f/k/a . . .

You’ve probably already read, said or heard the word “mondegreen” quite a few times this week — indeed, probably quite a few more times than previously in this Century.   As widely reported in the media yesterday and today, it’s on the list of 100 new entries in the latest version of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.  See, e.g., “Merriam-Webster unveils new dictionary words,” (Associated Press, by Stephanie Reitz, July 7, 2008) which includes definitions for twenty of the new entries. Also, view video from CBS News Early Show (Harry and Tracy Smith); and 69News.

S[n]idenote: As often happens with the annual list from M-W, I find myself wondering “what took so long?” to add terms like “dirty bomb,” “air quotes” and “Mental Health Day” to their dictionary.

Here’s the Merriam-Webster entry for “mondegreen:”

Mondegreen (1954): word or phrase that results from a mishearing of something said or sung. From the mishearing in a Scottish ballad of “laid him on the green” as “Lady Mondegreen.”

- Click for the mondegreen entry in the 2000 edition of The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language. And find more at OneLook.com. For more background and examples, try Wikipedia.

The AP article notes:

Among the best-known modern examples: “There’s a bathroom on the right” in place of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “There’s a bad moon on the rise” and “‘Scuse me, while I kiss this guy” in place of “kiss the sky” in the 1967 Jimi Hendrix classic “Purple Haze.”

Although my friends at Language Log might disagree with my preference, for me, mondegreen falls into the annoying category of neologisms that are not self-explanatory. You need to know the special literary or cultural allusion involved in order to figure out (or remember) the meaning, rather than being able to parse or guess the meaning from the construction of the word. [An infamous example, of course, is “blog”, which I have long decried and derided.]

Far more preferable, in my opinion, are words like the closely allied term “malapropism,” which means “the unintentional misuse of a word by confusion with one that sounds similar.” Although it was derived from Sheridan’s dramatic character Mrs. Malaprop, her name was based on the adverb “malapropos,” which was borrowed from the French mal à propos — literally meaning “badly for the purpose.” Even someone with my limited knowledge of Romance Languages could probably guess the meaning of malapropism. Good luck with “mondegreen,” which might mean Green Earth.

You can find a mountain of mondegreens at KissThisGuy.com, “The Archives of Misheard Lyrics,” which is named for the oft-cited off-version of the Jimi Hendrix verse. KTG has been collecting misheard lyrics since 1995. Its viewers have chosen the 100 funniest misheard lyrics of all time.

Jon Carroll, columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, is clearly a mondegreen maven. See his article “Mondegreens ripped my flesh,” which links to numerous columns on the topic. At his Center for the Humane Study of Mondegreens, Carroll’s been “toting up the entries and applying the latest statistical correlative methods, even using our toes, to arrive at a semi-definitive answer,” and gives his own list of “most frequently submitted” mondegreens. Carroll notes that:

“This space has been for some years the chief publicity agent for Mondegreens. The Oxford English Dictionary has not yet seen the light, but it will, it will.”

Now that Merriam-Webster has seen the light, Big Ox can’t be far behind. But, Carroll notes a problem with the modegreen genre: You can’t always tell what the “real” lyrics are. Over the years, I’ve noticed that some bands put different lyrics on their liner notes than they actually sing — perhaps to fool radio or parental censors. (Recall that the Rolling Stones sang “Let’s Spend Some Time Together” when they appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show in the ’60s.)

A particularly telling example of the problem of mondegreen creation is Jimi Hendrix’s own lyric in “Purple Haze.” As Carroll explained:

“Mr. Hendrix was himself aware that he had been Mondegreened, and would occasionally, in performance, actually kiss a guy after saying that line.”

The folks at KissThisGuy are acutely aware of this issue. In fact, their site includes a video clip of Hendrix clearing singing “while I kiss this guy” in concert. Thus, they admit:

We think the video above makes it pretty clear that Hendrix liked to mess around with the lyrics, and on occasion actually did say “‘Scuse me, while I kiss this guy.” Which means this site may not be named after one of the most commonly misheard lyrics after all. Additional stories from readers below support that.

KTG also notes in their FAQs that “Sometimes, the mondegreens are intentional.” For example:

“On the John Laroquette show many years ago, in which he played a bus station manager, there were two cops, one a short woman and the other a rotund middle aged man. The woman once stated that her partner was so food obsessed that he thought the line to the Crystal Gayle song was ‘Donuts make your brown eyes blue’.”

Snopes.com has an interesting and full account of one of the most famous examples of an intentional mondegreen — the supposed “dirty” lyrics to the Kingsmen’s version of “Louie Louie.” Check out the original “Louie Louie” lyrics, by Richard Berry at Snopes.com and here. The Kingsmen’s version is not noticeably smuttier — according to Snopes and apparently the FBI (a mother wrote to Robert F. Kennedy complaining about the Kingsmen and it seems that an investigation was made; the G-men couldn’t understand a word). Yet, a Modegreenian Myth persists. Snopes.com has the mythical lyrics and explains:

“So it was that the youth of America scored a major coup in 1963 by spreading the rumor that a popular recording of an otherwise innocuous 1956 song about a lovesick sailor’s lament to a bartender named Louie was really all about sex. You had to listen carefully, the rumor went, maybe even play the single at 33 RPM instead of 45 RPM, but if you did, you’d find that “loie Louie” was chock full of smutty lyrics. . . . A more efective means of aggravating the older generation could scarcely have been devised . . .”

Is an intentional or erroneous Mondegreen really a Mondegreen? Do the f/k/a Gang look like philosophers or linguists? We don’t have the answer, but maybe Language Log’s Benjamin Zimmer will come to our assistance. You are invited to opine, too.

p.s. In a post on Mondegreens, the weblog 2to4aDay courageously confesses today to needing subtitles in order to understand what is being said in a lot of English-language movies. Prof. Yabut now admits that he must do the same (even when not on a treadmill), especially with any movie filled with Brits or Australians (despite all that practice during the British rock-n-roll Invasion of the ’60s). Yabut also notes that he has visual Mondegreens several times a day reading newspaper or web articles. So far, he catches most of them because the meaning suddenly seems nonsensical, but those broken synapses are making it more and more difficult.

Meanwhile, The Gang needs a nap on this muggy July day. Thereafter, we might try to find a haiku or senryu about misheard words.

Much Better Late Than Never: (5 PM): Speaking of my peri-dementia, I had meant to quote from and point to the delightful discussion of mondegreens in the Wordsmith A Word A Day column of Dec. 20, 2000. For example:

“Face it, you have been guilty of it since early childhood. Beginning with the nursery rhymes you heard on the playground to the national anthem you recited in school to crooning with the love songs on the radio, you have been misinterpreting and repeating them. Now you know there is a word for it and that you are not alone. Luckily there are no Mondegreen Police or we would all be behind bars. No matter what your native tongue, chances are you
have experienced mondegreens in your language.”

The folks at AWAD were absolutely correct: “Whether you consider mondegreens a case of aural dyslexia or a variant of Freudian slip, the results are often much more fascinating than the original matter.”

crackling beach fire —
we hum in place of words
we can’t recall

orig. … by Michael Dylan Welch - The Heron’s Nest (Dec. 2004)

wipers wiping
slush from the windshield–
radio love song

………. by Alice Frampton - The Heron’s Nest (May 2002)

copying the nagging
in the thatched house…
croaking frogs

.. by Kobayashi Issa, translated by David G. Lanoue

flower illiterate
I wander the garden
wordless

… by David G. Lanoue - from Walking the Same Path (HSA Memb. Anthology 2004)

an old song
in our second language
starry night

……….. by Peggy Lyles - To Hear the Rain (Brooks Books, 2002)

The brand new July/August 2008 issue of The Complete Lawyer (Vol. 4, No. 4) focuses on Exit Strategies for lawyers — whether it’s retiring from the workplace or finding careers outside the legal profession. (via Diane Levin at The Mediation Channel) The f/k/a Gang has been nagging lawyers for years to prepare for a graceful exit from the profession — especially in our mega-post “the Graying Bar: let’s not forget the ethics” (March 20, 2007), where we stressed the ethical obligation to leave before the infirmities of age harm your clients, and the related need to make financial choices that will permit a timely retirement.

TCL’s Editor/Publisher Don Hutcheson has again loaded his e-magazine with a bounty of useful articles and columns on the Focus topic, by a diverse group of experts, plus more pieces from regular contributors such as Carolyn Elefant (re solos and small firms), and the ADR “human factor” all-stars, Stephanie West Allen, Victoria Pynchon, Gini Nelson, and Diane Levin, who tell us in this issue “what we have learned from mediation and negotiation that can have broad application in your life and work.

Besides additional targeted material that can be found in 24 local editions of TCL (which can be accessed from the magazine’s home page), you’ll find the following articles (and more) on Lawyer Exit Strategies in the National Edition of The Complete Lawyer:

• “Retirement Readiness: Seven Proven Transition Scenarios” Overcome partnership issues, contractual barriers and psychological hurdles when you design your future. By Shawn McNalis
• “Through the Looking Glass: Why Many of Your Retirement Assumptions Are Wrong” Making some hard calculations today will secure a financially sound retirement—and that’s not a fantasy. By Robert Hockett
• “Get Ready To Get Ready For Retirement” Facing the financial challenges of retirement can pay off in emotional and physical security for the rest of our lives. By Richard M. Weber

• “Don’t Retire! Renew And Reshape Your Life Instead” You have the capacity to write your life’s “next chapter.” By James Frasier
• “Don’t ‘Die At Your Desk’” Become proactive about succession planning. By Stephen P. Gallagher
• “Don’t Neglect Your Reputation When Leaving A Firm” Maintain relationships and protect your rights. By Carolyn Elefant
• “Self-Assess Before Deciding To Leave The Law” Five questions and exercises will reveal key information about you: why your current job is not a good fit, and what you need to have in your next career to be happy. By Anne Whitaker
• “The New Exit Strategy for Today’s Lawyers: Manage Your Own Career” Determine your currency and actively manage your career to achieve success in an increasingly uncertain legal environment. By Arnie Herz

In addition, Dave Polstra’s Financial Matters column contributes “Small Financial Decisions Cast Big Shadows,” which explains how to avoid the debt trap and enjoy financial freedom in your retirement. And The Graying of Lawyers column by Mickey Batsell explains why “Experienced Attorneys Enjoy Advantages In the Job Market.” Plus, Monica Parker, J.D. of Leaving the Law.com, gives you Seven Reasons to Stop Being a Lawyer in her piece, “Before You Choose Your Exit Strategy, Choose to Exit.”

For related articles, take a look at TCL’s issue of a year ago (Vol. 3, No. 4), which focused on The Graying of the Bar.

retirement options
first ice
rims the campus pond

windowless office
a fly buzzes against
my glasses

….. by George Swede
“retirement options” - The Heron’s Nest
“windowless office” - Almost Unseen (Brooks Books, 2000)

Frank Pasquale at Concurring Opinions and Scott Greenfield at Simple Justice have focused this weekend on a very important topic: What can/should be done about the safety issues created by Driving While Elderly? Can the marketplace effectively and equitably work it out through insurance rates and tort cases? Should states impose frequent testing on older drivers? Is AARP a force for improved safety or stubborn resistance?

the old man stops
at a green light –
driving toward sunset

…………… by dagosan

In a Comment today at Simple Justice, I said:

Since we’re pointing at AARP, I thought I’d try to find information on their relevant policies. I found an article in the AARP Bulletin, called “When is it time to quit driving?” and a dissenting reaction to a Fox news item that knocked AARP. The AARP Bulletin article has some interesting info, as does this AARP page on driving safety.

It appears that “In fact, while the AARP does oppose legislation that would require additional driving tests based solely on age, AARP supports legislation requiring driver assessments for all.” Of course, testing everyone for things such as reaction time and cognitive impairment is not likely to happen soon (in a society that permits Driving While Phoning).

See “Who Will Insure Mr. Magoo?” (National Underwriter/P&C.com, Nov. 19, 2007), where Sam Friedman notes:

“If you thought New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer took heat for wanting to give driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, just wait until he asks for everyone over 65 to prove themselves behind the wheel all over again to DMV officials!

“However, auto insurers faced with a wave of elderly drivers would be well within their rights to demand a driving test of their senior clientele. This could be done the hard way, with a sharp stick (the threat of coverage cancellation for those who refuse to be tested) or with a tasty carrot (the promise of a discount for those who pass).

“Either way, the insurer would be assured that their elderly drivers still have their wits about them and are capable of handling themselves on the road.

“On the other hand, I can already hear the wails of complaint from AARP and other senior advocacy groups—perhaps even age discrimination suits!”

Maybe my favorite RiskProf, Martin F. Grace, will grace us with more of his thoughts on this complicated topic. He touched on age as a risk factor last September. Also, noting in November 2006 that some Canadians were wary of using age in their law-making, Martin opined:

It is “unfair” that people age and lose the ability to react to certain driving situations and it is “unfair” that young drivers are inexperienced. However, if we make it easier (lower prices for all!) for younger and older drivers, we increase social losses. I suppose as a society we could say that discrimination based on age is so unjust that we must bear the costs of increased road and highway accidents. As we know, this is never how the question is framed. The frame is about justice and trying to properly reflect the diversity of life choices. It seems like though the real life choices are increased death, morbidity, and auto body work.

Families are dealing with these issues even when regulators and elected officials avoid it. The Hartford has put together an impressive brochure “We Need to Talk: Family Conversations with Older Drivers” (you can download it from their site and order a paper copy). According to the American Society on Aging:

We Need to Talk, offers families a multi-step approach to crafting candid, effectual discussions about driving safety, from positive conversation starters to advice on which family member should broach the topic. The guide also features an important warning signs checklist; strategies for alternative transportation; testing opportunities; a transportation cost worksheet to determine the annual expense to own and operate a car; and recommendations on what to do if a parent has dementia or a high-risk driver refuses to stop driving.

AARP has turned We Need to Talk into a seminar that is now available in many states.

This complex and emotional subject requires serious discussion, thought and action. I’m hoping that the organized elderly — with their power in all election districts at the polls — will not prevent our leaders from proposing and experimenting with potential solutions. [Of course, the failure to deal in a meaningful way with Driving While Phoning — covered in detail in a recent f/k/a posting — suggests that politicians have little backbone for fighting the public and vested interests on the topic of impaired cognition and skills behind the wheel.] Frankly, although I hope each elderly driver will assess his or her own driving situation and act responsibly, I have seen little evidence that they will do so without major outside pressure.

rainy night drive –
squinting at glare
through dad’s eyes

………. by dagosan

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

July 6 is International Kissing Day

. . . . . . . . . . . . July 7 is Chocolate Day

Indian summer
chocolate kisses
on my cheek

………. by Yu Chang - from Upstate Dim Sum (Vol. 2008/1)

We highlighted International Kissing Day in a 2006 post and a 2007 piece, but this time we want to do more to celebrate both that holiday and Chocolate Day, which the National Confectioners Association has set on July 7.

First, for those who — despite it being the three-day Independence Day weekend — insist on serious content from f/k/a. Consider re Kissing:

• The Supreme Court’s decision in Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education, 526 U.S. 629 (1999) allowed an individual student to sue under Title IX when her school administrators failed to protect a 5th grader from sexual harassment by another student. That led to much discussion among teachers of whether to encourage tattling, and among administrators (and lawyers) about what constitutes harassment. As a Washington Times article put it (”Stealing a kiss has become grand larceny“):

” . . . [I]f the teacher counsels the tattletale she’s overreacting and encourages her to handle the boy herself, well, that might be an expensive mistake, particularly if the child claims that she’s failing in her studies as a result of the boy’s attentions. In fact, the teacher who tells the girl not to make a federal case of it will likely find herself in the middle of a federal case.

Reporter Suzanne Fields further notes: “But narrow definitions of what’s offensive in harassment cases have a way of expanding into broad definitions in sexual politics, whether the behavior of tots, teens or tarts. Let’s not forget the 6-year-old boy in North Carolina who was temporarily suspended from school for kissing a little girl on the cheek. He missed the class ice-cream party, too.” And,

“Reacting to fears of harassment suits, certain college codes of conduct have become ludicrously prescriptive, requiring clear and explicit questions from boy to girl (or vice versa) before either one can initiate an amorous gesture. Stealing a kiss has become grand larceny. Many elementary schools are now writing similar rules.”

It’s been almost a decade since the Davis case. Did school boards over-react? Is it safe for a smitten 5th Grader to kiss a tattletale?

Personal Confession: Back in the first grade (circa 1957), at Holy Family School, in Rochester, New York, I snuck a kiss in the cloak room from cute little Elizabeth Muellner, a curly-headed blonde. Sister Mary Elvira, SSND, did not think it was funny, and I got reprimanded and sent to the principal. Lucky for me, Elizabeth did not turn my felonious crush into a federal case.

• For a serious sociological study on kiss stealing, see “Perceptions of sexual violations: denying a kiss, stealing a kiss” (Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, April, 1994 by Michael R. Semonsky, Lawrence B. Rosenfeld). According to its abstract: It “Compares the perceptions of 387 male and female undergraduates of a scene involving a minor sexual violation in which 1 participant denies a kiss and the other kisses regardless. Differences in perceptions of offender and denier behavior are discussed with reference to social support for determining sexual behavior.” See if you can guess which gender took the denial of a kiss and the resulting stealing of one more seriously. There are some surprises.

In a less academic mood? YM.com’s Kissing Trivia Test will help you discover whether you are a novice or expert when it comes to smooching (answers here). We learned, for example that:

1) Scientific studies have proven that kissing can help reduce skin rashes and blemishes.
4) In addition to two tablets of Tylenol, kissing can help alleviate headaches.
5) The average person spends 336 hours kissing in a lifetime. [ Ed. Note: Are you suffering from a Kissing Deficit? This might explain Prof. Yabut’s mood today. It’s never too late to catch up.]
6) Kissing can help prevent plaque build-up.

Kissing Day –
just as much fun
with their dentures out

……………. by dagosan

Denplan, a private UK dental health insurance plan, is credited with creating National Kissing Day, in 1995, making this the 13th annual celebration. Denplan Managing Director, Stephen Gates, said [please, Yanks, no Brit-teeth jokes allowed]:

“We created National Kissing Day as a fun way to raise the profile of dentistry among consumers so that it had a connection with everyday life and not just six-month check-ups.

“While oral healthcare is a serious matter impacting general health, being sombre about it doesn’t necessarily always get the message across – people tend to think ‘that doesn’t apply to me’. National Kissing Day is a great opportunity for people to kiss their loved ones and remember the importance of oral healthcare; we hope everyone will be doing that today.”

To celebrate this year, Denplan had a survey taken in the UK to determine the public’s favorite movie kissing scenes. According to their July 2, 2008, Press Release, “Patrick Swayze voted top big-screen kisser of all time.” Indeed:

• Britain’s all-time favourite screen kiss has been revealed as Patrick Swayze kissing Demi Moore in the 1990 blockbuster film, Ghost.

• Second most popular rated kiss was the Disney classic Lady and the Tramp, where pampered pedigree pooch Lady shares a surprise spaghetti kiss with loveable rogue Tramp (36%).

• In third place was Swayze again, this time with Jennifer Grey in the 1987 blockbuster Dirty Dancing as they kiss in public for the first time (35%).

Swayze was the favorite among females surveyed, with his films ranking 1st and 2nd. Surprising (to me), males also rated Ghost first, but put the cutesy scene from Lady and the Tramp second and Titanic third. Elders liked the Spaghetti Kiss best. (Also see ‘Ghost’ tops best screen kiss poll, Digital Spy, July 5 2008)

Click to see the famous Spaghetti Kiss scene from Lady and the Tramp in a YouTube clip (at about 3:50); and catch a human re-enactment here.

By the Way: According to YM.com, “You’re in the Army Now features the longest on-screen kiss.”

a breeze
from the wagging tail –
her dog gets all her kisses

………. by dagosan

Speaking of animals and kissing, PDSA (UK’s leading veteinary charity), is warning that “Puckering-up to pets poses risk, warns PDSA - National Kissing Day, 6 July.” To wit (and I hope certain lady friends of mine read this):

“[PDSA] is urging pet owners to leave their animals ‘out of the action’ on National Kissing Day next week, due to the risks of spreading diseases between pets and people.”

” . . . . PDSA Senior Veterinary Surgeon, Sean Wensley says: ‘While kissing a pet or being licked on the face might seem like harmless fun, there are in fact lots of bugs and germs that we can catch from getting too close to our pets. Dogs and cats use their tongues to groom themselves, so contact with a pet’s mouth is not a good idea. Putting our face close to theirs can also be quite threatening to some of our pets, and can contribute to them becoming aggressive’.”

Click on page 75 of George Carlin’s Napalm and Silly Putty for his (R-rated) explanation of why dogs might not “have the cleanest mouths of any animal.” It’s an argument Your Editor has long used to discourge human-canine osculation.

dog day heat
the subtle breeze
of a blown kiss

………… by ed markowski - Full Moon Haiku (July ‘05)

Here are a few more quickie pointers for International Kissing Day:

• With the slogan “Kiss a queer for Christ’s sake,” LGBTs and their supporters “will gather in Brisbane and Sydney on July 19 for simultaneous kiss-in protests against ‘homophobic religions’ and Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Australia.” See “Pope’s queer kiss-off” (June 26, 2008).
• Using a press release captioned “Kiss with confidence” (19 June 2008), the UK firm Keeping Face is exploiting National Kissing Day by pointing out solutions they offer for various conditions that might make one’s mouth or lips unattractive. Thus, you can go to them for lip-fillers, wrinkle and lip-hair removal, and dental work. I say: Pucker up and give Keeping Face a nice Bronx Cheer.
• In case you believe in the special magic of location, location, location, USA Today offered a Valentine’s list of “10 great places to steal a kiss — and give one back” (2/14/2006) that should do just fine for Kissing Day, too.

We’re all worn out, and the kissing hasn’t even begun. One final point: Keep in mind, if you’re planning to over-do Chocolate Day, that you can burn off up to 600 calories an hour kissing.

You probably need very little advice on celebrating Chocolate Day. But, if you want some inspiration, you’ll find many ideas at the Candy Addict weblog, in “An excuse to eat chocolate: Chocolate Day, July 7” (July 6, 2007).

Although CandyAddict had no problem believing that “Chocolate is Better than Kissing!” (May 7, 2007), you may be as surprised as Prof. Yabut was yesterday, reading “Kiss and tell: chocolate wins” (The Age.com.au, April 17, 2007):

“Researchers who monitored the heads and hearts of romantically involved couples found they responded more to chocolate melting in their mouths than kissing.”

“. . . The study showed that even the most passionate kisses failed to equal the buzz of chocolate.

” ‘These results really surprised and intrigued us,’ said psychologist David Lewis, who led the study. ‘ While we fully expected chocolate, especially dark chocolate, to increase heart rates due to the fact it contains some highly stimulating substances, both the length of this increase together with the powerful effects it had on the mind were something none of us had anticipated’.”

CandyAddict’s reaction: “they actually had to do tests to prove this? Seems like common knowledge to me!”

Reprise from our “bocce advocacy” piece (Sept. 16, 2005):

My Grandpa Bart and the other old Italian guys often said “kissa the pallina,” when a bocce ball rolled up slowly and nestled right up against the pallina. I did not know as a kid, that they were making a translingual pun — the Italian word for kiss is bacio, and the plural is baci. Click here for the very romantic story of the first chocolate kisses — Baci from Perugina/Nestle.

I’ll be celebrating Independence Day, Kissing Day and Chocolate Day this afternoon with my haiku-’n'-bocce buddies Yu and Anita Chang and John Stevenson. You can find quite a few kiss-related haiku and senryu below, and at our prior posts from 2007 and 2006.

slow train
i lose count of the cars
when the woman blows a kiss

her kiss
on the cool side of tepid …
indian summer

…………………………………………. by ed markowski
“her kiss” - Haiku Harvest (Fall/Winter 2005)

Here are a few that Ed wrote yesterday and overnight, specially for f/k/a and International Kissing Day:

our sugar coated lips
stick for a moment…
cotton candy

cold rain
the line to the kissing booth
lengthens

a long kiss
on the fire escape…
summer wind

after the kiss
a pair of swallows reach
the vanishing point

kissing…
the sound of moths
under her porch light

………………………………………. by ed markowski

saint
valentine’s
day
a white rose and chocolate kisses
from
the
un
believer

. . . by Lee Gurga - Modern Haiku Journal (Volume 39.2, Summer 2008)

late night ice cream
our cat licks
around the spoon

….. by Hilary Tann - from Upstate Dim Sum (Vol. 2008/1)

Sen. John Warner (R-VA) . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL)

If you’ve read our Efficient Driving Pledge back in April, you know the f/k/a Gang is celebrating the news that influential Republican Senator John Warner of Virginia “suggested Thursday that Congress might want to consider reimposing a national speed limit to save gasoline and possibly ease fuel prices.” See “Senator asks if nation’s drivers should slow down” (Washington Post/AP, July 4, 2008) The AP story continues:

“Sen. John Warner, R-Va., asked Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman to look into what speed limit would provide optimum gasoline efficiency given current technology. He said he wants to know if the administration might support efforts in Congress to require a lower speed limit.”

“. . . ‘The department’s Web site says that fuel efficiency decreases rapidly when traveling faster than 60 mph. Every additional 5 mph over that threshold is estimated to cost motorists “essentially an additional 30 cents per gallon in fuel costs,’ Warner said in his letter, citing the DOE data.”

On the other hand/thumb, if you’re a regular reader here, you must know that we are bemoaning and regretting the reaction of “our candidate” Barack Obama to Sen. Warner’s suggestion. As reported in the Detroit Free Press, “Speed limit idea said to save gas” (July 3, 2008):

“Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama’s spokesman said the Democrat would leave setting speed limits to the states and focus instead on renewable energy and improved efficiency.”

Barack took the correct and courageous stand against the summer gas-tax holiday during the Democratic primaries (see our prior post). But, his alleged cop-out on speed limits has left me with whiplash, wondering how many more of Sen. Obama’s principles will be sacrificed in his bid to win “blue collar” voters. Speed limits are no more an issue to be left for the states to decide than the Iraq war was an issue solely for federal politicians back when Barack was a State Senator speaking out on the war.

Michigan state Rep. Aldo Vagnozzi of Farmington Hills, recognizes the national scope of the problem. According to yesterday’s Free Press, he “introduced a resolution calling on Congress to reinstitute the national 55-m.p.h. speed limit implemented during the 1970s oil crisis.” At his website, Vagnozzi argues that:

“At a time when Michigan residents are stretching their dollars as far as they can to make ends meet, skyrocketing gas prices are only making matters worse,” Vagnozzi said. “By simply lowering the speed limit and slowing down on the road, we can increase fuel efficiency, decrease our gas consumption and provide consumers some relief at the pump.”

Most of today’s vehicles reach optimum fuel efficiency between 45 mph and 55 mph. For every mile-per-hour faster than 55 that a vehicle travels, fuel efficiency drops by about 1 percent. Efficiency drops off at a faster rate above 65 mph.

Lowering the national speed limit to 55 mph would:

* Save consumers money at the pump by increasing fuel efficiency, requiring them to buy less gas;
* Save lives by reducing the incidence and severity of traffic accidents;
* Reduce our dependence on foreign oil by reducing demand;
* Cut vehicle emissions by 10 percent.

Our fuel-savings post in April reiterated the lament:

“I hate to be cynical, but I don’t think there’s any chance that the American public — or their courageous leaders — will go along with lowering speed limits to 55 mph in order to save billions of gallons of oil a year.” This is another time when I would love to see one of my predictions proven wrong.

Perhaps leaders like Warner and Vagnozzi will indeed prove me wrong. But, they will need lots of support from other legislators and government officials to make fuel-efficient speed limits a reality. You still have time, Barack, to explain what your spokesperson really meant.

In April we opined: If politicians and the public were serious about achieving fuel economy — in order to save money and save Earth from greenhouse gases — they would start enforcing our speed limit laws and rollback the highway speed limit to 55 mph.

We continue to believe that the most effective, and surely the quickest, way to reduce our nation’s fuel consumption is to enforce the laws already on the books. For those who rather not click through, here are excerpts from our discussion on that topic:

A 2005 survey by the Governors Highway Safety Association confirmed what we already knew: almost every state allows drivers to regularly and significantly exceed the speed limit before they are stopped — and “Nearly all respondents reported a public perception that there exists a cushion above a posted speed limit in which officers will not cite offenders.

The range most often reported was 5-10 miles per hour above the posted limit. “(NewsMax.com, AP, “Survey: Most States Allow Speed Cushion,” June 13, 2005; Survey Executive Summary). One news report noted:

“Authorities patrolling U.S. highways tend to give motorists a cushion of up to 10 miles per hour above the speed limit before pulling them over, says a survey by a group of state traffic safety officials. The group found that 42 states allow drivers to regularly exceed the speed limit before they are stopped. [Editor’s Note: only 47 states responded to this survey; at least one of the non-responders — New York — clearly also has the speed cushion.]

. . . “Law enforcement needs to be given the political will to enforce speed limits and the public must get the message that speeding will not be tolerated,” said [Jim Champagne, chairman of the Governors Highway Safety Association].

“[And, yes, speed both costs and kills:] A study released in 1999 by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety estimated an increase in deaths on interstates and freeways of about 15 percent in the 24 states that had raised their speed limit in late 1995 and 1996.”

 

A pledge from our political leaders to achieve energy independence from foreign oil barons and monarchs (despite the personal sacrifice required of all Americans)  would be particularly appropriate today, July 4th.  I’m listening, Sen. Obama — please renew my faith in your idealism and commitment to do (and say) the right thing. Join with Sen. Warner and let us see some of your across-the-aisle cooperation and leadership.

more resources (May 3, 2008): For a lot of information and inspiration (and some great bumper stickers) zoom over to iDrive55.org - the Drive 55 Conservation Project.

By the way: With the help of the Cruise Control lever, I kept my promise to abide by the 65-mpg speed limit on the New York State Thruway last week, while traveling over 700 miles to and from the Chautauqua Institution. Yes, I was passed a lot. More important, I achieved my best fuel efficiency ever. In fact, for a 200-mile all-Thruway segment of the return trip, my 2000 Mazda Protege, which was rated by the government at 30 mpg for highway travel, averaged over 35 miles per gallon. [And, yes, I would be happy to drive 55, if that becomes the law of the land or of our state.]

gramps grabs his dentures —
grandma’s hiding
the watermelon

…. by dagosan

The folks at the Watermelon Promotion Board must be smiling this morning, with the spreading news coverage — just in time for the Independence Day holiday — about watermelon’s potential to combat erectile dysfuntion. See “Scientists: watermelon yields Viagara-like effects” (AP/Albany NY Times Union, July 3, 2008); and “Watermelon may have Viagara effect” (Science Daily, July 1, 2008). The Associated Press story tells us:

“A slice of cool, fresh watermelon is a juicy way to top off a Fourth of July cookout and one that researchers say has effects similar to Viagra — but don’t necessarily expect it to keep the fireworks all night long.

“Watermelons contain an ingredient called citrulline that can trigger production of a compound that helps relax the body’s blood vessels, similar to what happens when a man takes Viagra, said scientists in Texas, one of the nation’s top producers of the seedless variety.”

Tim Dowling of The Guardian sounds a bit like our Prof. Yabut, as he notes (”Is watermelon the new Viagara?,” July 3, 2008):

“We should be suspicious of news about watermelons timed to coincide with the Fourth of July, when watermelons are traditionally consumed in the US. If you’d made an earth-shattering discovery about watermelons, chances are you wouldn’t save it.

This story, however, is not entirely without merit: according to Dr Bhimu Patil, director of Texas A&M University’s Fruit and Vegetable Improvement Center (how do you improve a watermelon? Put a hat on it?). . . .”

starry night–
biting into a melon
full of seeds

parting her pink robe
–daybreak

… by Yu Chang, from A New Resonance (1999)

“starry night” - Frogpond XXI:1; Museum of Haiku Literature Award (1998)

Science Daily quotes Dr. Patil: “Watermelon may not be as organ specific as Viagra, but it’s a great way to relax blood vessels without any drug side-effects.” He also points out that:

“Previous tests have shown that lycopene is much better absorbed from tomatoes when mixed in a salad with oily vegetables like avocado or spinach,” Patil said. “That would also apply to the lycopene from watermelon, but I realize mixing watermelon with spinach or avocadoes is a very hard sell.”

No studies have been conducted to determine the timing of the consumption of oily vegetables to improve lycopene absorption, he said.

Of course, you should heed the advice of a USDA representative:

“Citrulline is found in all colors of watermelon and is highest in the yellow-fleshed types, said Penelope Perkins-Veazie, a USDA researcher in Lane, Okla.

“She said Patil’s research is valid, but with a caveat: One would need to eat about six cups of watermelon to get enough citrulline to boost the body’s arginine level. [Ed’s Note: A cup of diced watermelon (140 g.) contains about 40 calories.]

” ‘The problem you have when you eat a lot of watermelon is you tend to run to the bathroom more,’ Perkins-Veazie said.”

The Watermelom Promotion Board’s website aims to be “Your one-stop source for recipes, information and fun, all about watermelon.” [E.g., We found out that “Watermelon’s official name is Citrullus Lanatus of the botanical family Curcurbitaceae. It is cousins to cucumbers, pumpkins and squash.”] The f/k/a Gang wonders whether the WPB will be re-writing its Watermelon Lovers Page. While the site is still G-rated, we suggest you and the kids explore its “carving and fun ideas” (note to Bob Eckstein — check out the Watermelon Snowman), and the “fun facts & FAQs.”

bumper crop
a watermelon
holds the door open

……… by w.f. owen - from haiku notebook

— Of course, the Board can now add Love-Helpy to their Heart Healthy promotion [see USDA News Release “Watermelon Serves Up Medically Important Amino Acid” (Word)]

 

- and their Watermelon Dip Stix recipe should become quite popular

We can’t promise you ED solutions or even more traditional fireworks for the 4th of July holiday, but we can give you some related haiku and senryu:

first melon of the season
grasped…
sleeping child

the melon cooling
two days now…
no one has come

 

if someone comes
change into frogs!
cooling melons

unaware of the thief’s
eyes, melons
cooling in water

aligned
with the sickle moon…
the cooling melon

…. by Kobayashi Issa, translated by David G. Lanoue

Moon
and melon cooling
with us in the stream

… by peggy lyles from The Haiku Anthology (edited by Cor van den Heuvel, 3rd Ed.,1999)

choosing a melon–
a song so old
I forget why I cry

… by Billie Wilson - from New Resonance 3: Emerging Voices

 

 

My visit to Chautauqua last week had one major drawback: I missed the annual fireworks display right across the Mohawk River at/over Collins Park, in Scotia, NY. The Scotia fireworks, which I traditionally watch from my backyard on the banks of the Mohawk, take place on the Friday before Independence Day. Click for a YouTube Video of Fireworks at Collins Park in Scotia, June 29, 2007 — with a great full moon.

fireworks finale!
her eyes return
to the fireflies

.. by David Giacalone - Simply Haiku, Autumn 2007, vol 5 no 3 -

 

Here are a few haiku as a consolation (more here):

Independence Day
after all the fireworks, the stars
still there

long after
the fireworks
a shooting star

…. by George Swede from Almost Unseen

fireworks
I close my eyes
for a second look

night train
the fireworks
you missed

…… by John Stevenson - Quiet Enough

boom! boom! ka-boom!
so many duds…
fireworks

river boat–
on a night of fireworks
still selling fireworks

… by Kobayashi ISSA, translated by D.G. Lanoue

Independence Day
next to the floats, ants carry
a butterfly corpse

…… by George Swede - The Heron’s Nest (July 2002)

Yesterday, we featured haiku from the new Spring/Summer 2008 issue of Frogpond, Vol. 31:2. Unlike many other journals, Frogpond continues the helpful (and often challenging) custom of separating haiku from its sister-genre of senryu. Here are senryu by f/k/a’s haijin family of poets you can find in the new Frogpond, followed by two haibun and a rengay poem.

- from Frogpond, Vol. 31:2 (Spring/Summer 2008) -

Labor Day
sweat on a glass
of lemonade

… by tom painting

funeral dirge –
we bury the one
who could carry a tune

…. by David Giacalone

Valentine’s Day
dust on the rose petals
in the potpourri

…. by Alice Frampton

shorter days
a river of gray
in my parted hair

… by Carolyn Hall

winter clothes worn thin
from washing –
a bit of blue sky

… by John Stevenson

smoking bar girl
inhaling
my eyes

… by David G. Lanoue

. . . HAIBUN

buttons
by Alice Frampton
I pick it up and remember the kids dragging it all around the house, losing it at the grocery stores and having to drive back to get it, how dirty it was being brought to the table and clung to in bed, how many times I had to replace the batteries, and their tiny little hands pushing the button over and over until I thought I’d go mad.

winter clear-out
he tells me he love me
the talking teddy

+ + + +

Everywhere I Look
by Roberta Beary

products promise me younger looking skin now that sixty
is the new forty in a world where no one grows old
movie stars with wrinkles look so last century

purple bouquet
it looked so good
in the store

+ + + +

. . . RENGAY

INCHES FROM PARADISE
by Carolyn Hall and Billie Wilson

radio love song
we drive closer
to the moon

roadtrip map –
mere inches from Paradise

find a quarter
in the candy store doorway–
this azure sky

bluegrass meadows
the long-shot pony
noses ahead

Advent calendar
sneaking a peek

the new year
just seconds away
our first kiss!

Yes, I did promise to offer some editorial commentary on the new edition of Frogpond, which is the first issue edited by our Honored Guest Poet George Swede. With help from Prof. Yabut and HaikuEsq, I’m still collecting my thoughts, which I hope to share this evening or early tomorrow.

p.s. Speaking of Roberta Beary and Billie Wilson: Cornell’s Tom Clausen has, as is his wont, recently had some great company and poetry at his Mann Library haiku website. Billie Wilson was his featured poet each day for June 2008; and now Roberta Beary is the featured poet for all of July. We urge you to click and browse and visit often.

florida sunshine
mother soaks up
the shade

… by Roberta Beary - Penumbra 2007

Valentine’s Day—
he tells me I’m number one
on his speed dial

……………. by Billie Wilson from big sky: rma 2006
& Frogpond XXIX:1

More about Roberta: See “the words i meant to say,” her one-woman haiku show at Liam Wilkinson’s beautifully-presented 3LIGHTSGallery — appearing July 1 through September 30, 2008.

Frogpond 31:2 (Spring/Summer 2008) plopped into my mailbox yesterday. Of course, it’s the first-rate haiku and senryu, and other haikai forms, that make the Haiku Society of America’s journal so special. Because the poems are not available online from Frogpond, I’m going to rush some of those written by our Honored Guest Poets to you right away. Later today, I may add a few editorial comments about this first Frogpond issue edited by our haiku friend and mentor George Swede.

short rain–
the scoreless game
lasting longer

… by Gary Hotham

Here are haiku by members of the f/k/a family that were selected for inclusion in Frogpond 31:2 (Spring/Summer 2008); come back tomorrow for senryu and perhaps some haibun or renga:

cicada season __
jackhammers begin
the day shift

…………… by Barry George

reunion
the vacant lot alive
with fireflies

……………. by Peggy Willis Lyles

summer rain
the awning colors
back to life

…………… by w.f. owen

at the laundromat
clothes spinning round and round
winter rain

for his statue
the Great One hatless . . .
spring rain

… by Jim Kacian

startled rabbit
easter snow slips
from a telephone wire

…….. by David Giacalone

afterwords (July 6, 2008):  We learned yesterday that our friend Yu Chang was the author of the following haiku, which appears on page 22 of the new Frogpond without attribution:

newspaper roll __
crushed crocuses just below
the headlines

… by Yu Chang

Sometimes, it’s really hard to avoid cynicism over phony politicians, greedy special interest groups, and — let’s be frank — the spoiled, self-absorbed American public. Case in point: the so-called safety law that goes into effect in California tomorrow, July 1, 2008, relating to the use of cell phones while driving. See Cal. Vehicle Code, Division 11, Chapter 12, Article 1, Section 23123; Cal. DMV: Wireless Telephone Laws FAQs.

Summary: Unless you are using the phone to make an emergency call to the police, a doctor, or other emergency service provider, no hand-hand cell phone may be used by the driver of a vehicle after July 1, 2008, in California. Also, drivers under 18 (who apparently have much less political clout than their elders) are quite annoyed, as they may not use any cell phone while driving, except for emergencies.

Which leaves this old cynic asking:

What were these guys thinking (or trying to achieve or avoid), when they decided to permit the continued use of hands-free devices while driving? They had to know what study after study has demonstrated: hands-free car phoning is just as dangerous as the hand-held variety, because the problem is mainly one of distraction (and “inattention blindness“), and not the number of hands on the wheel. DWP — driving while phoning — leaves the driver as incapacitated as does DUI, with slower reaction times, longer stopping distances, and poorer judgment. Plus, allowing hands-free calls is very likely to increase the amount of DWP. See., e.g., “Industry Pushes Headsets In Cars, Agency Sees Danger Hands-Free Cellphones May Be No Safer Than Hand-Held” (The Wall Street Journal, July 19, 2004); “Hands-Free Cell Phone Use Takes a Hit” (Cars.com, June 9, 2005, orig. pub. in Detroit News); “Cell Phone Users Drive Like Old Folks” (Univ. of Utah Press Release, Feb. 1, 2005).

afterwords (July 1, 2008): Many thanks to Scott Greenfield at Simple Justice for pointing to this post and adding his customary incite-full insights. See “Driving with Cellphones — the Anti View” (July 1, 2008) In addition to rejecting slippery slope arguments, Scott declares: “I (like David) fail to see any necessity in using a cellphone while driving that justifies any increased risk to any other human being under any circumstances. Want to call? Pull over. It’s that simple.”

J. Craig Williams explained the situation pithily at his weblog earlier this month (May It Please the Court, “Driving While Talking: California’s Newest Crime,” June 11, 2008):

“No more driving with one hand on the wheel, one hand on the cell phone and your mind somewhere else.

“Well, you’ll still be able to have your mind somewhere else, just not with one hand on the cell phone.”

As I said in a Comment at Craig’s weblog: “It is disappointing to see that California has adopted the unprincipled compromise of allowing hands-free phoning (in order to make believe the politicians are serous about safety) . . . Indeed, allowing hands-free DWP merely makes it possible for irresponsible drivers to find something else to do with the extra hand.”

When you look at their law enforcement scheme, the seriousness of the California cell-phone driving laws is further in doubt: The fines are relatively small ($25 for the first offense and $50 for subsequent convictions); no points will be taken off your license; and the Highway Patrol has announced that they won’t be pulling people over for merely using hand-held cell phones, although the law permits them to do so. See “Drivers, retailers prepare for state law on cell phones” (Marin Independent-Journal, June 23, 2008). Experience in other States, such as New York — where scofflaws predominate — makes it clear that immediate, strict enforcement is essential, to have a significant chance of achieving a serious level of compliance. When it comes to DWP, a safety-conscious Governor needs to be a Terminator, not a feel-good Kindergarten Cop.

update (11 PM, June 30,2008): I just learned that Washington State also bans the use of hand-held cell phones while driving as of July 1st. Here’s a good quote from an AP article:

But traffic-safety advocates say the new laws will have little impact.

“Laws like Washington’s probably will have a big effect on making people feel good about passing a law but zero effect on highway safety,” said Russ Rader, a spokesman for the Virginia-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

However, the new laws could have a big effect on businesses that sell headsets and related projects.

Admittedly, I’m a little obsessed by this topic (which teaches us so much about the state of the American psyche and its politics), and have been writing against DWP for a long time. It was, in fact, the topic of both my very first piece of paid internet punditry: a March 2000 “Advocate This!” column for the now-defunct Prairielaw.com, entitled “Shut Up and Drive” (opening image), and a major op/ed piece written for the Schenectady Sunday Gazette (”Car-phone ban is easy way out,” May 20, 2001), at the time when New York’s then-Governor George Pataki had proposed to ban hand-held car phones.

Because I am greatly disappointed that the trend-setting largest state in the Union is heading down the same sham-safety road as New York, New Jersey and D.C., and because neither of these gems is available currently online, I’m going to indulge my editor’s prerogative and quote major excerpts from each piece below the fold.

In the Prairielaw piece, I expressed the hope that politicians would reject the “easy compromise” of banning only hand-held phoning by drivers, which would let them avoid a larger confrontation with the telecommunications industry and with cell-phone-addicted voters. My argument then is still valid and been validated by many studies: Banning hand-held phones will do nothing to lessen the inherent distraction caused by a mobile telephone conversation. For example, I argued in 2000:

“Studies show no safety advantage using hands-free phones. Banning hand-held phones may in fact make the problem worse by encouraging more car phone calling. Judging from its many ads for hands-free devices, the car phone industry might actually favor a ban on hand-held devices, as it would force millions to buy new models to make billions of additional phone calls from their cars.”

Sorry to say, that prediction has come true in car and car-phone happy California. See, e.g., “Hands-free law boosts headset sales” (Marketplace Report, npr, June 23, 2008); “Top Brands Leverage Hands-Free Cell Phone Laws” (OnLineMediaDaily, June 23, 2008); “Merchants see hot sales for hands-free devices” (Marin Independent-Journal, June 23, 2008)

Actually, the problem is far worse than it seemed just a decade ago. Back then, cell-phoning was something that most drivers only did occasionally and quickly. Now, a large segment of the American driving public are chronic phoners, making long, serial phone calls. By 2005, Americans chalked up a billion minutes a day chatting while driving, and the numbers have surely climbed dramatically since then, as many drivers have grown to view DWP as natural and their birthright. The trend is further exacerbated by all of those auto manufacturers that are now intensely advertising hands-free devices pre-installed in their vehicles, and cell-phone service providers offering plans with virtually unlimited calling time.

And, note: “A recently completed study points to a separate potential danger: Even truly hands-free phones can be time-consuming to dial. It found that headset users with voice-activated dialing took an average of 37 seconds to dial their calls versus 20 seconds for those who picked up the phone and punched the buttons.” Also, “[T]he Swedish National Road Administration installed cameras in 40 cars and found that drivers wearing headsets drove faster than drivers holding their phones. Braking time slowed by as much 45% for cellphone users, with no improvement for those wearing headsets.” See Agency Sees Danger above.

It is the intensity of the distraction — you have to process interactive communication without visual clues — and the duration of the calls that make DWP far more dangerous than the strawman comparative activities often pointed to by car-phone advocates, such as eating a hamburger, switching the radio channel or CD track, or even putting on mascara. Of course, as I noted in 2000,

“The reality, however, is that politicians don’t need more data on car phoning, they need more backbone.”

In 2004, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s administrator Jeffrey Runge said “The thing that disturbs me is that we have states and local municipalities making rules that basically give hands-free phones a free pass as being safe. That’s not good policy.” In addition, my Gazette op/ed piece argued:

“Even more worrisome, passage of this legislation will almost certainly preclude additional car-phone bans for many years to come. I can already hear the lobbyists and their legislative mouthpieces decrying the unfairness of any additional ban, because of the good faith ‘investment’ of their customers and companies in the ‘legislatively-approved’ hands-free devices.

” . . . This is clearly an instance where having no law is better than having a bad law.”

updates (July 1, 2008): See/hear coverage from npr’s Morning Edition, “California Driving: Footloose and Hands-Free” (July 1, 2008), which does a surprisingly poor job of explaining what is different about DWP, and notes (as did the LA Times today) that “It’s unclear whether the law will be uniformly enforced across the state.” Meanwhile, the Washington Post’s TechCrunch weblog suggests that “the real deterrent is public opinion” not the $20 fine, and concludes:

“There’s just one problem - some studies have shown that talking on hands-free devices are just as dangerous as talking on cell phones regularly.

“And of course one result of the new law will be that people who talk on their cell phones while driving now have to keep a lookout for the police, too, distracting them even more.”

Besides warning folks to “watch out for motorists fiddling with headsets,” an editorial headlined “Driving while phoning” [nice turn of phrase] in today’s Los Angeles Times makes a few points worth repeating:

“The cellphone restriction will prove worthy if accidents decline.

“It would be unfortunate if a majority of drivers responded by getting too comfortable with their new headsets and taking one more step toward turning their cars into mobile offices. As traffic worsens and people spend more time on the freeway, we look for ways to make the lost time productive. But driving while phoning or, more dangerously, while texting — oddly still perfectly legal for adult drivers — endangers lives and slows traffic even further.

“That leaves this safer solution . . . : Just turn off the phone until you turn off the engine. “

Want to know who’s to blame for California’s mostly-farcical hands-free cellphone safety law? The Mercury News says today that it’s Palo Alto’s Democratic State Senator Joe Simitian, a 55-year-old Boalt Hall law graduate, who has been pushing for it since 2001. At his legislative website, Simitian describes his professional background as “attorney, businessman and city planner.” (He has both a law degree and a masters in city planning from U. Cal. Berkeley.) Simitian clearly hopes to saves lives with his hands-free cell phone law, and I do not fault his motives. His site points to an article from MSNBC, “Hands-free phones are lifesavers, study says” (by Mike Stuckey, May 13, 2008) that describes a controversial study that predicts a savings of 300 lives a year in California from banning hand-held DWP. The study was by Jed Kolko, a fellow at the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California. The articles notes:

Most of those lives will be saved when the roads are wet or the weather is bad, said Kolko . . .

To a lesser effect, the laws reduce fatalities during rush hour, he said. “They don’t seem to have an effect on fatalities in good driving conditions.”

The f/k/a Gang was pleased to learn that Sen. Simitian has a new bill pending [SB 28] that would ban text messaging and e-mailing while driving. See “Legislation Outlaws Text Messaging While Driving” (KCBS.com, June 20, 2008). Of course, if he wants to get even more serious about saving lives and preventing accidents, we hope he will start working today on a total DWP ban in California.

Please click on the “more” link below to continue reading excerpts from my prior attempts to explain why a hand-held-only ban is “phony safety legislation,” that is not only dangerous, but actually worse than no ban at all.

in the middle
of the distraction –
an interruption

…………………. by dagosan

(more…)

John Barlow of Snapshot Press has announced the winners in this year’s Haiku Calendar Competition. Each of the 12 winning poems will be featured in the 2009 Haiku Calendar from Snapshot. In addition, 40 other “runner-up” poems will be included in the calendar, which contains the work of 33 poets from around the world. The Haiku Calendar 2009 can be ordered online or by mail order.

  As usual, several of our Honored Guest poets were selected for this year’s calendar. f/k/a’s Winners include: John Stevenson (January) and Carolyn Hall (February). Runner-up poems were penned by Roberta Beary, David Giacalone, Carolyn Hall (two more), and Peggy Willis Lyles.

The f/k/a Gangs tip our hats to all the winners, but especially to Ellen Compton, Jack Berry and Chad Lee Robinson, who will each have 4 poems in the 2009 calendar.

You can find three of the Winning poems here.

. . Baseball Haiku at Chautauqua, June 26, 2008 . .

summer loneliness . . .
dropping the pop up
i toss to myself

… by Ed Markowski - Baseball Haiku (2007); pop up (tribe press, 2004)

biking to the field
under a cloudless sky
my glove on the handlebars

…. by Cor van den Heuvel - Baseball Haiku (2007) and Play Ball (Red Moon Press 1999)

at the produce stand
a kid with a baseball
plays catch with the awning

…. by Al Pizzarelli - from Baseball Haiku (2007); The Windswept Corner (2005)

More than 150 fans of baseball and haiku gathered at the Chautauqua Institution’s Hall of Philosophy, on Thursday afternoon, June 26, for a Roundtable on Baseball Haiku, as part of CI’s “Sport in America” week. Sponsored by Chautauqa’s Literary and Scientific Circle, the lecture was presented by Cor van den Heuvel, co-editor of Baseball Haiku (W.W. Norton Press, 2007), along with two major contributors to that volume, Al Pizzarelli and Ed Markowski. f/k/a’s editor was lucky enough to be present for the event.

Cor started the presentation with a discussion of the relationship that both haiku and baseball have with nature and the present moment. That theme was also stressed by Al Pizzarelli in a front page article published that morning in The Daily Chautauquan.

Cor, Ed and Al also had an entertaining live interview on Thursday morning, by the popular host Joe Roselle, for his daily radio talk show on WJTN News Talk 1240 (Jamestown, NY)

rainy night
a hole in the radio
where a ballgame should be

…. by Ed Markowski - Baseball Haiku (2007); Games (2004)

After Cor’s introductory remarks for the Roundtable, Ed, Al and Cor read their haiku, and helped prove again that “Haiku and baseball were made for each other.”

Here are more of the baseball haiku and senryu presented by Cor, Ed, and Al at the CI Roundtable. 

through the blue sky
the tape-wrapped baseball trails
a black streamer

conference on the mound
the pitcher looks down
at the ball in his hand

..… by Cor van den Heuvel, from Baseball Haiku (2007) and Play Ball (Red Moon Press 1999)

late innings
the shortstop backpedals
into fireflies

summer haze
i pick off
the invisible man on first

“red hots!”
for an instant i’m ten
and
father’s still alive

April rain
my grandson practices
his infield chatter

………………………. by ed markowski - Baseball Haiku (2007)

game over
all the empty seats
turn blue

at shortstop
between innings
sparrows dust-bathing

the score keeper
peeks out of the scoreboard
spring rain

.. by Al Pizzarelli - from Baseball Haiku (2007)
“score keeper” - The Windswept Corner (2005)
“at shortstop” - Past Time (1999)

One more reminder to check out Ed Markowski’s new free brochure, “American Sports . . . American Haiku” (June 2008; cover), which has two dozen sports haiku and senryu that were compiled to celebrate this week at Chautauqua.

Below the fold, you will also find several photographs from our two-day stay at the Chautauqua Institution. Meeting Ed and Laurice Markowski and dining-schmoozing with them and Cor, and Al and Donna, made the long drive from Schenectady to Chautauqua, NY, much more than worthwhile. Many thanks to Cor van den Heuvel for brining Baseball Haiku to fruition and making our Chautauqua experience possible.

(more…)

As June wanes, it’s time to remind you that we’ve created two haiga calendar pages for July 2008 for your use and enjoyment. Below are sample-sized calendar pages for July from both of our free 2008 haiga calendars — the artsy Giacalone Bros. Haiga Calendar 2008 and the nostalgic