, 30.41; Adair, 30.31; Nelson, 30.29; Clinton, 30.22; Daviess, 30.09; Metcalfe, 30.05; Green, 30.00; Webster, 29.94; Meade, 29.89; Washington, 29.70; Trigg, 29.62; Rowan, 29.54; McCracken, 29.52; Breckinridge, 29.45; Madison, 29.14; Hopkins, 29.09. If you ever want to know why candidates go some places and not others, the above numbers demonstate the reasons - turnout.

The bottom five in percentage of turnout were Lewis, 18.67; Bell, 18.64; McCreary, 18.45; Gallatin, 18.42, and the worst was in Christian with 17.80. In trying to find an excuse for Christian, one may argue that because it is home to one of Kentucky's two military bases, Ft. Campbell, that there may be a lot of disinterested voters on the rolls. But the other base, Ft. Knox, has residents in Hardin, Meade, and Bullitt, all of which posted turnout percentages in the high 20s.

While we are on the subject of turnout, I want to briefly relate a discussion I had very early Tuesday morning with my very dear friend Preston Bates. Preston and I are in philosophical agreement very little these days as far as partisan politics go. One of the points he made was the system is obviously broke if only 30% of the eligible voters are voting. He was calling on people to skip voting altogther to demonstrate the frailty, or failure, of the system. He made quite a few other points in the discussion but this one matters. Late in the night last night, I rehashed this idea of the 30% and the failed system with another friend, Charlotte Lundergan, and her mother, Mrs. Case. Mrs. Case, famous of late due to a political ad, is one of the two grandmothers of newly elected Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes. We had some interesting comments with respect to Preston's idea. He doesn't know it yet, but I am going to ask him to pen an op-ed piece for entry here on the blog. I hope he will take me up on the offer.

But, back to my predictions, bad as they were.

I predicted the governor and his running mate, His Honor the Former Mayor of Louisville-Jefferson County Metro, would prevail by a margin of 56.5 to 30 for Williams to 12.5 for Galbraith to 1 for all others.
The actual poll was Beshear, 55.72; Williams, 35.29; Galbraith, 8.99. Since no one filed to have Write-Ins counted, there is no number listed for them on the Secretary of State's website.

I predicted my friend Todd Hollenbach would win the Treasurer's race 55-42-3. Todd struggled to get out of the high-40s. His final tally was 48.77-46.61-4.62. The 4.62 went to Libertarian candidate Ken Moellman. his 4.62 probably caused the defeat of Todd's Republican opponent K. C. Crosbie, a Lexington council member. Mr. Moellman gets the "Bobbie Holsclaw" award as her candidacy in the Republican Primary for governor is the probable reason Steve Beshear's opponent was David Williams and not Tea Party Republican Phil Moffett.

Alison Lundergan Grimes, about whom I wrote at the beginning of her candidacy, was the leading votegetter for all the Democrats receiving 494368 votes, 30000+ better than the governor. Just as I did in the Primary, I ended my Election Night at her party in Lexington, and at an after-party at her parents' home. My prediction for her race was 54-46. She won 60.63-39.37. I was wrong again.

Jack Conway said in his victory speech that "reports of my demise were awfully premature." I've supported Jack in every race he has ran and will very, very likely continue to do so. But I was, admittedly, one of those people not necessarily predicting but deeply concerned about his poltical demise yesterday. One of my last texts as I was en route to Frankfort yesterday afternoon was to fellow political consultant Jonathan Hurst, wherein I expressed my concern for both Jack's race as well as Bob Farmer's, or as the text said "Ag or AG." I was, thankfully, wrong. I predicted Jack would win 53-47. He won 55.02-44.98.

I spent most of the afternoon and evening in the "war room" of the Democratic candidate for State Auditor Adam Edelen, whom I've known for almost two decades. Adam's campaign manager, Will Carle, made the request and I was happy to volunteer my time counting Adam's votes. My prediction for Adam was 55-45. I was off 3/4 of a point either way, to Adam's favor. He won 55.76-44.24. I'll claim a win here, the only one of the night.

My final prediction was in the Agriculture Commissioner's race where I had Bob Farmer winning a tight race 52-48. The race wasn't tight at all. There wont be a second non-farming Farmer in the Farmer's office. That race was won, handily, by James "Jamie" Comer, a 39 year old Republican legislator from Tompkinsville. We will be hearing Comer's name for many years to come in all likelihood. He beat Farmer 63.70-36.21, garnering 519183 votes, more than anyone on the ballot, something I specifically said would not happen - double loss. Farmer carried eight counties in the "old 7th" and Muhlenberg in the west, losing the other 111 counties.

All in all, other than the governor's race, the only one I really got close on was Adam Edelen's. I'll take that. In Kentucky, with the every-fourth year exception, there is always another election six months down the road.

706. Beshear Wins! - and other predictions. And polling location changes in Jefferson

2011-11-04T21:43:00.004-04:00

I am confident I am not alone in making the title prediction - Beshear Wins! There seems to be little doubt that the Bully of Burkesville will go down to defeat in next Tuesday's statewide elections to the incumbent governor, Steve Beshear - voted down by an electorate which every pollster and pundit predicts will be thin at best. There shouldn't be any long lines, or even short lines, at the polling stations, which are open Tuesday from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm, local time. A note on that - voters in eastern Breckinridge County, near Irvington, who unofficially follow "Louisville" time are voting on "Owensboro" time.

The Secretary of State is predicting a statewide turnout of 27%, a number which may be a little on the shy side if the weather is as nice as some are predicting - highs in the low 70s with sunshine and a slight breeze. Of course, here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606, the weather is subject to change between the time you vote for Governor and the time you vote for Agriculture Commissioner.

While I am not going to give any hard numbers in this entry, I am going to give percentages and we can come back later next week to see if my crystal ball is clear or cracked. So, to the numbers - or rather the percentages. I will state up front, I am predicting a slate sweep for the Democrats, something that hasn't happened since 1999.

First, I am predicting a statewide turnout of 28.2%. The following counties will have a percentage turnout greater than the statewide pecentage: Anderson, Bath, Boone, Butler, Campbell, Daviess, Fayette, Floyd, Franklin, Henderson, Jefferson, Kenton, Meade, Nicholas, Ohio, Oldham, Scott, and Woodford - a total of 18, meaning 102 counties will be at 28.2% or less, some far less.

The most recent polls have shown the governor with a high 20-something point lead. That number will narrow but remain in the 20s. My final vote percentagews for the governor's race are as follows: Steve Beshear 56.5%, David Williams 30%, Gatewood Galbraith 12.5%, others 1%.

Gatewood Galbraith will run second in at least four counties, maybe two more. Those four are Bath, Nicholas, Clark, and Robertson. Maybe Mason and Franklin, too.

Todd Hollenbach, the incumbent State Treasurer and someone I've known for about 35 years, will lead the Democrats in votes received, defeating his opponent 55%-42%, with a third party (Libertarian Ken Moellman) getting less than 3%.

Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Democratic nominee for Secretary of State, essentially an open seat and running against a Tea Partier Republican, will win her race by a 54%-46% margin. She is, obviously, the only woman on the Democratic ticket and is also the youngest, being in her mid-30s. She is an attorney in Lexington and is married to Andrew Grimes, who might one day be Kentucky's Second First Gentleman. Dr. Bill Collins was the first.

The other three offices are harder to predict. But, I'll try.

I've been a friend of Jack Conway's for about sixteen years, having been introduced by a former co-worker, attorney Denis Fleming, shortly after Denis went to work for Governor Patton. I've supported Jack in each of his races and this one is important. The Republicans want the Attorney General's office more than any other so as to use it as a launching pad for investigations into every possible event taking place in Frankfort, at great expense to Kentucky's taxpayers. Their candidate today famously received the endorsement of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin. Yes, her. She is so much a supporter of Jack's opponent that in her endorsement, a voice-mail recording, she mispronouces the Republican's name. Jack, of course, lost last year's United States Senate race to one of the strangest folks ever to hold office in Kentucky. I've heard far too many voters speak of buyer's remorse when it comes to the Junior Senator from Kentucky. I think this will help Jack in the long run. I beleive this will be the second most voted race, behind the governor's with Conway winning 53-47%, thus electing Jack to his second and final term as Attorney General. At just over 40 years of age, he still has a potentially long future in Kentucky's electoral processes.

The race for Auditor of Public Accounts, presently held by longtime Kentucky government insider Crit Luallen, puts Adam Edelen in his first race, although he has been around Kentucky politics since he was in high school, which was about the time I met him. He was then working as an intern with the Kentucky Democratic Party when our local Jefferson County Democratic Party had its offices in the Mid-City Mall, in the space now occupied by the Shelby-Highlands Branch of the Louisville Free Public Library. His co-intern was a young man named Aaron Horner. Both, with me, have remained good friends over the nearly two decades which has passed from then to now. But Adam has been largely in the background, a loyal stormtrooper for the Democrats and rising to the highest level a background person possibly can, as Chief-of-Staff to the Governor, a position he held until resigning to run for this current seat. Adam is originally from nearby Meade County and is a graduate of Saint Xavier here in Jefferson County. This race is tighter than it should be given the respective resumes of the candidates. Adam wins 55%-45%, or maybe 54%-46%.

Finally we have a race for Agriculture Commissioner. For the last eight years Kentucky's Ag-Commissioner, as it is commonly called, has been held by a Kentucky sports hero, Richie Farmer, Republican of Clay County, formerly wearing the #32 basketball jersey at the University of Kentucky. Richie wasn't a farmer when he got elected and being in statewide office hasn't seemed to help him this year in his bid for lieutenant governor with the Bully from Burkesville. And, the truth is, neither the Commonwealth nor the office of Agriculture Commissioner has suffered greatly under Mr. Farmer, if you don't count a missing refrigerator, from its representation by a non-farmer, even a sports hero named Farmer. In truth, the office is a marketing vehicle for Kentucky products of all kinds, with some other odd and scattered duties here and there.

Almost comically, the Democrat running to replace the Republican Farmer in the Ag Comm spot is a man named Farmer, who like Richie, is not a farmer but a marketer. Bob Farmer has long been involed in marketing various aspects of Kentucky from his professional offices in downtown Louisville. Now he is seeking to bring that expertise to a statewide level. His opponent is a little known legislator from southern Kentucky. Four years ago, the winner of this race received more votes than any other candidate on the ballot. That will not be the case in 2011. I expect Bob Farmer to be elected by a 52%-48% margin.

*****

So, those are my numbers. I'll be in Frankfort, and later Lexington, on Election Night counting votes and celebrating an across-the-board win.

*****

Finally, ten precincts, all generally supportive of Democrats, have had their polling location changed for Tuesday's election. They are in South Louisville, the Highlands, and Clifton. Here is the list:

G111 and G112, in the Deer Park area of the Highlands, moves from Bellarmine (Knights Hall) to Highland Middle School, less than a two blocks away at 1700 Norris Place. Each of these are heavy voting precincts.

I105 and J101, south of Churchill Downs, move from Most Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church at 3509 Taylor Boulevard to Carlisle Avenue Baptist Church, 3526 Taylor Boulevard, which is cater-corner from the former location. There is a stoplight to safely cross the street.

I110, in the Beechmont neighborhood, moves from the Louisville Fire House at S. 5th Street and W. Ashland Avenue, two blocks southeast to the Beechmont Baptist Church, 4574 S. 3rd Street.

I114, just south of the above precinct, is moved from the Gateway Community Church at 4623 Southern Parkway one block east to the Beechmont Baptist Church, 4574 S. 3rd Street.

L117, L118, and L119, all in the Clifton/Veterans Hospital area, move from Saint Leonard School, at the top of Zorn Avenue, to the Louisville Visual Art Building, more commonly known as the Louisville Water Tower, on River Road. This is a huge move down the hill about a mile away and will probably hurt turnout in these precincts. They should say the poll is at the Water Tower as very few people know the building by the other name. Also, while the address is 3005 River Road, the building itself sits about 1/3 mile north of River Road. This move should be rescinded if at all possible.

N130, also in the Zorn Avenue area, has its poll moved from the Lebanese American Club at 3020 River Road to the Mockingbird Valley Soccer Club, a huge non-descript building at Mellwood and Zorn avenues, south of I-71.

For any information on voting, the phone number for the Jefferson County Board of Elections is 502-574-6100. Their website is www.jeffersoncountyclerk.org.

Vote Early, Vote Often.

705. Puzzle Solved!

2011-11-03T17:28:00.002-04:00

When I posted entry #704 back on October 10th, I never dreamed that it would go unanswered for such a long period of time. I've been quite busy with other things and have basically ignored the blog with the puzzle unsolved. October 2011 was one of my worst months as far as visits are concerned, scoring only 651, a number which has been surpassed in all but the earliest months of the blog nearly five years ago.

But I know that several of my 651 viewers in October were some of my seven faithful readers, several of whom regularly make attempts at solving the puzzles. A number of them, including one whose surname provided us with one of the answers, let me know they had given it the old college try but eventually gave in.

A sweet irony is that five of the people with whom I have spoken to about the puzzle are directly related to the theme of the puzzle, and a sixth wants to be as he is a candidate in next year's elections.

Today all the puzzling came to an end as one of my dearest friends, identified only as Garton in his response, came in with the answer. He later expanded on the answer in a phone-text, finally identifying the theme.

Garton, whom I call Michael, and who, at least on Facebook calls himself Eli, offered most of the street-names as well as identifying the groups.

To wit, Democratic Metro Council members, Republican Metro Council members, and the mayor. Remember, the title was street names in the news. Most of you might know that I have been preoccupied for just over a year with the redistricting of the Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Council based on the returns from the April 1, 2010 United States Census. The answers to the questions are streets in Louisville-Jefferson County Metro which happen to coincide with names of Metro's elected officials.

Here are the answers:

GROUP ONE - Democratic Council members.
#1 - Johnson Road in Eastwood; Johnson Street in Butchertown; Councilman Dan Johnson (D-21).

#2 - Hamilton Avenue; Councilwoman Cheri Bryant Hamilton (D-5). The mills are located on Barret Avenue in the 500 block, just north of East Broadway.

#3 - Butler Court off Klondike Lane; Butler Road in Shively; Councilwoman Marianne Butler (D-15).

#4 - James Road off Phillips Lane in the old Ashton-Adair area, once famously declared "blighted" by the Regional Airport Authority; another James Road near Lindsay Avenue in Clifton; Councilman David James (D-6).

#5 - Henderson Avenue and Lane in SW Jefferson County turns out to be something of a mistake. It is a private road off Dixie Highway which appears on very few maps; Henderson Avenue in the Prestonia neighborhood off Belmar Drive; Councilman Bob Henderson (D-14).

#6 - I made an error here as it is a street and not an avenue. Owen Street; Councilman Tom Owen (D-8).

#7 - Welch Drive, off Penile Road; Councilwoman Vicki Aubrey Welch (D-13).

#8 - Ward Avenue in Middletown; Councilwoman Tina Ward-Pugh (D-9), hence only half-credit. To my knowledge, there is no right-of-way in the Metro area named Pugh.

GROUP TWO - Republican Council members
#1 - Fleming Road near Atherton High School; Fleming Avenue in Clifton, not far from James Road; Councilman Ken Fleming (R-7).

#2 - Benson Court and Benson Lane, both off Deering Road as mentioned; Councilman Stuart Benson (R-20).

GROUP THREE - Mayor of Louisville-Jefferson Coumty Metro
#1 - Fischer Avenue in Germantown; Mayor Greg Fischer (D-Louisville). Struck Avenue is now called Rufer Avenue.

*****

Thanks for playing and thank you to Michael for getting the answers.

704. [Street] names in the news; HL 21 revealed

2011-10-10T07:20:00.001-04:00

First, the previous Hidden Location Quiz was solved by Marty Meyer. He correctly identified the intersections of Gray and Clay streets and Payne and Pine streets. Remember, this was a phonetic contest. Gray and Clay are Jefferson County's only two intersecting streetnames which perfectly rhyme. Payne and Pine represent the same consonant sounds with two different long vowel sounds. I thought it was a cute contest.

Below is another one. I'm going to describe several street descriptions, but you have to figure out what they are. Remember, these are [street] names in the news. This puzzle will be most easily answered by residents of Louisville-Jefferson County Metro.

The descriptions are being intentionally grouped a certain way so as to serve as a hint. And while we could have included plural versions or possessive versions of these names, we chose not to. Once you start getting a few, the rest will be easy.

GROUP ONE
#1 actually has two entries, a Road and a Street. The road is in far-eastern Jefferson County in the Eastwood community. It shows up on maps as a state highway. The street is in the Butchertown neighborhood.

#2 is a short, dead-end Avenue in the Tarascon Woolen Mills subdivision. Much of the woolen mills buildings are still extant and many downtown residents pass them daily.

#3 also has two entries, a Road and a Court. The court is part of the Midlane Park subdivision. It is a dead-end with single family homes at the beginning and apartment buildings in the cul-de-sac. The road is in the Heatherfields subdivision off Crums Lane in Shively.

#4 also has two entries but one of them has been largely abandoned because of noise. Both are Roads. The first in the old Ashton-Adair neighborhood. The second is a short street in the Bell Court (also spelled Belcourt) subdivision near Indianola.

#5 has three entries of which two are connected to each other, an Avenue and a Lane. They are in far-southwestern Jefferson County and all the properties on them are owned by one of two families, Alwes and Gunter. The other, also an Avenue, is in what I call the Prestonia neighborhood but what most people call the Belmar neighborhood which was a later name for the same area.

#6 is an old Avenue is one of the oldest parts of town, Portland. It runs for about eight blocks, with a few breaks, some of which is in the Slevins Addition subdivision.

#7 is a very rural Drive in the southern part of the county settled up against the Jefferson Memorial Forest.

#8 will only get you half-credit. There is no answer to the other-half of the clue. But the first-half is an Avenue in the Middletown area, built up with a combination of houses and condos.

GROUP TWO
#1 has two entries, a Road and an Avenue. The road is in the Highlands, in different sections of the Valley Vista subdivision, including one section known as Tecumseh. The avenue in the Clifton neighborhood, specifically in what was laid out as McAllister's East subdivision.

#2 has two entries, a Court and a Lane, connected together and a part of the Golden Meadows subdivision off Deering Road near a church formerly known as Our Lady of Consolation.

GROUP THREE - can one make a group?
#1 is an Avenue in an area developed by the German Real Estate and Building Company. I do not know if that word "German" is an adjective for a native of Germany or a proper name. The former is typically pronounced with a "J" sound, the latter, a local common name, pronounced with the gutteral "G" sound. One of the streets intersected by this avenue was once known as Struck Avenue, but is no more.

Your only other clue is there are no answers for the descriptions not listed, including the other-half of Group 1, #8.

Have fun.

Unrelated, today is the birthday of a dear friend, Morgan Ransdell. Happy Birthday, Morgan.

AMENDED CLUE - "Your only other clue is there are no answers for the descriptions not listed, including the other-half of Group 1, #8."

This puzzle could have had a total of 27 answers, 28 if you count the other-half of Group 1, #8.

703. Someone in Bingen, Washington viewed our #100,000th page.

2011-09-29T07:05:00.002-04:00

It has been a while since I mentioned some of the cities and towns which are home to persons making a visit here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606. We have viewers from all over the world, in addition to the seven faithful readers who seem to be from either Louisville, Lexington, Murray, or Frankfort in Kentucky, along with Bloomington IN, Mountain View CA (home of Google), and Washington DC. We've recently had viewers from some relatively unknown places like Grass Valley in northcentral California (pop. 13000) and home to the Holbrooke Hotel [in the aboveleft picture], Gerrardstown in West Virginia's far eastern pandle county of Berkeley (pop. 3600, and a few others. We're very thankful for all our readers, even on those days where only four people visit, which happened recently. According to the people-ticker, our current avergage daily number of visits is 27. It has been as high as 84 back in October and November of 2008. So, whoever you are and from wherever you reside, welcome.

Now and then, however, we pass a benchmark and such was the case four days ago when a reader from the very small community of Bingen, Washington became the blog's 100,000th page viewer. Woohoo. I have to admit I had never heard of Bingen, Washington, which is on the Columbia River in the southcentral part of the state on the Oregon border opposite the much larger city of Hood River.

One of the main streets in Bingen is the Lewis and Clark Highway, names all of us here in Louisville, Clarksville, and Jeffersonville recognize. The men who left from the banks of the Ohio River, the Corps of Discovery, in 1803 at some point passed the site of present day Bingen.

According to the 2010 census, Bingen has 712 residents, which is about the same size as the City of Seneca Gardens, precinct G-161, on the northside of Taylorsville Road. Unlike Seneca Gardens, Bingen has several large marinas on the river, the Gorge Heritage Museum [see picture at right], an AmTrak station - YES, AN AMTRAK STATION, and Daubenspeck Park, where a few weekends ago they celebrated the 50th Annual Huckleberry Festival. That's about all I can tell you about Bingen. I doubt I'll ever visit, but it seems like a nice place.

So, to whoever it was that turned the Page View clicker over to 100,000, thank you. And, please, come back again.

Hidden Location #21 - A Study in Phonetics

2011-09-28T19:21:00.003-04:00

Below are two intersections. I chose these intersections for their phonetic peculiarities, peculiarities I believe to be unique in Jefferson County's street grid. I won't say what those peculiarities are because that would be too much of a clue in identifying them. I will say that they are about one mile from each other, although they aren't in the same neighborhood or zip code. That's the extent of your clues.

Identify the locations and you will understand the peculiarities. Identifying the peculiarities would help you cite, or site [in this instance either verb works] the locations. It is important that you name both streets in the intersection and in doing so you will understand why.

Please answer in the comments section below this entry. I will name the winner based on posts here on the blog as opposed to overthere in 1984-land on Facebook.

Also, Michael Garton is not eligible to answer as he and I made an extensive walking tour of one of these sites.

Good luck.

702. John David Dyche, another Republican seeking to limit democracy

2011-09-21T20:09:00.004-04:00

Last Tuesday, September 13, 2011, in a copyrighted story in the Courier-Journal, their McConnell apologist-cum-columnist John David Dyche warns of a "dreaded day" when people armed so heavily with voting rights will turn to violence in the streets, becoming clamorous, and look upon property as its "prey and plunder," once again demonstrating that when Republicans want your attention, it is mostly through the use of scare tactics and hyperbole that they will get it.

For a moment let's look beyond Mr. Dyche's idea that the property-less should also be the vote-less, meaning that those in nursing homes can't vote, those in college dorms can't vote, those older adults living with their children in "mother-in-law" apartments can't vote, those divorced or separated children who've returned home to Mom and Dad can't vote, those who live (and work) in long-haul semis and waterborne barges, moving America's products from sea to shining sea can't vote, and so many more he (and many Republicans) wish to eliminate from the voters rolls, let us look for a moment at the people he cited in his article as supporting such an idea.

As most Republicans do when wanting to harken back to the good ol' days, he first cites "The Founders." They use to call them the "Founding Fathers" but Dyche here engages in political correctness, something his ilk usually ridicules when used by others, leaving off the gender identifying noun "fathers."

Would that those in the halls of power today were as formidable a group as "The Founders," to use Mr. Dyche's PC-touched phrase. Thirty-three had served in the Revolutionary War. How many of today's politicians served in any war, or for that matter, in any branch of active service? Forty-two had attended the Continental Congress, and two had signed the Declaration of Independence; two would go on to serve as U.S. presidents, sixteen as governors, and two as chief justices of the United States. They were an unusual group of leaders who, on average, were in their early 40s. The notable exception was Ben Franklin. And, they were all male and all white. Their beliefs were governed by a world which was governed by white males. Naturally, some of their decisions were improper and we've corrected those over the years. Mr. Dyche, hoping to avoid being called racist or sexist (and he may not be), rightfully points out that limitations based on race and sex were wrong and have rightly been reformed. And at that point he begins his elimination of the franchise by saying that others - plural - other restrictions "made sense and merit reconsideration."

Since the only two restrictions he defines as being illegitimate are sex and race, one is left to believe that Mr. Dyche is approving of any and all other restrictions Americans have which would restrict their access to the ballot box.

He then goes on to outline one in particular, property ownership, which deserves reconsideration.

His first "witness" for his argument is British Commissary General Henry Ireton. Ireton married into the Cromwell family in England in the mid-17th century. One would think as Oliver Cromwell's son-in-law and heir to his political gains, that out of duty he would be supportive of Cromwell's policies. But, at discussions at the time, he supported retention of kings, nobles, and commoners - antithetical to Cromwell's plans. He called for a constitutional monarchy. (This may be why Dyche, a McConnell-ite, is drawn to him). But he was also antagonistic to the king, Charles, and eventually worked to overthrow him. Ireton was ruthless in battle, known to have executed those who stood in his way or supported the wishes of the king. He is known to have driven the Irish cities of Waterford and Limerick to famine and to have killed or killed himself several dignitaries of Limerick, including an alderman; Terence O'Brien, the Catholic Bishop of Limerick; and many others. Upon the restoration of the English monarchy, nine years after Ireton had died, his body was exhumed and summarily executed for his crimes against England. Such is the type of person Dyche would have us follow.

Mr. Dyche's next witness is a far cry from the rebellious Ireton. James Kent was and is a well respected jurist from New York who flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, leaving his mark on a great deal of New York and American jurisprudence. He was the first law professor at what would become Columbia University and was a Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court. Mr. Dyche quotes Kent as saying "The tendency of universal suffrage is to jeopardize the rights of property, and the principles of liberty." Mr. Dyche and his ilk love to use the word "liberty" when and wherever they can. Justice Kent made this statement in the 1777 New York State Constitutional Convention. It seemingly advises against widespread suffrage. Another statement made by Kent is one Mr. Dyche obviously chose not to use because it served the exact opposite purpose. Just as "The Founders" had some restrictions which were "rightly reformed" by later decisions, Justice Kent had by 1821 changed his mind on suffrage. In the 1821 New York State Constitutional Convention, Kent was again a member. And this time his statement, specifically speaking against a movement to take the vote away from African-American property owners, was as follows, "we did not come to this convention to disenfranchise any portion of the community, or to take away their rights." Other than the idea that it clearly did not serve his purpose, one must wonder why Mr. Dyche chose to ignore this statement of Justice Kent.

Mr. Dyche's next witness for disenfranchisement is Daniel Webster. Little research is needed to point out the flaw with the particular statement Dyche chose as representation for Webster's views. "Those who have not property . . . cannot be favorable to laws made for the protection of property." There is no argument with such a statement and if property were the sole purpose of our separation from England, then its inclusion in Mr. Dyche's essay would be understandable. But our Constitution's protections in the Fourteenth Amendment didn't stop with the word property. That sentence, which neither Mr. Dyche nor Sen. Webster seems concerned with states " [N]or shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law . . ." Is Mr. Dyche concerned about life and liberty, in addition to property?

We know that Daniel Webster was, in fact, concerned with far more than property. One type of "property" at the time was slaves. Webster is known to have bought the freedom of (at least) three slaves, a woman named Monica McCarty, a man known only as Bean, and a man who worked in the White House and was once owned by Dolly Madison named Paul Jennings. However his good work is marred somewhat by his support of the Fugitive Slave Act, a part of the Compromise of 1850, generally attributed to Kentucky's Henry Clay. While it is unknown whether Monoca McCarty or Bean ever enjoyed the freedom to vote, Paul Jennings, as a resident of Washington DC until 1874 did, thanks in part to Daniel Webster.

The inimitable John Randolph is then quoted by Mr. Dyche for a few lines aimed mostly at those receiving government benefits of some kind. Randolph, a Virginian, does come close to the current mood and movement of those for whom the government is too big. He was a classic libertarian before such a thing existed. Mr. Dyche has expanded from a few sentences Randolph spoke against falling under the control of "King Numbers" into an ecstatic manifesto against anyone and anything on the public dole. But there is, to my knowledge, no clear connection between Randolph's sincere abhorrence of "King Numbers" and any desire on Randolph's part to limit participation in voting to the propertied class. Mr. Dyche here veers off of his original premise into the larger (and popular) argument of some present day anarchists - my friend Preston Bates comes to mind - who believe that government - any government - is a problem. King Numbers is the government itself, not the poor huddling masses called to be served by it. I believe Mr. Dyche has misappopriated the words of a man who probably is close to him in political philosophy. But the misappropriation is actually a broadside against the New Deal, the Great Society, and other programs created and passed to make better the lives of as many Americans as possible. These are commitments America owes to its citizens.

Big government is the object against which Mr. Dyche is truly writing. It is no secret that he and his Party favor a smaller government, with fewer laws, fewer restrictions, and fewer taxes. But, over the years our government has expanded, by the will of the people through the votes of the Congress. Part of that will, that of providing what Republicans and Libertarians like to call "entitlements" but what others like to call "commitments made and expected to be kept," has gotten our Republic into a sea of Red Ink over the years. The ink never dries as the Congress, which has the sole power to tax the citizens to pay for the programs it has approved, has failed in its mission of keeping up with its own priorities. We allegedly "misguided liberals" aren't blind to the current fiscal crises. We, in fact, believe that it was largely created by Republicans who insisted on paying for two wars over the last eight years, who enacted a series of tax cuts to the wealthy, and who in general are themselves blind to the current fiscal problems - read commitments - and ideologically opposed to correcting it.

And while Tea Partiers and others lament America's "high taxes" they ignore the reality that taxes are lower today than they have been for many years. And the Congress, whether led by Democrats or Republicans, is unwilling to cough up - in the form of higher taxes - the obligations to which it has bound itself over the years. The piper has come to collect his pay and few are willing to admit that we actually owe the bill.

Rather than face the reality of a bankrupt system, irrespective of who or what bankrupted it, Mr. Dyche suggests for the future a limited democracy of property owners only as the panacea for America's problems, including what he sees as its moral decline. He doesn't fully explain the connection but the implication is that those who own no property are guilty of the moral decline of America. I would argue, as did the Bible, that the love of money - filthy lucre - is the root of all evil. And as America is a country based on capitalism as opposed to some other form of government, we are pre-disposed to a corrupt culture, something Ben Franklin and John Randolph warned against - the root of all evil which is the love of money.

The dread day draws nigh when only the propertied, only those with money, control who we are, where we go, what we eat, how we work, what we read, who we date, and what we believe. This is a far cry from the concepts of communal harmony set forth in our Constitution, written and approved by those "Founders" Mr. Dyche cited at the beginning of his esssay.

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posteritym do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." One must be struck by all those collective, non-restictive words in this single-sentence preamble to America's bible.

How are the words "we," "Union," "common," "general," and "ourselves and our posterity" protected if only those select few property owners are allowed to govern us? To reverse the words of the jurist Kent, "would not the tendency of such an electorate jeopardize the rights of the non-propertied?" Using the logic Mr. Dyche has appplied, yes, they would. He would have all those without property governed solely by those with property. How does this promote the general Welfare of the citizens of our Republic?

Mr. Dyche didn't address that concern because for him and those of his ilk, it is not a concern at all.

And while I am not looking forward to it, I am waiting for Mr. Dyche's follow-up on the "other" restrictions he believes merit reconsideration. In the last sentence of his third paragraph is to be found the plural noun "others." Tell us, Mr. Dyche, how next you would restrict access to the ballot?

701. Variety Pack - HL#20 revealed; Fischer to Obama; A Man of No Importance; Redistricting

2011-09-21T07:13:00.001-04:00

HIDDEN LOCATION #20
Hidden Location #20 was promptly located in Camp Taylor by Nancy Howard, and properly identified by Fr. John Schwartzlose, Johnny to those of us who watched him grow up, as the foot of Indiana Avenue, where Belmar Drive and Lee Avenue intersect. I lived one door off this corner for seventeen years. I used to tell people I lived at the very bottom of Camp Taylor, which was true. Johnny grew up a few blocks down Lee and up the hill on Orchard.

At one time Indiana Avenue didn't end here. It ran along what is now called the 1600 and 1700 blocks of Belmar Drive out to Poplar Level Road. As a side note, for many years Belmar Drive did not have a 1700 block at all, as it does now from Fincastle Road out to Poplar Level Road. A second side note is that the Fante's house in the beginning of the 1600 block used to have a 1/2 attached to its address - 1603 1/2. It was renumbered sometime in the 1970s.

The other part of Belmar Drive, that from Lee Avenue westward back to Preston Highway was originally called Kentucky Avenue, one of several scattered around what was then rural Jefferson County. Another Kentucky existed in Fern Creek, another in Middletown, and two others, all in addition to the Kentucky Street in Louisville. When the Camp Taylor post office was annexed into the Louisville post office, Camp Taylor's (and Prestonia's) Kentucky Avenue was renamed Belmar Drive. Loosely translated, Belmar means pretty lake. One may recall that the area where Standiford Field, Edgewood, and the north end of Okolona now exist was once basically a swamp called the Wet Woods. Perhaps calling the street Belmar was an attempt at a euphemism.

FISCHER TO OBAMA
I've read some criticism and cynicism about the mayor's visit and chat with the president over the Sherman Minton Bridge, which has locally been dubbed Shermageddon, a name which at least four of my friends, and I am sure countless others, are taking credit for. I have to think about the president visiting Ohio and our neighbors in northern Kentucky, where very few people cast their ballots in the president's favor in November 2008. On the other hand, the two counties which are connected by the Sherman Minton, Jefferson in Kentucky and Floyd in Indiana, gave candidate Obama a 38713 vote margin over the very senior United States Senator from Arizona. [I have to admit the margin was all on the Kentucky side of the river. Floyd cast 3694 fewer votes for Obama than McCain]. As Greg is mayor of the largest city in this area of vote-largesse for Obama, I can't imagine anyone being in a better position to address the absence of traffic on the Sherman Minton than our mayor, who hasn't already offered up an opinion. And we know Obama likes Louisville. He was here several times as a candidate and once, on a beautiful September night in 2006, even before he was officially a candidate. And our side of the river is represented by one of his earliest supporters in the Congress, which can't be a bad thing. Our congressman alerted The White House to the situation twelve days ago and has been in constant contact with the Federal Highway Administation officials on a non-stop basis, and is bringing the top two from that department to Louisville in the very near future. The next logical person to get involved, since the two Republican United States Senators do not seem too interested, is the mayor. To the naysayers who have something nay to say on all-things-Fischer, give it a rest. Quite a few people in the community who didn't vote for him last November are having second thoughts, crossing over to his side. I will admit Greg and I do not entirely agree on the Bridges issue, although we do both support building the East End Bridge first. But our agreement ends there. He is supportive of a downtown bridge which I oppose. Where he stands on a Southwest bridge, an idea I've supported for a decade, I do not know. But, he is the mayor and I am happy to have him communicating with the president on our current lack of a second bridge across the Ohio.

A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE
Last week I attended Pandora Productions' 16th season opener, A Man of No Importance, with music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and book by Terrence McNally. Set in 1964 Dublin, it is a story of a man's sexual identity, church identity, hidden loves, and ultimately long-lived friendships. That's quite a few hot buttons to hit in one play, but it was all well done, moving, and enjoyable. Pandora's Michael Drury played the lead (and title role) as Alfie Byrne and it was an excellent perfomance of a tragic character. Although I've never had a sister, the role of Alfie's sister Lily, played by Tiffany Taylor, is an excellent role model and played as such. Alfie's love interest, Robbie, was acted by Jason Brent Button, the adorable blue collar worker who isn't quite the lover Alfie wants but proves to be a very good friend. Alfie's other more prurient interest, Breton Beret, was played quite well by an alluring Michael Mayes, a student at U of L. I know a lot of people recognized the character, the ploy, and the ultimate but sad reward of giving in to one's temptation, as Oscar Wilde counsels Alfie to do. The entire play has as a backdrop Oscar Wilde, my favorite playwright, and the name is, of course, taken from one of the great writer's plays. In the production, the presence (or ghost) of Wilde is played understatedly and dramatically by Patrick Brophy.

The entire cast is an ensemble of fifteen players, playing both their roles and those of their assigned roles of the play-within-the-play, Wilde's Salome, which causes problems for the players' venue, Saint Imelda's Church. I've been a fan of the play-within-the-play genre since my own performance in high school of a production called Here and Now. But, I digress.

I have to say I very much enjoyed A Man of No Importance. The other actors, besides those mentioned above, are Laura Ellis, Rusty Henle, Obadiah Ewing-Roush, Josh Richard, Bob Zielinski, Kristy Calman, Betty Zielinski, Chris Cook, Meg Caudill, Daniel Cooper, Anthony Ransom, Amos Dreisbach, and Blair Boyd.

METRO COUNCIL REDISTRICTING
Back on March 17, 2011, we learned that the official 2010 population of Jefferson County was 741096 people, and it is on that number that under state law the Council is required to reapportion its people into 26 districts of legally-equal size. The ideal population for a district is 28503.69 persons and legally-equal is a measure created by previous court cases allowing a difference of 10% of that number between the most populated and least populated districts. Redistricting is a fascinating once-a-decade project which purists love, I being one of them. Unofficially, I created a map of 26 districts, with some help from Ray Manley and others, back in May, a map which met certain requirements and parameters.

Once you agree on those certain requirements and parameters - that incumbents (of both parties) will remain in their respective districts, that districts with minority representation will remain (or achieve) minority-majority status, and that you will comply with all legal requirements, and that you will split as few precincts as possible - there really aren't very many ways to divvy a county up into twenty-six districts of legally-equal size. Most districts retain 70%-80% of their original territory, one way or another. There are exceptions in far southwestern Jefferson and susburban southeast Jefferson.

Metro Council President Jim King (D-10) has, since August, done an excellent job of bringing the maps from computer-images to paper and an ordinance will soon be introduced redistricting the Council constituencies. That map will look remarkably similar to one a few of my seven faithful readers have seen. I've very happy with President King's guidance on this very delicate matter.

Hidden Location #20 - Please answer in Comments below

2011-09-12T17:53:00.002-04:00

Here is a new Hidden Location, the 20th in our series. I'm hoping to stump you on this one, although it should not be too difficult. Good luck.

We Remember

2011-09-11T08:01:00.005-04:00

A Song
Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
Tis the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Words by Francis Scott Key

And a prayer
Lord, in the midst of our grief and the memory of our loss, we gather in your presence and remember: We have feared the terror of the night; We have seen the sacrifices of the brave; We have cried the tears of the lost, and we have clenched our fists and raged against the pain and damage. We have wept and mourned, lashed out and retaliated, we have healed and hoped. Now we gather in your presence to be whole and to walk humbly with our God as the years unfold.

For the families of the many victims we pray that by your mercy life may rise even from ashes. We pray especially for those whose lives are still broken by the tragedies of that day, and ask that by your grace and mercy tattered hearts may know your touch, healing their shattered spirits, reknitting for them a world of hope, and granting them rest from the fury and frustration unjustly imposed upon them.

In the many heroes who sacrificed themselves for others we see the face of Christ. Strengthen those who hold their memory sacred in their needs as you have strengthened all who lay down their lives for their friends.

We pray also for our enemies, Lord. And what we pray for our enemies you have also taught us to pray for ourselves: that they, we, and all of your creation may be free from the powers that turn blessing into burning; free us and them from all that warps our minds and turns to hate the love you intend for all.

Holy one, you are our God in trial and rejoicing. As we remember past tragedy, we seek your wisdom that we may proffer future blessings in your name. Now and in the years to come, help us to place our trust solely in your word and way, and not in imperfect paths of our own design. Our hope is not in the towers we build, or in the roar of war, or in the fervor with which we proclaim our outrage or our piety. Our salvation is in the way of your Christ, in your mercy, and in our kinship with you. Though we mourn and are poor in spirit, may we yet find your kingdom and be blessed.

Thus bless those who gather and remember this day. Bless those who seek the healing after the hurt, and grant us the wisdom we need in this year and all that follow: that we may reap what is of life even in the midst of death. In every circumstance, Lord, bless your people and your world that we may rest and rise, live and die and be reborn in the compassion of Christ. In so doing, may we live always as sisters and brothers at peace, healing a broken world. Amen.

Written by the Rev. Kent H. Gilbert, Pastor, Union Church, Berea, KY

699. A local theater review - Theatre [502] - from (Louisville's) Broadway

2011-09-10T07:50:00.006-04:00

Last night I went to the Saint Francis Building's Land of Tomorrow Gallery where in the southwest corner of the historic building at Third and Broadway is a space large enough to house a small theater setting and seventy or so patrons. I had expected a friend to join me with his friend, but neither did, so my viewing was solo, which was fine. As usual, I seated myself in the rear-left of the room away from the acting area, and not far from where a decent glass (or plastic cup) of red wine could be had for a few shillings.

The night's production was the second perfomance of the first show by a new Louisville theater group known as Theatre [502], making use of some local numbers of distinction, Louisville's area code, just as I make use of our location, at Milepost 606 on the Ohio River. Mat Smart's work The Debate Over Courtney O'Connell of Columbus, Nebraska (hereinafter Courtney) is one of Smart's many works in both full-length plays, a musical, and several one-act performances. This play has had recent performances in Minneapolis ealier this year by The New Theatre Group, and previously at the Cafe Metropol in Los Angeles, and originating with the Slant Theater Project in New York where the play's author is a co-founder.

I was drawn to the performance by its director, Gil Reyes, whose works, or at least a few of them here and there, I have been following for about eight years. A few of my friends have performed in his works and I've enjoyed seeing them on stage - both my friends and the plays. Gil is a graduate of Kenyon College and has also studied at Middlesex College in London. Locally, he serves on the board at Walden Theater as well as the coordinating committee for the Fairness Campaign. I've come to know Gil best through our mutual friend Stuart Perelmuter.

Courtney is played in two acts, the first in the present, the second about 117 years ago, and set in the town of Columbus, Nebraska. The first scene involves a debate citing an old morality law concerning consensual relations between a man and a woman where two men square off to receive the full attention of a woman, Courtney, one to whom she has enjoyed a short engagement, the other who has been her beau of many years. One is a rather handsome California rich-kid recently out of grad school with promises of money and foreign travel. (I meant to slip him my card as that would work for me). The other is a plain looking and spoken local boy, an hourly wage earner, and a long history with Courtney. The debate takes a turn when the theater patrons are asked to vote on which man gets Courtney's affection. The audience is asked to vote. Ballots and pens are distributed and votes are counted.

I suppose there could be three different outcomes to such a vote, with either man winning the vote or there being a tie. The play is presented with two of those outcomes.

The second act reverts back to 1894 and the genesis for the law creating the debate. A man not happy with the outcomes of his advances toward a certain woman takes revenge on her friends, killing (offstage) over a dozen women in a local factory. After some on-stage antics between two sisters, a would-be hero, and a barkeep, there is more rather stylistic bloodshed - no blood - and in due time, the local sheriff arrives and cites the need for a law to prohibit such carnage in the future.

The play is performed by three key actors and two others in minor roles. I've seen two of them in other local productions - Zach Burrell and Leah Roberts. Burrell plays the debate moderator in Act I and both the barkeep and the sheriff in Act II. Leah Roberts is the star of the show as Courtney. She returns (in drag) in Act II as Amos Morgan, the outlaw whose actions prompt the morality law. Drew Cash, who I recognize but I'm not sure why, is the California kid in Act I, returning in Act II (in drag) as one of the sisters, and as the would-be hero by the name of Sherman Wilkes.

As an aside, the name Sherman Wilkes sounds to be as "southern" a name as could be and I'm sure a determined writer could build a play, book, or movie around such a name. Or, perhaps, that was already done with the name Rhett Butler. But, I digress.

The other key actor is Eli Keel. I have no familiarity with Mr. Keel but his performance as Scooner in Act I, the local boy, and as one of the sisters, Willamina (in drag) in Act II are solid decent work, much like the solid, decent local boy in Act I who won the votes of at least last night's patrons. The two minor actors were Sarah East and Jeremy Sapp.

Intermission provided time to mingle, get a second cup of wine, and listen to some interesting fiddle and banjo playing by Nick Peay and Scott Anthony. To be honest, they weren't playing a fiddle or a banjo, but I am not familiar enough with small stinged instruments to know what to properly call them. The interluding music was a combination of bluegrass, pop, and folk and made for very good listening.

The play, the music - and the wine - created a wonderful evening, albeit alone, in a space I had never visited in the past, the Land of Tomorrow Gallery.

Theatre [502] has three more productions planned for their "pulse-pounding" inaugural season.

Hunter Gatherers, by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb and directed by Mike Brooks, will be performed in the Victor Jory Theater at Actors, running October 14, 15, 17, 21, and 22.

It Can't Happen Here, by Sinclair Lewis and directed by Greg Maupin in a co-production with the LePetomane Theatre Ensemble, will be staged October 24 at the Parkside Studio Inside at Iroquois. To be honest, I don't know if that means at the park or the high school, or somewhere else.

The final production of Theater [502]'s inaugural season will be Broadsword: a heavy metal play, by Marco Ramirez and directed by Amy Attaway, also set for the Parkside Studio Inside at Iroquois, for November 4-19.

Local theater is important for our community and talent. If you have a chance, go see a production. The website for the theater group is www.theatre502.org.

Hidden Location #19 revealed - Minor Lane Heights

2011-09-02T16:39:00.000-04:00

In Hidden Location #19, we had two pictures of streets which intersect. The sign above still stands at the intersection, though little else remains.

As some of you know, I also post these blog entries over on Facebook. Unfortunately, more people respond over there than over here. I wish that weren't the case but it is. Over there, the first respondent was my friend Jason Hope. He misidentified the first street for the second one. He correctly identified the missing houses as being due to the airport's expansion process which began the year before Jason was born.

The two pictures are of Donna Boulevard above and Minor's Lane below. I grew up not far from this intersection which at one time boasted a gas station, a Convenient Food Mart and, across the street, a Wesleyan Cumberland church congregation. All gone.

Donna Boulevard was the main street of a subdivision and later incorporated city known as Minor Lane Heights, located off Minor's Lane in southern Jefferson County, about halfway between Okolona and Fairdale. Minor Lane Heights was originally incorporated to avoid annexation into the Louisville Metropolitan Sewer District, choosing instead to receive its sewer services from the former Okolona Sewer Construction District, which at one time had its facilities just north of the small city. That sewer district was eventually taken over by MSD. The municipality's location led to its eventual demise - or sort of demise.

As mentioned earlier, the Regional Airport Authority (RAA) began expansion of Louisville's Standiford Field in the mid 1980s. Building a double north-south runway greatly increased the noise concentrations over large parts of Jefferson County. Minor Lane Heights sat a little over two miles due south of the airport and in the direct line of the new flight paths.

In 1995, the RAA received permission to purchase the entirety of the city, 552 households, as well as the adjoining city of South Park View. They have eventually acquired nearly all the property between I-65, the L&N, Southern Ditch, and South Park Road. (Mayor Fischer calls this area a renaissance zone). The approach for the purchase of the entire city took a weird turn in 1999 when plans were approved to move the city, en toto, to a new location about ten miles to the east of its then-site. Cities had been moved in the past due to dam construction and flooding, places like Eddyville, Kentucky and English, Indiana. The RAA proposed to rebuild the subdivision and reincorporate the city in a similar semi-suburban/rural setting along Cedar Creek Road southeast of McNeely Lake Park.

The process is ongoing but very near completion. The city was renamed from Minor Lane Heights to Heritage Creek. The entire city moved. The process is now cited as a model for the future relocation of similarly situated municipalities.

The lower photo in the picture is of Minor's Lane, looking northward toward Outer Loop. The driveways off to the left were for the former gas station and food mart. The few properties remaining in the area not owned by the RAA are two mobile home parks and about 25 scattered homesites.

Two other proposed subdivisions in the area were never built because of the airport plans, one on South Park Road just east of the former city of South Park View, and the other, proposed by David Dulworth, who built the nearby Silver Heights subdivision off Blue Lick Road, to be called Four Diamonds, in the acreage on the east side of Minor's Lane, just north of the old Pape's Hardware property, which has never been purchased by the RAA. In the South Park Road site, streets were constructed, sewer lines dug, and electric lines strung, and two homes were begun, but it was all closed down shortly after it began.

Minor's Lane, the street in the lower photo and named for the Okolona pioneer family of Spence Minor, was at one time a part of the road between Okolona and Fairdale, beginning in Okolona where the current Minors Lane (or Minor Lane as it is called by Metro government) intersects with Preston Highway. The road made a series of 90 degrees curves first south (past Evangel Tabernacle), then west (now a part of the I-65/Outer Loop interchange), then south again (along the Minor's Lane in our picture), the west again (toward Fairdale) joining what is now called South Park Road at Locust Grove, an old watering hole. Other former businesses on that corner were the aforementioned Pape's Hardware, French's Produce (still operating but now located in the southern Bullitt County community of Bardstown Junction), and a DX service station. (As a note, our young Mr. Hope who got as close as anyone in identifying this location has grandparents living a little west of this intersection which may explain his familiarity with the pictures). South Park Road, the called Deposit Station Road, was evenutally completed from this corner west over to Blue Lick Road and even later from Blue Lick over to Preston Highway, making the Okolona/Fairdale journey just a little straighter.

Having grown up in the area it is weird to drive through there which I do most every Sunday when visiting my mother. As a kid, I watched the area grow up, be built, add sidewalks, add churches, an elementary school, several business, and about 2000 residents. Two different precincts voted at Minors Lane Elementary which opened in 1968 (and somehow remains so). None do now - one votes at Coral Ridge Elementary, and the other over in Okolona at a union hall. It is a ghost town and drive, all gone. The streets and sidewalks remain as do some of the electric lines, but nothing more.

RIP Minor Lane Heights (and South Park View). Congratulations to Jason Hope for his answers.

Hidden Location #19

2011-08-31T07:16:00.000-04:00

The two pictures below are each of one street which intersects with the street in the other picture. Name either street.

Happy Trails.

Also, Happy End of August and Happy Birthday to Rick Lusardo. The year I was dorm president at Kirwan II, Rick was my vice president.

300 W CARDINAL BLVD

2011-08-13T22:21:00.003-04:00

As many of my longtime seven faithful readers know, I have a pet peeve about incorrect or ill-designed streetname signs. It has been a problem in Louisville since about 1986, with the dismissal of a former streetname sign worker in the Signs and Markings office of the former Louisville City government. Since that time, I've watched as Louisville's streetname signs have changed sizes, shapes, and degrees of accuracy over the years, usually not for the better. I have complained and complained to former members of the Board of Aldermen and former Directors of Public Works, all to no avail. I gave up officially complaining about six years ago.

But this entry isn't about the former City of Louisville, or the former County of Jefferson, or their successor-government, Louisville-Jefferson County Metro, although I have much to say on the same subject as it pertains to Louisville Metro, but not in this entry.

This entry concerns streetname signs you may have recently noticed in and around the University of Louisville campus. They are new and bigger than most of our standard signs, and they are red- and black-lettered in honor of the school's colors. They display the streetname and street-type designation (in an abbreviated form) as well as a direction where appropriate, and a block number. To my knowledge, they have all the streetnames correct. And, to my knowledge they have all the abbreviated designations correct although it took me a minute to figure out that OVPS means Overpass, as in the Denny Crum Overpass, which is co-signed with the inordinately long 100 block of Central Avenue, which runs about four blocks long all the way over to Crittenden Drive. The only longer 100 block of any street in Jefferson County is that of the Outer Loop, where the 100 block runs for about two miles from Third Street Road eastward to the Northern Ditch. But, I digress.

This discussion is about the block numbers U of L has posted on these beautiful new signs. The signs, I am told, were erected as part of a beautifying effort, perhaps to lure a professional fraternity designation to the school, perhaps not. If I were trying to beautify the campus, the least I would do is check the addresses to make sure that the new signs had correct block numbers. About 1/4 of all the new signs U of L has erected in this program are incorrect, which doesn't say much for our local college.

Several months ago I brought this to the attention of Dr. James Ramsey, the University's president, by pointing out several of these errors via his Facebook page. Dr. Ramsey responded that such matters were handled "somewhat below his level" and that he would look into it. Because of the respect I have had for Dr. Ramsey dating back to his budget days in state government, as well as the good work he has done during his U of L tenure, I expected something as simple as correcting a few streetname block numbers would be an easy task. Especially on a college campus where pizzas and Chinese food, and perhaps other commodities are regularly delivered, one would think such correct signage would be a given. These signs should and could also be helpful to police, fire, and EMS personnel in times of emergency, except these, which are incorrect, could possibly delay life saving assistance because the University apparently doesn't deem public safety an important enough issue to correct the signs.

I understand that Dr. Ramsey doesn't deal with correcting streetname block numbers. I was only bringing it to his attention. I believed him when he said others would look into the matter. Either they've ignored his assignment or he never made it. None of the incorrect signs I addressed to Dr. Ramsey several months ago have been corrected. Since that time, more incorrect signs have been erected. How diffiuclt can it be to ascertain a correct block number? Obviously, too difficult for the U of L sign erecting crew.

This afternoon me and a friend drove out 4th Street observing the dammge from this afternoon's powerful storms. There, in front of the Bettie Johnson Hall dorms, which are clearly marked with the address of 401 W. Cardinal Boulevard is a brand new streetname sign, directly in front of the building proudly, but incorrectly, proclaiming that section of road to be 300 W CARDINAL BLVD.

Such errors are uncalled for and should be addressed and corrected.

697. In Memoriam

2011-08-09T14:15:00.004-04:00

Remembering my paternal grandmother today. Grace Irene Noble, the daughter of Isaac "Ike" Lee and Lorraine "Gussie" Schlenck Lee Hall died thirty-five years ago on this date. She was born January 8, 1915, married to U. G. Noble in 1933, and had three sons, Donald - born in 1936 and died in 2005, my dad Urban "Gene" - born in 1939, and Vincent "Chris" - born in 1953. She was grandmother to me and my brother Kevin, and sister to the late Mary Hiner. Rest in peace.

696. The ups and downs of getting to and from Fancy Farm, Kentucky - the second of two unrelated entries

2011-08-07T21:11:00.005-04:00

This will be a boring entry for most of my seven faithful readers. It is an exercise in geographic names, inspired by Dr. Tom Owen and, unrelated, some Facebook postings I made yesterday and Friday during my trek to and from west Kentucky.

At least twice, most recently on two tours of Jefferson County with then-candidate and later the elected Louisville mayor Greg Fischer, Tom Owen has announced at the crest of certain hills that "we were now leaving the Pond Creek watershed and entering the Pennsylvania Run Creek watershed." That may not have been the exact words to one of them, but then again it might have been at that crest along the Outer Loop between Okolona and Highview, in front of the old abandoned Hi-Li Swim Club property. According to Dr. Owen, and I agree, knowing your watersheds is an important part of knowing your community. I'm sure Mayor Fischer came to agree whilst on these two trips, if he didn't already before Dr. Owen's discussion. As a note, the states of Virginia and Tennessee, and perhaps others, mark their major watershed divisions along their Eisenhower Interstate System Highways.

The second inspriration for this boring entry which is to follow rises out of several Facebook updates made when crossing Kentucky's waterways to and from Fancy Farm, the first of which, I believe, was "Crossing the Cumberland." The first one would have been "Crossing the Green" but I had no signal at that point along the Western Kentucky Parkway.

So, what follows are not the watersheds, a la Dr. Owen, but the names of the creeks, forks, rivers, and other bodies of water crossed along my weekend journey of just over five hundred miles. As I said, it will be boring to most - just a litany of names. I'd appreciate, though, any comments you might have on any of them. I'll list them by county in the order they were crossed. As a note, my journey began in South Louisville around 3rd Street and the Watterson Expressway.

JEFFERSON COUNTY
Northern Ditch
Southern Ditch (Pond Creek)
Fishpool Creek
Mud Creek

BULLITT COUNTY
Brooks Run
Clear Run
Blue Lick Creek
Salt River
Barley Creek
Crooked Creek
Cain Run
alongside Paradise Lake
Rolling Fork of Salt River

HARDIN COUNTY
Patty Creek
Brown Branch
Broad Run
Cole Creek
Valley Creek
West Rhudes Creek
alongside Boiling Spring

GRAYSON COUNTY
Clifty Creek
Laurel Branch of Bear Creek
South Fork of Caney Creek
Buck Creek
Dog Creek
Brown's Branch of Caney Creek

BUTLER COUNTY
(none)

OHIO COUNTY
Dogwalk Branch of Indian Camp Creek
North Prong of Indian Camp Creek
Sixes Creek
Wild Branch of Sixes Creek
Hickory Konb Fork of Muddy Creek
Threelick Fork
Lewis Creek
Green River

MUHLENBERG COUNTY
Little Cypress Creek (two crossings)
Thompson Creek
Pond River

HOPKINS COUNTY
alongside Long Pond
Drakes Creek
Flat Creek Ditch
alongside Bold Duck Spring
Pleasant Run
Fox Run
Cane Run
Lambs Creek Ditch
North Fork of the Tradewater River
East Fork of the Tradewater River
alongside Beshear Spring
Tradewater River

CALDWELL COUNTY
East Fork of the Flynn Fork of the Tradewater River
Ward Creek
Wiley Creek

LYON COUNTY
Poplar Creek
Flat Creek
Cumberland River

LIVINGSTON COUNTY
Tennessee River

MARSHALL COUNTY
cypress Creek
Little John Creek
Bloodyshin Branch of Cypress Creek
Eggner's Branch
East Fork of the Clarks River
Smith Creek
Soldier Creek
Bowie Branch of Soldier Creek
Dry Branch of Soldier Creek
alongside Hale Spring
West Fork of the Clarks River
Moss Branch of the West Fork of the Clarks River

GRAVES COUNTY
Ray Branch of Panther Creek
Panther Creek
Pryor Branch of Panther Creek
Mayfield Creek
Key Creek
West Fork of Mayfield Creek

----- Arrival at Fancy Farm in Graves County
----- Departing from Fancy Farm in Graves County

West Fork of Mayfield Creek
Kess Creek
Mayfield Creek
alongside Little Mayfield Creek
Minnow Branch of Watson Creek

CALLOWAY COUNTY
Sand Lick Branch of the West Fork of the Clarks River
West Fork of the Clarks River
Bee Creek
East Fork of the Clarks River
Jonathan Creek
Little Jonathan Creek
Coal Creek
The Kentucky Lake on the Tennessee River

TRIGG COUNTY
Elbow Creek
Elbow Bay
Lake Barkley on the Cumberland River
Caney Creek
Little River
Stillhouse Branch of the Little River
Steele Branch of the Sinking Fork of the Little River

CHRISTIAN COUNTY
Sinking fork of the Little River
North Fork of the Little River
South Fork of the Little River

TODD COUNTY
West Fork of the Red River

LOGAN COUNTY
Whippoorwill Creek
Dry Fork of Whippoorwill Creek (two crossings)
Town Branch of the Mud River
Mud River
alongside Hancock Lake
Patterson Creek

BUTLER COUNTY
Brushy Fork
Richland Creek
Renfrow Creek
Big Branch of Renfrow Creek
Green River
Lindsey Creek
East Prong of the Indian Camp Creek
Wolfpen Hollow
Honey Fork of Welch's Creek

GRAYSON COUNTY
Dog Creek
Buck Creek

- Returning to the WK Parkway and Jefferson County in reverse order from above.

Any comments? Any one have any stories, particularly of the smaller waterways? Just curious. Thanks for reading. Happy sailing.

695. Fancy Farm, 2011. One of two unrelated entries.

2011-08-07T08:48:00.003-04:00

I've been going to Fancy Farm off-an-on since I was about 18 - mostly on. Most everyone is attracted to the tiny little town in far-western Kentucky because of the political histrionics displayed by the candidates who are, for the most part, less histrionically inclined in most other situations. The Tea Party-Republican candidate for Secretary of State may be an exception to that generalisation - he seems to be histrionically inclined at all times.

Besides the politics there is, of course, the food. I've written about this in years past. One should not engage in the fun and frolic of Fancy Farm if one is watching their weight or waistline. Beginning on Thursday, perhaps earlier, and continuing through to at least Saturday evening, there is no excuse to be hungry as there are events galore where food is to be had in plenty, sometimes for a few pieces of silver, and often for no silver at all. Clearly this year's food-extravanga was the Alison Lundergan Grimes party on Executive Drive late on Friday night after the Marshall County Bean Dinner.

The other reason to go, the most important, is the chance to see, chat, hug, eat, and otherwise engage and be entertained by friends, and even political opponents from across the Commonwealth, sometimes friends you only see once a year.

All of these reasons sufficed for me to make it down to this year's picnic. But, I have to admit, as many of you know, I also go simply for the drive. My Facebook friends are aware from my posts over on that medium that I've not enjoyed this summer as well as I should have, due to a number of complications which have mostly had me mentally fatigued. Those have continued into this first week of August, so the ride itself, which, according to Google, should be 236 miles each way, is one of my compelling reasons to make the journey. By the way, it has never taken me only 236 miles to get there, and it has certainly never taken me only 236 miles to return, as I have that rule about never going-and-coming the same way. Other than the 88 miles between here and Caneyville along I-65 and the WK Parkway, I adhered to that rule.

So the trip began, as stated, along 65 South and the Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway, the standard route to anywhere in the western part of Kentucky, the exception being Western Kentucky University, which is either misnamed or mislocated, as it is clearly not in western Kentucky, but more in southern Kentucky. Poignantly, as I passed Exit #107 at Leitchfiled, I thought of my friend Rob. His girlfriend's grandparents had a place at the lake on Nolin, a place the three of us often sojourned to, or, in some cases, a place I went to gather him up when she was staying for the week, but he had to return to Louisville for work or school. KY259 south was the beginning of the path one took, and still may take, to find Conoloway and the Just family getaway located there.

I continued westward on the WK, though not the entire length, as I usually depart for the "old road" a few miles before the 137 mile parkway comes to an end at Interstate 24. A side note, the WK is almost the exact same length from Elizabethtown to Eddyville, or start to finish, as I-65 is from the Tennessee line to the Indiana line. My departure from the parkway was at Princeton. I was tempted to leave the road a few miles earlier at the Dawson Springs exit, #24, so as to venture through the ancestral hometown of Kentucky's governor, Steve Beshear. But, I didn't. I drove into and through Princeotn, meaning to continue south on KY293, past the Caldwell Chapel and through the town of Saratoga, as I wanted to at least see, if not drive up into, the Mineral Mounds State Park, a place I've never visited.

Somehow, I missed the turn or, perhaps, made an incorrect turn, and instead found myself on US62, westbound, a road I've travelled many times. It was just as well, as I also wanted to say hello to a friend who lives in Eddyville, and this road, as well as the other one I didn't take, eventually led just past his house on Lake Barkley Drive, which is actually in Kuttawa, or even Old Kuttawa, a few miles west of Eddyville. We visited long enough for him to have a beer and me a glass of Sweet Tea. He was undecided on whether he would make it "all the way over to Fancy Farm" as he put it. Thus, I departed.

My overnight accomodations were at the Days Inn-Calvert City, a place I've overnighted before fairly successfully. I arrived amidst a heavy downpour of rain. Getting there from Old Kuttawa requires crossing the Cumberland and the Tennessee from the Pennyrile area of Kentucky into the Purchase area of Kentucky, each name representing a geographical area with non-geographic names. Sometime we'll go into that - I've explained "The Purchase" in a previous entry. Crossing the Cumberland and crossing the Tennessee inspired the entry I intend to write following this one, the second of two unrelated entries, as noted in the title.

I will note that crossing the Tennessee isn't nearly as inspirational on the new bridge as it was on the old bridge, where you were actually atop the Kentucky Dam with the wide and wonderful waters of Kentucky Lake clearly in view immediately to the left, or southern side of the highway/dam. The new road and bridge is just north of there and to be honest, I could not even tell you if the bridge is beautiful or not as I was looking over at the backside of the dam, where you could plainly see the water level of the lake versus the water level of the river, well below the dam. Interesting, but not inspiring.

The first stop of the night was the Marshall County Bean Dinner, an annual fundraiser for the Marshall County Democratic Party, where they confer awards on their friends and reward the rest of us with an interesting dinner of bean soup (which was excellent), cornbread (sweet and not-sweet), watermelon, banana-pepper salad, and iced tea (again, sweet and not-sweet), along with a barrage of speakers warming up for tomorrow's big day, all presided over by the tall and handsome Will Coursey, who represents the area in the General Assembly in Frankfort. There is also a silent auction quietly going on over on the tables along the wall. I entered several bids but each was outbid. At the dinner I sat with my friend Kathy Jo Stubblefield, a retired school teacher from Calloway County, one county south of where we were. It was good to catch up with Kathy Jo.

Later that night, it is tradition to attend parties in the Executive Cabins, located a bit west of the lodge where the dinner is held. It was my intention to visit at least two parties in these cabins - not cabins at all as each has three or four bedrooms. I only made it to one. But before I got there, I did my traditional foot-dipping. I have a tradition of sticking at least my feet, if not more of my body, into the great bodies of water which I cross in my travels. From Executive Drive, I wandered down to the marina, shed my shoes and socks, and wandered on a boat dock about twelve feet out into the waters of if not the Tennessee River, at least the Kentucky Lake, formed by the damming of the river.

From this ceremonial event, I began my night at the Alison Lundergan Grimes cabin and party, a place I really never got away from for the rest of the night. Most of these parties have finger foods, some barbecue, maybe hamburgers and hotdogs, and most anything you may wish to drink, from diet Dr. Pepper to little mason jars of white lightning brought from unnamed friends and unnamed places, and beer.

But, Alison Grimes has as her father Jerry Lundergan, a well-known Lexington caterer and politcian, and a dear friend of mine. And Jerry doesn't do anything by halves and this cabin lawn party was no expecption. Food was a buffet of breakfast food - bacon, sausages, biscuits and gravy, fruit, strip steaks, scrambled eggs, hashed brown potatoes, and salsa. All you can eat. I ate a lot. Music was provded by a young foursome of kids singing rock-a-billy songs at the start - an interesting cover of Blue Moon of Kentucky - and later morphed into some jazz and fusion, and even later was just a jam session of sorts. The crowd kept growing and growing and I estimated it about 150 when a large tour bus arrived from ACFSME, swelling the numbers. Later in the night I counted, at one point, 250 - easily the largest of these afterparties anywhere in the area and at anytime in my memory. If Alison spoke, I don't remember, this despite the fact that I was only drinking Sierra Mists. I finally made my way over to her and lamented that I was tired and it was time for me to leave. And so I did.

There are usually two stops on Saturday morning, both involving food and both in Mayfield, the county seat of Graves County, with Fancy Farm located a few miles to the west. The earlier one is the annual Graves County Democratic Party Breakfast, another fundraiser, held at the Mayfield High School on the east side of the city. Somehow, I managed to missed it as I had slept in with the rain falling and a late night the night before. I enjoyed the extra hour or so of doing nothing.

I did eventually arise and took a circuitous route toward Mayfield, stopping first in the Marshall County seat of Benton, where the clock-steepled court house sits atop a high hill at the corner of 11th and Main Streets. Directly across the court square on the back side of the court house is the Marshall County Republican Party headquarters. While the local government is decidedly Democratic, under the long-time control of Coumty Judge/Executive Mike Miller, the county's federal votes nearly always go to the Republican Party. I'm hopeful that the new and young blood I've seen at Party events will reverse that trend, which at this point isn't a trend, simply a fact.

I left Benton along KY58 to the south which just west of the Brewers community joins up with the old route of KY80, Kentucky's southern parkway. There is a new KY80 in town and this old section, from Brewers west to Mayfield is now, simply, KY58. The old KY80 to the east at Aurora, is now KY402. My destination in Mayfield was the Fayette County Democratic Party Breakfast, a free event, held at a banquet hall on the northeast side of the city. I began the event with a State Party By-Laws discussion with George Mills, a Lexington atrorney and one of the co-hosts of the event. There for the food was a polite table of shrimp, sausage filled mushroom caps, bacon-wrapped potatoes, fruit, and a variety of drinks, including an orange juice with a little punch to it, something I wasn't expecting but didn't mind. I was joined by my friend Elizabeth Sawyer, of Louisville, and recently appointed as the new Executive Director of Emerge Kentucky. We sat and listened to speeches by First Lady Jane Beshear, former Louisville mayor Jerry Abramson, the current Secretary of State Elaine Walker, and all the Democratic nominees for the statewide offices, again, all prepping for the speeches later in the day, all probably repeating the speeches they had given an hour earlier at the Graves County Breakfast, and may give yet again at the Chamber of Commerce Brunch, before trekking the thirteen miles westward on KY80 to the village of Fancy Farm, the parish of Saint Jerome, and the reason for the entire trip.

Ok, I didn't go west on KY80, because I knew when I left, I'd be driving eastward back towards Mayfield. I left Mayfield a few miles to the north, then west on KY121, a long diagonally-running highway which crosses the Purchase from Wickliffe in the west in Ballard County, and ending at Fort Heiman in the east on the Calloway County line with Henry County, Tennessee - although much of it between Mayfield and Murray has been replaced by the new KY80. More on that later,

KY121 heads northwest and is crossed by KY339, the road from Lone Oak in McCracken County to near Cooksville in Graves County. About halfway along that route is our destination city, or village, Fancy Farm. The event, for the uninformed, as actually a political speaking encapsulated by a typical summer Catholic festival, in this case, the Saint Jerome Catholic Picnic. So, along with the speechifying are games of chance (pulltabs), bingo, and lots of food - and really good food, most especially mutton and pork sandwiches which can be lathered with the ubiquitous contents of Fancy Farm's own bar-be-cue sauce which are everywhere to be found. The best deal of the day, although for the first time in many years one I did not take part in, is the all-you-can-eat dinner in the Knights of Columbus hall located in the rear of the church grounds. You can read about this in previous years' entries.

The speaking began with a prayer from Owensboro Bishop Bill Medley, afterwhich political histrionics ruled the day. I won't go into them here. I usually begin my departure shortly after the speeches begin. Along my way out, I spotted my friend Greg Anderson of Murray and we chatted briefly promising to keep in touch, a promise I hope we both keep. My favorite line of the afrernoon wasn't all that rude or smartaleck, although many were, especially from the Dark Side of the Aisle. It came from the Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor, Richie Farmer, who needs no other introduction. Of his Democratic opponent, former Louisville mayor Jrry Abramson, he said "Jerry has been mayor of Louisville for 316 years." Well, it wasn't that long, but it was a long time, from 1986 to 2011, saving four short years under Dave Armstrong, who was Louisville's best mayor in decades.

Most of the rest of the speaking was barbs and theatrics, although I was quietly shocked by the Republican Secretary of State's suggestions that homeless American citizens should be denied the right to vote. No American citizen who isn't otherwise barred from voting should be openly denied the right to vote. For a candidate for Secretary of State, the office in charge of elections, to call for a denial of the right to vote to otherwise eligible American citizens is unfathomable, perhaps even treasonous. We have penalties for treason. Denial of the right to vote should not be a penalty for homelessness. I have stronly supported my friend Alison Lundergan Grimes since she began her campaign for Secretary of State. If anyone hasn't yet found a reason to support her, I would suggest that the stance of denying American citizens the right to vote due to homeslessness is a good reason not to support her opponent. His speech made me livid and I really didn't hear much after that. So, I left.

One more note before I leave the picnic grounds. I had noticed several - many - people, young and old, walking around with little puppies. While that's something I expect on Bardstown Road, it seemed oddly out of place there. Eventually, I stopped a teenager, a sophomore at Graves County High School so his t-shirt read, and asked about the puppies. He informed me that the local Humane Society had made available for adoption about 100 puppies which would otherwise be euthanized in the near future. He also informed me that all the puppies, including the one in his protective arms, were adopted. While I am not a "dog person" and have not followed as closely as perhaps I should have the discord surrounding the Louisville Metro Animal Service, I found this work in Graves County to be the best news of the day.

One more note - for the first itme in memory it wasn't unbearably hot and there was a vry brisk, if warm, wind, something never before experienced. So, the weather was unusualy cooperative.

As planned, I left Fancy Farm along KY80 east back to Mayfield. For the past several years, the Commonwealth has been constructing a new fourlane KY80 between Mayfield, Murray, and the old one at Kenlake State Park. It is now finished and I wanted to drive it for no other reason than I hadn't heretofore. The new highway from Mayfield to Murray largely follows the route of KY121. From Murray eastward, it follows just north of KY94, which it generally replaces. It rejoins its former self at Aurora with the intersection of US68, where eastward, my direction, one crosses the Eggner Ferry Bridge over the Tennessee River and Kentucky Lake into Trigg County and the Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area. The highway through the eight miles of vacant land in this former TVA reserve has also been rebuilt and greatly widened. Just before leaving the area, I stopped at Elbow Bay, a bay of Lake Barkley on the Cumberland River, and repeated the tradition of foot-dipping in the great waters. This task completed, I ventured across the Henry R. Lawrence Memorial Bridge, through Canton, past Lake Barkley State Park, and into downtown Cadiz.

Downtown Cadiz sits atop a long hill at the top of which are two opposing court houses, old and new. The old one appears to be me to be an old bank. While I do not remember this for certain, I believe the new building was buit on the site of a much older court house. Maybe, maybe not. I stayed on the mutti-plexed US68/KY80 through the business community of Montgomery at the intersection with I-24, and then into Christian County, where the town of Gracey sits off to the south along the old highway route. Were it not for Hopkinsville sitting right in the middle of it, Us68/KY80 in Christian County is essentially a long straight four-lane highway, leaving Christian and entering Todd at the village of Fairview, again off to the south along the old route, and at the state historic site of an obelisk honoring the birthplace of Jefferson Davis, the only president of the Confederate State of America, those elements in rebellion to the United States from 1861 to 1865, although it seems in some corners, the Old South has yet to give up the ghost. My dear friend Preston Bates once called me as he was visitng this site. As a measure of friendship, I pulled up into the park and returned his call. I had taken his; he didn't mine.

Us68/KY80 continues its rarely curving passage through Todd County, past the town of Elkton, again off to the south, which serves as the county seat. The road is known through here as the Jefferson Davis Highway. Down into Miller Vally past Daysville, we cross out of Todd and into Logan. THe road turns decidedly northeasterly as you head into the county seat of Russellville. At Russellville, I left US68/KY80 and took in its place the northeasterly route of KY79. To be honest, I do not ever remembering travelling this road before between Russellville and Morgantown, so this was to be a small adventure. It is a fairly good two lane road up and down the hills and valleys of northern Logan County, past Hancock Lake, and through Chandler's Chapel, through Costelow and as you come up a hill past two bald knobs - curious looking and worth doing some research upon - into Butler County. At the top of the hill is the rural crossroads hamlet of, appropriately, Davis Crossroads, with rolling hills to the east and a valley to the west. Again, this was all virgin territory for me, so I was taking extensive mental notes. The still up-and-down pattern continued almost to the route's junction with US231, just south of 231's intersection with the Edward T. Breathitt Pennyrile Parkway, itself just south of the county seat at Morgantown.

I've always thought the court house at Morgantown looked like an Ivy League college campus building built in the early part of the 20th century. It is brick, not very tall, and long - ranch-like in design, with an expansive yard all around. It may be because the building is not so imposing that the grounds seems to be so expansive. Its college-like atmosphere was calming for me, as I seem to be more content when I am on a college campus, whether real or otherwise, as is the case here. The main road out of town turns westward and down a hill before veering northward across the Green River and into the mostly residential area known as Aberdeen. No, I did no foot-dipping at Aberdeen, Kentucky, although I have at Aberdeen, Ohio, but into a different waterway. But, I digress.

At Aberdeen, I stayed with KY79 toward Caneyville as opposed to US231 toward Beaver Dam and Ohio County, the county of my new young Democratic friend Tim Morris, a a native of Horse Branch, which sits along the Paducah and Louisville Railway at its junction with another railway off to the north. KY79 continues the up-and-down pattern through the communities of Flenor, Welcome, and Welch's Creek, all hardly noticeable, and crossing into far southwestern Grayson County just shy of Dog Creek. A couple more miles steadily up a very slight hill brings you to KY79's intersection with the Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway. As I said at the beginning, this last 88 miles are simply the reversal of the first 88 and I won't bore you, as I'm sure I have so far, with any more narrative.

The short version would be "it was a nice long drive with plenty to eat, but now I'm back home." Thanks Be To God.

694. Congressman Yarmuth's NO vote.

2011-08-02T07:49:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, in my response to Ed Martin as to Congressman Yarmuth's work on the debt ceiling resolution, I offered the following, "If John [Yarmuth] didn't call for cuts associated with tax increases, and not just the elimination of loopholes, then I, too, share your displeasure in his actions."

Well, there is no displeasure for me to share with Mr. Martin's disapproval of Congressman Yarmuth's actions. John voted NO on the matter and did so because of a lack of tax increases, particularly on those who can best afford it. Good work, Congressman. You were sent to Washington to listen to your constituents and vote in their best interests and in the best interests of the Republic. Yesterday's NO vote was an instance of serving those sometimes opposing interests.

Here is the text released yesterday by the congressman's office explaining his correct NO vote.

Yarmuth: Statement on Vote on Budget Control Act(Washington, DC) Tonight, Congressman John Yarmuth released the following statement in response to his NO vote on the Budget Control Act:

“Tonight, I chose to stand up for what the American people have demanded.

Throughout this politically-induced crisis, my constituents have been loud and clear: any plan to reduce our debt must protect Medicare and require millionaires, billionaires, and big oil companies to share in the sacrifice.

This plan asks nothing of the wealthy few and will inevitably lead to cuts in Medicare, education, and the investments we need to create jobs and get our economy back on track.”

693. Statement of Jeff Noble on the Debt Ceiling Resolution

2011-08-01T21:10:00.003-04:00

"Really," you ask. "Isn't that a little uppity?" Who the hell cares what Jeff Noble has to say about the debt crisis? What makes him an expert? All good questions.

Let me offer two phenomena from the past, one a one-time occurence, the other an annual event here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606.

When I was 19 years old, the Winter Olympics featured an American team in hockey whose star was Mike Eruzione, the team's captain, in their wins over the Soviet Union and Finland. Everyone I knew that winter became an expert on hockey. We all seemed to know the stats, who the left wings were, and why the Soviets were so good yet still fell to the Americans. It was a good feeling. The truth is I don't know a thing about hockey, have no idea who the stars were then or are now, but I remember the Miracle on Ice and Mike Eruzione and the American hockey gold medalists. Why? Because that's how popular culture works.

If you spend more than one year in Louisville, for at least one week or so every year in late April or early May, you will find yourself and everyone else making comments about "the latest star filly and her workout last week in the Bluegrass," or yet another fine stallion whose "lineage includes Northern Dancer" so he is a sure winner. We all become horse racing fanatics and experts for a few fleetings moments, perhaps only two minutes, prepping for the annual renewal of America's longest running horserace held on one track, the Kentucky Derby, the mile-and-a-quarter run for the roses begun in 1875. We participate in "pots" at work, send bets out to the track on Wednesday and Thursday, because even Oaks Day is getting too crowded, and we all watch in anticipation for the call late in the afternoon on the First Saturday in May, Louisville's local holiday.

So is it any surprise that the talk of the town, or to borrow the title of an NPR program, the talk of the nation, is "how do you feel about the debt ceiling stuff?" We all seem to have an opinion. Those of us who live and work and play in politics - a motley crew - get asked probably more often about such matters than the general populace, but sometimes a matter grabs the collective attention of the Republic and requires all of us to participate - or at least to pretend to do so.

Well, I have a confession. July was a particularly bad month for me in a number of ways - friends out-of-work, parents hospitalized, and the damned unrelenting heat. I have felt rather Hamlet-like, to be honest, losing interest in a number of things which normally interest me. Recall the words of Prince Hamlet, late in Act II, in a discussion with Ros and Guil, the famous "What a piece of work is man" soliloquy, to wit -

I have of late--
but wherefore I know not--
lost all my mirth, forgone all
custom of exercises;
and indeed it goes so heavily with my disposition that
this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory,
this most excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave o'erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted with golden fire,
why, it appears no other thing to me
than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours.

What a piece of work is a man!
how noble in reason!
how infinite in faculty!
in form and moving how express and admirable!
in action how like an angel!
in apprehension how like a god!
the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals!
And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust?
man delights not me: no, nor woman neither,
though by your smiling you seem to say so.

Now, to be sure, I'm not as deep in the morass as was Horatio's dear friend Hamlet. I've just been bored and stressed about a number of things and the debt ceiling crisis was not one of them.

Yet, I've been asked several times in the last seventy-two hours my opinion on the resolution allegedly being hammered out in the Federal City 606 miles northeast of here. My brother has asked, a woman at work who I had not seen in two months has asked, a mechanic friend who works on Poplar Level Road has asked, even a lady I didn't know inquired of both me and my friend Preston Bates our opinion as we were sharing a drink at the Bristol on Bardstown Road yesterday. She went as far as to share her 83 year old mother's opinion on the matter showing us on her phone an email she had received from dear ol' Mom. It seems we all have something to offer. Like the 1980 fanfare over the American Hockey team, everyone either wants to know your opinion or wants to share their own. It is natural and I am faulting no one. I believe - deeply believe - that most Americans mean well, even some of those with whom I share few political values.

Below is an exchange of thoughts in a chat box between me and Ed Martin, someone with whom I share some, though not many, political values. Mr. Martin and I have had quite a few exchanges of thoughts and ideas on how the Republic is and isn't properly ran. I find him for more knowledgeable than many on the subject of Economics, several classes of which I took whilst a student at the various institutions of higher learning I attended back when I was into higher learning. He cites a number of articles here and there, most more libertarian than my usual fare of reading, but many very articulate in matters related to the fiscal operation of our Republic and the World. He talks about a lot more subjects but it is his political and economic views which have caught my attention.

Many of you may remember Mr. Martin in his appearance on the KET debate during the 2010 Third Congressional District campaign. He was the independent candidate, largely a national libertarian although he didn't identify as such, against the incumbent, my friend and representative in Washington, Congressman John Yarmuth, and the Republican challenger, a UPS pilot who tried to blame his loss of work in the mid 1990s on Yarmuth's political policies, policies Yarmuth could have only begun to enact with his swearing in in 2007, over a decade later. [As a side note, Congressman Yarmuth's congressional career began the same day as did this blog]. But, I digress.

Mr. Martin is something of a social liberal, and certainly libertariansitic and fiscally conservative. He also seems to be far more intelligent than many who have wandered into the Secretary of State's office and filed for a national office, including our recently elected junior United States Senator from Kentucky. I've learned all this by following him on Facebook, where he makes his opinions widely known on a wide number of topics. I would not want to be his political handler without some abbreviation of those postings, worthy as they might be. The truth is I've learned a lot from reading them. He and the aforementioned Preston share many values; Preston and I discuss a lot of those ourselves, irrespective of Ed, and disagree on much of it. Ed and I haven't discussed as much - it is mostly me reading whatever it is he has to say - and he says a lot. One large difference is that I believe, and I may be wrong, that Ed believes there is some legitimate function for government, however large or small that it might be. Preston, at least lately, doesn't conceive of a proper role for government at all, a discussion he and I have had several times. But, again, I digress.

Below is a short exchange between Ed and me earlier today on the matter at hand, the ubiquitous debt ceiling discussion. It expresses his frustration to the present situation and my response in a rather concise way, far more concise than this stream-of-consciousness entry you've been reading thus far - assuming you are still reading. I might add that Ed and I have been very informally engaged in a dialogue cocerning him affiliating with one or the other of the major political parties.

Here is today's exchange --

Edward Martin -- Given the lack of imagination and innovation, I'd say the dems (in particular) need someone like me...more than ever. Their performance in DC was pathetic...I'm sorry to say that includes Yarmuth.

Me --- This email deserves a thoughtful response but I am not up to it at this point. I must confess I grew weary of the debt ceiling stuff and, as if an abbreviated season of Lent were upon us, gave it up for the last 40 hours or so. I have no idea what they finally did, but I am sure whatever it was, I am not happy about it. You and I disagree on the size and role of government so I doubt there could be a solution pleasing to both of us. If John [Yarmuth] didn't call for cuts associated with tax increases, and not just the elimination of loopholes, then I, too, share your displeasure in his actions. But, again being honest, I didn't follow the closing hours and, unlike you, I'm not intelligent enough to get my head around the big picture. A final thought - as you know - and apparently have been saying for some time - we did not get here overnight or over the course of a single 60% completed presidential administration. Should we honestly expect the problem to be resolved by a single action of a single Congress? I think not. I do know that some of what was voted on concerns matters in the future, specifically beyond the 2012 election. While that is certainly a good political move, it is also, probably, a good practical move. The American public will respond to this at the polls in November '12. I believe it should properly take the actions of three or four Congresses to correct the failures of the last thirty-five years. I'm beginning to think that other than Clinton our last good president fiscally, domestically, and in foreign policy was Richard Nixon.

The main idea I wish to leave you with is contained above in the line, "Should we honestly expect the problem to be resolved by a single action of a single Congress?" I think not.

So, now that you've read mine, do you have a statement on the Debt Ceiling Resolution?

692. Blog Roll

2011-08-01T07:01:00.001-04:00

After four and half years, I am adding a blog roll. These are some blogs which I visit from time-to-time, some more than others. I'll include a single sentence about each one. Most of my seven faithful readers are probably familiar with the ones I've added so far, but there will be others. Take a walk on the wild side and visit those you don't recongnise.

Happy August.

Today would have been my maternal grandmother's 95th birthday. Her name was Vivian "Tommie" Lewis Hockensmith (08/01/1916 - 02/18/1976).

691. Going my way?

2011-07-30T17:44:00.006-04:00

This morning's drive gave me a new perspective on the old Louisville Male High School building on the corner once affectionately known as "Brook and Breck." As I was driving southbound on Brook Street, the majestic brick building, which dates from 1915 and is one of Louisville's most beautiful buildings, took on new beauty. This was the first time I had approached it from this direction, which was from the north, the perspective shown in this picture.

I continued my trek southward on Brook to Hill Street, where I turned right for a block, and turned right again, this time headed northbound on First Street. First Street originally ended a half block north of Hill at what is now Hill Bend Place. I continued north taking in the southern exposures of many homes, especially those on the east side of the street, for the first time. The smaller craftsman types homes which occupy Ouerbacher Court looked particualrly different from this angle. I continued northward past the home of my friend Ken Herndon, which sits at the northwest corner of 1st Street and Ormsby Avenue.

This persepctive on Ken's house was not new. We were walking the area back in 2004 when he was looking for a new house and first caught glimpse of this one while looking at another at 1313 S. 1st, a few hundred feet south of there. But, again, we were walking. This time I was driving.

I continued northward on 1st until one is forced to turn either left or right onto West or East College Street, respectively, as the oncoming traffic is literally that, oncoming and all one way headed your way.

Several years ago, the late George Unseld, Louisville's 6th District Councilman for many years, began talk of making First and Brook streets two-way thoroughfares. For at least the last sixty years, they've been one-directional - First Street southward and Brook Street northward. Especially south of Kentucky Street, both streets are heavily residential, occupying the eastern flank of Louisville's victorian masterpiece of a neighborhood, Old Louisville.

The plan was to make the streets two-way from somewhere south of Broadway, where both have intersecting ramps with I-65, to Hill Street, generally accepted as the southern boundary of residential Old Louisville. South of Hill Street, Louisville's large educational campus begins to intermingle with the residences. Both the old and new Gavin Cochran Elementary School buildings are in the area, as well as Samuel V. Noe Middle School, and duPont Manual High School, all joined by the ever-expanding University of Louisville. But, I digress.

Councilman Unseld's proposal was met with both support and pushback. The residents wanted it; the city pushed back with a series of encumbrances seemingly designed to keep the Metro Council from ever changing any street from one-way to two, something the previous mayoral administration could and did do (perhaps illegally) on Main Street between 3rd and 4th with an Executive Order. A number of "percentages of residents' signatures" were suddenly needed to accomplish the plan. Unstated was the answer to the question will homeowners' signatures suffice or does it have to be the residents, even if they are renters, as there are a number of apartments and condos scattered in the several two, three, and four story homes in the neighborhood. And how do you count vacant residences and businesses into the equation? Every time a question was answered, either the percentages changed or a new question was asked.

The truth is the pattern of one-way streets in Louisville is governed by a vote of the Metro Council, successor to the old Board of Aldermen. It is a part of the traffic code, which itself is a part of the Louisville Metro Code of Ordinances. Nowhere in that code were any of these percentages mentioned. To some, including me, it seemed that a majority vote of the Council should have sufficed to change the traffic pattern. As one to-remain-nameless assistant county attorney often says (about any matter), any group of 14 votes of the 26 member council can change the local code. To be honest, I did not support the change; but also, to be honest, it was none of my business. I did not live in the affected area, although I did at one time.

Councilman Unseld did not live to see the street pattern changed. Upon his death last year, he was succeeded by an interim councilman, Dr. Deonte Hollowell, who was succeeded last November by the newly elected David James. Both Dr. Hollowell and Mr. James continued Mr. Unseld's efforts at changing the pattern.

During the last several weeks, driving in the area meant noticing the new two-facing stoplights and a number of new directional and no-turn signs. Early this morning, a double-yellow line was striped down the middle of both streets, effectively dividing them into two-way thoroughfares, thus completing the work began by the late Councilman Unseld several years ago.

I might note that when Mr. Unseld began this plan, no busses travelled along Brook Street, thus there was no need for any wide-berth swings which the busses need on some corners. The two most notable of these corners are 4th and Broadway, where southbound 4th Street busses swing widely into northbound 4th Street, and 3rd and Woodlawn, where northbound 4th Street busses swing widely into southbound 3rd Street. In the interim, the northbound Preston/18th Street line has been moved in this area from Preston/I-65/Jackson to Preston/Hill/Brook/Burnett/Preston/Jackson, passing along the new route, I might add, the eating establishment, Juanita's Burger Boy, of my friend Dan Borsch. Again, I digress.

The newly striped lines at Brook and Hill will, no doubt, have to be restriped to accomodate these northbound busses, as the current striping doesn't, something I experienced this morning when one of the busses attempted the turn with me in an up-close-and-personal perspective - perhaps too close.

So, if you are in the area, watch out for the new double yellow lines - and that TARC turning onto Brook from Hill. That bus is bigger than your car.

Happy Trails.

Disappearing Places

2011-07-26T12:20:00.006-04:00

My friend Christa Robinson, who works for Congressman Yarmuth, has listed on her Facebook page that she is a resident of West Louisville, Kentucky. I happen to know that while she does live in west Louisville, she doesn't technically live in West Louisville, which is an entirely different place. I may or may not have rudely pointed this out to her - probably not because had I been rude to her, I am certain she would have responded in like manner, and that hasn't happened.

West Louisville, Kentucky is a place in Daviess County, a little burg along KY56 at its interesection with the Calhoun Road, numbered as KY815. I mentioned KY815 and West Louisville in a blog entry on August 27, 2010. Other than the Diamond Lakes Club and Whitaker's Gun Shop, there is very little in West Louisville other than a post office.

If you are old enough, you might remember when Shively was called Saint Helen's, named for the Catholic Church which itself has been recently renamed. But you'd have to be real old. One of the reasons Saint Helen's in Jefferson County became Shively was because of another town, Saint Helen's, in Lee County, a few miles east of Beattyville. That Saint Helen's, which I mentioned in a blog entry on Febraury 14, 2007, isn't as big as West Louisville. The only thing I remember on a drive through that area was a burnt out church, and, as usual, a post office. Alongside of the Middle Fork of the Kentucky River, you really couldn't even call it the proverbial "wide place in the road."

In another 2007 posting, this one on July 27, I copied the obituary of Mr. States Rights Aycock, II, dead at the age of 73, of Wickliffe, in far western Kentucky. One of Mr. Aycock's relatives hailed from the town of Columbus, Kentucky, which is in even-farther west Kentucky, a small town best known for its state park, the Columbus-Belmont State Park, which marks a Civil War battle best known as one of the places General Ulysses Grant first made a name for himself to people who mattered like President Abraham Lincoln. At that point in General Grant's career, several bureaucrats were on the ladder between him and the Commander-In-Chief. By the end of the war, Grant would like climb that ladder to the top rung. Columbus is located in northwestern Hickman County at the intersection of KY58, KY80, and KY123. It is spread out on several mostly unpopulated lanes including one called Hoover Parkway. As the map at left indicates, the town plan is quite extensive. The actual town that remains is very, very small. There is a the aforementioned state park, a fire house, and the post office.

In an entry on August 23, 2007, while writing about a Special Session of the Kentucky General Assembly, to be called by then-governor Ernie Fletcher, I included the lyrics of John Prine's famous song about the Paradise Coal Mine, Muhlenberg County, and the Green River. In one of those verses is mentioned the dam on the Green at the town of Rochester, which is in western Butler County. Of all these places I mentioned thus far, Rochester really is a town, with a few actual city blocks - maybe three. It is situated at the aforementioned dam on Green, at the mouth of Mud River along KY70, where Butler, Muhlenberg, and Ohio counties meet. KY70 to the west heads into Muhlenberg; the ferry across the Green follows KY369 into Ohio; and KY70 south (and east) leads past the town cemetery on the west side of the road up South Hill to Morgantown, the county seat. Aside from a few bait shops, the only other place of record is a post office.

In each of these places is a common denominator - the local post office. Over the years my travels have taken me past many post offices, large and small, decorative and plain, all of them having responsibility not only for delivery and pickup of the local mail, but also, importantly, for identity. Alas, all of these places above, and 127 others in Kentucky, and 3649 others across the Republic, are slated for possible closure.

Closing post offices can be divisive and traumatic. A few years ago there were rumors of the Valley Station Post Office in Jefferson County closing. It isn't on this list but three others in the area are - the Shelby Station, the Dr. Martin Luther King Branch, and the Air Mail facility at Standiford Field, the latter of which seems a little oxymoronic.

Victim to less mail and the internet, post offices are becoming questionable expenses in some people's minds. A few days ago, my dear friend Preston Bates and I had coffee at Sunergos on S. Preston Street, two blocks north of the Shelby Station Post Office. Preston offered that post offices should not have a monopoly on the delivery and pickup of mail - that postal service was one area of the government which should be parcelled out to private enterprise. While I disagreed with most of what Preston had to say, on this point he may have a point. More and more of our mail has been converted to email and social media outlets. More and more of our parcels are delivered by Fedex and UPS. Many years ago the Post Office got out of the banking business. Were it not for penal institutions and certain other places requiring postal money orders, these would have probably disappeared many years ago. Post office boxes can now be rented at storefront businesses - Louisville has at least two such locations, one of E. Broadway and the other on Bardstown Road.

Does the loss of a post office actually cause a place to disappear? The answer to that may be found by answering these questions -

Where in Kentucky is Athertonville?
Where in Jefferson County is Coral Ridge?
Where in Jefferson County is Kosmosdale?
Where in Bullitt County is Nichols?
Where in Hardin Couty is Stithton? The Stithton Post Office is shown in the picture at the end of this post, a photograph taken in 1900. The town of Stithton was located in northern Hardin County on land now consumed by the Fort Knox Military Reservation.

I could go on. Other than the last one, all of those places are still there, but unless you are paying close attention you may not know those names, as they are all places which used to have their own post office but no longer do. Kosmosdale was around long enough - meaning into the 1960s - to even have a zip code of its own at one time - 40149.

Do you have any memories of places where there once stood a post office but no more? Let me know.

Here is a link to the list of post offices across Kentucky scheduled for potential closure:

http://about.usps.com/news/electronic-press-kits/expandedaccess/states/kentucky.htm

690. Rob

2011-07-24T00:01:00.000-04:00

My friend Rob Spears died twenty years ago today in a motorcycle wreck. July 24, 1991 was a Wednesday. I think about him everyday of the world. I miss him very much.

May his soul and those of all the departed from this life Rest In Peace.

The Fourth of July, 2011

2011-07-04T22:57:00.001-04:00

The lights and sounds of fireworks are the closest most of us will ever be to real war and conflict. When the thunder ceases, the flames burn out, and the party is over, send up a prayer for the women and men in American uniforms we've sent into harm's way who will hear it all again tomorrow and the next day and the next.

Happy 235th Birthday, America!

687. Senator McConnell's retirement - with Facebook comments on both the "proposed" retirement and the commenters

2011-06-05T13:12:00.005-04:00

Every now and then I've reposted from Facebook something I wrote "over there." This entry is one of those. Yesterday I put in writing, albeit electornic writing, something I've been thinking since last November's successful election for the Republicans. That is, to wit, that Kentucky's senior senator, Addison Mitchell McConnell, Jr., would not seek re-election in 2014. I've considered several reasons, none of which are particularly or singularly convincing - except, as is obvious, to me.

Below I've copied my posting from yesterday, along with the comments to date. As a primer, let me introduce you to the "commenters" in order of appearance.

Cecelia Tandy, of Lexington (I think) is a woman I do not believe I have ever met, but she regularly makes comments to and "likes" my Facebook posts, something for which I am thankful.

Lisa Tanner is a Louisville Democrat who is a well-known political "field" person, although field people, of which I count myself, are really the only people who know what that means. She is a trusted friend upon whom I am depending for some help in my 2012 bid for re-election to the Kentucky Democratic Party State Central Committee.

Michael Bowman, of southwestern Jefferson County, is an active Democrat in his 20s upon whom we should keep our collective eyes as one day his name will be next to one of those little ovals we fill in to cast ballots on Election Day. Chances are good if I see his name, I will fill in the oval next to it.

BudMan, formally Claude "Buddy" Vaughn, is a Lexington friend from my second-round of college at UK about 30 years ago. He, like me, is an Episcopalian, although his claim goes back to the cradle - mine goes back to 2010. Unlike me, he is a conservative, not liberal, Democrat. Buddy and I play the Scrabble-like Lexulous on Facebook where he has beaten me about 87% of the time.

Jonathan Lowe I do not know well, but have known for about six years. He has been a consistent volunteer in the Yarmuth for Congress campaigns and is a member of the Metro Democratic Club in Louisville.

Curtis Morrison is a Louisville gadfly of sorts, someone I jest and joust with with frequency on the FB pages. I've known Curtis for about sixteen years and have enjoyed his friendship, as well as our political differences. With the exception of his satirical answer of Greg Fischer, I tend to agree with all he has written here.

Ryan Fischer, to my knowledge of no relation to Greg Fischer, is another person I've known for about sixteen years, and Ryan was a teenager at the time we met. He is presently a firefighter with the City of Frankfort Fire Department.

Thomas A. McAdam is a Louisville attorney, a 1961 graduate of Valley High School, a conservative Democrat, the Louisville City Hall writer for Examiner.com, a regular commenter - usually in opposition - to my posts, and a friend of many years.

Jacob Conway is a handsome, young, curly blonde (when you are bald these things matter), relatively liberal politician from rural Jeffersontown in southeastern Jefferson County. He ran, unfortunately unsuccessfully, for the Jeffersontown City Council in 2006 and has since helped others in their aspirations to public office. I spent this year's Kentucky Oaks with him and his friends at his Dogwood Drive plantation.

Cindy Flanagan Lamb's comment on the thread had nothing to do with politics. But, she is an active Democrat who, like Mr. Morrison, did not support Greg in his race for mayor in 2010 but, unlike Mr. Morrison, seems to be pleased with his administration so far. She is a writer and midwife - that may not be the correct term - for aspiring moms. She invited me to the Louisville Bats game last night where I made my famous 8th inning catch.

Steve Magruder I've never met, although we worked side-by-side though on opposite sides at the mayoral debate last year held at Central High School. He is a blogger of Louisville history and other matters.

Jeremy Tyler is a new name to me. I have no idea who he is (to my knowledge), but I appreciate his participation.

*****
*****

Jeff Noble
I've just made my first prediction for the 2014 United States Senate election in Kentucky. It will be wide open - in both Parties. Who will succeed Mitch McConnell in the 114th Congress?
Yesterday at 1:01pm

Cecelia Tandy
To not sound rather mundane -At this point I'll take any Democrat as long as we say bye-bye Sen. McConnell. Someone anyone who could please beat him.
Yesterday at 1:04pm

Lisa Tanner
I hope someone young!
Yesterday at 1:06pm

Cecelia Tandy
Also as soon as we can rid ourselves of McConnell could we please vote Rand Paul out of office. I can never tell which makes me feel the need for two martini's and a valium more when they open their mouths and one hears what comes out.
23 hours ago

Michael Bowman
You made a prediciton....but didn't quite tell us who you predicted. Inquiring minds want to know.
23 hours ago

Jeff Noble
Cecilia, I cannot agree with your first comment. Just "any Democrat" wont do. Lisa is correct - we need someone young, someone with new ideas, someone with unexpended energy, and someone who can stay there for a while. In the 2010 Primary, I supported Jack Conway over Daniel Mongiardo in part because he was almost exactly ten years younger (less one day) than Daniel. If Jack had been elected, he would have potentially had ten more years to serve than Daniel. Admittedly, there was one other big reason. But, we can't go on nominating just anyone to represent us. For political office, we should start thinking about people born in the 1970s and 1980s, and for a very limited few city council offices, the 1990s. Democrats are big on recycling. One place we shouldn't is in our Party nominees.
23 hours ago

Jeff Noble
Michael, my prediction is the second sentence of my post - that the election will be wide oipen - that Mitch will retire. As for candidates, I presently have none. How old will you be in late 2014?
23 hours ago

Bud Man
I'm guessing it won't be mayors Gray of Fischer. Chandler's out. Abramson will be to old. Yarmuth is my scary outsider fav for the Dems. Williams is toast. Farmer will be exposed. Mitch has to have someone who has survived many knee surgeries working under him. Watch Damon from Scott Co.
23 hours ago

Michael Bowman
Jeff, I believe that 30 is the minimum requirement...and I am happy to report that I will be 31.
23 hours ago

Jeff Noble
Cecilia - I did not mean for that to sound as preachily strong as it did - but, it is something I firmly believe - and make attempts at supporting every time I enter a ballot box and put pencil to paper.
23 hours ago

Jonathan Lowe
Jamie Comer or Damon Thayer vs. Alison Lundergan Grimes or Sanny Overly.
23 hours ago

Jeff Noble
Buddy - I agree with all of your observations in both Parties. And, despite all I have written above, if my congressman were to run, irrespective of his age, I would, without hesitation, support him. I've been supporting candidates for fo...rty-two years and voting for them for thirty-four. He is the only person in those many years for whom I have ever voted with whom I agree on almost every topic, voting as I would on nearly every issue, and working harder than any elected official I've ever known in my life and there are many. I would put my "age restriction" on hold and in reserve to elect John to the United States Senate.
23 hours ago

Curtis Morrison
‎Mayor Greg Fischer
22 hours ago

Ryan Fischer
I thought Jack Conway was the young, vibrant candidate? Did his last campaign make us change our thinking? I still like him and think he gives the Dems the best chance as long as he doesn't go negative.
22 hours ago

Thomas A. McAdam
Judy Green.
21 hours ago

Curtis Morrison
I want a woman.
21 hours ago

Curtis Morrison
Kathy Stein.
21 hours ago

Jacob Conway
Curt-sadly it would be hard for a liberal, Jewish woman to win a statewide election in KY. :(
20 hours ago

Cindy Flanagan Lamb
Discuss this at length over a game? Headed to Slugger Field @ 6:00! Find me at the nearest hot dog/beer stand.
20 hours ago

Steve Magruder
I wasn't aware that McConnell had announced his retirement. That said, getting him out would be a good thing.
19 hours ago

Steve Magruder‎
@Ryan, the problem with Conway is that he's afraid to run as himself. If had run as himself in 2010, it would have been a much closer race, in my judgment.
19 hours ago

Steve Magruder‎
@McAdam, your "turd in the punchbowl" antics surely make many chuckle. ha ha.... ha
19 hours ago

Jeff Noble
Mr. Magruder - McConnell hasn't announced his retirement. My prediction - which is the genesis of this thread - is that he will.
18 hours ago

Steve Magruder
My prediction is that he'll stay in the Senate until his death, or at least that is what he would prefer. McConnell is a career politician who's addicted to the career. McConnell is a guy who seems to earnestly believe that anyone who isn't a hard-right conservative like him is evil. You'll pry the Senate office from his cold dead hands, or a miracle election where he's thrown out.
18 hours ago

Thomas A. McAdam‎
@Magruder: Love your metaphor.
17 hours ago

Curtis Morrison
I don't understand this rush to moderation Democrats always do. We don't see Republicans do that. Stein represents Kentucky's Democratic purest values, without compromise. Why settle?
13 hours ago

Curtis Morrison
Also, I seem to remember it was McConnell who announced Bunning's retirement for him. Maybe we could get Rand to return the favor?
13 hours ago

Jeremy Tyler
I support Curt's comment on Rand pushing for McConnell's retirement.
33 minutes ago
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686. Guest Commentary - Nicole Candler

2011-05-26T12:25:00.003-04:00

Nicole Candler is a Democratic Party activist from southwestern Jefferson County. She presently serves on the Louisville-Jefferson County Democratic Executive Committee. She owns a public relations firm - the webiste is www.niccreative.com. Below is her commentary on changes - very recent ones - in the Jefferson County Democratic Party.

*****

While most of Louisville braced for forecasted tornados and storms last evening, a wind of change swept through our local Party.

First, the Executive Committee accepted the resignation of one of its longest-running Chairs, Tim Longmeyer. After nearly 10 years in the post, it’s certainly understandable that he’d like to focus more of his attention on his career and the additional roles that come with that. And, I’m personally glad to hear that he seeks to spend more time with his family and children, ages 10 years to 22 months. We often overlook the sacrifice that his wife, Lynn Longmeyer, has made to our organization so that Tim can be involved.

I’m certain that I won’t be the only one who insists that he remain an active leader given his historical perspective and he certainly knows more about campaign and Party financing and rules than anyone else that I know. Plus, I’ve always admired his smoke and mirrors routine, where he can out talk even the most aggressive contender out of their argument. However, the greatest lesson that I’ve learned from Tim is that a true leader protects those that they lead. I’ve seen him go to bat for volunteers and has made it clear to only a few that they will NEVER be harshly critical of the work and NEVER call a volunteer on their failures because they are just that…valuable volunteers.

Last evening’s shock quickly turned to sadness when I joined the Shively Democratic Club for its final meeting. I’ve been a member of the 50 year old Club for only four years and joking that I’m certain I’m the only person in the world that holds both a Shively Democratic Club and a Madonna Icon Club membership. So, it was quite fitting that last evening speaker what Aaron Yarmuth, a young democrat for which many of us have hopeful expectations. However, hopeful expectations can’t maintain a social Club with a treasured, but aging membership.

It is of great concern to me that the Club members may look at the Club’s resolution as a fault of their own and I feel it is important to offer a small tribute to the impact they have had on this emerging Democrat.

My involvement with the local party was paved by a high school friend, Jack Walker who was President of the Club, and yielded his 44th Member at Large seat to me in 2006. He also nominated me as Secretary of the Club even before I had paid my membership dues. Without missing a step, I was quickly put to work by the incoming President and my LD Steve Fein, someone who asks a lot of their volunteers but also has a good perspective and appreciation for the change in demands on my family life. His wife, Deanna Fein would greet members at the door with our traditional booze and split the pot raffle tickets. When I was Secretary, I sat beside Shively Council member Patsy Mayes and one of the Club’s founding members Martha Schmuckie two women who helped keep Fein on track as we scribbled notes to him on Claude Prather’s campaign notepads.

Although their absence has been missing at recent meetings, the tables at our old location at the Legion Hall would be filled early with long-time volunteers Dottie Pruitt, Rose Renn, Betty Ryan (and her husband Gil Ryan), Irene Pitcock (who still paid her dues even after she became shut in), Bill and Helen Thompson, the Homericks and Steve Gahafer. And, comical relief was always provided by Jude Willis who’s sometimes inappropriate jokes with John Yarmuth were omitted from the minutes. Other familiar faces include Greg Dearing, a great friend who holds marathon strategy sessions in the kitchen at Joni Jenkin’s breakfasts during which we solve all political and Party problems. Plus, the room would filled with local electeds and a multitude of candidates including David Yates (and his grandfather Jim Yates), Dennis Horlander, Rick Blackwell, Mary Wooldridge, Vicki and Matthew Welch, Bryan Mathews, David Nicholson and Tony Lindauer. Plus, a Shively Club can hardly be called to order without the presence of at least one Jenkins. Although I wasn’t a member at the time, I understand that Drew Jenkins followed his grandfather Jim Jenkin’s footsteps by serving as Club President. And the meeting would rarely close without final comments from Joni Jenkin’s offering her traditional wisdom that should be sure to flip you ballot over and that come Wednesday (after a primary) we’re all Democrats and need to work together. The meeting is always followed by a pot luck dinner with a tasty contribution from Alice Jenkins who refers to me as Nicole Kidman and I appreciate the compliment.

Now-and-then, we were visited by Jerry Bronger, who used to live across the street from me, but our yard signs in the primaries never seemed to match. After this year’s Ford Dinner I had the opportunity to connect with Club member Al Bennett, and in true South End style learned that our degrees of separation are much smaller since he used to go fishing with my Aunt’s Uncle.

Then there is Nancy and Nadine Etter whom I often see at the local grocery store or at the gas pump. Nancy graciously stepped up as Club Secretary when I vacated that role and Dave Clark was encouraged to take on the Vice President role in the same way that I became Secretary.

When thinking back on the Club, I remember the support I received from Ken Koch and Tom Houchins when I made a last push for contributions for my very first political fundraiser. Their contributions put me over my goal amount. I also remember taking my Grandmother to vote in what would be her last primary election (after having experienced the installation of women’s right to vote and getting the chance to choose Hillary Clinton in a Presidential election) and handing over her ballot to Charlie Effinger who has been a Club member for as long has he has been a poll worker.

My time with the Club has been short compared to its duration and I know that I haven’t remembered to include all of those who gave of their time and effort to make it successful.

I regret that my emotions overcame me and I was unable to voice my appreciation to the group. Their contribution and the legacy they have offered is noted and they have had a great impact on emerging Democrats to come. In fact, their memberships will be honored by the nearby Grassroots Democratic Club who’s President Michael Bowman just received the Joni Jenkin’s Young Democrat of the Year award.

The winds of change that swept through our Party last night leaves me with a few questions.

What role will our young leadership do to fill these roles and carry forth a viable Party, especially with a critical Governor’s race in a just a few months, one of their own on the verge of becoming Secretary of State? Along with the release of the KDP’s delegate selection plan which leads up to a Presidential election, local Party elections and a national convention next year, what positions will our young leaders hold? Will they be permitted and supported to step up into new leadership and will they embrace that responsibility? Will our more seasoned volunteers trust their ideas to reformat our Party structure and welcome opportunities to connect with volunteers in new ways so that we grow a new generation of Democrats? Will this be an opportunity for the change we’ve all been talking about?

Hidden Location #18 - Choice of two - WITH HINTS #1 and #2

2011-05-26T07:34:00.003-04:00

The two streets in the three pictures below are related in an unusual way. I can't tell you how they are related because that would be too big of a clue. The first two pictures are the same street, with pictures of the left and right sides of the street. The third picture is a different street. Your task, should you choose to accept it, is three-fold. Identify either the first or second street (or both), and/or tell me how they are related.

As a bonus and a clue, the second street technically doesn't exactly qualify for the relationship, but because of its accessibility was chosen over the actual street which does. I have some hints if this one takes a while. I suspect people will identify the second street before the first one.

Good luck.

Here are the pics:

HINT #1 - First, I still think in terms of the "City" and "County" - I'm still a pre-Metro sort of guy. To that end, these are superlatives - the first street is one of three in both the old City and the county. The second one, because of the house that is out of view on the right, a yellow brick edifice, what some might call a mansion, is only a superlative in the old City.

HINT #2 - I've mentioned these streets are "superlative" in some way. Here is some help. The first street we're looking for in one of three which are superlative in both the old City and the County. The second street we are looking for is superlative only in the old City. Its counterpart in the county is Port Road. The "opposite" superlative to the first street is, in the old City Greenfield Avenue. In the county it is Kulmer Beach Road. The "opposite" of the second street - which really isn't a superlative but qualifies as it is the only access to a property which causes it to be a superlative - the yellow brick mansion I've previously mentioned - in the old City is Christian Court. In the county, it is Sycamore Ridge Drive.

685. 2012 Democratic National Convention - Kentucky Delegate Selection Plan

2011-05-25T07:18:00.000-04:00

The Kentucky Democratic Party has posted its 2012 Delegate Selection Plan on its website. I tried to copy it below but could not get it to format correctly. Visit the site at http://kydemocrat.com/content/2011-delegate-selection-plan.

Questions on the plan should be submitted to info@kydemocrat.com. If you are interested, please read through the entire plan. There are only so many slots. It would be nice if they were filled by people who are truly interested in advancing the purposes of the Democratic Party in Kentucky as opposed to simply folks affiliated with a presidential campaign who want to go to the convention, never to be heard from again, which is usually the case, and was the last time in many instances.

Enjoy. If you wish to leave comments for me, do so below. If you wish to submit official comments, again email the KDP at info@kydemocrat.com.

Thanks.

http://kydemocrat.com/content/2011-delegate-selection-plan.

Hidden Location #17

2011-05-19T15:22:00.004-04:00

Ok, this one might be considered "inside knowledge." And it is. Below are two pictures of a location of what was considered in an October 1869 deed and subdivision dedication to be a "common" alley. Usually the word "common" in a deed relates a legal status as "of being for the public use." For many years, this alley appeared on some maps of Louisville based on that 1869 usage. However, in doing some research in 2008 on properties adjoining this "common alley" I found that the word "common" as used in the deed referred only to the adjoining properties and not to the public as a whole. The alley has been removed from most maps as a public right-of-way since the late 1950s.

Your task is to identify either the location, which should be simple for some of you; or, a more difficult challenge, to name the alley. Yes, it has a name, spelled two different ways, but a name nonetheless. Locating it should be easy. Naming it shouldn't.

684. News from my neighborhood - the Phoenix Hill Farmers' Market - and a contest

2011-05-19T07:38:00.000-04:00

I've copied below a press release I received concerning the farmers' market in my neighborhood. They're open on Tuesdays in the parking lot of The Bodega, 829 E. Market Street, near the corner with S. Campbell Street, just east of downtown Louisville.

*****

PRESS RELEASE

THE PHOENIX HILL FARMERS' MARKET WILL BE HOLDING ITS SPRING FESTIVAL NEXT TUESDAY, MAY 24, FROM 3:00 - 6:30 P.M.
AT 829 E. MARKET ST (in the parking lot of The Bodega and JRA Architects)

The Spring Festival will also be the kick-off for the Phoenix Hill Farmers' Market LOGO CONTEST. (See Attachment or below for details)

Come enjoy the wonderful spring produce, FRESH-PICKED STRAWBERRIES, meat, eggs, bread, jams/jellies, pickles/relishes, FRESH-PICKED STRAWBERRIES, granola, bedding/hanging plants, beautiful children's books, and (did I mention?) FRESH-PICKED STRAWBERRIES.

Kentucky Proud - Nothing Else is Close!

Children's Activities, including movement, music, yoga and/or hooping with the great folks from SHINE!

Music by Dick Branson, loved by adults and children alike

Refreshments! Customer Appreciation Gifts! (Out)Door Prize Drawing!

Outdoor Grilling by Chef Bob Joles of The Bodega!

Plenty of FREE parking available in the parking lot at 829 E. Market, and on Market and Campbell Streets (and nice indoor restrooms!)

EBT payments accepted by most farmers.

While you're at the Market, check out The Bodega for groceries, deli products, wine and beer.

For more information, contact Cindy at 583-7133 or phoenixhillassociation@juno.com
www.phoenixhillna.org

DESIGN A LOGO FOR THE PHOENIX HILL FARMERS’ MARKET !

What is the Phoenix Hill Farmers’ Market (PHFM)? The PHFM is an urban neighborhood market located in the Phoenix Hill neighborhood, and in close proximity to Butchertown, Irish Hill, and Downtown Louisville. This is the 5th year of the market. The PHFM is operated by the Phoenix Hill Neighborhood Association, a non-profit organization.

What is the Steering Committee looking for in a logo? Something that is simple yet eye-catching, that translates well from color to black-and-white, that is easily reproducible, that represents the urban neighborhood market that we are, and that includes the name “Phoenix Hill Farmers’ Market”. (The Phoenix Hill Neighborhood Association logo is in the above right-hand corner.)

Where will the design be used? The logo will be used on postcards, posters, banners, lawn signs, the website, t-shirts, etc. Design rights for the grand prize winner will belong to the Phoenix Hill Neighborhood Association.

What do I win? The Grand Prize Winner will win a $75.00 gift certificate to the Farmers’ Market, and a $75.00 neighborhood restaurant gift card package.

How do I win? Five finalists will be selected by the Phoenix Hill Farmers’ Market Steering Committee from June 21—June 27. The five finalists will be displayed on the PHNA web-site, and the Grand Prize Winner will be selected by the public through an online vote at www.phoenixhillna.org and votes at the PHFM (Tuesdays from 3:00—6:30 p.m. @ 829 E. Market St.) between June 28 and July 18. The Grand Prize Winner will be announced at the Farmers’ Market Week Festival on Tuesday, July 19.

How do I submit my design? All logo designs submitted for contest must be submitted electronically as a JPEG, PNG or PDF (72 dpi RGB, no larger than 250K) in order to be displayed on the web-site. The Grand Prize Winner design will then need to be submitted as an Adobe Illustrator file and/or a high resolution (300 dpi or higher) file. When you submit your logo design, please include your name, best phone number, email address, and mailing address in the email. Submit to phoenixhillassociation@juno.com

Can I submit more than one entry? Yes.

LOGO DESIGNS ARE DUE BY: Monday, June 20, 2011

For more information about the PHOENIX HILL FARMERS’ MARKET visit www.phoenixhillna.org , or visit the Market on Tuesdays, from 3:00—6:30 p.m. at 829 E. Market Street. Questions can be sent to phoenixhillassociation@juno.com.

Timeline:
May 24—June 21 Submissions taken
June 22—June 28 PHFM Steering Committee will select the 5 Finalists
June 29—July 11 Voting on-line and at the Market for the Grand Prize Winner
July 19 Grand Prize Winner announced at the Farmers’ Market Week Festival

683. Day after the election.

2011-05-18T08:01:00.004-04:00

I'm posting from the home of Charlotte and Jerry Lundergan on Lexington's north side. Last night their daughter was nominated as the Democratic candidate for Secretary of State in this fall's election. Alison Grimes defeated the appointed incumbent by a 10% margin. Other winners last night were incumbent Todd Hollenbach IV as State Treasurer and Louisville businessman Bob Farmer - yes, Farmer - for Agriculture Commissioner. My friend Adam Edelen was unopposed for nomination as the Auditor of Public Accounts. On to November.

682. A wedding, a dinner, and a possible presidential contender. Young and old Democrats celebrated yesterday.

2011-05-15T15:03:00.005-04:00

Yesterday afternoon and evening provided, for me, opportunities to see Democratic political friends both old and young at two unrelated events. The fact that they were both scheduled around 6 o'clock on the same day left a few folks perturbed, others wondering how they would manage to make both events, and, I suppose, others still who saw no conflict.

The earlier of the two - or rather the more important of the two in my book - was the marriage of my friend Will Carle to his now bride Julie Wahl. While I only met Julie not very long ago, I have known Will for many years and have a great deal of affection for him. His parents, Ed and Dottie Carle, were friends with my uncle and aunt, Don (who died in 2005) and Judy Noble. Will's godparents are Danny and Patty Meyer, people I've known since I was a teenager. I sat with the Meyer's during the ceremony and at some point Patty mentioned having been in this same church for Will's baptism.

Will is exactly twenty years younger than me. He has worked in campaigns since he was a very young man. In recent years he has worked in the governor's office in Frankfort, as well as the campaigns of the current mayor, Greg Fischer, and presently as the campaign manager for Adam Edelen, a candidate for Auditor of Public Accounts, a statewide office which will appear on this November's ballot. Mr. Edelen was one of the groomsmen in the wedding.

Will and Julie were married in the Calvary Episcopal Church, a staid building of limestone and bedford stone on 4th Street just south of Broadway in downtown Louisville. Calvary, founded in 1860, was built in two phases, at its present location, between 1872 and 1889.

In addition to the usual framework of the families and friends of the bride and groom in attendance were a handful of young, active Democrats (and at least one young, active Republican). In addition to Mr. Edelen, there were at least two other political activists serving as groomsman, one, Aaron Horner, who is partially responsible for me holding my seat on the Kentucky Democratic Party State Central Executive Committee. There were also a group of younger Democrats in the congregation gathered for the ceremony.

As someone now past the half-century mark, I am hopeful these young folks stick together in guiding Kentucky and its Democrats well into the 21st century.

Leaving the wedding, I made my way over to the Galt House East where, in the Grand Ballroom, the Louisville-Jefferson County Democratic Party was having its annual dinner and celebration. In most places these dinners are called Jefferson-Jackson Dinners, after the early founders of the Democratic Party. It is my belief, however, that if we study the politics and policies of presidents Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson, we may have second thoughts about celebrating in their honor. Many years ago, I think 1985, the Democrats of Jefferson County decided to rename their "J-J" Dinner the Wendell H. Ford Appreciation Dinner, later shortened to the Wendell Ford Dinner, and often called simply the Ford Dinner.

Wendell Hampton Ford, of Owensboro, served in Kentucky's legislature, then as lieutenant governor, governor, and ultimately United States Senator. He is now 86 years old and, if the speech he gave last night is any indication, still in pretty good shape. His message was brief and to the point. We are at war with a political ideology whose purpose is to serve the rich and the corporate at the expense of the average American. And we must continue to battle against this intrusion on the American way of life.

There was at least one other octogenarian in attendance, former State Representative Al Bennett, about the same age as Ford, who once represented parts of southwest Jefferson County. At the end of the program, for a few brief moments, Mr. Bennett and I were joined in conversation by Michael Bowman, also a southwest Jefferson resident and young man on the move. I do not know how old Michael is - my presumption is he is about 25. He currently serves as president of the Grassroots Democratic Club, a long-time southwest Jefferson Democratic association, one which my grandmother belonged to when I was a little kid. While it may have been lost on Al and Michael, I was mentally engaged in the idea of past and future leaders speaking here with me in these two. Michael has already ran (and lost) a race for the Metro Council. There are strong indications he will run again for something at some point. He has not said what. Last night he was awarded the Joni Jenkins Young Democrat of the Year award for his involvement in the Party. He has a cadre of followers and I am sure is someone we will be hearing from in the future.

At the other end of the age spectrum, I was seated at a table with Clarence Yancey, the 75 or so year old self-proclaimed godfather of Louisville's West End, who has been a Legislative District Chair for about twenty years now, since first being appointed by then-County Chair Bill Ryan, who was also at my table. On my right was Christa Robinson and to my left were Cathy Yarmuth, followed by her husband the congressman, and their son Aaron - beocming an active leader in his own right, and a young woman I presumed to be Aaron's date. Clarence won the Johnny Crimmins Lifetime Achievement Award and it was well-deserving. I am just old enough to remember Mr. Crimmins, who was the Party secretary or chair for many years in the mid 20th century. Mr. Crimmins died in April, 1999.

The event was a mixture of old and young. There is always some talk that there are too many old folks on the County Executive Committee and not enough attention paid to those younger Democrats in our midst. Without question, the latter statement is true. Sooner or later, there will come a time for the Jefferson County Party to pass the torch to this new generation of young leadership. Their presence at last night's dinner was quite obvious. I'm of the opinion that time may be sooner rather than later. Still, though, the 35 and older crowd predominated the room. Until that is not the case, it is likely there will not be a change in the power structure.

Before I leave the dinner, and before I leave the discussion of a power change, let me mention the guest speaker, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley. Governor O'Malley is the head of the Democratic Governors Association, a group which is slated to spend some dollars and hours in Kentucky this helping to re-elect Kentucky's incumbent Democratic governor. The Maryland governor cited a number of reasons that Kentucky needed to re-elect its governor, not the least of which is the chaos which would ensue if his expected (by most, but not all) opponent is elected. In this regard, I strongly agree with the Governor O'Malley.

The rest of his speech was a combination of cliches, rounded out with solid facts, a little bit of old-fashioned preaching, and a sparkling look and personality. It occurred to me that there is some presidential potential in Governor O'Malley and I am sure I am not the only person who saw that. But, it was just a glimpse, a spark, but not the whole fire. Nonetheless, he has a history. As a young man, he was involved in the 1984 campaign of Gary Hart. He would have been 21 at the time. He spoke at the 2004 national convention in Boston in support of John Kerry.

Few of us have had the opportunity to see a person in those formative years who later became president. After all, there have only been 44 presidencies. I am fortunate that circumstance placed me in a position in 2006 to meet up close and personal the man who became the 44th American president, Barack Obama. Many of us recognised at the time that it was very likely this tall mixed-race, Hawaiian born senator from Illinois would one day very soon become America's Commander-In-Chief. I know I left that September 2006 event at Slugger Field with that notion, although at the time I was supporting Chris Dodd for president.

While I didn't get that overwhelming feeling from Governor O'Malley last night, I sense that it may there, which is to say I got a little of it. And that is pretty cool as far as I am concerned. I had a few brief words with the governor, sporting my "I am an Obama Precinct Captain" button, which caught his eye and sparked the conversation. And I like him for other reasons. He, like me, is a history buff; he has appeared on The History Channel describing the British Invasion of 1812, something he spoke of last night - the invasion itself, not his appearnce on TV, tying its hero to Kentucky. And he is from my generation. Just as President Obama is just a bit younger than me, Governor O'Malley is just a bit younger than the president. It is time we started electing folks to higher and the highest offices who were born in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. I'm going to keep my eye on this man.

Briefly, though, back to the old and the new.

As I have done every four since 1980, next year, 2012, I will be participating in the National Democratic Party's reorganization process, a process which includes the Kentucky Democratic Party reorganization, and starts with the Louisville-Jefferson County Democratic Party Reorganization. I was first elected to the Jefferson County Party's Executive Committee in 1980 at the age of 19. I know of only two people who have served as Chair or Vice Chair who were of that age - Rushi Sushil in 2000 as Vice Chair of the 48th LD (at 18) and Preston Bates in 2008 as Chair of the 48th LD (at 19).

While there may not be a lot of teenagers running for these partisan positions, there should be a lot of 20, 30 and 40 years olds running, and not just for the "youth" positions. I'll be writing more about this in the future. I just wanted to get this first plug in tonight. This reorganization process will take place throughout the Republic beginning in April of next year and culminating in the National Democratic Convention in Charlotte next summer. It is never too early to plan.

681. Brief Thoughts - The Modern Day Confederacy

2011-05-13T21:55:00.002-04:00

The Confederacy is alive and well in Kentucky and many other states which have a powerful-enough Tea Party influence in their state's Republican Party, as we do in Kentucky.

I have members of the Confederate Army in my family's lineage and have visited their graves, not because I revere them for their politics, but because they are flesh of my flesh, blood of my blood. I do not know if they were racist in their time or if they were simply young men in need of a paycheck and their destiny threw them in with the CSA.

I do know that the modern day Tea Party and Republican Party is full of people with beliefs I find abhorrent and un-Christlike, beliefs which are antithetic to many of my friends who are either non-white, non-Christian, non-American, or any of the many of other non's that most of us have come to accept as simply friends.

The American dream was built upon a melting pot of cultures and creeds. Those who would deny those same opportunities to the next generation of newcomers are simply un-American. America, the USA, defeated and put an end to the CSA in 1865. Long live America. Don't let these modern day Confederists, people President Lincoln called "elements in rebellion," destroy what is left of the good and great America.

Breif Thoughts - The Flintstones, Entitlements, and the Ballot Box

2011-04-21T07:12:00.002-04:00

From Facebook - My Durrett HS classmate and friend Jeff Reid posted the following, referencing an old cartoon, a favorite of most of us our age. The Flintstones cartoon, with Fred and Wilma and Barney and Betty, premiered exactly one week after my birth, on September 30, 1960 and had its original run until April 1, 1966. One of the images we can all picture - at least those of us of a certain age - is Fred running, arm and fist extended, yelling "Charge!!!"

As a note, Jeff and I differ in political philosophy, which isn't a bad thing. Here is Jeff's entry, which is political in nature:

Does anyone else have visions of Wilma and Betty from the Flintstones, running out of the house yelling C H A R G E I T!!!!! Whenever I hear some of our politicians talking about fiscal responsibility?? --note: To anyone to young to have seen this cartoon you are simply socially deprived. ;)

Here is my response:

Obama is following in the footsteps of GWB and RWR, two other presidents who loved spending money but weren't willing to raise the revenues to cover their wars. For Reagan, that was left to Clinton, who left office with a huge surplus. If the Republicans want to cut entitlements as they say, they should go ahead and do so. They control both chambers and could probably override the president's veto with enough blue dog Democratic votes. Their only fear is the ballot box next year and the revenge of those receiving the entitlement checks, most of whom are older, disabled, and/or retired and are very good voters. If the Democrats want to champion the entitlement programs, they have to raise taxes to pay for it. Their only fear is the ballot box next year and the revenge of younger voters, most of whom have never received an entitlement check, and those who have are, like most people their age, very poor voters. Either way works but one or the other side has to get over their fear of revenge at the ballot box.

Any thoughts?

689. Bhatraju, Facebook, and the Civil War - and Hidden Location #16

2011-04-12T19:15:00.001-04:00

No, they aren't all related.

It has been almost a month since I've made an entry. A lot hasn't happened in that time. The two biggest things that didn't happen - at least in many Kentuckians minds - were part of the Madness of March. Louisville didn't beat Morehead State and Kentucky didn't beat Connecticut. Also, the Federal government didn't shut down, much to the chagrin of people on both sides of the aisle, all of whom said they didn't want it to, but many of whom would like for that to happen for one reason or another. What else hasn't happened?

For one thing, people didn't stop reading the blog, despite the lack of posts. According to the people-watching counters we're still averaging 34 hits a day. Woohoo. And, while I've been away, we crossed the 80,000th visit-mark. 80,000. That apparently happened on March 15 but I can't quite determine who it was.

But, let's move on. Item #1 above is Bhatraju. That's the surname of a dear friend of mine, Kiran Bhatraju, presently residing in Washington, D.C., but a native of Pike County, Kentucky, home to Pikeville University, one of the two local colleges which did win a basketball tournament last month. The Pikeville Bears defeated Mountain State University 83-76 for the championship of the NAIA Division I. Congratulations, Pikeville. The other college which was a championship was Louisville's own Bellarmine University Knights. Bellarmine defeated Brigham Young University-Hawaii 71-68 to win the school's first NCAA Division II title. Congratulations to Coach Davenport and the Knights. But, I digress.

I was speaking of my Pikeville friend Kiran Bhatraju. Today is his birthday. I ran into Kiran while I was in DC a few weeks back. We had a wonderful night out on the town at a place called Vinoteca, a wine-and-meat-and-cheese bar at 9th and U streets NW. It was Mariachi night, so all the Spanish wine bottles were half-off and we indulged our Castillian urges with some vino y carne y queso. If you were following my trip to DC on Facebook, you would already have this knowledge, as I "Facebooked" the whole trip.

That brings us to Item #2, Facebook. Lately, I've written quite a few updates on my Facebook, causing a serious deficit over here at the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606. I need a more balanced way of writing, but as yet, I haven't stumbled upon it. In lieu of that, I am copying below a few of the entries for you perusal.

To wit,

Bourbon, for me, is usually reserved for one of three events - 1) Horse racing, 2) UK Football, or 3) Election Night.

Remember, before the Brown Bag was the Brown Bag, it was the Zanzibar. After the Brown Bag was the Brown Bag, it became the Zanzabar.

Here is the trivial matter: Elstner, Engle, Hill, Horton, McPherson, Philpot, Saint Clair Morton, Karnasch, Clark, Saunders, and Southworth. What's their significance to Louisville? No Googling.

The island where Baxter, Main, and Story intersect. Three US highway routes meet here, one of which ends. Can you name them?

And finally, We could all probably use a FB shutdown - maybe have time to check our regular emails and vacuum the living room. Maybe.

That last one is quite telling.

One of those Facebook quotes concerned a trivia question which was correctly answered by Hau Le, a senior at Central High School. He correctly identified those names as being those of forts in the Louisville area during the Civil War, known to some as the late War Between the States, or the War of Northern Aggression. The American Civil War began 150 years ago today with the firing on Fort Sumpter (South Carolina) of shots by a Lt. Col. Henry S. Farley of the Confederate States Army. The rest, as they say, is history. I just didn't want this date passing us by with a comment. A civil war 150 years ago doesn't seem so far removed after the elections of 2010 as it, perhaps, should.

Finally, a new Hidden Location. There are two pictures, taken from the same spot. There are two ways to win with this one. First, name the spot. Second, name the significance of that spot to today's post.

Happy Trails, and Happy Birthday, Kiran.

688. Apologies

2011-03-13T07:17:00.001-04:00

Quickly, apologies are offered for the lack of posts. I'm on a hiatus from the Left Bank of the Ohio river near Milepost 606 for a few days. Instead I'm hanging out along the Left Bank of the Potomac River (I think at milepost 96, but I'm not sure). Later this week, I'll be along the East River in New York. Have a good week.

677. Brief Thoughts - and Tim Meyer is correct.

2011-03-02T21:15:00.003-05:00

A necessary prerequisite to perfoming an Act of Civil Disobedience is first fully understanding the law to be disobeyed, and second, acknowledging that, indeed, such a law is current and applicable to the situation.

*****

I know three guys named Tim Meyer, all about the same age. I do not know any of them very well, although I once did. One, the youngest of the three, is Marty Meyer's younger brother, who I've known since he was in grade school, but it would be wrong to say we are friends. Another is a Audubon-area kid that I played softball with in the 1980s. The third is an African-American from Okolona I knew when I was growing up. Back then Okolona was about 94% white, a great contrast from today where it is possible that the Latinos along McCawley Road and Egypt Lane outnumber the blacks. These latter two are my age.

One of those three, or quite possibly another Tim Meyer unknown to me, correctly answered the previous Hidden Location picture. I offered that it would be easy. After all, the previous one was a Manslick Road and I had written a great deal about where all these Manslick Roads were located. Tim correctly identified the picture as the terminus of Manslick Road - neither West nor East - at Palatka Road, where continuing south one is driving upon Saint Andrews Church Road. We'll have another more difficult Hidden Location soon.

Happy March.

HL 14 identifed; HL 15 below

2011-02-24T07:20:00.003-05:00

Ok, y'all are getting them too quickly. I am going to have to take more obscure pictures -starting with the one after Hidden Location #15 below. HL15 should be very easy, but I promise more difficult ones in the future.

But first some comments on Hidden Location #14. John Flood correctly identified the location, writing "This looks like corner of Penile Rd, W. Manslick Rd & Old New Cut Rd. in Fairdale." Yes, to a point - an italicised point. The street names are correct and I'll address two of them below. And, yes, I would certainly call that intersection part of Fairdale. But, according to the United States Postal Service, I was in "Valley Station" when I took the picture while standing along the southern side of W. Manslick Road. All of the Penile Road addresses going off to the right also carry the Valley Station zip code of 40272. But the territory to the left on Old New Cut Road and on the other side of the intersection is, indeed, Fairdale, whose zip code is 40118.

I have nothing to report about Penile Road, and that is probably a good thing. So, let's start with Old New Cut, an interesting name. About twenty-five years ago, coinciding with the opening of the Gene Snyder Freeway, a road was built connecting New Cut Road as it then existed with W. Manslick Road, about 3/4 mile closer to Fairdale. This 3/4 mile stretch of highway went unnamed for many years. People referred to it as New New Cut or New Manslick or "that new road connecting to the Snyder." Eventually, however, developers bought the land along the northern side of the road, erecting several warehouses and a motel. With such development came the need for addresses, and address numbers need road names to make any sense.

After some - not much - discussion, it was decided to call the new stretch of road "New Cut" continuing the name of the road which extends south from Iroquois Park to this point. Further it was decided to call the older stretch of New Cut, the one now cut-off and appearing in our picture, Old New Cut, an awkward name to be sure. But the reason had more to do with the other street involved in the new connecting road - W. Manslick. Were the county streetname deciders going to give us yet another Manslick to deal with?

Check any map of southern Jefferson County and you will find six close but unconnected streets - eight if you count "Old Manslick" sections - with the name Manslick. At one time there were a few more, like the Echo Trail sections of southeastern Jefferson County. Presently the easternmost Manslick Road runs from Beulah Church Road west to Pennsylvania Run Road. A second section, starting about two blocks south of the first one, runs from Pennsylvania Run Road west to what is officially called Shepherdsville Road, but which many still call Old Shepherdsville Road, usually shortenend to Old Shep. A third Manslick starts about a block north of this one and runs from Old Shep west to Preston Highway, which, if you are wondering, was at one time the companion New Shepherdsville Road, but that name never caught on. That's all of the southeastern Manslicks.

Coming in from the southwest, beginning at the intersection of Berry Boulevard and Seventh Street Road, is the first of three Manslicks on this side of town. This one extends south to Palatka Road. A second Manslick picks up about 3/4 mile east of this point and runs south to Saint Anthony's Church Road. Another 3/4 mile from there, a third Manslick begins at Third Street Road and extends toward Fairdale, to the point in our Hidden Location #14 picture, at Old New Cut Road.

Why all the Manslicks?

First, let us dissect the name into its original name which was Mann's Lick, the name of a salt lick owned presumably by the Mann family. Actually, that's exactly what it is. Mann's Lick was a salt lick operating in the area of present day Glengarry, or Glen Garry, a subdivision in Fairdale near the intersection of National Turnpike and the Gene Snyder Freeway. Salt licks dotted southern Jefferson and much of Bullitt counties before places like Louisville and Shepherdsville existed. Thus, we are speaking of pre-Revolutionary War times. A community existed in this area known as Newtown. Newtown, in fact, grew large enough to be incorporated as a city in 1794, but its existence was one of about thirty-five years in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

The roads leading in from the east and west to Newtown were known as the "roads to Mann's Lick." One group came south from the Falls of the Ohio River, along the north-south buffalo trail generally today followed by the CSX (formerly L&N RR), I-65, and Preston Highway. They are generally known simply as Manslick Road. Another came from the east, perhaps a more southern path of the Midland Trail, or a more northern path of the Wilderness Trail. I really don't know. These, today, are generally known as E. Manslick Road. The roads closest to Fairdale are called W. Manslick Road. Now you know.

So, here is a new picture. Again, it should be very easy to identify.

Hidden Location #14

2011-02-22T07:52:00.000-05:00

Here is a new location for our cartographic enquirers to get on their Google Earth machines and other such devices and offer up an answer. Actually, I'd rather you not do that. I would ask that you truly make an effort at identifying such places without the help of a machine, other than maybe your car or bike. If you do not know where it is, just say so. There may be other readers who do, but who aren't as savvy on the computer. Again, the whole idea is to find an unusual place then see if any of my readers actually know where it is. That's the idea, although I may not have enough faithful game players to make that happen with every picture. We'll see.

HL Thirteen Answers and a Thought

2011-02-21T17:07:00.000-05:00

Hidden Location #13 wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought it might be. Marty Meyer and Patrick C rang in within thirty seconds of each other, with Marty's answer being posted first - Stevenson Avenue headed uphill from Mellwood to William and Arlington. Yes, that is Kaviar Forge on the left as Curtis Morrison points out.

Curtis also correctly identified the 100 block of Haldeman, adding an extraneous North, unnecessary and incorrect, but we won't take points off. The 100 block, north or south, at this point in the city, is divided by the railroad track. I appreciate the additional information Curtis provided on the location.

This latter group of new homes I found last year during the Easter Parade down Frankfort Avenue. I revisited the area late last fall in search for a particular building which was seen in a Todd Lally for Congress commercial. It was my initial belief that the building outside which he was standing was the one opposite the end of Weiss Place, another part of the infill construction of which Mr. Morrison spoke. Further research revealed that building to be the old Ehrler's Dairy operation on Belmar Drive, which had closed in the mid 1990s. We never quite figured out what Mr. Lally believed to be Congressman Yarmuth's involvement in Ehrler's decision to close the building nearly a decade before John took office. But, I digress.

We'll have another Hidden Location soon. I'm also thinking about writing an entry compiling some comments from a few Facebook friends and non-friends who seem to find fault with every step our new mayor has taken during his lengthy term in office, so far a total of forty-nine days. Given some of their rhetoric, you'd think he'd served as long as, say, President Mubarak of Egypt. Forty-nine days, though, is the current mark.

Well, at least I am thinking about it - I may not actually post it. These are folks who have every reason to be upset with the mayor as none of them supproted him. Of course, I've supported candidates who never made it through the Primary before. The following is a list of my first choices for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States of America during my thirty-three years of voting:

Kennedy, Jackson, Simon, Brown, Clinton, no clear choice, Dean, Dodd.

You may notice I got a total of one ultimate nominee correct, the 1996 re-election bid by Bill Clinton. But, as part of my loss, I did not make it my duty to trash everything the victors did, if they were successful in the November race. That sounds like something Mitch McConnell might say with regard to the current president's agenda for 2011 and 2012. Maybe I'm being overly sensitive since I've been described as part of the Fischer protectorate. Maybe.

Hidden Location #13 - Choice of two

2011-02-17T20:11:00.005-05:00

I was sitting in my meeting today when I received a text from Marty Meyer telling me that if I had posted a new picture, he could have been figuring it out while in attendance at his meeting.

For the record, he was seated next to me.

Below are two pictures - two different streets although, honestly, not that far apart. One picture looks uphill while the other looks down. Where are they?

What goes up . . . .

Must come down.

I'm pretty sure there were no blue Volvo wagons around this time.

676. 676 and #12

2011-02-12T22:40:00.000-05:00

First, the answer to Hidden Location #12 was offered to our seven faithful readers by someone known on the wires as JeffnClifton. I have somewhere in the corner cobwebs of my mind that his real name is Jeff Nowlin. Is that correct? The picture was taken in the 200 block of Idlewylde Drive looking south toward Calvin Avenue.

Appropriately the answer came from a self-identified Cliftonian as this street is somewhere along the borderlands between Clifton, Crescent Hill, and Clifton Heights. To his credit, Curtis Morrison had taken a stab at the location and was headed in the right direction when he mentioned Lower Brownsboro Road. But, as there were no Iron Facades or Downtown Bridges involved, and the fact that it is very likely most of the residents in this area were Greg Fischer supporters, he somehow lost his way.

I wish I knew more of the background of this area, as it is my custom to try to give a short historical sketch once the hidden location is revealed. I'll have to return to this one on another day as I know very little specific information.

*****

The other part of this entry returns us to an old custom - that of using the entry number as a lesson for a Kentucky highway of the same number. Today is entry #676 so we'll speak briefly about KY676, a major cross-county four-lane in southern Franklin County. KY676, I believe, was built in the mid to late 1970s. The purpose of the road was to alleviate traffic on downtown Frankfort's city streets.

Frankfort stands by hills surrounded - replacing Frankfort for Zion, so would go an altered hymn by the Irish Poet Thomas Kelly, written in 1806. Anyone who has ever driven into Frankfort knows one must go downhill to get down to the city proper. The city was originally laid out in the "S" curves of the Kentucky River, where the division in 1780 of Kentucky County, Virginia occurred, at the mouth of Benson Creek into the Kentucky River. There is presently a Riverfront Park overlooking some of this, along Wilkinson Street north of Broadway.

From the south, one enters Frankfort along either the old Lawrenceburg Pike (KY420) or more often, along US60, down Louisville Hill into Second Street, which is also the major approach from the west, the minor one being the Devils Hollow Road (eventually KY1005), which was the original entry from Louisville. From the north are the Bald Knob Pike (US421) and the Owenton Road (US127). From the east, one comes down East Main Street either from the Georgetown Pike (US460) or from Versailles Road (US60). All of these approaches at some point go down hill, and often steeply. Anyone coming into town prior to the construction of KY676 did it on one of these roads.

With the expansion of what was once called the Health Department and what many people still call the Human Resources Building on East Main Street, a need arose to create a "back" way into the project. This also allowed for expansion at Kentucky State University (KSU), opposite the Human Resources Building. KY676, which is signed as the East-West Connector allowed for this back entry. BEginning on the west side at US127 the road went down hill with its first original intersection at an extended Collins Lane, which at one time had jutted west toward US127.

Further down the hill came the intersection with KY420 which hugged the stone wall along its west side leading down into South Frankfort below the Capitol and Executive Mansion. This area has always been prone to flooding. At the bottom of the hill, the road crosses the Kentucky River in the Big Eddy area, on the Julian M. Carroll Bridge, named for the previous governor from McCracken County who after his term as governor remained in Frankfort and is now serving as a State Senator for Franklin, Anderson, Woodford, and parts of Scott and Fayette counties.

The eastern side of KY676 then works its way back up the hill with Frankfort's Capital View Park off to the north along the old Glenns Creek Road, redubbed as Kentucky coffeetree Drive, for what was for a few years Kentucky's official tree, and a variety of venues off to the south including Kentucky's Vietnam Veterans Memorial, shown below. The memorial, dedicated in 1988, takes the form of a granite sundial with the dial, or gnomon, of stainless steel. The names of Kentucky's 1100 fallen and missing veterans from that war are strategically placed such that the tip of the shadow produced on a given day by the gnomon falls upon the date that the veteran was lost to the war. It is an eerie and sensitively designed memorial which everyone should visit.

The newer Franklin County Regional Correctional Facility is also up on the ridge to the south of the highway. The major intersection on this side of town is with Martin Luther King Jr. Drive (KY1659), a major four-lane city street connecting with the back (and effectively the main) entrance of the Human Resources Building, as well as all of the KSU's facilities off to the east. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, the former Maryland Avenue, then crosses East Main Street and directly accesses the main campus of KSU. South of the East-West Connector, this street is known as Glenns Creek Road.

KY676 progresses further east, generally following the old railroad path which eventually leads to Midway and Lexington and has recently become a topic of discussion for a light rail line connecting Frankfort with Kentucky's largest two cities, Louisville and Lexington. But, I digress.

After crossing Galbraith Drive, the road makes its approach to Versailles Road, East Frankfort's major thoroughfare. The intersection here was one of a few "prototypes" combining some elements of an interstate intersection with cross-over stoplighted street level intersection as well. The Bardstown Road/Watterson Expressway intersection in Louisville is another example of this type of intersection. KY676 ceases numerically at this point, but the roadway itself extends under US60 becoming the Leestown Pike on the east side and numbered as KY 421, eventually leading into Lexington under the name West Main Street.

For most people who use it, it is simply the easy way into and out of the Human Resources Building on the east side of the river, and the circulating Captial Parking garage for the west side. Now you know.

KY676 photo by H. B. Elkins
Kentucky Vietnam Veterans Memorial photo by Lon Whitson

675. Whiskey Row/Iron Quarter - Curtis Morrison and I exchange thoughts on Facebook

2011-02-08T13:55:00.005-05:00

Curtis Morrison:

If Mayor Greg Fischer continues to take cues from President Mubarak in the undemocratic disposition of Whiskey Row, all you loyal Fischer supporters will likely be activated to storm an upcoming rally of preservationists on the backs of camels, armed with those little Louisville Slugger bats they've confiscated at the airport. This all could have been prevented.

Me:
I have an opinion but it has nothing to do with the relatively recent ownership by Mr. Blue. Most of these buildings have been more or less empty since I was in my teens or 20s, which is to say for a hell of a long time. And the ones which were open back then - I can remember several - weren't in the best of shape even then. I recall a collapsing stairwell in one building in particular back in 1986. And the one on the far eastern end collapsed of its own accord a decade ago. Admittedly, those toward the west have done well.

I'm not happy about any compromise on the facade issue, of that I'll admit. But when the plans came out in 2007 for all the highrises set back away from the streets, I thought it was a great idea. My friend Michael Garton and I discussed this last night while waiting for Gil Reyes' play, Rosencrantz and Gildenstern Are Dead, to start at the Kentucky Center. We disagreed.

I wish there was to be more residential space, and particularly more affordable residential space in this project, or any project in the area. We have next to none of that. There's something worth fighting for.

But, comparing this mayor's one month and five days in office with the thirty year reign of President Mubarak is quite hyperbolic and frankly, silly. I expect better from you and your followers.

Deep in my heart, I'm a preservationist too. I remember my freshman year at college (or maybe I was a senior at Durrett) fighting the demolition of the old Will Sales Building, where the B&W Tower now stands at 4th and Liberty streets. I remembering touring with then-Alderman Allan Steinberg the old Savoy Theater on Jefferson Street and the Milner Hotel in the same block, hoping their facades could be worked into plans for the new convention center. We lost those battles and those buildings.

But using similar tactics, others succesfully incorporated the facade of the Compton or Clinton (or whatever it is - I know it starts with a C) Building into the new multi-storied Marriott at 3rd and Jefferson streets, providing construction jobs in the short run and hotel jobs for decades to follow.

Let's use a little logic here. We need to preserve the facades - the only real parts worth preserving. Work toward that end - I will join you. But we also need jobs. Here is an opportunity. Make your arguments using sensible language and reasonable ideas, not Slugger Battette wielding renegades on camelback. Don't expect anyone with any authority to help you in your crusade to take such comments with any degree of seriousness.

A new Hidden Location and an answer to the last one

2011-02-08T06:38:00.001-05:00

At some point I need to get back to writing real blog entries instead of these little games. But, I am enjoying them so that may not happen for a while. First, a new picture, Hidden Location #12, for Marty to locate. Wait, I meant for everyone to take a stab at locating before Marty figures it out. Go.

Marty's answer for Hidden Location #11 is correct. That is the 1200 block of Hull Street looking northeast. This is the Irish Hill neighborhood just off Baxter Avenue near what is now called Lexington Road. The subdivision known as Irish Hill was laid out in two parts, the earlier one closer to Lexington Road, then known as Hamilton Avenue, was the old Valentine Schneikert property and developed by Adolph Hull, who probably named Hull Street. The Schneikert mansion still exists up on a hill behind some condos which front at 1234 Lexington Road. Very few people ever see the Schneikert mansion, which now has been converted to apartments and has a Pine Street address. I cannot locate a good picture of that home. Schneikert was a Louisville brickmaker in the post-Civil War era. His home was built prior to 1884.

[WRITER/EDITOR'S NOTE: Before some more informed soul than I points it out to me, someone like Dr. Tom Owen, I must confess I've eliminated a reference in the last sentence of the above paragraph to Mr. Schneikert's home being built of wood, as opposed to brick. When I wrote that earlier - the reference is now gone - I felt I was wrong. So, as part of my evening drive I went and found the house and found (most of it) to be constructed of brick, as is befitting the home of a Louisville brick merchant. Thanks for allowing me to clear that up].

Two people mentioned the old brick mansion at 1212 Hull Street, pictured below, believed to have been built around 1868. That was the home of Nicholas Finzer, a Louisville tobacco merchant - The Five Brothers Tobacco Company - as well as a member of the old Louisville School Board. A school once stood on E. Broadway between Shelby and Clay streets on the south side named for Mr. Finzer and Finzer Street runs behind the old school proeprty over to Smoketown. I've put a picture of the school below that of his mansion. It is now a parking lot.

These two homes in Irish Hill aren't that far apart. I can't determine where the proeprty division may have been based on the current street grid. But the balance of the Schneikert property was re-subdivided by an Act of the General Assembly on March 24, 1884. This later section became the property of the Payne family and Payne Street obviously is named for them. This subdivision extended over to the now-abandoned Eastern Cemetery where my Schlenk relatives are buried, including my great-grandmother Loraine Augusta Schlenk Lee Hall, and her parents, Emil and Minnie Schlenk.

*****

Nicholas Finzer Mansion, 1212 Hull Street

Nicholas Finzer School, formerly at 740 E. Broadway

Hidden Location #11

2011-02-03T07:34:00.000-05:00

Here it is. I have two supplementary photos which may be added if Marty doesn't figure this one out right away. Leave comments. Unrelated, the groundhog saw his shadow yesterday in Pennsylvania, according to the official media. Spring is en route.

674. "Come on out to William H. King's . . . . , and Hidden Location #10 revealed

2011-01-28T22:40:00.003-05:00

Out at the Fairgrounds, except we officially don't call it that anymore, there is a show going on, a show most of us in Louisville have attended at one time or another in our lives. It is being advertised as the Louisville Boat, RV, and Sport Show, and there is a little jingle that was being played earlier on 103.5 FM - WAKY - or as we would say here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606, Wa-Kee Ray-Dee-Oh! The trouble is I can't tell you how the jingle goes because it hasn't been around long enough. In fact, as soon as I heard it I started singing another jingle for the same event. If you are old enough, you know the real jingle for this show goes "Come on out to William H. King's Sport, Boat, and Vacation show, 'Cause it wont be long until it that time of year" Now I know that more than a few of you were singing along by the time you got to the end of that line.

If you are old enough to remember the William H. King jingle, you're probably old enough to have recognized the location in our most recent Hidden Location entry. Marty Meyer correctly identified it as the corner of S. Second Street at W. Florence Avenue. Indeed, that is exactly where it is. The picture is looking north along Second Street's southbound lanes. Back in the day, as people like to say nowadays when they are talking about something that happened a long time ago - I'm especially unnerved when I hear one of my 23 year old friends referring to back in the day and you find out they mean sometime around 2007. But, I've digressed.

At one time, this corner was an integral part of the Watterson Expressway's intersection with KY1020. The former exit sign read "2nd St - 3rd St - Southern Parkway" heading in either direction on the Watterson. If you were in the westbound lanes and you took this triply-defined exit, you made a 90 degree turn off the Watterson and up the little hill on 2nd Street to Florence. At that point you were directed 90 degrees to the left (westwardly) along Florence over to 3rd and even further, if you wanted, over to Southern Parkway. That hill was known to oldtimers as Bluebird Hill although I do not know exactly why.

Marty identified the intersection as part of Wilder Park and this is qualifiably correct, but qualifiably incorrect as well. While the old City of Louisville neighborhood boundary for Wilder Park extended this far south, the original development, which began in the very late 1880s extended no further south than Fairmont Avenue. It is possible that Fairmont is named for the little hill to the south that came to be known at some point as Bluebird Hill, while the valley between Fairmount and the eventual Florence was known as Bluebird Valley.

The original Wilder Park subdivision, built on land once occupied by the old Greenland Race Track, an early Churchill Downs comptetior, ran from Collins Court south to Fairmount, and from Third Street east over to the old L&N Railroad. It was developed by a real estate investor by the name of Angus Allmond - hence Allmond Avenue which eventually graced (loosely used) the far eastern edge of the far southern edge of the neighborhood. The property was owned by a woman named Wilder Collins. Most of the Wilder Park homes north of Fairmont, in Mrs. Collins original plat, were built in the period between 1890 and 1930. Homes south of there came along just before and just after World War Two.

2nd Street, the divided avenue in the center of the development, was originaly known as Wilder Boulevard. The east-west cross streets followed the pattern of those streets north of Churchill Downs, adopting letters as their street names. Wilder Park's letters ranged from P to V. The only Louisville streetname remaining from the configuration is M street, just north of Churchill Downs.

(Unrelated to this story is that of the City of Oakdale, which began up near The Granville Inn at what was then called A Street, and extended south to about where the Watterson Expressway is now, between the L&N on the east and Rodman Avenue on the west. An Oakdale neighborhood remains south of Churchill Downs.)

So, congratulations once again to Marty Meyer, now 7-1-1-1 in our little game. I'll find a new location tomorrow or Sunday.

Hidden Location #10

2011-01-28T15:02:00.002-05:00

Let's see how the panel does. I have a second picture from the same intersection which I may post later if this one proves too difficult. Leave your comments below.

673. A Full Moon and a Hidden Location Winner

2011-01-21T22:31:00.002-05:00

There a big beautiful pizza-pie style moon hanging out about 1/3 the way up in the sky somewhere over Fisherville or maybe even Finchville. It is a cold clear night like this which makes me wish I lived somewhere off KY44 or KY248 out by Taylorsville Lake, where I'm sure that moon is as bright as the sun.

*****

We have a (new) winner in the Hidden Location game. All the previous locations have been identified by Marty Meyer, with one exception to that rule, which was identified by Curtis Morrison.

But now we have a new player and winner, my friend Joanna Erny. She correctly identifed the snowy downtown location as 8th Street looking north toward Main.

On the left is the Louisville Slugger Bat Factory and on the right an old historic building recently occupied by the Louisville-Jefferson County Revenue Commission. For one term, from 1999 to 2002, I was a Louisville-Jefferson County Revenue Commissioner. It is also sometimes called the Louisville Opera Building. It is presently undergoing extensive renovation.

Across Main Street, on the northeast corner, you can see the Alexander Building, the top floor of which is a penthouse apartment where political shindigs are held now and then. In the background is the federal government's 1960s gift to Louisville's waterfront, Interstate 64, the "64" part of 86-64, a grassroots effort to rid the waterfront of its overhead expressway and create instead a parkway setting. Hope springs eternal for that.

We'll have a new Hidden Location soon for our seven faithful readers to work on.

Congratulations Joanna on your win.

672. Billy Joel, Alison Lundergan Grimes, and Hidden Location #10

2011-01-20T18:46:00.003-05:00

Back on November 3, 1973, as I was beginning the 8th grade at Durrett High School, California singer Billy Joel released his ode to lounge-lizard listening, a song entitled Piano Man. It is one of several songs I learned to play a few years later under the guidance of Shera Baker, a young lady who was two years behind me in school. Her living room and its piano served as a launchpad for those of you who've since heard me play, for good or for bad.

The first line of the fourth verse of Piano Man is "It's a pretty good crowd for a Saturday, the manager gives me a smile ... " While today wasn't a Saturday, and there were no pianos involved, there was a pretty good crowd today at an event I attended after work, and the manager, so to speak, was all smiles.

If you are in Louisville, you know we've been threatened with four to six inches of snow, an accumulation which has probably fallen from the skies, but for one reason or another has not quite accumulated on Mother Earth below. Nonetheless, the city went into its usual "snow mode" letting school out early, closing businesses, and generally providing a sales boon to the local groceries. See the picture below for a snowy scene in downtown Louisville.

Despite the cold weather and heavy falling snow, a "pretty good crowd" gathered today on the second floor of Louisville's famed Glassworks facility at 9th and Market streets - technically 9th is still Roy Wilkins Avenue at that point, a name typically observed only in the breach. The event was the Louisville reception for my friend Alison Lundergan Grimes, a Lexington attorney who today filed her papers for the Democratic nomination for the office of Kentucky's Secretary of State. Earlier events were held in Lexington and Frankfort, and tomorrow there will be additional events culminating in Maysville, a small river city in northeastern Kentucky, and the hometown of Alison's father, former Kentucky Democratic Chairman Jerry Lundergan, the metaphorical smiling manager in Joel's song. I'm supporting Alison in her bid to this office in the election which will be decided this fall.

Alison addressed the "pretty good crowd" for this snowy afternoon with three important women in her life looking on from the front row of the room, her mother and her two grandmothers. Her mother, Charlotte Lundergan, and I serve together on the Kentucky Democratic Party State Central Executive Committee. She is also one of Kentucky's representatives on the National Democratic Committee. Alison was joined by other members of her family as well as a host of Democratic luminaries from across the state. The current and two former lieutenant governors were present, as well as Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives Greg Stumbo of Floyd County, who introduced the candidate. There were also a few members of the Jefferson County Democratic Executive Committee present, along with others of the general public. The press was represented by Joe Gerth, a writer for the Courier-Journal. Again, for a snowy late afternoon, it was a "pretty good crowd."

Below is a picture which, for lack of any others in hand, we'll use as Hidden Location #10. For those who live or work downtown, as I do, this one should be relatively easy. Leave any comments below.

Finally I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge today's 50th anniversary of the Inauguration and speech of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the first inaugural of my lifetime. It was on this date fifty years ago that the new president admonished and obliged the American people to "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." I grew up with that expression never too far removed from one's mind, an era when the American populace was more concerned with the collective "we" which comprises America, as opposed to the individualistic "I" which, since the presidency of Kennedy's later successor Ronald Wilson Reagan, has destroyed the fabric of American culture, a great loss to each other, our Republic, and the world. When "The Fall of the American Republic" is written, which it will be soon, perhaps in the next fifty years, one of the turning points will be when Ronald Reagan reported in his inaugural that "the government isn't the solution, but rather is the problem." How more different could the attitudes be between Kennedy and Reagan, the former telling us to be concerned about our country to the point of "doing" for it; the latter proclaiming that the government is the problem and should be abandoned. Sad!

Again, Hidden Location #10 is below.

671. Annual Accounting of Counties Visited

2011-01-13T07:13:00.000-05:00

Each year about this time I take down a map of Kentucky hanging in my office and put up a new one. And on that new map, as I have done with a map every year since 1979, I will mark the counties I drive through, visit, spend time in, set foot upon, or as in the case of Jefferson, live in. For thirty-two years I've kept track of this, sparked by by visit in 1979 to all 120 of Kentucky's county, a feat only repeated in 1987.

The high number in recent years is 71 in 2004. Despite being ill for a third of 2005 I somehow made it to 59 counties that year, the highest since that time; last year was 45.

The number of counties visited in 2010 reached to 57. Making the list all 32 years are, logically, where I live and my home county's immediate neighbors, and from there up to where my grandparents are buried in Woodford. Besides Jefferson and Woodford, these are Bullitt, Franklin, Hardin, Oldham, and Shelby. Meade is the next most visited at 29 of the 32 years, followed by Nelson at 26.

At the bottom of the list, unchanged from last year, and in fact unchanged since 1987, are Elliott and Lawrence counties. I just can't seem to get there. Other than those two, Martin remains unvisited since 1990, the longest period unvisited of any counties other than Elliott and Lawrence. Lawrence borders these other two; all are off the beaten path, meaning away from I-64. For several years I've wanted to do a US23 run from Ashland south to Prestonsburg, which would at least take me through Louisa in Lawrence County. As a note, the Lawrence County Courthouse, obviously one of the newer ones in the state, is pictured below. I've, frankly, never seen it. With a little creativity, that US23 path could be amended to get into both Elliott and Martin. Given this is a statewide election year, as were 1979 and 1987 - the only other years I've been there, maybe this is the year all three will get revisited.

I'll be driving back up to Washington once or twice this year so I will get close as I trek across I-64 on the way. Also, I hope to make it to the Hillbilly Days event this year in Pike, as well as the traditional visit to Fancy Farm in August. As of today, other than my drive back from Lexington during the early morning hours of January 1st, I haven't left the county yet this year. With a long weekend coming up, that is very likely to change.

Happy Trails in the New Year.

Hidden Location #9 Revealed

2011-01-12T06:31:00.001-05:00

Hidden Location #9 managed to stump the panel. The picture was taken in the 2100 block of Peabody Lane facing just east of due north. Marty and "Anonymous" were both correct on the assertion that it was in the former City of Louisville. Marty added it was outside the Watterson Expressway, which he euphemistically referred to as the "Circle of Love," an appellation conjured up by Louisville's 50th mayor, Greg Fischer, who was inaugurated on January 3. The giveaways for that are existing sidewalks along with street lights, a staple for subdivisions and streets in the old City where property owners pay two tax bills as opposed to one, as they do in unincorporated parts of Jefferson County, many of which are closeby on the other side of Bardstown Road in the areas around and including Seneca High School.

Peabody, or this section of Peabody, along with streets named Belmont, Palmer, Moulton, and Sumner, make up the subdivision originally known as Village Green. There are also houses fronting on what is now called Goldsmith Lane in the subdivision. It is the only subdivision I know of where nearly every house has extended, or much wider, eaves that is customary on the suburbs. Most of these homes were built with 1050 to 1150 square feet of space.

The subdivision was built along the south side of what was then known as Meyers Lane in the mid 1950s. The easiest way to describe it to many Louisvillians would be to say it is the area behind Toy Tiger. Of course, if you haven't been around for a while you may not know what that means, so a second definition would be the area behind the Showcase Cinemas. Oh wait, they're gone, too.

The extended eaves can be seen in the picture which would be a dead giveaway to anyone who is familiar with Louisville's suburbs.

I do not have a new location waiting to be identified. I'll get one soon.

670. I was seven years old in 1968; Reflections on January 8, 2011

2011-01-08T23:04:00.002-05:00

I was seven years old in 1968. As such, I do not remember a lot of it. Unlike my little brother, who can cite incidents from memory with the accuracy of blue-ray technology, my memory is rather faded and shaded for a great number of my earliest years.

I began 1968 as a second grader at Blue Lick Elementary School in southern Jefferson County. My teacher was Miss Hoagland. I rode Bus #402 to and from school each day catching the bus at the foot of my street, where Whippoorwill empties into South Park. Afternoons in my neighborhood, that period after school and before supper, consisted of bike-riding, tree climbing, playing in the woods behind our house, or just hanging out.

There were a few places where the "just hanging out" took place. At the dead-end of Mason in front of the Rogers' house was a gum tree. I'm not sure exactly what kind of tree it was but it had a clear gooey substance oozing from various points in the tree. At the other end of Mason, in the Riddle's front yard, on the southwest corner with Walter Avenue (where Walter was (and remains) one lane wide) were two trees that, at the age one is in second grade, was about as far as I was suppose to travel away from home, about 750 feet from our side deck.

Eventually, every evening about six it was time to come in and eat. We ate breakfast and dinner, called supper, religiously at the breakfast bar in the kitchen. For the record, our dining room was a formal room in which, until my grandmother's passing in 1976, we rarely ate other than at Christmastime. At this kitchen breakfast bar on one side sat me and my grandmother; on the other was my grandfather, my brother, and my mother. Opposite the end of the bar was an oversized portable dishwasher on top of which sat a Zenith television set. That's what you called them back then, a television set.

And it was at the breakfast bar, after we had eaten, that we all five sat and watched the national news learning the events of the day from across the Republic and around the world. We watched NBC and its newscast, which I remember being called The World Tonight, but I wouldn't bet more than a nickel on that memory.

Whatever it was called, it was on that black-and-white TV that I watched most of 1968 pan out, a melodramatic year which, thankfully, has not been equalled during my fifty years on the planet. Of great interest was the War in Vietnam. I recall that I had older cousins and a few friends and neighbors who were serving in Vietnam. I learned of other places too, called Laos and Thailand and Cambodia. If there were comments on the war, I do not recall them. It was from that berth as well that I watched the news of the assasination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in Memphis, Tennessee. I honestly had no idea who Dr. King was although my grandparents found his assasination to be horrific. I was mostly interested because I had just a few summers before that been to Memphis and was anxious to see if I could remember any of the locations now being played and replayed on the television screen.

It wasn't that TV but another larger one, an old big brown box of the Motorola brand, in the living room that I do clearly recall the assasination of Senator Robert Kennedy, late in the night. Politics has always been an integral part of my family and Kennedy's ascension in the Democratic Party was being followed as he had spent time in eastern Kentucky making friends with people from our state. My uncle had supported Senator McCarthy and I do not remember if my grandparents were Kennedy people or not. I do know that after his death, we strongly supported Vice President Hubert Humphrey in his bid to become president.

It was only from stories in the years to come that I learned more and more about 1968. When I was 14, one of my first jobs was working in a men's clothing store in Okolona operated by Mr. Howard Klein. Mr. Howard, as he was known in the neighborhood, was a wonderful man, my first real boss. He had moved his store to the Silver Heights Shopping Center location in 1968. He formerly had operated a shop at 28th and Dumesnil in Parkland but his business succombed to the riots which took place in the city that summer. He told me stories of how that area basically ceased to exist as a business center during the summer of 1968.

I also learned about the 1968 Democratic National Convention from my Uncle Don and my grandmother Hockensmith, both of whom were Democratic operatives. Don was from the left side of the Party while my grandmother was more of a moderate to center-left person. I remember scenes from the convention from watching TV.

Many years later while in college, I learned even more of the summer of unrest for our country, the summer of 1968. I learned about a government and response to the government of acronyms from SNCC to the HUAC, which became the HCUA, as well as SCLC and SNCC. I learned about CORE, the NAACP, events at UC-Berkeley, and something called the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and the Lowndes County Freedom Organization, which many folks called the Black Panthers.

It seemed to me then, as a child living in a nearly-totally white suburban neighborhood, that most of the problems associated with 1968 were related to tension between whites and blacks. And as I became more educated, I learned that what I believed to be the truth was in fact the truth. A great number of Americans had not quite accepted the amagalmation of African-Americans into the general society, something that was in part a result of a civil war which had been fought in this country, and in my state, more than 100 years earlier.

Through my lifetime the tensions have seemed to either go away or just became more acceptable. Few people today work or shop or attend school in places that are solely white or solely black. The exception to that, as has been noted for many years, is during the worship hour on Sunday morning. In that place, we have remained quite largely segregated. Even in my rather liberal congregration of Episcopalians, I can think of only one African-American who attends on a regular basis.

But, on the whole, the blacks and whites of our country have lived more or less harmoniously for many years since the tensions of 1968. But that changed to an extent in 2008 with the election of a bi-racial president, Barack Obama. President Obama handily defeated the incumbent president winning states which Democrats had not carried in many years, perhaps since 1968. And that win began what has been seen as a strong decline in the civility between the races, a decline which can be heard most any day on AM radio.

And many ugly things which had never been said before were and are now being said regularly without much recrimination. Talk show hosts have all but called for a revolution. There has been a great rise in the number of hate groups springing up across the country. Places like the Knob Creek Gun Range in western Bullitt County have allowed their premises to be used to sell merchandise which could easily be described as racist and alarming.

Certain talk show hosts have been far more incendiary than others and no one who is listening cannot believe that these folks do not know that the words they are using can and will lead to violence.

The non-violent nature of our country, a nature fostered by Dr. King in the early 1960s before his assasination in 1968, was shattered today in Tucson, Arizona where a 22 year old gunman opened fire in a grocery store parking lot, killing six persons including a nine year old girl and a federal judge, and sending thirteen others to the hopsital, many with life-threatening wounds, among them a member of the United States Congress.

This was an assasination with great and grave results. I believe, unfortunately, that it is only the beginning. Our country is civilly broke. The confraternity of men and women which has sustained us for 235 years is no more. We have become a nation of I's - you's and me's - we've forgotten that we were a nations of we's. We've forgotten that the first and most important word of our Constitution is We, as in "We, the people."

I am a partisan person and I feel there is blame to be placed at the feet of certain individuals and certain political parties. I will not lay that blame here. At this point I will close, hoping that when America wakes up tomorrow morning we will reflect on the tragic events of January 8, 2011 and make a united effort at changing course. The alternative is civil war. This is where we are headed. And that is sad.

CIVIL WAR (1990)
Written by Axl Rose, Duff McKagan, and Slash.
Sung by Guns 'n' Roses

Look at your young men fighting
Look at your women crying
Look at your young men dying
The way they've always done before

Look at the hate we're breeding
Look at the fear we're feeding
Look at the lives we're leading
The way we've always done before

My hands are tied
The billions shift from side to side
And the wars go on with brainwashed pride
For the love of God and our human rights
And all these things are swept aside
By bloody hands time can't deny
And are washed away by your genocide
And history hides the lies of our civil wars

D'you wear a black armband
When they shot the man
Who said "Peace could last forever"
And in my first memories
They shot Kennedy
I went numb when I learned to see
So I never fell for Vietnam
We got the wall of D.C. to remind us all
That you can't trust freedom
When it's not in your hands
When everybody's fightin'
For their promised land
And

I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor
Your power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
I don't need your civil war
Ow, oh no, no, no, no, no

Look at the shoes you're filling
Look at the blood we're spilling
Look at the world we're killing
The way we've always done before
Look in the doubt we've wallowed
Look at the leaders we've followed
Look at the lies we've swallowed
And I don't want to hear no more

My hands are tied
For all I've seen has changed my mind
But still the wars go on as the years go by
With no love of God or human rights
'Cause all these dreams are swept aside
By bloody hands of the hypnotized
Who carry the cross of homicide
And history bears the scars of our civil wars

"WE PRACTICE SELECTIVE ANNIHILATION OF MAYORS AND
GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS FOR EXAMPLE TO CREATE A VACUUM
THEN WE FILL THAT VACUUM AS POPULAR WAR ADVANTAGE
PEACE IS CLOSER" **

I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor
Your power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
And I don't need your civil war
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no
I don't need your civil war
I don't need your civil war
Your power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
I don't need your civil war
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no uh-oh-uh, no uh-oh, uh no
I don't need one more war

I don't need one more war
No, no, no, no uh-oh-uh, no uh-oh, uh no
WHAZ SO CIVIL 'BOUT WAR ANYWAY?

Hidden Location #9

2011-01-05T12:41:00.003-05:00

Once again Marty Meyer correctly identified our hidden location, which was Cardinal Drive alongside Audubon Golf Course. This picture is taken in the 1400 block of Cardinal, a streetname which runs along the north and south sides of the Audubon Golf course but the two sides never meet. There is a right-of-way surrounding the golf course which on the map is identified as Cardinal. But the southern-most Cardinal, where our recent picture was taken, dead-ends a few block to the east. On the northside, Cardinal turns into Nightingale Drive at Eagle Pass. Technically, this isn't true as the Cardinal right-of-way proceeds around the property line between the Fincastle Heights apartments (actually a mutual ownership cooperative) and the new condos which face the golf course. You may also notice that a few of the houses on the southernmost Cardinal look more like those in Audubon Park than those in Camp Taylor. There is a reason. Before Camp Taylor the neighborhood was Camp Zachary Taylor the military installation, it was farmland largely owned by Sallie Durrett and her heirs. Some of it had been sold off into parcels. The entirety of what is now commonly known as the Camp Taylor neighborhood was in fact laid out as part of the Audubon Park subdivision with similarly rolling lanes and circles and small parks. But the Great War interfered and most of it was bought by Uncle Sam. The 1400 and 1500 blocks of Cardinal were already begun with homes similar to those across the fairway in what is now the City of Audubon Park. But they are all that were ever built on the southside. Eventually Camp Zachary Taylor closed, with most of its operations moved to the newer Camp Henry Knox, now Fort Knox. The subdivision which became the Camp Taylor neighborhood abandoned the plans of Audubon Park and used as its streets those created by the United States Army. A few new ones have been added - McKay, Grove and Orchard (where the Army maintained a fruit orchard), and some others, but for the most part the streets in use today in Camp Taylor are those created for service in World War I.

Below is a new hidden location. Good luck.

The new year

2011-01-04T12:08:00.004-05:00

Today marks a blogaversary - the 4th birthday of The Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606. Our first entry, four years ago today, celebrated the 110th Congress and specifically the election of Congressman John Yarmuth and the then-incoming Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.

In those four years the political landscape has gone from the newness of 2007 through the soaring heights of the election of Barack Obama as the Republic's 44th president, levelling off and slowing donw in 2009 during the president's first year, to a reversing-of-fortunes election in 2010 where the glory-fires of 2008 were doused by 2010's Tea. A brief progressive renaissance took place in the closing days of the anything-but lame duck session of the 111th Congress.

The 112th Congress will convene sometime this week with the Dark Side of the Aisle in charge being led by its orange-tinted barkeeper's son, John "Hell No" Boehner, the United States Representative from Ohio's 8th Congressional District, a collection of suburban and rural counties along southern Ohio's border with Indiana, just north of Cincinnati and west of Dayton.

Also convening this week, actually today, is the 2011 Kentucky General Assembly, led in the Democratic House by Speaker Greg Stumbo and in the Republican Senate by President David Williams, who is also a candidate for governor this year. I do not have any hope or expectation of an exceptional or even a successful Session. Our system of government in Frankfort needs an overhaul but that isn't likely to happen. Our filing dealine for members of the General Assembly - and all other offices in the Commonwealth - falls at the end of this month with the Primary a few short months later in mid-May.

This needs to change. While I disagree with nearly everything else promoted by Senator Williams, known as the Bully from Burkesville (in Cumberland County), he has for several Sessions now put forth the idea of moving the filing deadline to sometime in April and the Primary to sometime in August. As I have each time he has previously introduced such a measure, I lend my support to this effort. I believe it is in the best interests of the Commonwealth. Chances are good this measure will go nowhere, as it has in its previous iterations. Why would this year be any different?

In fact, because of the ongoing governor's race, this year will probably be far worse. Everything which is said and done will be couched in terms of who it will or will not help in the gubernatorial election this November. It is a hopeless course. The legislators and the Commonwealth would probably be better served if the two Houses convened and immediately adjourned so we could go ahead and run the governor's race without any interference with the need to actually govern. It is a sorry state of affairs.

There are other races on the ballot this year, all Constitutional offices with their operations in Frankfort. I'm participating in two of those - Adam Edelen's race for Auditor of Public Accounts and Allison Lundergan Grimes' race for Secretary of State. You will hear more about these in postings later in the political season.

Louisville inaugurated its new mayor Greg Fischer yesterday and will install a new Metro Council President this Thursday, fully expected to be 10th District Councilman Jim King, Mr. Fischer's opponent in last year's Democratic Primary. I expect the work of the Metro Council [where I should note I am employed] to be far more productive than either Kentucky's General Assembly or the Republic's 112th Congress and its ongoing Senate.

2011 does not promise to be a progessive year by anyone's imagination. So, in the meantime, I will make my postings - hopefully more than in the last year - and continue the ongoing life we all live, full of ups and downs and curves and straightways. Party on. Thanks Be To God.

Hidden Location #8

2011-01-03T17:02:00.005-05:00

Once again Marty Meyer correctly identified the hidden location, the latest one being the 800 block of East Chestnut Street. I'm not sure how he got that one so quickly, but so he did, and he did so quickly enough for Curtis Morrison to accuse him of satellite-tracking me or something. For those not familiar with this block, it is best visited in late April when the dogwoods are in bloom. This is one of the prettiest blocks in downtown Louisville - actually in the Phoenix Hill neighborhood - when those pink blossoms show up. The old Ursuline Academy is partially pictured on the right. My Aunt Judy Whalen Noble was an Ursuline graduate.

Below is a new location. Not as difficult, I don't think, but then, apparently none of them have been too difficult.

2011

2011-01-01T00:01:00.002-05:00

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,
For those that here we see no more;
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress for all mankind.

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty night;
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring happy bells, across the snow.
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1850)

Happy New Year.

Hidden Location #7

2010-12-29T13:38:00.003-05:00

It's been a while - the "camera" part of my phone has been sending pictures other than to my email.

This one should be easy.

Happy Fifth Day of Christmas. Seven more to celebrate.

667. Merry Christmas and all that

2010-12-25T11:50:00.004-05:00

First, some old business. On December 1, someone (Anonymous) posted a comment (which for some reason did not show up until today) about me singing Frank Sinatra's My Way in Mr. Moorman's Chemistry class and Mrs. Risner's English class. In my music list published in September, I failed to include it. While it has not remained one of my favorites, it was in fact at one time one of them. I learned to play My Way on the piano in Shera Baker's living over in Treasure Island. I still play it often as it is one of the few songs I was actually taught to play, by Shera no less, as opposed to most of my music which I picked up by ear. But Shera and I were never in class together so whoever posted that comment has to be someone in my class, another person who probably turned 50 this year. Whoever it was, I appreciate your reminder about what was once one of my favorite songs.

With that out of the way - sort of, we'll get back to the turning 50 - today is Christmas Day. Merry Christmas to all of you, Christian or not. Christmas is at once a religious holiday, a cultural one, and significantly a commercial one. Most people get something out of it, even the atheists. That's all fine with me.

I used to get more out of Christmas than I do nowadays. Growing up Christmas was a big, big deal. We celebrated five different places usually, the main one being at home with my maternal grandparents where me, my mother, and my brother lived. We usually had relatives staying one or two nights, either Aunt Dorothy, my grandmother's aunt, or Uncle Milford, my grandfather's little brother. We'd also go to my Dad's house, and to my Dad's parents' house, as well as my great-grandparents' houses in Frankfort - the Lewis family home on Old Louisville Road and the Hockensmith home, originally on Devils Hollow Road, but later on Cavern Drive off what used to be called Parkside Drive but is now the West Frankfort Connector.

Most of those people are dead - my great-grandparents (I knew four of my great-grandparents, six if you count step-great-grandmothers), all of my grandparents, Aunt Dorothy, and Uncle Milford, and quite a few others. Even a generation closer, my dad's older brother, Uncle Don to everyone who knew him, has been dead since April 2005. The family members have been replaced generationally by my brother's children - six of them, ranging in age from 23 to 7. So, at least the Christmas morning part of Christmas is reserved for them. The youngest three are still at my brother's house and while I didn't this year, I have been over there in Christmasses-past to see the wild abandon of opening presents.

The adults in my family, along with these three youngest members, will gather later this week at my Mom's for our family celebration, a small but nice affair. We'll eat dinner and exchange presents, many of which will be gift cards. My mother decides the day we actually celebrate (not only Christmas but all the other holidays including birthdays) based on a number of factors with this year's decision being complicated by her not feeling well the last week or so.

For me, Christmas has come to mean attending Mass. Over the years I've done so mostly at Holy Family, my church home for just over thirty years, up until this year. When I was in my twenties, I regularly attended with a number of college friends at Saint Francis of Assisi. A few times I went to the Cathedral of the Assumption downtown, once to St. John's UCC downtown, and a few other times I went to the Episcopal Church of the Advent, the church I finally joined very early this year after wandering in the religious desert for several years, all the while maintaining an active membership at Holy Family. Since joining Advent, I've tried to be just as active there as I was in my old church.

Christmas comes just once a year, so the song goes. Frankly, as I get older, I am thankful for that. Getting older, by the way, is what 2010 has mostly meant for me. While I had a very busy and successful year politically, all of that has been internally overshadowed by two related events - being 49 while anticipating being 50, and actually being 50, which I've honestly not yet mastered as I've at this point passed the 1/3 mark of my 51st year. For most of the year being 49, I recognized that I was getting older. I'm still apparently healthy despite significant health problems when I was 44. I'm also still active enough to enjoy myself. But I also realized that there is lots left to do.

On September 23rd I turned 50, celebrating in grand proportion (as far as I'm concerned) with a party (on the 19th) attended by 175 people and recorded for posterity and subsequently posted on my Facebook page. Friends from throughout my life attended and I was very pleased. My entire family was there at some point as was many in my current political family, noticeably my congressman who stayed for most of the three hour party. But then, instead of "getting" older, I actually got older when the 23rd rolled around four days after the party.

Suddenly, the terminus of my life is not so far away. Hopefully it is still well on down the road, but I am likely much closer to the end than the beginning. And that has not been a pleasant experience thus far. In all of my life, while I've had a few relationships, none of them have lasted long, and none of them have been entirely fulfilling. And now, at 50, I've come very close to deciding that I do not want to be alone as I wander into the twilight of my life a few years from now. And I've decided that there are things left to do which cannot be left undone. That famous "bucket list" that people have is rather full for me and the time has come to do something about that.

My guess is that means more than making new friends and going to new places. It also entails a new attitude about what and who is and isn't important. While I have few extremely close friends, I am blessed to have lots of friends, many of whom I've kept as friends for ten, twenty, thirty, and even a few for forty years. I've also worked hard at creating and maintaining a friendship base with those ten, twenty, and even thirty years younger than me. Somehow I think that helps keep one's outlook in perspective, as there are far more people younger than me in control of society than those of my age or older. Even President Obama is younger than me. Having young friends is also good for the soul. Further, some with whom I've been close the last few years are finding their own ways, independent of my control or influence. While it is hard to let go of some of that, it is also a necessary component of life but one that is fairly new to me. In particular my friend Keith, whom I first met in 2000, has departed with his new partner for New York to do whatever it is that people do when they are in their mid-20s and free of most any restraints. And I'm very happy for him and have been supportive when asked. I love him dearly.

I've also decided to divorce myself from a very limited number of people, although I'm not quite sure I'm fully prepared to do so. Thus far there has been only one on that list although I suspect 2011 will see a few more be set aside. And I've decided to aggressively pursue some new friends while I have time to do so. Such pursuit is the direct result of one conversation I had with the one person I've thus far set aside. I hope it will work. I have no idea if it will or not.

I have other plans for 2011. One is to continue the diet I've been upon since November 3rd. I've lost 25 pounds so far, just under half my goal. I'm very happy about that - it is the first time I've lost weight in twenty years. Ironically, the last time I went on a diet, twenty years ago, one reason was because I thought I was getting older. Now I am; now I have to.

My hope is 2011 will see siginificant change in my life. I'm not all that sure what that change might be, but I am planning to engage it, envelope myself in it, and enjoy it for all it may be worth. That's my Christmas present to myself. A renewal of my life plan. It is the best Christmas present I've given myself in a long time, perhaps the best ever. We'll see how it goes.

I hope Christmas has been and is and will be for you as rewarding as what I am planning for it to be for me. To my seven faithful readers, and all the rest of you, Merry Christmas and God's Blessings.

Latest Winner on Hidden Location

2010-12-16T13:11:00.003-05:00

Marty Meyer must be following me around. He correctly identified the location as River Road, looking toward downtown, alongside the old River Road Country Club property.

The old country club property is being converted to a park by Louisville Metro government which owns the land. The clubhouse was recently raised. One of the features of this property is the appearance, here and there, of an old set of railroad tracks. The Louisville, Harrod's Creek, and Westport Railroad once ran alongside River Road, or just to the southeast of River Road. The rail line never quite made it to Westport, an idyllic little village in Oldham County. The final destination along the line was Propsect.

The narrow-guage tracks remain along quite bit of the route, covered over by time and topsoil. There are sets of tracks below many parcels of land in our county, and more than a few streets. They are most noticeable when one of the utility companies are doing work and their construction takes them below the current grade of the road. Arguments are considered to revive Louisville's already-on-site light rail system which formerly served horse-drawn trolleys and later interurban lines reaching out to places like Okolona, Valley Station, Middletown, Jeffersontown, and Prospect.

I'm not sure which lines are still there or which rights-of-ways remain. But it is worth considering - something I do every time I see those tracks peek through the ground along River Road at the old River Road Country Club.

Congratulations, Marty. There will be another hopefully more difficult hidden location soon.

Happy 37th, Rob. Rest In Peace, Mr. Ambassador

2010-12-13T20:53:00.003-05:00

Today would have been my friend Rob's 37th birthday. I miss him. Next summer he will have been dead twenty years, the victim of a motorcycle wreck on Preston Highway at Standiford Lane.

Rob was joined today in eternity by Richard Holbrooke, a man I've never met, but one whose name has been in an out of American diplomatic news since before Rob left this world.

Mr. Holbrooke, a former American ambassador, was President Obama's special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, two places among many that the president and America needs a second set of experienced eyes and ears. Mr. Holbrooke was that. This is a sad and great loss for America's ship of State.

Happy Birthday Rob. Rest In Peace Mr. Ambassador Holbrooke.

665. Can't we at least say "No" to anal? -- from The Rude Pundit

2010-12-13T16:38:00.003-05:00

I received the following in the email today from my friend Ray Crider. I like it a lot. Be warned, there are enough f-bombs in it to start a decent orgy. It comes from "The Rude Pundit" whose writing can be found at www.rudepundit.blogspot.com.

*****

Note to the Weary Left: It's Okay to Have Principles:

So after backing President Obama on compromise after compromise on various bills, on the stimulus, on health care reform, after supporting and advocating for deals that were not only far from perfect, but were in some ways detrimental to the cause for which the bills themselves were created, after watching the President reach out again and again to Republicans, only to be told he wasn't reaching out enough and only to watch Obama say that he needs to do more to compromise, after seeing Republicans drub Democrats in an election because many Democrats were too afraid to stand for anything Democratic for fear of seeming too "partisan," after listening to Obama justify doing almost everything that George W. Bush did in the name of national security and, in some cases, going further, after years and years of watching Democrats allowing Republicans to set the terms of all arguments, whether in the majority or minority, after investing in Barack Obama the modicum of hope he asked for in changing the terms of that long, ongoing American political fistfight, only to see the whole thing twisted again by the right as they put forth the most obnoxiously anti-American candidates they could find and obstructed progress in an unprecedented way, finally, on this one thing, on absolutely opposing allowing the tax rate for the wealthiest 2% of Americans to rise by a small margin, we on the left are told by people across the political spectrum that we want too much and that we need to back down and that we need to be happy because this is the best we're gonna get.

To which the Rude Pundit can only say, "Blow me." You're allowed to dissent, dear, worried liberals. You're allowed to draw a fucking inviolable line. The Rude Pundit has supported Obama on issue after issue, but he is allowed to join with many Democrats in the Congress and call, "Bullshit." No one gets a blank check.

No, thank God, Allah, Buddha, Everyone, or No One, he's not facing the panic and horror of having his unemployment insurance cut off, the extension of which should never have been tied to the tax cuts at all (and was the stupidest move by every Democrat in DC). But what he's facing is the long-term horror of our decimated economy after a decade of irrational policies, topped by the political suicide bomb of the expiration of the Bush tax cuts. He's facing the inevitable result of multiple decades of unending attacks on the poor by government budget cuts and corporate exploitation. And who fucking warned everyone about this? Who stood there, even in the good times, waving their fuckin' arms and saying that there's gonna be hell to pay, when Reagan gutted programs for the poor and then slashed taxes while building up the military for no good reason other than to pay off contractors? Who jumped up and down for attention while Clinton triangulated the fuck out of the welfare safety net? Who had the most credibility when Bush II raided the Treasury to give money to the rich while fighting two wars? While all three of them gutted regulations on financial and other industries? Yeah, we on the left, motherfuckers.

Bernie Sanders' epic speech on the Senate floor wasn't just about the tax cut. It was about an insanity of instant financial gratification that puts the desires of the very few above the needs of the very, very many, an insanity that has fucked this country for the rest of our lives. Again and again, with the assistance of the conservative Democrat Mary Landrieu, who voted for the original tax cuts, Sanders came back to the income disparity that has turned the United States into an oligarchy. Shit, it was always that way. But at least it was a benevolent oligarchy. Not anymore, as Wall Street greed pulls on our flayed flesh to finally skin us all alive.

Don't worry. The tax cut extension will pass. The unemployment benefits extension will pass, as it should. We will put off any hard decisions on our future again for two years. And then, don't worry, we'll put them off again. Because that's who we are. That's our learned behavior. We are Americans and we've forgotten how to sacrifice anything because no one for a generation has asked us to. We're like Nicholas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas: we've decided to drink ourselves to death while being cared for by whores.

Oh, dear weary, weary leftists all, we've been treated like the once-virginal cheerleader who gave in when the quarterback wanted a hand job and then gave in again when he wanted a blow job, saying that it wasn't sex, no, not really, giving in, yes, even though it was against our core beliefs, to straight fucking, but, god, can't we at least say "No" to anal? Or is that too much to ask anymore?

Hidden Location #6 and the winner on #5

2010-12-12T12:56:00.004-05:00

Marty Meyer correctly identified Hidden Location #5 as the corner of South Park and Blue Lick roads. Specifically the picture is looking to the south-southeast. The industrial building in the background, on the southeast corner, is a boat sales, service, and storage outfit. That property is the old Mohr property. Across the street for many years stood the old Holsclaw house, which was moved when I was a kid from that corner to just down South Park Road to the west. A Korean family has operated a small farm at that site for over thirty years. The Silver Heights Shppoing Center is just south of this intersection and I was standing in the property that was known, when I was a kid, as the Moody property. The old Moody mansion, historically the McCawley mansion, was torn down in the early 1990s.

Of the two streets in this intersection, Blue Lick is by far the older and may have been a part of the branch of the Wilderness Road which broke off from the more well-known one in central Kentucky. History tells us that a branch generally followed the Salt River west from Harrodsburg over to the Shepherdsville area, specifically to the Bullitt Salt Licks, thence northward to what is now Preston Highway in Okolona, and from there northwestward to the ancient Buffalo crossing of the Ohio River at 26th Street. All of these roads follow old buffalo paths established long before this area was occupied by the pioneers of the 18th century.

South Park, on the other hand, is relatively new. It was called either Depot Station or Deposit Station Road well into the 20th century and connected Okolona to Fairdale via Minor's Lane (or as the county now calls it, Minor Lane). The section from the southern terminus of Minors Lane, where Pape's Hardware once occupied the building on the northeast corner, was pushed through over to Blue Lick in the 1920s. The final section, connecting Blue Lick to Preston came somewhat later although I am unsure of when.

We have a new location today for your perusal and comments. In identifying the location, I would ask that you be specific - street, location, and general area. Good luck.

664. Which should be of more concern?

2010-12-07T09:11:00.003-05:00

Should I be more upset with the governor's overlooking of the Kentucky Constitution, as pointed out in my post last week, in granting economic benefits - read your tax dollars at work - to a religious theme park or should I be more upset that the Commander-In-Chief of the United States of America, who ran on a platform of Change, has now decided that not only is it important to move to the center to govern, but it is even okay to cross the center line and grant millionaire's an unneeded tax break? Which is it?

Hidden Location #5

2010-12-05T23:56:00.002-05:00

I've already mentioned that Curtis Morrison got the answer to Hidden Location #4 in a matter of fifteen minutes. Below is the next entry in the game, Hidden Location #5. Leave your comments below. The answer will be either acknowledged or revealed on Thursday.

663. Senator-elect Rand Paul and the potential end of the American empire, briefly

2010-12-02T16:52:00.002-05:00

At first, I thought Sen.-elect Paul would be alone, relegated to a corner by the real senators, including Mitch. But, Rand is going to be a leader. He will succeed at cutting everything since the Republicans have given into to the Tea Party and the president is giving into to the Republicans. Maybe that is what it will take to get the country back on course. Cut everything down to where we become the third-rate country they keep saying we are. It will be their fault. They have or will cut taxes and spending and eventually everyone - white, black, other, rich, poor, educated, ignorant, straight, gay, religious, atheist, and all others will be on the receiving end of a government that can do nothing. And that point, and only then, when everyone and everything is effectively affected, will be the turning point. It might take a few months or a few years. But it will happen. And that's when America will either completely fail as a result of the Republicans and their ilk financially starving the country, or we will again start paying the pipers for the dances and retake our place of hegemony in the world.