Puzzle corner 53

[Mike Easter]

Today's CQ:

AOJJWACPI, GXOG VWLU
MUJWZU GXU IEOPPWE AOZUI,
OFA GOSU GXU ECFAI WJ
LOZVX ECGX MUOTGD.
-- ECPPCOL IXOSUIKUOZU

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Daffodils, that come before the swallow dares, and take the winds of
March with beauty.
William Shakespeare

Solving: should/could have been quicker; that, the, take, and, with,
William, March

Some might like this site; The Play's The Thing, Reading Shakespeare's
Plays with Dennis Abrams.

This is his page that shows the above quote in its context:
https://theplaystheblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/26/daffodilsthat-come-before-the-swallow-dares-and-takethe-winds-of-march-with-beauty/

I like the way he has incorporated the views and opinions of
'Shakespeareans' on the play and the act, and how he has also interwoven
art and images from modern presentations of the play.

The cited commentary above is a different perspective about the play
itself than its wp article
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Winter%27s_Tale

I recommend its wp article; in some ways I found that perspective the
more interesting vs Abram's blog's.

[Mike Easter]

Post by Mike Easter
I recommend its wp article; in some ways I found that perspective
the more interesting vs Abram's blog's.

Another wp rec in this vein:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare's_plays

Interesting history in that one.

Post by Mike Easter
Note: Plays marked with LR are now commonly referred to as the "late
romances". Plays marked with PP are sometimes referred to as the
"problem plays".

... which WT is marked w/ both PP & LR.

[Mike Easter]

Sunday cryptoquip:

PYKVFZ JCDR PS JOVYYT FJJCS GJFR BCS KYY
PCXS OYXAGXOKDYXJ, JY D ZFBZYKF DK,
KVFX ZFPCZQFR, ''TYYQ PC. XY CXRJ'

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Mother said my school essay used way too many conjunctions, so I rewrote
it, then remarked, "Look Ma, no ands!"

Solving: Y>O, too, so I, it, mother, school

[Mike Easter]

Today's CQ:

  HXQOT QCZS IOPXQO
  NOFXGCSMXTEND. SVMZ
  PETTXS IO OFXGCSMXT ICS
 NOFXGCSMXT. -- ZVMNGOD
  PVMZVXGQ

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Women must become revolutionary. This cannot be evolution but revolution.
Shirley Chisholm

Solving: stumble; O>E, be, 'before' (error), (correct) 'revolution'

Today it seems hard - extremely, to me - to believe that SC was the
first black woman to be elected to .us congress in 1968. I would say
that SC was /more/ of a women's advocate than she (also) was a black
advocate.

[Mike Easter]

Post by Mike Easter
Women must become revolutionary. This cannot be evolution but
revolution. Shirley Chisholm
Today it seems hard - extremely, to me - to believe that SC was the
first black woman to be elected to .us congress in 1968. I would
say that SC was /more/ of a women's advocate than she (also) was a
black advocate.
"Young woman, what are you doing out here in this cold? Did you get
your husband's breakfast this morning? Did you straighten up your
house? What are you doing running for office? This is something for
men."
—Chisholm relating what an older African-American man told her at a
Brooklyn housing project in 1964 when she was collecting signatures
for her nominating petition for state assembly. She calmly explained
her experience and commitment to the community, and he ended up
signing the petition.[41]

[Mike Easter]

Historically, I have enjoyed Wired mag for quite a few decades.
Recently, I've found myself becoming more unhappy with their political
bias, which really should be completely absent in what has always been
a tech related mag. I was beginning to put unsub/ing into
consideration. That is, sometimes there seems to be a distinct 'woke'
attitude.

There was an article today which was 'tech-related' which refreshed my
appreciation of Wired, as they wrote a story about a TX town which
decided they didn't want Amazon drone deliveries anymore.

College Station, TX is a city of 120,000 that is a little over an hour
away from the small town I grew up, and its .uni was a 'bitter' football
rival to the college I attended, which .uni is the city's major
employer at 16,000 employees.

I'm not 100% sure this won't be paywalled, but I'll give it a shot:

https://www.wired.com/story/texas-amazon-drones-stop-flying/

Amazon’s Delivery Drones Are Grounded. The Birds and Dogs of This
Texas Town Are Grateful Amazon’s drones met more resistance in College
Station, Texas, than in any other city in the US. Now they’re gone—and
a sense of peace and privacy has been restored.

[David Brooks]

Post by Mike Easter
Historically, I have enjoyed Wired mag for quite a few decades.
Recently, I've found myself becoming more unhappy with their political
bias, which really should be completely absent in what has always been
a tech related mag. I was beginning to put unsub/ing into
consideration. That is, sometimes there seems to be a distinct 'woke'
attitude.
There was an article today which was 'tech-related' which refreshed my
appreciation of Wired, as they wrote a story about a TX town which
decided they didn't want Amazon drone deliveries anymore.
College Station, TX is a city of 120,000 that is a little over an hour
away from the small town I grew up, and its .uni was a 'bitter' football
rival to the college I attended, which .uni is the city's major
employer at 16,000 employees.
https://www.wired.com/story/texas-amazon-drones-stop-flying/

Amazon’s Delivery Drones Are Grounded. The Birds and Dogs of This
Texas Town Are Grateful Amazon’s drones met more resistance in College
Station, Texas, than in any other city in the US. Now they’re gone—and
a sense of peace and privacy has been restored.

I'm truly surprised that residents didn't simply shoot them down.

[Mike Easter]

Post by David Brooks
I'm truly surprised that residents didn't simply shoot them down.

Ha; there's truth in that. But, you have to realize that there are
Texans and then there are Texans, depending on where they live.

Because College Station is such a uni city and because it has its own
'Silicon Valley' type inhabitants, it is more 'citified' than the
smaller less-so TX counterparts in west Texas. In west Texas the odds
of an unhappy drone-port neighbor shooting down the drone/s would have
been MUCH higher :-) Federal crime or not.

CS silicon 'parks': 324 acres 'at' the uni, 200 acre one 5 mi away. But
their uni 'adversary' in Austin has them 'out-siliconized' in spades.

[Mike Easter]

Today's CQ:

MK MUXFCWMK GMH KAL
HXXK LGX ZKCLXE HLMLXH
ZKLCR GX GMH HXXK UMFEC
JFMH CK KXB AFRXMKH.
-- UMFQ LBMCK

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An American has not seen the United States until he has seen Mardi Gras
in New Orleans.
Mark Twain

I've never done MG in NOLA, but I have a nola story about a friend; well
two friends, I knew them separately and dating other people before they
married. She was a nurse, he studied and practiced a long time to
become a plastic surgeon and started his practice of course doing a lot
of breast implants. He was soon sued when there were some faulty
implants which leaked. This caused /him/ to sue the implant company and
they settled with him for millions and millions; and he was also
relieved of the suits against him. He and his wife promptly bought an
island and retired there, but missed the States, so they sold the island
and moved to a nice place near the French Quarter where MG goes on.

The reason /I/ would never live in NOLA is that I would never live in a
city or part of a city which was below sea level, unless the water were
being managed by Dutch water engineers who do a MUCH better job than
their .usian counteparts.

[Mike Easter]

Today's CQ:

C DLPMB TFLABA LH ARGLHP
HEB RGTATHB EH BMT XTCG
CB CHX EBMTG RTGLEV      -
UMTH KCGZM LA AZCGZTDX
MTGT. -- TKLDX VLZOLHAEH


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A light exists in spring not present on the year at any other period -
when March is scarcely here.
Emily Dickinson

Solving: the, other, here, March, ED

Here's the poem the CQ came from and some analysis and commentary. As
is often the case w/ poetry, I don't care for it. The CQ itself was OK.

https://allpoetry.com/poem/13630827-A-Light-exists-in-Spring-by-Emily-Dickinson

[Mike Easter]

This weekend:

Daylight: 19 min short of 12 hours
Snow at higher elevations in the county, my house light rain sprinkle
Current weather: 50 F, overcast, breezy from the SW ~20 mph
Daylight time change to move the daylight hours on the clock

[Mike Easter]

Post by Mike Easter
Snow at higher elevations in the county, my house light rain sprinkle

This isn't in my county; this is a county w/ higher elevations and N of
here.

The Friends of Bear Valley have an Eagle Cam, and the pair have 2
chicks; the vid currently shows one of them hunkering down as the snow
begins. They're going to get a lot more snow than my county. In the
daytime the chicks are learning to eat things the pair bring.

https://www.friendsofbigbearvalley.org/eagles/

[Creon]

Post by Mike Easter

Post by Mike Easter
Snow at higher elevations in the county, my house light rain sprinkle

This isn't in my county; this is a county w/ higher elevations and N of
here.
The Friends of Bear Valley have an Eagle Cam, and the pair have 2
chicks; the vid currently shows one of them hunkering down as the snow
begins. They're going to get a lot more snow than my county. In the
daytime the chicks are learning to eat things the pair bring.
https://www.friendsofbigbearvalley.org/eagles/

Yes indeed, Mrs. Creon and I have followed Shadow and Jackie for years.

Two eaglets so far; there is a third egg with a "pip", but the eaglet
has not yet emerged. Hope it makes it!

[%]

Post by Creon

Post by Mike Easter

Post by Mike Easter
Snow at higher elevations in the county, my house light rain sprinkle

This isn't in my county; this is a county w/ higher elevations and N of
here.
The Friends of Bear Valley have an Eagle Cam, and the pair have 2
chicks; the vid currently shows one of them hunkering down as the snow
begins. They're going to get a lot more snow than my county. In the
daytime the chicks are learning to eat things the pair bring.
https://www.friendsofbigbearvalley.org/eagles/

Yes indeed, Mrs. Creon and I have followed Shadow and Jackie for years.
Two eaglets so far; there is a third egg with a "pip", but the eaglet
has not yet emerged. Hope it makes it!

you can come and see the ones at my dump

[David]

Post by Mike Easter

Post by Mike Easter
Snow at higher elevations in the county, my house light rain sprinkle

This isn't in my county; this is a county w/ higher elevations and N of
here.
The Friends of Bear Valley have an Eagle Cam, and the pair have 2
chicks; the vid currently shows one of them hunkering down as the snow
begins.  They're going to get a lot more snow than my county.  In the
daytime the chicks are learning to eat things the pair bring.
https://www.friendsofbigbearvalley.org/eagles/

Absolutely fascinating, especially watching the two young chicks and
another starting to put its beak through its egg shell!

Thank you for posting, Mike.

(A great time-waster though!)

[Mike Easter]

Post by Mike Easter
Snow at higher elevations in the county, my house light rain sprinkle

My light rain turned into well over 1". We haven't been getting enough
rain lately, so this is welcome. We're in store for some more soon.

One nearby mountain here got 9" of snow. The area I like to drive to
see the snow didn't get much.

Back in the 70s when I was hating the weather for a couple of years, the
snow made me crazy. Those years the 'situation' made the hot summers
worse, and the winter snow terrible; and I had grown up in a hot humid
place without a/c in my youth and we never 'paid any attention' to the
weather. Times change.

[Mike Easter]

Thu & Fri CQs:

AHATF XZF BZR CBA
MVCAQCGZD CV KA CBA KARC
XZF VL FVJT DGLA.
-- DGQ-SZQJAD SGTZQXZ


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Every day has the potential to be the best day of your life.
Lin-Manuel Miranda

Solving; fast: the, every, day has, potential (finish) L-MM

I've never heard of L-MM, probably because I don't know what is going on
on Broadway NY.

Lin-Manuel Miranda is an American songwriter, actor, singer,
filmmaker, rapper, and librettist. He created the Broadway musicals
In the Heights (2005) and Hamilton (2015), and the soundtracks for
the animated films Moana (2016), Vivo, and Encanto (both 2021). He
has received numerous accolades including a Pulitzer Prize, three
Tony Awards, two Laurence Olivier Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards,
and five Grammy Awards, along with nominations for two Academy
Awards.

ZTKUK HF EBZTHEP H XBWQG
EBZ GB IBU ZTBFK XTB OUK
UKOQQR LR IUHKEGF. H TOAK
EB EBZHBE BI QBAHEP SKBSQK
YR TOQAKF. -- MOEK
OWFZKE,"EBUZTOEPKU OYYKR"


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There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I
have no notion of loving people by halves.
Jane Austen, "Northanger Abbey"

Solving: there, is nothing I, not, would, do, those who

Unfortunately, there is much of JA's life which was lost to history
because her sister Cassandra burned the thousands of letters from her.

The scant biographical information about Austen comes from her few
surviving letters and sketches her family members wrote about her.
have survived and been published. Cassandra Austen destroyed the
bulk of the letters she received from her sister, burning or
otherwise destroying them. She wanted to ensure that the "younger
nieces did not read any of Jane's sometimes acid or forthright
comments on neighbours or family members".[5] In the interest of
protecting reputations from Jane's penchant for honesty and
forthrightness, Cassandra omitted details of illnesses, unhappiness
and anything she considered unsavoury.

I had never heard of her novel NA, which is quite different from her
others and wasn't pub'd in her lifetime.

It is hard to put the 'story' of the writing and pub of NA into a few
words; the wp article is interesting. JA was a gothic novel fan, she
wrote her satirical gothic over many years and the publisher didn't want
to pub it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northanger_Abbey

[Mike Easter]

Today's CQ:

VMFMN LOFM Q IRZNK JZ Q
TQV RBZ DQV'J KQVDM.
-- DZVCHDOHI

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Never give a sword to a man who can't dance.
Confucius

Solving: never, a, to, man who can't dance, C

My original reaction to that was that it wasn't 'wise', it was just
silly. But after looking into some interpretations, I realized that it
was a dig at Trump.

This quote "Never give a sword to a man who can’t dance" is not a
direct saying from Confucius, but it beautifully captures some of
the philosophical ideas that are often associated with him.
Interpreted metaphorically, this saying could mean that one should
not wield power (represented by the sword) if they cannot handle it
with control, grace, and balance (symbolized by dancing). Dancing
requires discipline, awareness, and harmony, much like the
thoughtful and responsible exercise of power.
So, in essence, this quote is a reminder that power should only be
entrusted to those who have demonstrated the capacity to handle it
with the requisite balance, wisdom, and grace.

And, for those who feel that Trump is going about 'things' clumsily, I
would remind them that his Democrat adversaries are handling their
reactions even MORE clumsily and stupidly. They are NOT behaving like a
group which should have won; they are behaving like losers.

I do NOT like how Trump is handling the Ukraine situation AT ALL. It
will be good if Europe properly steps up to the plate, but I can't see
them being strong enough. They /could/ be, but they don't have the
political will to even protect themselves, but depend on the .us for too
much.

[David]

   VMFMN LOFM Q IRZNK JZ Q
   TQV RBZ DQV'J KQVDM.
   -- DZVCHDOHI
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Never give a sword to a man who can't dance.
Confucius
Solving: never, a, to, man who can't dance, C
My original reaction to that was that it wasn't 'wise', it was just
silly.  But after looking into some interpretations, I realized that it
was a dig at Trump.

This quote "Never give a sword to a man who can’t dance" is not a
direct saying from Confucius, but it beautifully captures some of
the philosophical ideas that are often associated with him.
Interpreted metaphorically, this saying could mean that one should
not wield power (represented by the sword) if they cannot handle it
with control, grace, and balance (symbolized by dancing). Dancing
requires discipline, awareness, and harmony, much like the
thoughtful and responsible exercise of power.
So, in essence, this quote is a reminder that power should only be
entrusted to those who have demonstrated the capacity to handle it
with the requisite balance, wisdom, and grace.

And, for those who feel that Trump is going about 'things' clumsily, I
would remind them that his Democrat adversaries are handling their
reactions even MORE clumsily and stupidly.  They are NOT behaving like a
group which should have won; they are behaving like losers.

Oh dear! :-(

I do NOT like how Trump is handling the Ukraine situation AT ALL.

Now that IS good to hear! :-D

It will be good if Europe properly steps up to the plate, but I can't see
them being strong enough.  They /could/ be, but they don't have the
political will to even protect themselves, but depend on the .us for too
much.

Perhaps they *WILL* become the United States of Europe!

[Mike Easter]

I'm glad the Gene & Betsy (Arakawa) Hackman death scene mystery has been
resolved. 10 days ago, on a wellness check, the two and /one/ of their
3 dogs were found dead.

It turns out that Betsy died of hantavirus, a bad viral disease w/
30-60% mortality rate. GH was in advanced Alzheimers and also had a bad
heart and a pacemaker. After Betsy died, GH was unable to self-care,
may not have even known about Betsy's death and his death was due to his
advanced ALZ & cardiac/kidney. The dead dog was in BA's bedroom crate,
so he starved/dehydrated and the two living dogs were loose.

I wonder how BA came to be exposed to infected rodent droppings. She was
65, so she wasn't a spring chicken either.

In New Mexico, deer mice and other similar mice carry hantavirus. It
is found in mice droppings and urine. Persons may get HPS by
breathing in the virus. This can happen when droppings or urine
containing the virus are stirred up and the virus is put in the air
as mist or dust.

And you can have the virus for weeks before you get 'really sick' with
the pulmonary syndrome; but you can have symptoms before that.