What I Heard This Week 03-16-2023
Since It’s the week of St. Patrick’s Day, I will start with a limerick. I found many cute ones, but not all are printable, if you know what I mean… 😊
A wonderful bird is the pelican,
His bill holds more than his belican.
He can take in his beak
Enough food for a week,
But I’m damned if I see how the helican.”
– Dixon Lanier Merritt
If you are having problems with slugs or snails, put out a shallow bowl or dish (a jar lid works perfectly) filled with beer. The brand doesn’t matter – they’re not picky. They are attracted to the smell of the yeast in the beer and crawl right into the dish and drink it up. Just like humans, when they drink alcohol, they can’t seem to crawl out of the bowl. Like drowning your sorrow. One article said to cut the top off of a plastic bottle, invert it, then stick it back into the bottle. (Can you picture that?) Fill the trap/bottle with beer then plant it down in the garden, empty every 2-3 days then fill with fresh beer. Drink the rest. I have some skunk beer in the frig that I don’t like, so I’m going to share it with them this evening so they will leave my petunias alone. One source said that they prefer lager and bitter. Hah. You get what you get. Note: this was written about two weeks ago, and I have since used up a whole bottle of beer on the slugs – my petunias are looking beautiful! I just put a little fresh beer in the dish every evening, then turn on the OPEN FOR BUSINESS sign and they come running, actually slugging along to the Baker Bar Garden.
This is a great hint. To make dyeing Easter eggs easier and mess-free, use a wire whisk to hold the hardboiled egg while you dip it in the dye. Just separate the wires to gently release the egg and let dry.
Last week I was whining about the fat toilet paper rolls that won’t fit in my wall holders. Upon further investigation (Google search), I found a toilet paper extender for extra-large toilet paper rolls on Amazon (of course… they own us) for just $10.26. It’s a roller with two little arms that extend the paper down just a touch. Hmmm. Some things were not meant to be… I’m not ordering it because I love a good challenge… when I have the time. 😊
It’s almost time to start weekly mowing again. Remember to leave grass clippings on your lawn if you can which adds plenty of nutrients. Actually, clover provides nitrogen to the soil. Mow your grass high because it causes less stress on the grass (that’s why they call it scalping the lawn) and helps establish a larger root system, which then makes the grass more drought tolerant. Short grass also makes it easier for weeds to move in and take over. Usually, the highest setting you have on the mower is the best… 3.5 or 4 inches. Plus, a stronger root system helps establish a grub-tolerant lawn because of the larger root mass.
HEADLINES: In national first, the Australian government rejected a proposed open pit coal mine that would have been located 6.2 miles from the Great Barrier Reef, because risk of pollution and irreversible damage to the reef is very real. The Great Barrier Reef is so vulnerable now. More than 90 percent of the Great Barrier Reef was impacted by coral bleaching during the Australian summer of ‘21-‘22, which was its sixth mass bleaching event since 1998. The U.S. is currently averaging one chemical accident every TWO DAYS. Environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and Earthjustice, sued the Biden administration this week to stop the sale of oil and gas drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico.
RECENT BIRTHDAYS: Actor Barbara Feldon of Get Smart is 90. Singer-keyboardist Sly Stone of Sly and the Family Stone is 80. Percussionist Harold Brown of War is 77. Model Fabio is 62. Singer Bret Michaels of Poison is 60. Game show host Chuck Woolery is 82. Actor Erik Estrada is 74. Guitarist Howard Scott of War is 77. Singer Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel is 72. Guitarist Nancy Wilson of Heart is 69. Singer-songwriter John Sebastian of the Lovin’ Spoonful is 79. Actor Patrick Duffy is 74. Actor Kurt Russell is 72.
Actor Lesley-Anne Down is 69. Actor Gary Sinise is 68. Actor Judd Hirsch is 88. Bassist Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead is 83. Singer Mike Love of the Beach Boys is 82. Singer Jennifer Warnes is 76. She won two Grammy Awards, in ‘83 for the Joe Cocker duet Up Where We Belong and ‘87 for the Bill Medley duet The Time of My Life. Actor Michael Caine is 90.
Actor and Emmy-winner Robert Blake (real name Michael James Vijencio Gubitosi), known for In Cold Blood and as the disguise-wearing, cockatoo-owning detective, Tony Baretta in Baretta, died at 89. He was Little Beaver in the Red Ryder TV series, Mickey in the Our Gang comedy shorts, later known as The Little Rascals. Blake’s success that he found in Hollywood, was overshadowed by his acquittal in the 2001 murder of his wife Bonny Lee Bakley, who was mysteriously gunned down outside a Los Angeles restaurant.
Israeli star of stage and screen, Chaim Topol, who was the most fantastic Tevye in Broadway and London stage productions, then in the 1971 movie of Fiddler on the Roof, died at 87. If I Were a Rich Man. He dedicated much of his later life to charity work and illustrated approximately 25 books in both Hebrew and English. He also produced drawings of Israeli national figures, with the sketches of Israeli presidents reproduced in a 2013 stamp series issued by the Israel Philatelic Federation, then his self-portrait as Tevye was issued in a 2014 commemorative stamp that marked the 50th anniversary of his Broadway debut of Fiddler on the Roof.
Gary Rossington, guitarist, and songwriter for Lynyrd Skynyrd, died at 71. Sweet Home Alabama. Bert I. Gordon, filmmaker of Sci-fi and horror films, died at 100.
You can’t wring your hands and roll up your sleeves at the same time. – Patricia Schroeder
Patricia Schroeder, a feminist legislator who helped redefine the role of women in American politics, who used wit to combat sexism in Congress (she was once asked, how, as the mother of two young children, she could function as both a wife, a mother, and a lawmaker. “I have a brain and a uterus, and I use both,” she responded), was a pilot, and Harvard-trained attorney, died at 82. She helped clear the path of legislation on family leave, pregnancy discrimination and fought for rights of all Americans, especially women. She taught briefly at Princeton before becoming president and COO of the Association of American Publishers. There, she opposed Google’s plan to digitize copyrighted books, declaring that Google was “seeking to make millions of dollars by freeloading on the talent and property of authors and publishers.” The dispute eventually ended in a settlement in 2008 in which writers and publishers would be compensated.
I was and am, like many women, both pro-life and pro-choice. – Patricia Schroeder
Those who declared librarians obsolete when the Internet rage first appeared are now red-faced. We need them more than ever. The Internet is full of ‘stuff’ but its value and readability is often questionable. ‘Stuff’ doesn’t give you a competitive edge, high-quality related information does. – Patricia Schroeder
Speaking of librarians… Had you heard that BISD WAS going to eliminate the position of librarian at Brazoswood HS next year? In fact, all the HS librarians were being asked to relocate within the school district at their same salary. I had a hard time wrapping my brain around that information, but this morning BISD sent out an email to parents and the community stating that the high school libraries will continue to be staffed with librarians. YEAH! I had no dog in this fight because both my kids have graduated and are currently in graduate school – probably because the school had a librarian when they attended. 😊 But I did some research and found that nearly 20% of full-time school librarian positions were eliminated between 2010 and 2019. Why? Definitely because of money… but perhaps because there is a huge lack of understanding of what a librarian can and should bring to a school campus. Could it be because we do not fully understand the current role of a library and/or a librarian. Some of us are old-school and still believe that the major role of a librarian is to sit at a desk, gold rimmed spectacles pushed to the end of his/her nose, pointer-finger tapping his/her lips while whispering shhh, as they stamp our books. Nope. While others believe that everything is now electronic, and a real person isn’t really necessary. The library is so much more for kids.
When kids don’t have someone to sit next to at lunch, they head to the library. I know because that’s where my son knew that he could spend his lunch period, and no one would pick on him, someone was there to help him if he decided to work on homework and didn’t understand something. Plus, he actually had a friend to be with in the library… the librarian. I have had two adults tell me the same story about themselves in the past two days. Not everyone fits in, in school, but the library is a safe, interesting place for all.
BISD says enrollment is down by approximately 1,000 kids since 2015. So, if we are at capacity with available land in our community and no new homes are being built, with people moving elsewhere to live, then doing everything we can to improve our school district is the way to drag those people back this direction, especially since we have a huge, new, state-of-the-art school. Let’s keep filling the inside of this building with all the necessary tools to educate our children and prepare them for their next steps furthering their education. I’m so glad that will include librarians. Thank you BISD for listening to the people and reconsidering. NOTE: Library Book Sale this weekend. See Page 4 for details.
Ohio is suing Norfolk Southern Railway over last month’s train derailment and crash that sent toxic chemicals in the air, soil and creeks. Fearing an explosion could take place, officials intentionally released and burned toxic vinyl chloride from five rail cars, sending a ball of fire and black smoke filled with contaminants high into the sky. The derailed train cars were not even labeled as hazardous.
“There once was a man from Nantucket
Who kept all his cash in a bucket.
But his daughter, named Nan
Ran away with a man,
And as for the bucket, Nantucket.”
– Princeton Tiger
Leprechaun: Speaking to a man holding a big pot; “How did you find the hidden pot of gold?”
Man: “I follow you on Twitter.”
Parent Trap and Mean Girls actor, Lindsay Lohan is pregnant. I realize you knowing this makes a huge difference in your life. 😊 (I say what goes around, comes around and we will know in about 15 years.) Saturday, head to East Beach in Galveston for FREE Sandcastle building lessons from a professional sandcastle builder. 409-797-5111. And don’t forget to drink a little green beer… for the leprechauns.
Lisa
Send comments to Lisa Baker at lisa@thesourceweekly.com
