Clare, Sligo, Meath and More

I let St. Patrick's Day slip by without a post.  I didn't mean to do that, but I was working hard to formulate my thoughts about the day.  For many, it's a little bit like New Year's Eve or a birthday party.  But doesn't quite hit the mark for me.  But I won't turn down another of those wonderful shamrock shakes even if I have to wait until next St. Patrick's Day!

Our Irish ancestry runs deep.  St. Patrick's Day allows me to consider our immigrants and their struggles.  I have nothing to prove or disprove that our ancestors came to this continent escaping famine but it seems logical that there were significant "push and pull factors" (remember that from US History?).  Irish immigrants everywhere faced severe discrimination and I have no doubt the same held true for ours. 

Our Irish immigrants were largely farmers or fishermen; livelihoods that depend upon unpredictable Mother Nature and many other factors beyond control.  I imagine that Henry Nevins' father was beyond proud that he became an attorney -- the grandson / son  of an immigrant. 

I think I've talked before about our Irish surnames, but haven't talked too much about their Irish homeland.  That's mostly because I don't know too much first hand (yet) but one day I hope to.

Here are your great-grands and what I know about where they came from.  Match 'em up on the map.
Patrick Flynn's mother Ellen:  County Clare
Patrick Flynn's mother Barbara came from Munich Germany (we aren't counting her right now)
Henry Nevins' grandfather Henry born Ireland:  his mother Julia born County Meath
Caroline Brown Nevins daughter of English immigrant

William H. Ryan's father Timothy born Ireland (maybe Tipperary)
Kate Bentley Ryan's mother and father born Galway
William Pierce was born in Canada latest in a long line of Canadians (Nova Scotia)
Edith Handran Pierce's mother was born in Sligo

Patrick Flynn worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad; Henry Nevins was a well known lawyer who spawned many more in the same line of work; William H. Ryan worked in various blue collar jobs such as lunch cart keeper; William Pierce was a fisherman. 

So I guess the pictures in my head when St. Patrick's Day comes around look more like these than those pretty green shamrocks.

Rant warning: TSA

You've been warned.  This is a rant.  It's been brewing since I heard the story about a breastfeeding mother being told she couldn't bring empty bottles and an ice pack on board.  She was leaving Hawaii and planned ahead for the empty bottles so she wouldn't violate the "no liquid" policy.  TSA representatives there told her she couldn't bring the empty bottles unless she 'proved' they were for breast milk (?!?).  This woman was forced to use a public bathroom to pump her milk which filled the empty bottles.  After this, the bottles were deemed safe for the airplane.  WHAT??  The mother (an elementary school principal) said “It really confuses me as to how an empty breast pump and cooler pack are a threat to national security and 20 minutes later, with milk, they no longer pose a threat to national security,”  Confusing might be one word for it.  There are others I can think of.

I regularly check the official TSA blog after such incidents because it amuses me to read how they spin these events.  This time, however, there was an apology of sorts.  I'm sure THAT made the poor woman feel better.  Whew.  I know I do. 

As I was checking the blog for the apology post, I noticed another recent post dismissing some viral video purporting to show how to "beat" the body scanner.  Here's what the blogger had to say about their scanners (remember this is an official blog for the TSA):   It’s one of the best tools available to detect metallic and non-metallic items, such as… you know… things that go BOOM.    Are you thinking the same thing I did?  Can you IMAGINE what would happen if a passenger made such a comment (joke)???  That poor sucker wouldn't be seen again for days and days.  Apparently it's OK if the TSA makes the jokes.

And apparently there's some kind of thin blue line such as with police officers when someone goes rogue such as the flight attendant outburst recently on a flight leaving Dallas.  There was a struggle and one of the other attendants was injured.  No charges will be filed.  Mental stability issues have been mentioned. A passenger outburst requiring restraint and involving attendant injuries result in federal charges.  Oh yes, even with mental stability issues.  These aren't precisely the same cases but close enough to make the average potential passenger wonder about the level of authority given to TSA and airport officials in this post 9-11 world.  Bullies is a word that comes to mind.  Sanctioned bullying.


Sometime between reading about the breast feeding mother and hearing about the flight attendant, I read a column in the New York Times called On the Road  which only added to the fires of this developing rant.  The writer's 82 year old mother in law was trying to get to Binghamton from Tuscon.  No direct flights between those two cities, by the way.  She ended up stuck at Dulles airport on Saturday night being told they couldn't get her to Binghamton until Tuesday.  An 82 year old woman might even be able to walk home in that amount of time.  One of the other stranded passengers expressed frustration to the United agent at the service counter and was told: "Listen, if you don't stop complaining I could call the police and have you arrested because I feel insulted."  Insulted.  The airline employee threatened to call the police because he felt he'd been insulted.  Seems to me he insulted the intelligence of the passengers by offering a 72 hour delay as a reasonable solution.  It worked though.  She shut up and they ended up flying to Elmira the next morning.  

I'm not comfortable with the level of authority that's been granted in these everyday areas of our lives to organizations (such as the TSA) in the name of protecting the general public.  It feels as though we are being assaulted from within.  If this blog rant should make its way to the TSA (and I'm trusing my family members probably won't do that)  I'm sure I'll never be allowed on a plane.  But that's OK because I am one single passenger who will make alternate plans.  For my own safety.

I found some articles about Weenie that I don't remember.  I'm sure I must have seen these at some point since they are in my piles and piles of family history trivia, but I don't remember these and I thought you might like to see them too. 

These are contained within a folder of Hall of Fame induction programs for 1970 (Weenie's year) and 1969.  Inside the induction programs are programs for the game held that day.  On Feb 14 1970, St. Bonaventure played Providence College and it was the ECAC Game of the Week.  One of the captains of the team was senior Bob Lanier who went on to become a well respected NBA player for Detroit and Milwaukee.  I can remember Weenie talking about how big this kid's feet were (size 22).  Until I saw these articles, I had forgotten this game and the Hall of Fame ceremonies were broadcast on network TV.  I can't remember who stayed with us since Mom and Dad were there also. 

It tickles me to note he's described as "not beefy enough" (an understatement) and 40 years later his great grandson is described as BEEFY and chugging around the bases to win his league championship.

I love this drawing.  It's from the Hall of Fame program.

Just a little something I thought you might enjoy. 

Happy Leap Birthday Paula!

Happy Birthday to our Leap Year Baby Paula.  It's a rare 13 year old who maintains such poise and vitality.  I hope  you are having a great day.  February 29 1960 was a Monday:  "Monday's child is fair of face"--very apt!  She's a Leapling and is as old as the Family Circus cartoon.  I'n not having much luck finding interesting people who share this birthday, but that makes Paula all the more special. 

I love the idea of the 1973 themed party.  Here's a little bit of what 1973 looked like for us:

Paula and her 7th grade class cohorts in the 1973 Silver Creek yearbook!

1973 on Buffalo Street

That outfit of mine is handmade (by me, if you can believe that)

We don't want to leave these fashion plates in our dust.  Loving those white shoes.  This is Judy's First Communion, so technically 1974 I'm sure.

You've seen this before and it's 1972 but specially selected for the fashion statement it makes.

So I don't know how I will express my 1973 self for Paula's party but this is my contribution to the celebration even though I wouldn't be 13 again if you paid me.  Love you Paula and I hope you have a grand year. 

 No Charlemagne family history connections for you---yet.  Apparently there are those that consider it "hot stuff" to brag descendancy from this leader of the Holy Roman Empire.  Although "He was temperate in eating and drinking, abominated drunkenness, and kept in good health despite every exposure and hardship.”, he was also brutal in his quest to spread Christianity.  But no connections for you yet.  


NPR blogger Robert Krulwich recently discussed the popularity of shared Charlemagne ancestry and brought to mind a very interesting mathematical reality.  Theoretically, you can calculate your ancestors by doubling the numbers for each generation back.  For example, 10 generations means 1024 ancestors (which isn't too far from the total number I currently have in the combined Dalpiaz/Ryan tree).  So, back to the time of Charlemagne (48 generations give or take) each person would have 281.5 TRILLION ancestors.  See the problem?  There weren't even a trillion people on earth in the year 800 AD.


So, now what?  Of course, even though you still have 281.5 Trillion grandparents of some level, each isn't a different individual.  Cousins marry, for example, and pretty soon you're tripping over the same people in more than one place in your tree.  


The good news is that genealogy is finite.  There comes a point where no records are available and you can put all the names you want to into those 281.5 trillion slots on the tree, but without records to document proof, it's like a hangman game--just filling in the blanks to win the game.  


This is described as "pedigree collapse", which is the phrase that came to mind today when I read that cell phone providers are running out of airwaves to support all the SmartPhone data plans out there.  Called "spectrum crunch" (sounds like a breakfast cereal), this problem highlights that the wireless spectrum can't support promised services as it is a finite resource.  Apparently Smartphones are infinite or this problem wouldn't exist (suggesting a quick and sensible solution).  

Regardless, perhaps wireless providers will be forced to collapse and marry its cousin.  Verizon, meet T Mobile.  Or we could just send Charlemagne.

Wallaby My Valentine?

Some of you heard about our recent visit to the local zoo to participate in their "Courtship Tails" Valentine event. I saw it listed in the paper and considered that we'd be honoring Amy in our celebration by taking part so off we went.  Four couples are treated to some stories of the zoo animals and their mating and breeding habit. 

Perhaps I should have known we were in a little bit of trouble when they whipped out the camera and had us pose for a nice cozy picture practically before we removed our jackets.  We pondered about the other three couples--my guess being that they would all look just like us--people with nothing much better to do on a Saturday afternoon in the dead of winter.  When we entered the room, two other couples had already arrived--a lesbian couple and a gay couple (these guys were visiting from Long Island, believe it or not).  I thought "OK, not exactly just like us but a fair representation for such a gathering".  The fourth couple arrived and off we went for the tour.

Our guide was very knowledgeable about the mating and breeding of a wide range of zoo animals.  Most of the animals weren't doing much of anything to demonstrate technique for us, but we did learn that the animals miss visitors while the zoo is closed over the winter months.  I'll spare you the slithery snake facts (groan and shiver--me, not the snake) but will share one interesting breeding fact about the wallaby.  A wallaby fetus stays dormant until the mother's pouch has been cleared of its most recent occupant.  One joey leaves the pouch and the very next minute the next one is staging itself for birth. 

It was only the wallabies that were showing any romantic gestures while we were there.  The female did not seem altogether interested, batting the males away rather ineffectively with her short little front arms.  I was reminded of something there.........oh yes, romance in the 7th grade hallway.  Visitors walk by the wallaby exhibit to get back stage with the penguins and many of our group members were already cooing over the penguins when the male wallaby managed to get himself on top of the female.  One of the guys in our group frantically tried to call the others back.  "This is what we came to see--come back!  They're doing it!" echoed across the nearly empty zoo. 

It was fun and we were treated to wine tasting, chocolates and red velvet cupcakes (red velvet for the reindeer--clever).  Each couple was interviewed by the local news. See it here (don't know who that grey haired couple is, but they seem nice) Great fun was had by those who wondered if Jim was able to speak for himself.  This was shortly after they asked how long we'd been married and he couldn't answer without checking inside his wedding ring and doing some serious math.    They didn't show that part and now you have the "back stage" view of our visit.

Except for one more detail--as that fourth couple got in their car to leave, I noticed their license plate said JUST BFF.  I had to laugh to myself as I thought that kind of skewed the demographics of our group a bit.

Guide to Super Bowl Halftime Show for those over 40

I did not see the finger.  I'll say that right off to get that part out of the way.  Neither did I see Janet Jackson's mishap 8 (really?) years ago as I was hanging curtains.  This time I was watching but I did not see the big moment.  Damn.  I watched the entire thing and missed nearly the only part everyone is talking about today. 

I was proud of Madonna.  There was some talk that she was too old for the Super Bowl halftime show.  Didn't look like it to me, but I admit my admiration for her grew significantly as I noticed she was carefully moving around.  Like a 53 year old woman at center field at the Super Bowl should.  And her hair looked so nice! 

I cannot be the only one who needs a guide to the rest of the glitterati that appeared during the show.  I freely admit being hopelessly out of touch and am providing this guide for those of you in the same boat (whether you are admitting it or not).

The only other one I kind of recognized (but no one else in my house was too sure about) was the guy from 
The Voice:  Cee Lo Green

It was a little weird that Madonna got down on her knees to this southern hip hop performer, but she knows better than I.  His new album is called Lady Killer.  I don't think so.

Nicki Manaj --  Just last year she was named Billboard's Rising Star and this year it's the Super Bowl with Madonna. Not too bad!

British singer M.I.A. (I guess it's pronounced Mia).  Best known for a 2007 song Paper Planes which was nominated for a Grammy and featured in the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack.  I can't show her picture because, well, you know--this is a family blog.

Then there's LMFAO.  Yes, I know what that means.   They are known for electro pop party rock style music.  And, again I can't show their picture.  Not because this is a family blog but because those outfits should not be reproduced in any manner.  Go ahead and make fun.  Outfits were horrible.  I'd rather see Janet Jackson's breast.