respublica

This feels like it should be Labor Day

Just saying.

T.S. Elliot speaks for today

In 1929 T.S. Elliot wrote:

"The vast accumulations of knowledge-or at least of information-deposited by the nineteenth century have been responsible for an equally vast ignorance. When there is so much to be known, where there are so many fields of knowledge in which the same words are used with different meanings, when every one knows a little about a great many things, it becomes increasingly difficult for anyone to know whether he knows what he is talking about or not. And when we do not know, or when we do not know enough, we tend to substitute emotions for thoughts."

Hello 2015

The establishment back on their heels

I wonder if the reason Trump and Sanders are doing so well is people who watch politics and vote, are just sick and tired of the two major party bosses determining who the candidate will be. The DNC and the RNC are reeling right now, probably confused in their big offices about just what the heck is going on.

The RNC is especially guilty this year and they keep repeating the same mistakes. Just one example is how they've ignored Carly Fiorina and are accepting of CNN's not having her in the next debate. She's moved ahead of some of the others in the polls, others who will be in the debate.

And the DNC was quite comfortable with allowing Clinton to go about campaigning by not answering questions, not meeting with the press. Now both party headquarters have to deal with a country which is just tired of those rule makers. They don't seem to get the message however.

Mapping the park

Forest Park now has an interactive map made for mobile phones which will help visitors navigate around the often confusing area. It has clickable information on where restrooms are, history of each site, parking lots, picnic areas and much more. It also includes a dot on the map which moves with you so you know exactly where you are.

This has to be helpful. The best way to learn your way around Forest Park is on a weekday when the crowds and traffic are much thinner.

A Day in Calvary Cemetery

We spent several hours today in the Roman Catholic and second oldest (1857) cemetery in St. Louis, operated by the Archdiocese of St. Louis. It has an interesting history with the land once owned by Henry Clay.  The cemetery is 477 acres, just huge, and over 300,000 people are buried there.

A couple of weeks ago while researching our family's genealogy, my sister discovered that part of our line was buried in Calvary. This was one of the Irish branches of the family who immigrated most likely during the potato famine and the troubles with England. We had long believed that all the Barry's were located in Chicago so we were shocked to learn some of them headed to St. Louis. These Barry's are from my father's mother's line and they ended up on the north side of St. Louis in an entirely Irish area called The Kerry Patch.

This intrigued me enough that I was excited to see if we could locate the graves. I have to say, Dale and I were more than impressed with that cemetery's record keeping. When you think of all those years, all those people, no technology, they have kept records of everyone and know exactly where the burial plots are. It took five minutes in the office and we had a map and listing of each Barry we were looking for with the dates they were buried, how old they were and what section and plot number they could be found.

Now this place is massive, filled with paved roads going up and back, side to side and round and round. But all the sections are clearly marked and the map kept us from getting totally lost.

We found the first set of Barry's fairly quickly, section 21.

The first thing we saw was the base and then, oh no, the top two parts had fall off.

I hope to see about getting that fixed. Hopefully it can be upright once again.

In memory of Patrick Barry  Born 1845 Died 1910

Oddly Patrick's wife Alice and son James is buried there as well but they have no tombstone. I want to find out if burial tradition back then with Irish (or others) was to give only the head of the household the monument. On each side of this stone are two small square markers which we assume are the place of Alice and James.

The family had 100 square feet of plot space and since the cemetery kept such good records of who was where, and because most Irish were very poor, there was no need to give each person a stone.

The other Barry's were older, having died in years from 1871 up to 1888. They included Patrick Barry's mother and sister. We haven't figured out who the rest are but guess some are children or babies. This grouping also had 100 square feet of plot space. The sad thing is this area, section 6, is very old and many graves are without markers including our Barry's. However the cemetery office knew exactly where they were and who they were buried near with intact markers. So off we went but were sort of saddened that the nearby markers are unreadable. However we narrowed it down and are pretty sure one of the open spaces was filled with Barry's.

After ending the family search we went looking for historic figures we knew were in Calvary.

First was Dred Scott an American slave who unsuccessfully sued for his freedom and that of his wife and their two daughters in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case of 1857.

His wife is buried next to him.

Interesting to us was how many graves had coins either on top of the stone or along the base. One thing we wanted to do was find out why this was being done.

Then on to playwright Tennessee Williams who also had coins around his tombstone.

Finally General William Tecumseh Sherman, Civil War General who is buried in grand style along with his wife, 3 sons and one daughter. He and his wife Eleanor had 8 children, 6 of whom lived to adulthood.

If you look closely above the flag staff and medal on Sherman's monument, you'll see shiny copper pennies.

 

 

A visit to City Cottage

Last night we attended an event at the City Cottage on Chouteau in what is mainly an industrial or manufacturing/warehousing area of St. Louis. Right in the middle of all this is a charming restaurant which began years and years ago as a hospitality room for the beer industry then morphed into the well known King Louie restaurant and is now run by Catering St. Louis for private events. It is still a eye catching and comfortable space with warm woods, brick, a huge old wooden bar, lovely outside patio and dining room.

Our event used the entire space, bar area, outdoor patio and dining room so that everyone spread out and enjoyed wherever they were. The patio is landscaped with large plantings and trees, comfortable seating area and the best of all, a brick, wood fired pizza oven over which one of the cooks made individual sized  pizza after pizza.

I do believe there weren't many last night who didn't at least dream of having their own backyard pizza oven.

Also, across the street from the City Cottage was the parking lot which adjoined the Titan Granite Company. And next to the building was a huge industrial dumpster filled with chunks of different kinds of granite. The dumpster was not a deep one so we all peered into it and actually coveted some of those irregularly shaped, broken pieces of multi-colored granite. But there was a huge sign on the building wall warning of a camera and a sign. So we refrained from dumpster diving when we left. Also there was an armed police officer on duty in the parking lot.

But, the sign under the security camera said, "No dumping in this dumpster" or something like that. So we debated, Does that mean you can't take something out of the dumpster?

Modern life. Memorable.

 

Kruta Bakery makes the news

Yesterday KSDK, Channel 5, did a segment on Collinsville's Kruta Bakery and reporter Ryan Dean did a wonderful job of presenting this best bakery in St. Louis and the 4 generations of Krutas who have continued the business. If you did not have the opportunity to see it, here is the link. I was able to have a bit part in the video and more than happy to have done so. 

Just have to do this

From channel four, KMOV, this morning: "Sorry Metro East drivers...speeds are already super slow on 64 W in East St. Louis.

In the midst of campaign madness...

Carly Fiorina is looking better and better, smarter and smarter. If only the emphasis wasn't focused on one person. The interviews and speeches she gives which are broadcast, makes me sit back and think, Wow.

Privacy and Windows 10

Like many who use a Microsoft computer with the Windows operating system, we've received a pop-up message offering the new Windows 10 for free for a limited time. I've debated with myself almost every time I see it and each time I put it off for another day. The reviews are mostly good, certainly a better system than the 8 which we never bothered with. But still, I wonder, what will the change do to my computer use. Will it be a smooth transition or will there be glitches I have no idea how to fix.

So this discussion in the New York Times Tech section today will make the decision even harder. A question was given to the paper and then their answer:

Is it true that Windows 10 records what I type on the computer? If so, why?

"By default Microsoft collects data from your interaction with Windows 10. This includes typing on the keyboard, using spoken commands or writing with a stylus on a tablet or touch-screen computer. As for recording your keystrokes, the company says it does “collect your typed and handwritten words to improve character recognition and provide you with a personalized user dictionary and text completion suggestions.” Some of this collected data is stored on your PC, but some of it is uploaded to Microsoft to help improve those tools."

"...Most of the data-sharing permissions are on by default. However, you can always go back into the system and change things. Keep in mind that by doing so, you may not be able to use some of the Windows 10 apps and services that need access to your information."

All of which means I'm back to merely glancing at that pop-up box now and getting on with my own things. I like and appreciate new innovations but am not all that thrilled about the constant and continuing surveillance.