Jeff Daum

Barbara, it turns out that it is not only women who feel lousy after the 2nd Moderna shot.  Several of my male friends who got their 2nd Moderna shot also experienced issues the next day.  So far, I have not heard of anyone having anything other than perhaps a slight sorness and fleeting headach after the 2nd Pfizer.   Fortunately, I had no reaction to the Pfizer shots.

It absolutely amazes me that I did not feel anything when they put the needle in my arm.  Must be an incredibly thin needle.

Gail Weintraub (Stern)

NEWS FLASH!!!!! Get your ticket now!!

Our Class of 1964 Performing Arts Fund is sponsoring the Senior HIgh School Musical "Songs For A New World" which runs from March 4-6 at 7pm Eastern. These are live stream performances which can only be viewed during these times.

The ticket link is https://sites.google.com/view/whhstheatredepartment/tickets                        Click on anywhere in the descriptive boday and the ticket options will appear.

"Songs For A New World" is a series of songs that are self-contained stories about moments in life where we are faced with a difficult choice or come to a crossroads in life. Each song jumps forward or backward in time, showing characters in circumstances similar with each other. Ultimately, it is a show about hope, optimism and the power of music and theatre to heal and transform us.

This sounds like something we all could use about now!

Philip Spiess

So, as we often note, it's a small world; I'm referring to Walnut Hills High School connections.  (No, I'm not referring to my two bosses at the Smithsonian Institution in the 1980s, who I think I've mentioned before, Jane Glaser, Class of 1940, and Janet Solinger, Class of 1939 -- and, no, I was not hired because of that:  we didn't know of the connection until after I was employed there.)  I'm referring today to my son's sound recording career:  his studio is currently located in our rather modest house, and, as he was having a group of black singers from Baltimore in for two days to record an album (which, he told us, would require taking over nearly the entire house), and as we had a long-standing reservation at a bed & breakast in Sharpsburg, Maryland, postponed for a year because of COVID, we decided to take off and leave the house to him for three days.

So today we came back, and, greeting the young musicians from Baltimore as they were leaving, the one said to me, "You're from Cincinnati, Philip tells me?" "Yes, indeed," I said, and he asked, "Walnut Hills?"  I said, "You mean the high school?" and he said, "Yes; my mother graduated from there."  We compared notes on ages, and, although I don't know her maiden name, it appears she graduated about five years after us.  Small world!

Chuck Cole

On our way to our class's lasrt in-person reunion, we drove from Vermont and spent the night in Rochester, NY.  In the morning we stopped at a coffee shop for pastries and coffee.  I started talking with the young man behind the counter and through the standard "where are you from questions", I came to learn he had graduated 2 or 3 years earlier from Walnut Hills.  Are we everywhere?

Ira Goldberg

My daughter's street in Corvallis, Oregon hosts another WHHS grad. If we aren't everywhere, we're getting close. 

Ann Shepard (Rueve)

Back when were were dining once a month, the WHHS Dining Divas ask any random passerby if they would be kind enough to take our picture. A young man, who could have been our grandson, volunteered. As he inquired about who we were, and finding out we had gone to Walnut Hills, he broke out into a grin. He had JUST graduated!  

Gail Weintraub (Stern)

I just purchased my 'Songs For A New World' ticket.

Have you purchased yours?

Stephen (Steve) Dixon

Interesting rundown on the teachers, Ann.

I had Inskeep for 7th grade English also. I don't remember it being first period. But, then, that sentence could be generally shortened to, "I don't remember." 

I was thinking that Miss Sommers was the Math teacher that we had for TV Math, during 4th period in 7th grade. Does anyone remember that teacher's name? She was excellent. But I think they made her leave before the year was up because she was noticeably pregnant.

Bruce Fette

Ann,

Sure looks like a happy group.

And as for the question of where are we, and where are we not,

Amongst the 50 states, these are currently not listed:

Alaska, Delaware, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South D           

akota, West Virginia. I will bet someone out there will claim some connection to one or more of these 11 states

NOW FOR THE QUESTION OF WHERE WOULD YOU RATHER BE?

Steven Levinson

Phil Lowenthal, WHHS Class of '62, was the Public Defender on Maui when I moved to Honolulu in 1971.  He's been there ever since.  His son, Ben, recently made the short list of nominees to the Hawaii Supreme Court, although someone else got the job.  Steve Oppenheimer, also WHHS Class of '62, was in house counsel to Hawaiian Electric Co. until he retired, and has become a good friend.  Andy Kay, WHHS Class or '66, is a well known artist in Hawaii.

Bruce, speaking of Alaska, Dana Fabe of Cincinnati was the Chief Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court three times and served on the court for 20 years.  I had thought that she was a WHHS grad, but, no, it was Seven Hills School.

Philip Spiess

Jerry:  Being an altruist myself, I'll take a stab at it.  Worshipping a Golden Swine is only considered a good thing in two cases (or casings, if we're talking the wurst possible scenario):  (a) if you are living in the realm of the "Pig Prince" of the Banat of Temeswar [cf. Johann Strauss, Jr.'s operetta, Der Zigeunerbaron (1885), or a map of the lower Danube]; or (b) you are a major executive of Kahn's Meats, Cincinnati, Ohio.  As to worshipping a Golden Calf, even if you have a veal for that sort of thing (as in Kobe), it is not recommended in any case [cf. Cecil B. De Mille's The Ten Commandments, Part II (1956), about half an hour from the end].

Gene Stern

I purchased my ticket for the LiveStream this Thursday that Gail listed in #5574

Ann Shepard (Rueve)

Jerry, in answer to your question, worshiping a golden idol didn't turn out too well in the Bible, Torah, or the Quran. 

Dale Gieringer

 Bruce -   

Our 7th - 8th grade WHHS classmate George Mellinger, with whom I recently reconnected, lives in South Dakota.  And MIke Weiner, now sadly no longer with us,  unforgettably lived in Fargo, North Dakota.  So that's two states off your list.

Years ago, our family used to take vacations in Italy.  I would take along a Walnut Hills High School t-shirt that I'd purchased at a class reunion (probably our 30th).  It was just the right summer shirt for the blazing hot Italian sun.   Anyhow, as I was strolling through - where else? - the Roman forum, I was approached by some young American travelers who recognized the shirt and said they too were from WHHS.  Then, on another trip, the same thing happened to me in a Florentine coffee house.   After that, we traveled to the Island of Lipari, an Ionian island off of Sicily.  While strolling though an archeological museum of ancient Ionian culture, a young woman approached me and asked if I was from WHHS in Cincinnati;   she had friends who went there.   It left me wondering whether there's a magical connection between ancient Italy and WHHS Latin class.

Paul Simons

To briefly touch on what Jerry and Ann are talking about- from what I hear America might lead the world in not only Covid deaths but also in variations of religious worship. Today I heard about a sect that believes Illuminati are determined to implant RFID chips in everyone’s head and must be stopped and yes, there is definitely worship of gold, of swine, and of golden swine. 

Philip Spiess

Paul:  Oh, god!  The Illuminati!  Though of memorable existence in the 16th through the 18th centuries, presumptive heirs to the Rosicrucians (who once again exist, with headquarters in San Jose, California), they really are no longer with us -- unless you choose to count the Masonic Order as their successors (dubious).  How these myths prosper and increase!  One of the greatest myths of our day is the number of schools, public and private, that claim they are teaching "critical thinking."  Obviously, they are not.

Dale:  Speaking of Ionia, when I was teaching Middle School History and Geography -- ancient Greek history to the 5th Grade -- trying to establish mechanisms by which they might remember something or other (true, not necessarily "critical thinking") -- when covering the wars between Greece and Persia, I focused on the map of Asia Minor, constantly contested between the two countries, but known in those days as "Ionia."  As a mnemonic device, I'd tell my students (who, young as they were, understood my penchant for punning)) that the Greek colony of Ionia would be captured by the Persians, who'd then say, "I own ya!", only to be recaptured, in due course, by the Greeks, who'd say, "No, I own ya!" (etc., etc., etc.).

It will come as no surprise to any of you that we live in dire -- nay, dismal -- times.  Noting the neutrality of this Forum, I will pass on from politics to air travel (which I do not undertake under any of the current circumstances).  Time was when, in the halcyon days of the 1950s and 1960s, that TWA's "Royal Ambassador Flight" offered this menu for passengers aboard (Wilbur and Orville, could this be Wright?) (I'm quoting here from Lucius Beebe, journalist and gourmand extraordinaire):  "fresh Malossol caviar . . . a bewilderment of the best French hors d'oeuvre to accompany a choice of cocktails -- martinis, manhattans, vodka martinis, old-fashioneds, or gimlets. . . .  There was clear turtle soup with sherry . . . Maine lobster Thermidor, fillets of English sole ambassadeur, prime U. S. sirloin steak or chateaubriand, double-thick lamb chops, canard a l'orange au Grand Marnier, and a salmi of guinea fowl.  There were conventional vegetables and salads, there was a wide assortment of the best French, English, and Italian cheeses, a bombe glacee, fruit, and French pastry, all washed down with limitless quanities of Mumm's Cordon Rouge [i.e., great champagne].  Also, tucked away . . . for the benefit of returning Americans . . . were such items as a hamburger special, corned beef on rye, hot dogs, and malted milks."  I believe TWA no longer exists -- nor does such an airline menu.  Was it Dreamland?  And speaking of our Walnut Hills follies of yesteryear, do they even serve Peanuts on airlines any more?  Or anything?  (Maybe drinks?)  "O tempora!  O mores!"

Paul Simons

Phil reading that TWA menu made me hungry for the Chateaubriand and also forces me to confess that I finally broke down and violated my year-long prohibition of fast food. Out of fear of Covid contamination of packaging or product - no McDonalds or Popeyes or Wendy’s etc. But yesterday in honor of vaccine shot #1 I had a BK Double Whopper and it was great! But to be realistic it will be healthier to have the staff put chateaubriand on both of my private jets (null set).

But to be serious as we’re all approaching our later years sound investments are important and what is more sound than gold? My broker Don Goldswine and Sons is offering these solid gold coins, valuable as both precious metal and as an indication of our indomitable spirit and love of Truth, Justice, and The American Way. (They are made in China.)

Philip Spiess

Yeah, when pigs fly (or is that "swine flew"?).

Paul Simons

Phil. In Cincinnati they do fly. Some fly in, some fly out, some just wind up at the Kahn’s plant.

Philip Spiess

Pigasus?

Paul Simons

You nailed it Mr. Philip Spiess.  Rules of etiquette and propriety prevent me from divulging the true depth, meaning, and import of the matter here but just Google "Swinette" and you will have solved the mystery! One caution - be sure to look for the Cincinnati Pork Association Certified (CPAC) logo on the tag and on the console if you're in the market for a swinette. There are a lot of counterfeits around. Be sure to get the real thing, because like a Stradivarius violin or a Steinway piano a fine swinette can run into some real money.

Judy Holtzer (Knopf)

Paul - I have a hard time sometimes deciding whether you are serious or pulling our legs.... Was that for real about a broker named Goldswine? And is he Jewish? If you say yes to the latter question, then I call Bullshit to the former.

Judy Holtzer (Knopf)

Again for Paul - Cincinnati Pork Association Certified?? Is that perchance the caterers for the Conservative Political Action Conference?

Wasn't that fun!?

Paul Simons

Judy if you take a look at some of my past entries here you’ll see that I have posted Cincinnati flying pigs before along with Cincinnati Chili and Goetta. I know these things are not kosher and would be unavailable in Israel. Nor would Jim Dandy’s Bar-B-Que but I still like it and have posted about it.

I’m sure there are some Isrseli foods I’d be nuts about. I’ll get there someday. FYI the #1 restaurant in Philadelphia is an Israeli restaurant. You have to make a reservation months in advance. About the Pork Association or other organizations with similar names it’s councidence, I’m not a member of any of them. About Don Goldswine - I don’t think he’s religious at all, not in any church or synagogue or mosque, just a money man, a salesman who will tell you anything you want to hear. That's the successful salesman's gift - knowing intuitively what the customer wants to hear. Also as you know any investment involves risk so don’t invest in anything just because I recommended it!!

Philip Spiess

And remember, the pigs, a product of the Ohio-Indiana Cornbelt (which also produced the good whiskey in Cincinnati and environs) were also the unofficial street-cleaners of the 1840s-1850s era of "Porkopolis," scavengers that they were, on their way to the slaughter house (hence the good citizens of Cincinnati having to watch out for trichinosis).  Those slaughter houses, comprising overhead rails with hooks on wheels, delivering the portions of pig to each separate pork-packing operation station in the slaughter house, have been described as "the disassembly line"; it was, in fact, the inspiration for Henry Ford's Detroit "assembly line" about fifty years later.  (Henry Ford originally was, in fact, going to build his Ford automotive plant in Cincinnati, but was discouraged from doing so by local businesses, which were doing a booming business in other arenas.  Thank god! otherwise Cincinnati now would be in the plight that Detroit is in!)  And, finally, those pigs also, by way of their skins, created Cincinnati's famed sporting goods enterprises (via footballs, baseballs, etc., and thus on to other sporting accoutrements).  ALL POWER TO THE PIG!