Ellie's World: April 2016

Saturday, April 30, 2016

May Day Weekend

May 1, 2016

The earliest May Day celebrations appeared in pre-Christian times, with the festival of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers, and the Walpurgis Night celebrations of the Germanic countries. It is also associated with the Gaelic Beltane. Many pagan celebrations were abandoned or Christianized during the process of conversion in Europe. A more secular version of May Day continues to be observed in Europe and America. In this form, May Day may be best known for its tradition of dancing the maypole dance and crowning of the Queen of the May. Various Neopagan groups celebrate reconstructed (to varying degrees) versions of these customs on May 1. The day was a traditional summer holiday in many pre-Christian European pagan cultures. In the Roman Catholic tradition, May is observed as Mary's month, and in these circles May Day is usually a celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Music Meditation on May Day

April 30, 2016

White House Correspondents' Association Dinner 6:00 PM

Larry Wilmore is Host of the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) is an organization of journalists who cover the White House and the President of the United States. The WHCA was founded on February 25, 1914, by journalists in response to an unfounded rumor that a Congressional committee would select which journalists could attend press conferences of President Woodrow Wilson. The WHCA operates independently of the White House. Among the more notable issues handled by the WHCA are the credentialing process, access to the President and physical conditions in the White House press briefing rooms. Read more

May 1, 2016

Daytime Emmy Awards on Hulu

May 1, 2016

American Country Countdown Awards Website on FOX

American Country Countdown Awards

May 1, 2016

Disney Channel

2016 Radio Disney Music Awards

May 1, 2016

New York City 5 Boro Bike Tour

New York City Five Boro Bike Tour Wikipedia

May 2, 2016

The Met Gala

The Met Gala, formally called the Costume Institute Gala and also known as the Met Ball, is an annual fundraising gala for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in New York City. It marks the grand opening of the Costume Institute's annual fashion exhibit. Each year's event celebrates the theme of that year's Costume Institute exhibition, and the exhibition sets the tone for the formal dress of the night since guest are expected to choose their fashion to match the theme of the exhibit. Each year the event also has honorary celebrity event day chairpersons.

Annoying Critters

Friends on Facebook call it a Mercury Retrograde moment ... meaning delays.
Pop went the weasel and down went the Large Hadron Collider PhysOrg - April 29, 2016
The LHC suspended operations because a weasel, now dead, invaded a transformer that helps power the machine and set off an electrical outage. Authorities say the incident was one of several small glitches that will delay plans to restart the $4.4 billion collider by a few days.

Not again ... seems like yesterday ... they didn't come to Brooklyn 17 years ago so we shall see.
Noisy cicadas prepare to emerge after 17 years CNN - April 29, 2016
Billions of the critters will make themselves heard in Maryland, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia once the soil where they live warms up to 64°F.

If you follow the news you know this is getting serious especially for those who travel to certain south American countries.
First Zika virus-related death reported in U.S. in Puerto Rico - a 70 year old man Washington Post - April 29, 2016

Friday, April 29, 2016

White House Correspondents'
Association Dinner

The annual spring fling between the Washington press corps and Beltway power brokers - also known as the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner - takes over the Washington Hilton on Saturday (6 p.m. Eastern, C-Span and streaming).

The formal affair began in 1920 as a way for reporters to dine with their sources and get them to spill the beans. Calvin Coolidge was the first president to attend, in 1924, and each one since has participated. The dinners had their first brush with star power in 1987, when Michael Kelly, a Baltimore Sun reporter, brought along Fawn Hall, who was in the national limelight at the time for her role as an assistant to Oliver L. North during the Iran-contra scandal. News organizations have since competed to invite famous, or infamous, guests to join them. Today, the gala is Hollywood's big night in Washington, and it is followed by lavish, corporate-sponsored soirees. In 2006, the comedian Stephen Colbert gave one of the most memorable keynote speeches, as he relentlessly mocked President George W. Bush and the news media. Delivered in what was then his persona as a conservative pundit, the 20-minute routine became a sensation online. On Saturday, it will be his old Comedy Central colleague Larry Wilmore's turn.

It looks like Trump is on his way to 1,237 but not without obstacle along the way. Last night, hundreds of demonstrators blocked traffic outside a venue in California where he was holding a rally. The question is ... Who organized the demonstration? How desperate are the Republicans to get rid of him? Trump and other candidates are speaking at the California Republican Convention today and on into the weekend. Like NY, Calif. is not a quiet town with celebs taking sides and making fun of everything. The funniest one-liner this week ... former House Speaker John Boehner called Ted Cruz "Lucifer in the flesh." Yes, indeed ... even politicians have a sense of humor and enjoy a good tweet from time to time !!

Didn't that happen when the Pope was here?

Do you ever wonder what would have happened if Biden ran for President?

More Politics

Back in D.C., Obama offered Israel the largest package of military aid the U.S. has ever proposed to any nation, but the Israelis are asking for more. The package, possibly more than $40 billion over 10 years, is meant to replace the current aid of about $3 billion a year. We should be spending our money to rebuild our own military and then think about how we can help our allies. No wonder this country is falling apart we are just two diverse and though I'm not exactly an isolationist - I still believe that we have to fix our problems before we can help others.

Voters in Colorado will decide in November whether to create a taxpayer-financed public health system that would guarantee coverage for everyone and drop President Obama's health care policy. The $38-billion-a-year proposal, to be financed with a tax increase on workers and businesses, would do away with deductibles and would allow patients to choose doctors and specialists without worrying about who is 'in network.'

Business: U.S. economic growth in the first quarter fell to its slowest pace in two years, while the job market appears to be at its healthiest point since the late 1990s. There are many theories about why this occurred with websites like CNBC staying on top of things. The eurozone's gross domestic product is back to pre-financial-crisis levels, according to data released today.

Thursday, April 28, 2016

The Northwest Passage

Visualize huge glaciers splitting apart forming a waterway due to climate change.

Sounds beautiful ... and yet there is always drama especially when it comes to money.

How will the Northwest Passage influence global trade? Aljazeera - April 28, 2016
Global warming may be the reason behind rising sea levels, extreme weather conditions and the deaths of Arctic animals. But while the environment suffers, the shipping industry has seen a massive new opportunity. The melting ice is opening up a new trade route through the Arctic Ocean, which China and other countries are planning to benefit from. The newly navigable Northwest Passage connects the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic, and shipping industry leaders in China say the route shortens the journey by 30 percent. But what claim does China and others have on this region?

China's Northwest Passage Ambitions Could Challenge Canada's Sovereignty: Expert Huffington Post - April 28, 2016
A guidebook produced by China's Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) shows that the People's Republic wants to use Canada's northern waters as a shortcut to the Atlantic. Ships currently have to reach it through the Panama Canal - a route that takes about 40 per cent more time.

The Northwest Passage is a sea route connecting the northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The various islands of the archipelago are separated from one another and from the Canadian mainland by a series of Arctic waterways collectively known as the Northwest Passages or Northwestern Passages. The Parliament of Canada renamed these waterways the "Canadian Northwest Passage" in a motion that was passed unanimously in December 2009.

Sought by explorers for centuries as a possible trade route, it was discovered in 1850 by Robert McClure and first navigated by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen with a small expedition in 1903-1906. Until 2009, the Arctic pack ice prevented regular marine shipping throughout most of the year. Change in the pack ice (Arctic shrinkage) has rendered the waterways more navigable. The contested sovereignty claims over the waters may complicate future shipping through the region: the Canadian government considers the Northwestern Passages part of Canadian Internal Waters, but the United States and various European countries maintain they are an international strait and transit passage, allowing free and unencumbered passage. If, as has been claimed, parts of the eastern end of the Passage are barely 15 metres (49 ft) deep, the route's viability as a Euro-Asian shipping route is reduced. Glaciers

April 28, 2016

Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day
occurs on the fourth Thursday of April every year.

Some parents feel guilty if they can't be with their children today.
Don't let guilt guide your emotions.
Do the best you can do in today's crazy world.

April 28 - May 22, 2016

Mercury Retrograde

Are you planning for it? Don't take it seriously? Don't understand it?

Think it never ends anymore based on the way reality is manifesting?

Mercury is the Messenger.

When the time is right, the Messenger will appear.

National Superhero Day

Superhero to our rescue ... or not?

Politics and Mercury Retrograde... Many mistakes will be made and opinions changed ... but that is the norm anyway. We start things off with this major political blunder made out of desperation ... Ted Cruz chose Carly Fiorina as his running mate. Watch the mistakes happen knowing that Mercury is the Trickster and is having the last laugh at our expense.

Did you get the memo? email? text?

Be careful of scammers. Don't send money.

April 28, 1926

Waving Hello to a New Subatomic Theory Wired

Quantum Mechanics Wikipedia

Nuclear physicist Erwin Schrodinger writes a letter to Albert Einstein, introducing a new term: Wave Mechanics. In 1926 Schrodinger published four papers, elucidating wave mechanics, expressing the new formulation in a precise equation, showing how it confirmed Niels Bohr's atomic model, and demonstrating how the Schrodinger theory paralleled - rather than contradicted - Werner Heisenberg's Matrix Mechanics.

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Super Tuesday
No Surprises

As predicted by most people, Trump and Hillary moved closer to a general election match-up. Trump swept the Republican primaries in five East Coast states on Tuesday, while Clinton won in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut and Delaware, dropping only Rhode Island to Bernie Sanders. Their opponents swear they're not going anywhere. Trump and Clinton both used their victory speeches to pivot towards the general election, giving a preview of the clash we might see between them over the next five months.

Hillary - Hi-LIAR-y. Hm ....

I'm listening to Trump on CNN explaining the rhetoric that got him into trouble in the past, but that he can tone it down if necessary. I believe he can but his personality is what it is and he is a fighter who loves both the battle and the limelight which will be thrust upon him should he beat Hillary in November. But I'm jumping ahead ... there are more hurdles to overcome in the months ahead. Here's a list of remaining primaries.

April 28 - May 22, 2016

Mercury Retrograde

Are you planning for it? Don't take it seriously? Don't understand it?

Think it never ends anymore based on the way reality is manifesting?

Mercury is the Messenger.

When the time is right, the Messenger appears.

April 28, 1926

Waving Hello to a New Subatomic Theory Wired

Quantum Mechanics Wikipedia

April 28, 2016

Theme for 2016 "Sparking Aha! Moments"

Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day
occurs on the fourth Thursday of April every year.

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Another Super Tuesday

Here we go with another day of primaries, the results of which will help shape the future for Trump and Hillary who are looking to take a decisive advantage after today's elections in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. The Cruz-Kasich alliance will misfire as Trump's momentum grows stronger and the desperate RNC fights for its survival. Trump will never be presidential, will take Congress away from the Republicans, and hopefully put things back in the hands of the people. Stay tuned as the day unfolds ...

At the Republican National Committee's spring meeting

Party conventions have faced those accusations before, with one of the most famous examples occurring in 1960. Former President Harry Truman resigned as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, calling the event "a prearranged affair," fixed to give the nomination to John F. Kennedy. Although Mr. Kennedy arrived in Los Angeles as the front-runner, having won each of the seven primaries he entered, his selection was not a done deal. He didn't reach the necessary vote total for the nomination until Wyoming, the final state scheduled in the roll call, pushed him over the top. The political jockeying continued to the very end, with the convention floor briefly taken over by non-delegates who had slipped into the hall to support Adlai Stevenson, the Democrats' nominee in 1952 and 1956. The top Democratic Party official said the protest was "the best answer to charges of rigging for Jack Kennedy." - New York Times

Bernie from the block

This pic was taken last week in Brownsville Brooklyn where I started my teaching career at age 20 in 1963.

Let's go back to the summer of 1959. My friend Sherry and I have been Besties (BFF) since our days at Lincoln High in Brooklyn where I was a cheerleader. On a picture perfect day, when we were 16, as Sherry and I sat on the esplanade that runs along Manhattan Beach in Brooklyn, two boys passed by stopping to talk (flirt) ... ah... sixteen and serendipity. One of them was Carl Weiss - our connection instant. Carl was one year older and the captain of the rival football team at Madison High - but who cared as we feel in love for the first time. Carl went to school with someone who would later run for president ... Bernie Sanders. Carl is also the father of someone famous - film producer, screenwriter, actor, and director Rob Weiss. None of us like Bernie for president - or for that matter anyone else. We are all of the opinion the problems can't be fixed.

Chernobyl Disaster

Thirty years ago today, an explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine released far more radioactivity than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan did, forcing the resettlement of more than 350,000 people. The final stage of the cleanup may begin next year.

April 26, 1986

Ukraine marks 30th anniversary of Chernobyl disaster
BBC - April 26, 2016

Chernobyl Disaster

Chernobyl Disaster Google Videos

The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred
at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukrainian SSR.

April 26 - Richter Scale Day

An earthquake can cause another nuclear event like the Chernobyl Disaster.

Monday, April 25, 2016

Monday

It's that time of the year - allergies - both old and new - reshape people's daily lives and sleeping patterns. Out in Gilbert, Arizona my daughter Tracy said locals are faced with this situation ... Many people are transplanted from other parts of the country bringing various trees and plants to new areas - their pollen conflicting with local plant life and created all sorts of new allergens. My neighbor Jack, 75, told me that he no longer feels comfortable talking his morning walk around the park across the street because of pollens.

When it comes to being allergic to something, how about the way things are run in Washington. The news this morning portrayed Cruz and Kashich ganging up on Trump to move towards a contested convention this summer. Their behavior will either work or misfire ... especially as Mercury Retrograde begins on Friday and always brings dramas to all concerned. Trump's tweets in response remind us of how desperate the RNC is, as it fights for its survival - and how rigged things are in Washington. If anything, I want to see Trump take down the political system. He will never be presidential and will take Congress away from the republican and hopefully put things back in the hands of the people. Tuesday, both Trump and Hillary will win big. I'm sure you know Hillary is considering running mates.

Today is DNA Day. Last week, I blogged about two mutant genes that didn't allow my client's nephew to absorb certain vitamins, resulting in symptoms of bipolar disorder. He is being treated and slowly recovering. Well, here comes something from my friend John in Tampa. His son, 40's, has a genetic defect that is creating early onset Alzheimer's Disease. A client found the same to be true with her husband - also in his 40's. These symptoms can be a result of head injuries, but testing has shown a mutant gene as the cause. I can't imagine being in my 40's and unable to function, drive, remember, etc.

Last month, I visited the Museum of Modern Art. Today, the fortunes of the Museum of Modern Art and the struggling Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City illustrate the state of the art world, which is dominated by Modern and contemporary art. 2 Art Worlds: Flush MoMA, Struggling Met New York Times - April 25, 2016

The redesigns of the $5, $10 and $20 bills will be unveiled in 2020, about 500 years after the word "dollar" came into use. It comes from the German word "thaler," derived from Joachimsthaler, a coin first minted in a town of the same name in Bohemia. The dollar was chosen as the monetary unit of the new United States in 1785. Colonists had printed their own paper bills, called Continentals, during the Revolutionary War. Before that, British pounds, shillings and pence were used in the colonies. But Spanish dollar coins - which were in wide circulation in the Americas - and Indian beads were also used. The Spanish dollar - also called a peso - was abbreviated as P, with an S behind it when more than one peso was indicated. But accountants had to spell out the word "dollar" for U.S. currency or abbreviate it as "Doll" in lengthy ledgers. They got tired of doing that and, according to "A History of Mathematical Notations" (1929), the abbreviation for the Spanish dollar was tweaked to become the U.S. dollar sign.

Saturday, April 23, 2016

Hubble

April 24, 1990

Hubble Telescope is launched Wikipedia

Hubble Telescope Google Videos

Hubble captures birthday bubble Hubble Telescope - April 21, 2016

The great spirals ... apparently lie outside our stellar system.

Edwin Hubble Quotes

April 24, 1479 BC

Thutmose III ("Thoth is born") ascended to the throne of Egypt and ruled for almost 54 years.
Sixth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty which included Tutankhamun (King Tut),
Queen Hatshepsut, and Akhenaten who ruled with Queen Nefertiti.

Friday, April 22, 2016

Friday

President Obama has angered those who support Britain leaving the European Union by urging the country to remain in the bloc. He'll meet Prime Minister David Cameron today in a show of solidarity. Mr. Obama will be joined by his wife, Michelle, at Windsor Castle for lunch with Queen Elizabeth II, one day Liz's 90th birthday. The couple will also attend a dinner hosted by Prince William, the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.

On Earth Day - The landmark climate change agreement reached in Paris in December will be signed by more than 160 countries at the U.N. in New York today. Some experts say that it doesn't go far enough to protect the planet.
Earth Day: We're not as doomed as you think CNN - April 22, 2016

Federal agents seized a ton of cocaine and seven tons of marijuana smuggled through a half-mile tunnel, the longest discovered between California and Mexico.

Volkswagen has agreed to fix or buy back nearly 500,000 diesel cars in the U.S. that are equipped with illegal emissions software.

A settlement will let Uber continue to categorize drivers in California and Massachusetts as independent contractors.

Opening in theaters today - In A Hologram for a King Tom Hanks plays Alan Clay, a corporate businessman and wash-up who has had no success. He travels to Saudi Arabia to propose a holographic teleconferencing system.

Deaths

U.S. suicide rate hit a 30-year high -- The number of suicides increased in almost all groups, according to a study released today, with women and the middle-aged hit particularly hard - but down for black males.

The world lost Prince this week (See blog below). Others deaths in the news:

Doris Roberts

Chyna, 46, professional wrestler, reality-television star

Frederick Mayer, 94, a Jew who fled Germany for Brooklyn as a teenager in 1938, only to parachute back into a Nazi-controlled Austria seven years later as an American spy.

William Shakespeare

Saturday is believed to be the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare (he is thought to have died on his 52nd birthday). His death wasn't front-page news in 1616. In fact, it was barely noted, unless you happened to be in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, his birthplace. He was buried in the Holy Trinity Church, the Shakespeare's parish, where the baptismal register had an entry in 1564 that read, "Gulielmus filius Johannes Shakespeare."

Shakespeare left no personal papers behind. It wasn't until after his death that his collected works were published in print form. What we know about his life comes from contemporary documents. To fill the gaps of knowledge, the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington is attempting to digitize every known reference to Shakespeare and his family written during and around his lifetime. The project, called Shakespeare Documented, has collected nearly 500 references in about 400 documents so far. The papers are written in Elizabethan secretary hand, a style common in the 16th century but indecipherable to the inexpert eye today. Shakespeare wrote two epic narrative poems, 38 plays and 154 sonnets. He also penned his own epitaph - printed on the plaque in the photo above - a final verse: "Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbeare to dig the dust enclosed here. Blessed be the man who spares these stones, and cursed be he who moves my bones."

April 23, 1564 - April 23, 1616

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare Google Videos

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon", or simply "The Bard". His plays have been translated into every major living language, and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.

William Shakespeare Quotes 1

William Shakespeare Quotes 2

April 23, 2016

World Book Day

On the anniversary of William Shakespeare's birth we celebrate World Book Day. Everybody has a book in them - it's their story or journey. Most people attempt to write either a book, a poem, a blog or something that expresses their emotions. Physical reality is about experience and the catharsis of emotions through self-expression in a creative way. The women in the bookstore in the image above are glancing through my book 2012 Sarah and Alexander in the Alchemy of Time. .

Iconic Legend Prince Has Died

Another cultural icon has died. When someone programmed with that level of creative genius crosses over it rocks many people to the core because their emotional DNA is tied up with the performer's music - a harmonic given to us during a specific time frame or frequency within the matrix of our experiences here. Music is immortal but seeing an icon cross over makes us more aware of our own immortality and how we fit into the window of what remains for us in the duration of this reality. Never forget that reality is created by sound, light, and color, brought forth in algorithmic tones to experience consciousness vicariously.

The pop music superstar was one of the most amazing musical performers of the last century, spanning rock, funk, soul, R&B, and pop genres. He could play anything. One of Prince's first albums he composed, recorded, and played all 27 instruments. Prince was two months older than Michael Jackson. Both were visionaries. They seem to carry the same energy and frequency which connects me to three performers in my age group - David Bowie -- Mick Jagger and Steven Tyler - slim and effeminate.

Prince, singer and superstar, dies aged 57 at Paisley Park BBC - April 21, 2016
The hugely popular, acclaimed and influential musician Prince has died at his home in Minnesota at the age of 57.

Singer Prince dies at 57 CNN - April 21, 2016
Prince, who pioneered "the Minneapolis sound" and took on the music industry in his fight for creative freedom, died Thursday at age 57.

June 7, 1958 - April 21, 2016