Our Cat Butchie (Haiku)

It's not what you've got
But rather how you use it
That's what counts the most

When my son brought her home after rescuing her from neighborhood ruffians, he thought she was a male cat and named her Butch.  Sometime later we found out she was not and changed her name to Butchie.  She had a litter of kittens, from the tomcat next door, I'm sure.  There were four of them.
She had them out of doors in the front yard one afternoon when a neighborhood dog, several times her size, became curious and came towards her and her litter.  Butchie became twice her size, every hair on her body seemed to stand straight out; her tail was straight up and likewise inflated in size.  She hissed and charged the dog with claws extended.  The dog went scurrying away.

Another Hero Died Young (Haiku)

He's cool, he uses
Another hero is dead
You can be this cool

Sure it is poison
You can use it all the time
Just a little bit

If you want to die
Why not do it feeling good
This is your ticket

Pushers marketeers
Supply the feel good substance
Leaving fans to weep

Pushers marketeers
Getting rich from temptation
Go ahead, give in

You can be cool too
All you have to do is take this
See, I told you so

It can go for years
A few seconds off the clock
But it does add up

A Faustian deal
The devil comes for his due
Death is the end game

Richard III a Character in Richard III by WS

I

Richard Plantagenet was born on 2 October 1452 at Fotheringhay Castle in Northampton shire, the youngest son of Richard, Duke of York, and his wife, the former Cecily Neville.

Richard’s brother, Edward, seized the throne of England in March of 1460 and defeated the Lancastrians at Towton on 29 March 1460.

Richard, was created duke of Gloucester at the age of eight and entered the household of his cousin, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, to begin his education as a nobleman.

Richard accompanied Edward to the continent and on their return to England in 1471 the eighteen-year-old duke was given command of the vanguard at the Battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury. These battles were resounding Yorkist victories and both Warwick and the Lancastrian heir, Prince Edward of Wales, were killed. The former king, Henry VI, died a few days later in London.

Richard now assumed the responsibilities of his position. He had been admiral of England since 1461 and he was now appointed constable. King Edward granted Richard many of Warwick's forfeited estates and the following year the duke married Warwick's younger daughter Anne, who was the widow of Prince Edward who was killed at Tewkesbury.

He remained in the North and tended to his estates; defending the North against an invasion of the Scots.  He left on occasion to help his brother in an invasion of France and again to attend parliament.

On 9 April 1483, a year of great importance to Richard, King Edward died, a few days short of his forty-first birthday. There had been no time to prepare for a transition of power and the heir, another Edward, was twelve years old.

Richard was called to London and moved quickly and decisively to get into a position of power.  He was given responsibility for the protection of the two young princes.  The children were shortly thereafter declared illegitimate heirs to the throne and within four days, Richard was acclaimed King of England

On Christmas Day 1483, in Rennes Cathedral, Henry Tudor declared his intention of marrying King Edward IV's eldest daughter, the Lady Elizabeth, when he became king of England. He then spent the next eighteen months planning his invasion.

The invasion came in August of 1485 and on August 22, on Bosworth Field in Leicestershire, Richard was killed in battle.  He was not yet 33 years old.

A documentary on the finding of his remains, under a parking lot at the location of the Abbey to which his body was reportedly taken, revealed that he died of wounds received in close, hand to hand combat on the battle field.  He was indeed a man of war.  The picture above is based on the skull of the skeleton that was unearthed.

To his credit he instituted the philosophy of being innocent until proven guilty as well as reforming the jury system used in England at that time.  

The source of this information is various websites for Richard III

Brutus Character from Julius Ceaser

BRUTUS

Brutus Marcus Junius, celebrated Roman, born in 85 B. C.; committed suicide in 42; at the age of 43. 

In early manhood he was devoted exclusively to literary pursuits and did not interest himself in the political discussions of Rome until he had attained a mature age. During the civil war between Pompey and Caesar he sympathized with the former, but after the Battle of Pharsalia he became friendly with Caesar and was made governor of Cisalpine Gaul, and later of Macedonia.

After returning to Rome, he was divorced from his wife with the design of marrying Portia, daughter of Cato, of whom he was a supporter. Later he was influenced by Cassius to join the conspiracy against Caesar, which ended in his assassination. However, the people were enraged at Caesar's death and Brutus fled from Rome and later from Italy.

He was successful in joining Cassius and subjugating the Lycians and Rhodians. The triumvirs, Octavianus, Antony, and Lepidus, successfully occupied Rome and organized to defeat the conspirators. Brutus and Cassius, having gathered a large army in Asia Minor, crossed the Hellespont and fortified themselves at Philippi in Macedonia. Antony completely defeated Cassius. 

Octavianus, though defeated temporarily, succeeded in gaining a victory over Brutus. When his ultimate defeat became apparent, he fell upon his sword, which was held by his friend Strabo, and thus ended his life. In speaking of Brutus, Shakespeare alludes to him as "the greatest Roman of them all." Unhappily, this estimate of his life will not bear scrutiny.

The main source of this information is from a website

Ah the Adverb (Haiku)

Why is it so hard
In modifying the verb
To use the adverb

Not "I made it safe"
But rather "made it safely"
It just sounds better

Some already are
Such as in "The ball flew fast"
There is distinction

Incorrectly used
Such as, "That is a fast girl"
But well understood

(To make it safe would have different meaning, such as something dangerous, like a loaded gun, was made not so, as in unloading it.)

An Eclipse Story from 1970

As we approach August 21, 2017 and the total eclipse of the sun makes its path across the USA and especially the state of Kentucky, this historical mote about an eclipse of 47 years ago may be of interest to some.

An inveterate blogger, logger, writer; I’ve been keeping a log for many years now.  Here’s an entry from March 7, 1970 when we lived at 5 Matoaka Lane in Newport News, Virginia:

“Saturday, March 7, 1970                                                           Newport News, VA

The big news today is a total eclipse of the sun for about one and a half minutes.  It was quite spectacular to see the corona around the sun as the moon covered it.  The sky was very clear and blue, it went dark with an orange horizon.  The moon was a black disk which completely covered the sun.

The birds went to the tree tops and were quiet.  The street lights went on as did the Esso station lights and the crocus in the flower bed closed their flowers.

Then it passed; all went back to normal for a bright Saturday afternoon.  Theresa, Johnny, Margret, and I were out for the entire show.  Carola was worried for our eyes.”…

Then the next day:

“Sunday March 8, 1970                                                                Newport News, VA

During the eclipse yesterday, the thermometer on the bank went from 52 degrees F to 50 degrees F and it took only a few minutes.  It took several hours for it to return to 54 degrees F.  Lends credence to the idea of Earth having a relatively low specific heat.”  …

A slight shrug as I tell you that I worked as an engineer at the shipyard.

Conversation (Haiku)

A conversation
Is much like a game of catch
You throw, catch, and throw

Not knowing the game
A throw is made and not caught
The game is over

Quiet then intrudes
Those present are at a loss
 Embarrassed silence

Another throw made
If not too far off the mark
Finally returned

Then with persistence
The game continues apace
Until it's over