My Gamble: The House

 I live in a state where everyone is Blue.  My Representative is one of the most recognized in the Entire Congress.  No, he's NOT Nancy Pelosi!  Therefore when I make contributions to political candidates, they are not from my state.  This cycle I made a series of small donations to six candidates running for the house.  None of them seemed to have a solid chance of winning, but none were so far outside of the realm of possibility that they were a lost cause either.  I'm not a member of the Qowat Milat, nor am I even a Romulan.  And I'm not made of money, so honestly, the grand total of all my contributions combined over the five month period from mid-May through mid-October was scarcely $120.00.  No one made their nut off of me!  Which is exactly how it ought to be.  Mine is just a drop in the bucket, and I, like them, count on a plethora of strangers to also add their "drops".  That's how Democracy is supposed to work.

The results of my drops, based on preliminary returns: 4 victories, 2 defeats...

SAM FORSTAG, won his open-seat in Montana's First District by 7,155 votes out of the approximately 254,660 votes cast.

MANNY RUTINEL, won his seat in Colorado's Eighth District by defeating the Republican incumbent by 33,168 votes out of the approximately 239,603 votes cast.

MITCHELL BERMAN, won his seat in Wisconsin's First District by defeating the Republican incumbent by 11,954 votes out of the approximately 305,724 votes cast.

ZACH DEMBO, won his open-seat in Kentucky's Six District by 24,748 votes out of the approximately 263,354 votes cast.

CHRIS GALLANT, lost his bid to unseat an incumbent Republican in New York's First District by 6,677 votes out of the approximately 298,415 votes cast; however, there are still about a possible 22,500  mail in and provisional votes to be counted, so the outcome of this race has yet to be officially called.

and

JASON PEARSON, lost his bid to take an open-seat in Tennessee's Ninth District by 2,539 votes out of the approximately 225,614 votes cast.

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History: The Cenozoic Era in 3 Acts, ACT 3: Diorama Dino-mite!

 With all of its incredible modern design elements and multi-level viewing opportunities, its hands on brass models, and life-like staging of reconstructed skeletons, even with the infor graphics and audio-video opportunities; at the end of the day, it is the "old school" diorama that calls to me like the Siren's song!  Still a mainstay of book reports and science projects, the diorama demands our attention, and then rewards us according to our patience--at least the good ones do!  Because the good ones are made by people who understand their power to delight.  A power that is enhanced by every single little unexpected detail and "hidden" component.   These Diorama are set into oval portals--sci fi perfect time transporters that hold two powers simultaneously.  One gives you a glimpse of a lost world, and the other sparks a memory from your childhood.  

I will cluster them according to their titles.

"A Warmer, Wetter World"

Trapped in mud, the Mammoth bellows in fear and frustration.

The exquisite details of leaves and ferns and a turtle for the keen eyed visitor.

"A Colder and Drier Time"

The pack of Dire Wolves Chooses a "light" meal.

An ancient cousin to the modern wolverine brings dinner to her young.

Had you not followed their gaze, the well camouflaged prehistoric rabbit might have gone unnoticed.

"Grasslands Far And Wide"

Ancestors of Modern Horses race across the hillock catching the attention of a Baluchitherium, one of the largest land mammals of the Miocene Epoch.

What hoe?  Another turtle!

Dinohyus were not really pigs nor were they dogs.  They were their own thing, and now they're gone.

"Jungles Rise With The Mammals"

This diorama was oriented vertically to take you high into the arboreal world.

On the forest floor a mother Uintatherium and her calf forage with a...wait for it..turtle! looks on.

Looking up we see the mighty trees' limbs are home to arboreal mammals with prehensile-tails, the forbears of the Primates.

So beautifully crafted that it's hard to tell exactly where the 2-D background and the 3-D foreground meet!  A Diatryma calls out while a little 'herd' of Eohippus traverses the bed of ferns.

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History: The Cenozoic Era in 3 Acts, ACT 2: Set In Stone

 Not a long act in this first play, but one I still find fascinating.  In my rock garden I have beautifully worn field stones from Kentucky that I gathered myself containing the segmented steams of some long extinct plant that thrives in oceans so long ago that life had yet to evolve its way onto the dry land.  Only a couple, but so cool.

A cousin of a present day Monitor Lizard

I find it really interesting that the assumption of the paleontologists is that the animal's body floated out onto a lake and sank...  It feels more like an animal caught in a flood and buried quickly, before it had the chance to decay.

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History: The Cenozoic Era in 3 Acts, ACT 1: 'Dem Bones

 There are three things that I love when I go to Natural History Museums to see Prehistoric artifacts.  #1 Bones!  The reassembling and therefore reanimating of long death fauna fascinates me to no end.  When you enter the Hall of Fossils from the Great rotunda, you will start your journey from the recent past and work your way backward toward the beginning of life.

The first grand discovery is a gloriously rebuilt Mammoth.

Nearby a menacing Saber-toothed Cat

And Ancient Deer

Mid-sized Equine Ancestor

One of the first Equine Ancestors the size of a Doberman.

Prehistoric Rhinoceros and Hippopotamus

Dire Wolves persue an ancient Antelope, distant cousin to today's Pronghorns.  This exhibit was literally tucked behind one featuring a Giant Ground Sloth which really blocked full access to it--so poorly thought-out in a space that seemed otherwise brilliantly designed.

Ancient Seal and Penguine relatives that dwarf their contemporary progeny.  

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History: Introduction

 

After an early morning, semi-annual bloodletting with my flabotomyst of the visit (It's always somebody new), I made an executive decision to toss all my plans for the day aside and visit stuff on The National Mall.  Afterall, it was a lovely, temperate Autumn day.  While on the cusp of the most important election of my lifetime, things weren't Nazi Germany crazy just yet.  So why not visit my favorite spots before all Hell might....that is MIGHT...break loose?

After riding the Green Line down from Hyattsville Station to Navy Memorial, and engaging in a 12 minute walk, I began my tour at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.

Unbeknownst to me there was also a special exhibition on the recovery of the American Bison from the brink of extinction.  Complete with two life-sized bronze statues brought out from the deep dark bowels of the Smithsonian Institutions insanely large collection of artifacts.

Here the mother and calf on the right side of the entrance.

Inside is the four story atrium with its iconic "world's" largest African Elephant taxidermy.

And to the right is the Fossil Hall where the history of LIFE on Planet earth unfolds.

Buckle up, Buttercup--some really cool stuff awaits us!

Prologue Theatre: Sweet, Salty, Bitter, Sour

 It would be hard to imagine a more intimate place to experience theatre than Prologue's space in the back of a CVS Pharmacy (well, behind the CVS!).  And it would be even harder to stage a play more perfectly designed for such an intimate viewing.  "Sweet, Salty, Bitter, and Sour" is the premiere work of Eileen Mandell and longtime presence in the DMV Theatre scene.  A series of vignettes from her life are strung together in the form of a stream of consciousness reflection of the Actor.  We are regaled with stories of meals had in Vietnam, Italy, from recipes handed down over centuries from the Old Country and those learned in pinch to satisfy a university course.  Present, too are parents, a grandmother, husbands, children, friends like family and even an acquaintance who forces a family relationship upon an unwelcome moment.  Young lovers, betrayals, forgiveness, caretaking, and death.

As the Actor, Jane Petkofsky maintains the narrative and transforms the event into a moment between friends--new friends who feel like old friends, she also manages to assemble and bake first a Quiche Lorraine and then a proper struddle with a filling of nuts and dried fruits.  It's a lovely play that reveals the intimacy between our stomachs and our hearts when it comes to those we love.

There was only one delta.  Throughout the performance short snippets of quotes from Julia Childs our broadcast between the Actor's lines.  It's a nice gimmick with the intention of punctuating an idea or bridging between two vignettes.  However, the audio was oddly muffled to the point that it was really just an unnecessary distraction.

Otherwise another wonderful production from one of my favorite creatives.

Jane Petkofsky

Mid-Term Blue Wave: Pacific Coastal

 All the states with shoreline on the Pacific Ocean according to Mrs. Spore!  A relatively easy call.  Most of them share one characteristic, they are liberal, progressively governed places with just one exception.  Alaska has been home to Republican rule in recent years.  However, even Alaska prefers an independent voice over a party yes man (or woman), as Senior Senator Lisa Murkowski demonstrated by winning her 2018 campaign with a write in vote, after party games got her name removed from the ballot!  In this cycle, only Alaska and Oregon have elections.

And so lets go from north to south and start with Alaska.  As stated, Alaska's Senior Senator is Lisa Murkowski.  In the state of Alaska, she is truly an institution.  Perhaps the only politician what a greater claim to the title would be Ted Stevens who served almost 7 complete terms from his appointment in 1968 to his election defeat in 2008.  Lisa Murkowski's own career in the Senate began with her appointment to complete the term started by her father after he was elected Governor in in 2002.  Like her father she is grounded in an old school republicanism that was fiscally conservative, but socially moderate.  A live and let live by balance your checkbook and don't buy frivolous things on credit mentality.  The very same one that I learned from my parents and led them to re-elect Michigan Governor William Millikin throughout my tween and teen-aged years.  The present incumbent Junior Senator is a carpetbagger from Ohio who moved to Alaska.

Washington's Senior Senator got her seat campaigning as one of the ultimate outsiders--a tennis shoe wearing angry mom!  That back in 1992 which was lauded as the Year of the Women in the U.S. Senate.  She came on board with Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein (both from CA) and Caroline Mosley Braun from IL.  She joined Nancy Kasselbaum from KS and Barbara Mukulski from MD.  Six!  Six women in 1992 was shocking.  Maria Cantwell, the Junior Senator was first elected in 2000.

Like Washington, Oregon's Senators are longtime members of the Senate.  Senior Senator Ron Wyden was first elected in 1996 to finish the term vacated with Republican Senator Bob Packwood resigned in disgrace.  The Junior Senator is Jeff Merkley and he was elected for the first time in 2008, and is one his way to a 4th term in this cycle.  It's really lovely that both of these men feel at home in the Senate; however, I believe that it's also time for new blood.  Neither are standouts.

No election in California where both Senators are among the least tenured in the country.  Both are in their first terms.  Senior Senator Alex Padillla is the first Hispanic Senator for a state with a huge Hispanic minority.  Junior Senator Adam Shiff made his dime on leading the impeachment of Donald Trump...twice!

Hawaii's Senior Senator is Drian Schatz.  Generally a quiet presence in the Senate, though of late he's taken to upping his profile on the floor.  The Junior Senator, Mazie Hirono, is known for her passionate orations on the floor, and for surviving cancer while serving as Senator.  

Index Time

By Demographic Category

GENDER 5 out of 10 -- 50; current score 40

RACE 3 out of 10 -- 30; current score 20

RELIGION 1 out of 10 -- 10; current score 10

DISABILITY 0 out of 10 -- 0.0; current score 0.0

Diversity index 45 up from 35

Average Age 66.4 down from 66.8