THRASONICAL

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

A few weeks ago, I picked up Appaloosa, a western starring Ed Harris, as Virgil Cole, and Viggo Mortensen, as Everett Hitch, because Lloyd likes a good western. What with one thing and another, we hadn't watched it until today. The movie certainly qualifies as a "shoot-em-up" as three people are shot dead before the opening credits and several more before the movie's end. However, there's plenty of time for some interesting introspection.

Renee Zelweger, as Mrs. French, certainly plays a very different character than she did in Miss Potter. There is evidence that the town fathers partake of the same character traits as Mrs. French. Jeremy Irons, as the villain, did not chew scenery—a refreshing relief. The town is gritty with no glaring anachronisms, and no Peckinpah dwelling on the blood and guts. The hero, if that's the right term, rides into the sunset at the end.

This is not John Wayne or Hopalong Cassiday, much more in the noir vein with a deserved R rating. Ed Harris directed the Robert Knott/Ed Harris screen-play based on a novel by Robert B. Parker. An excellent movie, but not light-hearted.

SPOILER ALERT: Everett Hitch killed the wrong person at the end—of course, if he'd killed the right one, he couldn't have ridden off into the sunset.


The word of the day for February 14, 2009 is "thrasonical" — Pronunciation: \thrā-'sä-ni-kəl, thrə-\
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin Thrason-, Thraso Thraso, braggart soldier in the comedy Eunuchus by Terence
Date: 1564
: of, relating to, resembling, or characteristic of Thraso : bragging , boastful


Our quotation is from Harris/Knott, Appaloosa, Phil Olson, played by Timothy Spall:

Evidently, Bragg's claim of association with our president wasn't just thrasonical.

;^)

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APPEAL

I wrote to my cousin in Australia about the Victoria bushfire that has taken so many lives, livelihoods, and living spaces. Specifically, I asked what we could do to help. This is her answer:

Dear Jan,

Thank you so much for your concern.

This is the worst natural disaster that has ever occurred in Australia, and our worst loss of lives outside the World Wars.

We will be making a donation today. We've been tossing up between the Salvos (Salvation Army) or the Red Cross for immediate action. They say they need money for people to go and buy clothes, but the government is giving immediate grants. We also hear that mountains of donated goods are already arriving in the affected areas. A lot of aid will be required to help people start to rebuild their homes, and in some cases, entire towns. And the medical aid for the burns victims will be ongoing as well. Any of these organizations are good for immediate relief as well as follow up services.

Here are the email addresses for the
Salvos www.salvationarmy.org.au/donations and the
Red Cross http://www.redcross.org.au/, as well as for the
Commonwealth Bank's Bushfire Appeal commbank.com.au. Just specify 'The Victorian Bushfire Appeal.'

When we first came to Australia, Paul had an uncle (since deceased) living in an area called Healesville, which is under threat today. He loved Australia and the bush so much, and introduced us to its beauties. It was a lovely area; I just can't imagine how it must look now. Thanks so much for getting in touch.

Love,

Kathy

:_^(

RODENT

Most of yesterday I cleaned out the under-counter corner kitchen cupboard. Because of its inconvenient construction, I keep only things that are infrequently used in that cabinet, except for a rack, usually filled with broiler pans and trays, that just fits through the cupboard door. At some point in time during the past month, we entertained a mouse or mice in that cabinet. They had apparently gotten in through a gap in the sheet rock where the 220v electric line comes through. I also noticed that I had stored mouse poison in that cupboard the last time we had mice. The baits were entirely consumed, so I'm probably lucky I didn't find a dead mouse in the cupboard.

I'm not afraid of mice; they are just disgusting. When I was a child I noticed that Daddy would set the mouse traps, as my mother didn't have the knack or strength to do it; Mother would empty them (throw the full ones in the trash) because Daddy was too tender-hearted—a perfect partnership. At my house, I get to do both offices.

So I emptied out the pans, etc., vacuumed and pulled out shelf paper. (Yes, I used a filter mask and rubber gloves. No sense in courting Hanta virus.) Next came a bath of the entire cupboard—chlorine bleach in water. A thorough drying was followed by a good spray of disinfectant.

I filled in the access hole with some silicone grout—I couldn't find the spackle, apparently used on some other project or shuffled under the mass of garage detritus. The grout, however, just filled the hole before the tube ran out, so I figure it was meant to be.

During the drying periods, I threw out everything I could of the cupboard contents and washed the rest in hot water with chlorine in the rinse and then ran everything possible through the dishwasher on the sanitize cycle. New shelf liner went in and then a very few salvaged items that I do use once in a blue moon. Last of all the above described rack and the pans and trays. Next I need to clean out the cupboard under the sink. No mice, but I've certainly accumulated a lot of things under there.

The word of the day for February 8, 2009 is "rodent" — Pronunciation: \'rō-dənt\
Function: noun
Etymology: ultimately from Latin rodent-, rodens, present participle of rodere to gnaw; akin to Latin radere to scrape, scratch, Sanskrit radati he gnaws
Date: 1835
1 : any of an order (Rodentia) of relatively small gnawing mammals (as a mouse, squirrel, or beaver) that have in both jaws a single pair of incisors with a chisel-shaped edge. 2 : a small mammal (as a rabbit or a shrew) other than a true rodent.

Our quotation is from Robert Burns (1759–1796), Scottish poet. repr. In Poetical Works, vol. 1, ed. William Scott Douglas (1891). “To a Mouse,” st. 7 (1786):

The best laid schemes o’ mice and men Gang aft agley;
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain, For promis’d joy!

;^)

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