News Details (Posted: January 28, 2005):

Thursday's SEASIDE SCOOP By Peggy Fisher

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January 27, 2005 Triaging Time Abraham Lincoln used to tell a story about a frog that fell into a deep, muddy wagon track. He was stuck there for days. Friends shouted encouragement but, try as he may, he just couldn't gather the energy to manage it. For many hours his friends encouraged him to try harder, but they finally gave up and went back to their pond. The next day the frog was seen sunning himself contentedly along the shore of the pond. "How did you get out of that rut?" his friends asked. "Well, as you know," he told them, "I couldn't. But then a wagon came along and I had to." DON'T GET STUCK IN A RUT IN 2005. —Vernon Matthysen, Pretoria, South Africa ******************************­******* Welcome! Welcome to Seaside Scoop, strengthening our word power and memories incrementally while linking friends and wildlife supporters across Florida and the globe. Seaside Scoop readers span Florida, 35 states, Guam and 15 countries abroad. (Your email address is safe. Seaside Scoop will never sell, rent or disclose your email address to third parties.) A special warm welcome to newest readers Gary Fox of Vero Beach, who learned about Seaside Scoop from his wife Lil-Miller Fox who receives Seaside Scoop at her office and recommended it and Ruth Meyers. Seaside Scoop Goes on an E-Diet You will note there are no attachments today. With this Seaside Scoop, we’re experimenting with a revised format, including more contributions in the email instead of as attachments. This reduced the size of today’s Seaside Scoop by an amazing 1 MB to 435 KB for only three attachments! This reduction is significant, especially for readers with dial up who have major problems with large email being to time consuming and, in some cases, totally blocking their access as has happened for Hot Mail. This change will make Seaside Scoops longer, but you can read the sections in which you are most interested. Some readers prefer everything within email as opposed to separate attachments, which they must open. This helps protect from potentially deadly computer viruses. A final plus from my triaging time perspective—smaller emails are much faster to update. We will occasionally still attach documents if they do not fit within the text format, but will keep them to a minimum to reduce email size. Hoping the changes assist. ******************************­************ Word-for-the-Day emprise em-PRYZE noun : an adventurous, daring, or chivalric enterprise Example sentence: As a boy, Will spent hours in the library reading adventure stories featuring brave heroes who embarked on dangerous and exciting emprises. Did you know? Someone who engages in emprises undertakes much, so it's no surprise that "emprise" descends from the Anglo-French word "emprendre," meaning "to undertake." It's also no surprise that "emprise" became established in English during the 13th century, a time when brave knights engaged in many a chivalrous undertaking. Fourteenth-century author Geoffrey Chaucer used "emprise" to describe one such knight in "The Franklin's Tale" (one of the stories in The Canterbury Tales): "Ther was a knyght that loved and dide his payne / To serve a lady in his beste wise; / And many labour, many a greet emprise, / He for his lady wroghte er she were wonne." ******************************­****** Congrats to Vero Beach Author & Seaside Scoop Reader Susan Holland For your terrific front-page coverage in the Home Town News! You give the rest of us writers great hope! Article below, instead of attached: Peggy’s Pet Parade ? From Mentor Al Franco in Ft. Lauderdale: Boss, we got a spy here! ?From Carl Peterson in Guam: Dogs & Cats: ? From New Year cat collection sent by Laura in Atlanta, Geri in Port St. Lucie, Regina in Sarasota, Al in Ft. Lauderdale and Management in Vero Beach—these are most popular felines: Face challenges in 2005 ? From Lydia Sacher in Miami : Hold on to good friends; they are few and far between ? From N. Beach Civic Ass. President Bill Glynn Now stay out of trouble: If you have digital pics of your pet stars, please email them; once they join “Pets in Waiting,” Seaside Scoop stardom awaits via Peggy’s Pet Parade. ******************************­***************** Cartoon Cavalcade Please email cartoons that give you a smile to share. ******************************­***************** Mail Call Todd Timmcke in Seattle: Hope all is well! As a crusader against sensationalist news (especially a lot of the stuff floating about the internet), I have to point out that the wave photo and the creatures from the deep photos are not factual. The photo of the tsunami wave is actually a manipulated photo of a city in Chile and the deep sea creatures are photos from an ocean expedition that had nothing to do with the tsunami. Check out snopes at: http://www.snopes.com/photos/t­sunami/tsunami2.asp and http://www.snopes.com/photos/t­sunami/creature.asp . It's a reporter's duty to verify. Look what happened to Dan Rather! Your faithful fact checker, Todd. Shirley Wijesinha in Miami: I think that is a doctored pix--that traffic would not have been so orderly with that wave !!!!!!!!!!!!! Management: This looks like a hoax; wouldn’t the cars have been fleeing? —Thanks, All! Indian County Lifeguard Eric Carson: re Surf’s Up You lovers of the English language might enjoy this . . . There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is "UP." It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report? We call UP our friends. And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special. And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night. We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP. Chris Quinton in England with an Australian report: Postcard from the Big Smoke Every January we fold our tents and steal away to Melbourne for Mark's annual pilgrimage to the Australian Open Tennis championships. Part of the ritual is pitching our tent in a caravan park set in the wilds of the northern suburbs. The park is in woodland alongside Mullum Creek. At night the air was full of the growls and hisses from koalas and possums. We even had a sugar glider in the trees overhanging our tent. Mark came to Melbourne not just as a tennis spectator. He used to be an accomplished player at the hit and giggle level back in the days of wooden racquets and before women grunted. He thought a little gentle geriatric tennis on the Sunday before the Open began, was well within his capabilities but there was a dull twang in his calf and despite the timely application of a packet of frozen peas, he is still limping ten days on. This does not bode well for a planned bike ride with fellow Mildurans from Bright to Wangaratta over the coming weekend. Mark still hobbled off to Melbourne Park to watch tennis. The play was as good as ever but he never thought that he would be treated to players in long trousers again, even if they were 3/4 length culottes surmounted by shimmering tank tops in pastel shades. The crowning couture was an orange ribbon tied with a generous bow, worn as a headband by David Nalbandian. After 3 days of saturation spectating Mark was satiated with tennis. He took off for the Kinglake Park forests with the Suzuki for a 4WD driving course. He put the little car over more rugged, steeper and muddier terrain than it had ever been on. Jennie did not accompany, thinking it would be a testosterone filled day for boys with their toys. In fact there were three wives there, one very evidently pregnant, bouncing large 4WDs over rocks. The Suziki coped well. Its high point came when it plucked the largest of the other 4WDs from a mud patch using a snatch strap like a huge rubber band. When at the end of a long day we stood in a group to receive our diplomas, one of the women said I deserved a prize but was at pains to emphasize it was for the Suzuki, not my driving skills. In the ensuing days we have been staying in friends' house at Lilydale while they disport themselves at the seaside. The Warburton Rail Trail passes nearby and we should have been on daily groin-hardening bike rides in preparation for the Bright-Wangaratta Rail Trail but instead Mark has been sogging in front of the tennis on TV with his injured leg on a stool. Jennie & Mark on safari Georgina, fellow writer in Coral Gables: Your graphics are getting better & better! Glad you shared Shavers with everybody. Beautiful, beautiful words on Johnny…. Baby, it's cold outside, but...the poor Northeast! I remember the Blizzard of 78 all too well... Also from Georgina: a moving tribute to Johnny Carson: THE QUINTESSENTIAL AMERICAN BY GEORGINA MARRERO It didn't dawn on me until this morning: Johnny Carson passed away on my mother's birthday. She would have liked that, I think, as she herself was quiet, self-effacing….and managed to have perfect timing. Just like Johnny. It takes a helluva comedian to be able to play the straight to someone else's funny. Engaging in humor - or, at least, attempting to do so - I'm discovering that as I go along. Perhaps not so much through my written work, but when I come out with something that - for reasons often unbeknownst to me - makes someone laugh, I sometimes take a step back, look at the person quizzically… and only succeed in making her/him laugh even more. I think this is called delivery. And delivery cannot exist without timing. My mother was great at the delivery and the timing. You're either born with it, or you're not. In my opinion, my mother had it. And so did Johnny. Of course, I'm appreciating it much more now as a result of some much-needed self-reflection, but that's ok. Better late than never. My mother could make me laugh at the drop of a hat. She had the whole ward howling when she peered into a patient's throat to see just what the unfortunate man had swallowed. He'd swallowed the sole of a tennis shoe. According to my mother's favorite nurse, my mother peered in, straightened up, and proclaimed: "What a strange appetite." Her delivery and timing were impeccable. Again, just like Johnny. Never much of a night owl until recently, I missed many of Johnny's great moments, so I actually played catch-up, of sorts, last night via NBC and Larry King. Don Rickles, looking very sad, was a guest on both. As I don't remember seeing Johnny's farewell in 1992, it felt so good to view Bette Midler deliver her loving, grateful showstopper. Once again: Johnny in the shadows, letting someone else shine. But then, again, he had an eye for talent. The Divine Miss M, Joan Rivers, Don Rickles, Steve Martin, Jerry Seinfeld, Jay Leno… and David Letterman, to name a few. David Letterman: well, I've gotten in the habit of watching him over the course of the last several years. I confess I prefer his monologue to Leno's. Now I know why: Johnny continued to feed him jokes. OK. Let me get serious again. Dave's the one who's continued to follow Johnny's format. The one-line zingers that sway between the sublime and the ridiculous in his snappy, no-frills monologue, making me either howl, titter, or, occasionally, hiss. Paul's his sidekick, instead of Ed. Rupert G's Deli, Will It Float?, the girls, the animals, the nerves of his guests, his ongoing feud with Oprah: I follow him much more closely, don't I? And I didn't know until yesterday - I didn't pay attention until yesterday - to the fact that it was Johnny who mentored Dave. Then again, I didn't pay attention until almost the end that my mother was mentoring me. My mother loved quintessential Americans. Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, and Charles Kuralt were among her favorites. She must have watched Johnny, and it was probably at her side that I first glimpsed him, when I didn't know what I was supposed to be on the lookout for. At least I now have a better idea. I'd better keep watching Dave. Thanks for training him, Johnny. Monday, January 24, 2005 Copyright, 2005 by Georgina Marrero 562 words First-time worldwide serial rights ******************************­*********************** How You Can Help Tsunami Victims Varia: Men and Women Are Different How women were more like the animals when it came to tsunami survival Photo from Shirley: Galle Bus Stand SRI LANKA DISASTER RELIEF I’m sure by now you would have heard of the terrible tragedy that hit among other nations, the island of Sri Lanka. Our immediate family is safe but I have yet to hear from some cousins who were in the affected areas.... and I know of friends and their families who perished. You will be pleased to know that the old Jaycee training works... deeply involved in mobilizing efforts in South Florida with fund raisers especially for the long-term rebuilding and restoration of a destroyed nation. A group of us Sri Lankans living in south Florida are collecting donations to help relief efforts and have set up a bank account at Washington Mutual Bank, Pinecrest. If you would like to help—and here any amount—no matter how small, will be gratefully accepted-please send your check, made out to: Sri Lanka Disaster Relief Fund and mail it to me at 6820 SW 28 Terrace Miami Fl 33155. I will be happy to make the arrangements to have the funds channeled through the RED CROSS in SRI LANKA where the relief efforts are already underway... If you have any questions or concerns, please give me a call at 305 661 8855 or 305 335 2373. Or email: shirleypw1@bellsouth.net Many Thanks. Shirley Wijesinha ******************************­******* Hyperlinks RICHARD WOLFFE and HOLLY BAILEY: THE OVAL Is Bush's Honeymoon Over? A tough press conference highlights challenges for Bush. Plus, selling Social Security. ******************************­** Seaside Scoop Web News For Seaside Scoops online, check: http://glgs.org/themes/Custom/­1/glg_articleView.asp?pid=68&t­id=14&articleid=29 ******************************­** 2005 Cheers from Vero Beach Peggy Writing by Fisher Vero Beach, FL (772)388-4920 Turn the wheel of your life. Make complete revolutions. Celebrate every turning. And persevere with joy. —Deng Ming-Dao Writer ******************************­************* Seaside Scoop (AKA Word-a-Day) Content Any content may be copied; please credit Seaside Scoop . I would also appreciate your publishing information on subscribing: To subscribe to free Seaside Scoop email: writingbyfisher@bellsouth.net