Blogging Fusion

Sphairistikè, Anyone?

With the US Open underway, I thought it time to ask ourselves why doesn't tennis get the love it deserves?After all, it doesn't require an interpreter to understand. Or keep score.It's a pure sport. Mano a mano.Unlike golf, there is defense and you have to be in shape. Since you occasionally get out of a brisk walk.It's also one of the few, maybe the only sport, where women are equals. Get the same prize money. Even though they don't play as many sets, which means women are good lobbyers.Some even lob as well. And, finally, when the trophy is hoisted in the US Open, they'll be one winner for each gender. No teams tromping through the White House. No ticker tape parades. Who do we have to thank for all of this? We do know games of racquet and ball originated from a 12th century French handball game called jeu de paume, which translates into "game of the palm." Sphairistikè, and you've been patient, is Greek for "playing ball" and  was invented by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield in 1873, which evolved into the modern game. Since it actually used a kind of racquet. According to a 1927 article in The Times of London, the name was dropped because it was so difficult to pronounce.What, Sphairistikè?There are a few theories for the name, "tennis," itself.Did it derive from the ancient Egyptian city of Tinnis alongside the Nile? The French claim that "tennis" derived from the French word, "Tenez," which means, "Look here."And if you "look here" at this year's Open field, you have the excitement of watching two of the greatest of all time: Federer chasing history. Nadal chasing his first US Open title. The women's field is wide open, since Serena Williams stepped on "a piece of glass" in a German restaurant at Wimbledon and is out of the tournament.(Who knew German restaurants were such a minefield?)Anyway, let's hit the ball around. How do the modern greats compare to the old timers? Like Hoad, Laver, Budge, Gonzales, Borg and McEnroe, Navratilova and Graf? How has modern equipment affected the game? What's love got to do with it? There must be a few "Sphairistikè" fans out there.

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263 Prinsengracht

August 1, 1944. Her last diary entry, three days before the Gestapo stormed into the house at 263 Prinsengracht.Anne Frank had written, in her book, bound with red-and-green plaid cloth and a small lock on the front, about "a bundle of contradictions.""Like so many words, it can be interpreted in two ways: a contradiction imposed from without and one imposed from within. The former means not accepting other people’s opinions, always knowing best, having the last word...in short, all those unpleasant traits for which I’m known." She went on to talk about her two sides; one that contained "my exuberant cheerfulness, my flippancy, my joy in life and, above all, my ability to appreciate the lighter side of things."  And her other, somewhat more darker side? Who can blame her?Yet, through it all, outside of rampant anger towards her mother, she kept a positive view of the world."It's really a wonder that I haven't dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart."A storm recently blew down the 170 year-old chestnut tree that stood outside the house shared by the Frank family on the first floor, and the Van Pels family on the second floor. "All the other rooms were covered by curtains, except the attic," Hans Westra, executive director of the House explained, "so she would sit there and look out at the sun and the top of the chestnut tree. All her longing for freedom came to be tied up with that tree."One can imagine her pondering the great issues there in the 25 months she was in hiding.There were only 200 German police in Amsterdam; some 107,000 Dutch Jews were deported, mainly through the efforts of the Dutch police and civilians.Good vs. Evil. The ultimate rivalry.Ethics and morality have had a go at it. Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche weighing in for the dark side: “Hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torment of man.”I can imagine a chance encounter with him might have been a bit of a downer.Mahatma Gandhi put it this way:“Remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall — think of it, ALWAYS.”A good thought to hold onto.

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NOW... I Think of It

"If I were married to you," Lady Astor said, " I'd put poison in your coffee."   "If you were my wife, Sir Winston is purported to have said at the time, "I'd drink it." Then there was Politician Lewis Morris: "It is a conspiracy of silence against me — a conspiracy of silence. What should I do?"?Oscar Wilde: "Join it."Of course there is no evidence these retorts came as advertised — rapier like, in the heat of the moment. The odds are that even these great wits muttered something innocuous, then stewed about what they should have said.I wish I would have said it became I said it. Who would dispute it?There’s actually a name for it.L'esprit de l'escalier or esprit d'escalier is thinking of a clever comeback when it is too late. In German it's "treppenwitz." Translated, it means "Stairway Wit."It refers to those impossibly snappy responses we don't deliver at the time, but think of them on the metaphorical "stairway" as we leave the scene of our (sometimes) humiliation.The name for it comes from French encyclopedist Denis Diderot’s description of such a situation in his "Paradoxe sur le comédien," which he penned in 1773. During a dinner at the home of statesman Jacques Necker, an argument went  against him; Denis claimed he became confused and only at the bottom of the stairs, when it was too late, could he think of the proper reply.Philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in his autobiographical book "Confessions," published four years after his death in 1782, blamed such missed retorts for turning him into a misanthrope, although he reassured himself that he was better at 'conversations by mail.'I would imagine the pressure mounts when you have a reputation of being a wit and scholar.I wouldn't know.(Although probably a better self-effacing comment will come to me after this goes to print.)So when Lord Sandwich said to English radical, journalist and politician John Wilkes — "Really, Mr. Wilkes, I don't know whether you'll die on the gallows or of the pox."?Could this have just rolled off John Wilkes' tongue? "That depend, my lord, on whether I embrace your principles or your mistress."I think not.Don't forget if you leave that dazzling piercing riposte out of your first response, you can make amends.There should be no "Stairway" regret here.

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The Sex Life of Snails

"Hello there. I'm whatever you want me to be."Like many air-breathing snails, Helix aspersa is a hermaphrodite, which means they contain both male and female sex organs. Which comes in handy.Since snails spend long times alone, and when they do come across another snail, the last thing they need to wonder is, "Is it my significant other half?" Originally from Europe, now found in North and South America and a variety of places, the common garden variety snail is not so garden variety when it comes to sex.They, after all, have the "love dart." (It is advisable not to read the following until you've had a cup of coffee or caffeinated tea.) According to Ronald Chase, a professor of biology at McGill University, garden snails court from 15 minutes to six hours by circling each other, touching tentacles, and biting on the lips.Just before mating, hydraulic pressure builds up in the blood sinus surrounding the organ housing the dart, and when the second animal touches the darter's genitals, it fires that dart.   Evolutionary biologists believe these "love darts," if I understand this correctly, are coated with hormones that prevent a snail from destroying its own sperm with digestive enzymes.So the species can continue.  To what end exactly?These land-based mollusks feed on sick and struggling plants and are simply the cleaners of our gardens. They tell us things. Their slimy presence over your lettuce, while alarming, is a good sign that the environment for growing lettuce is not a good one. Mollusks were among Earth's first inhabitants, dating back at least 500 million years, and land snails evolved from their sea cousins.Some mollusks are covered by hard shells; others, like squid, are not. But they all lack skeletons.There are more than 85,000 species and more we don't know about.The mysteries of nature, as Albert Einstein said, “It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity.”In this mysterious world we live in, everything matters.Even Helix aspersa.

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Everyone's a winner at the salsa cook-off

I've gone to my farm in Kentucky for the weekend. It's a great place to relax, do a little hard physical labor, and forget about the rest of the world. If you don't have such a place, I highly suggest you get one.In the meantime, here's a little something that I found for you to read that might just add some spice to your day. See you on Monday.J. PetermanFrom: The Emporia Gazette

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Caffeination: Australia's coffee culture

I've gone to my farm in Kentucky for the weekend. It's a great place to relax, do a little physical labor, and forget about the rest of the world. If you don't have such a place, I suggest you get one.In the meantime, here's a little something that might get something percolating. Check out another use for grounds on the left hand side. See you on Monday.J. PetermanFrom: The BBC  

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