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28 settembre Christianity is JewishChristianity was first embraced by Jews because it is the fulfillment of what had
been promised and handed down by faithful Jews through the centuries.
Therefore, it is far more Jewish than Gentile.
Gradually people learned that God meant the message of salvation
through the Messiah to be given to any
who would listen, regardless of their national,
racial, or religious background.
-Edith Schaeffer author of Christianity is Jewish
May Yom Kippur be blessed and joyous for you !
 The Castle Lady
 26 settembre The Story of Ylang-YlangCette billet dedie'e a`mon ami merveille des Live Spaces, J J du Pyrenees !
This past summer when I was working both in my P.C. lab and my studio (involves continually going up and down stairs) I smelled the aroma of my favorite flower, Ylang-ylang. I tried to track down the source of the scent but could not explain it and I had several other people go to the base of the stairs to sniff and they described the scent of a flower I have loved, along with my best friend Debbie, since adolescence. While I never did track down the reason why that scent came for about an hour and then went away as mysteriously as it came, I got a little curious about its origin since I have never really known any particulars about it at all. I did some internet research on it this year and the following information is my discovery and summation. Perhaps J J can tell me more if he is familiar with this curious but diffusely-endowed flower.
Because it has a very light but pervasive scent I had prejudged it to be of exotic origin. In several accounts I have heard of this scent being compared to jasmine and neroli and I agree that the intensity is matched but it has a uniqueness that really cannot be compared to other flowers. The aromatic components of the essential oil, which I keep a vial of at all times, are benzyl acetate, linalool, p-cresyl methyl ether and methyl benzoate. When the scent is produced artificially, however, it is always too heavy and must be diluted sometimes 20 to 1 with exotic water. This most famous perfume which makes use of ylang-ylang as one of its components is Chanel No. 5 but is not used as a high note and most likely only uses a very small dose. My personal opinion is that ylang-ylang should be worn alone and if you use the essential oil you must dilute it to the degree I've already mentioned for use in summer. This can be adjusted to suit you, by the way.
 The flower itself is not visually beautiful to the eye. This close up of the usually yellow blooms can be pink but the pink color is very rare. It is shaped like a sea star, as this one is, and generally curly appearing almost like tiny amorphus bananas. This particular cananga- which is its genus- is from the annonaceae family along the order of magnolias. Its binomial name is cananga odorata forma genuina. It grows on trees which grow fast, exceeding 5 meters a year generally attaining a height of around 12 meters in maturity. The tree itself is found in rainforests and native to the Philippines and Indonesia and is most commonly grown in Polynesian countries (i.e. Melansia and Micronesia.) As a matter of fact the name is from the Tagalog language (the Philippine language) and can mean both rare and wild, interchangeably.
 In addition to producing the flowers, the cananga tree also produces fruit which turns out to be an important food item for birds, in particular various types of pigeons and doves which are native to Polynesian countries, as well. A related species to this tree is the Cananga fruticosa, basically a dwarf version of the above mentioned cananga odorata forma genuina. The essential oil I mentioned up above is also used to relieve high blood pressure, normalize sebum production for those with skin blemish problems and is also considered an aphrodisiac. Margaret Mead did research on ylang-ylang in the Solomon Islands and found the latter claim to be in serious use for such purpose. Apparently it is a common practice in the Philippines for the flowers to be spread on the bed for newlywed couples. They are also used to make leis for women and on religious symbols! A component of the flower is also an ingredient in the motion sickness medicine, MotionEaze !
The Castle Lady easing on down the road
 and blowing healthy kisses your way !
22 settembre Two Poems for a Crow As I wandered the forest,
The green leaves among,
I heard a Wild Flower
Singing a song.
I slept in the Earth
In the silent night,
I murmured my fears
And I felt delight.
In the morning I went,
As rosy as morn,
To seek for new Joy;
But I met with scorn.
William Blake
(born Nov. 28, 1757 in Golden Square, London
died August 1827)
'and did those feet in ancient time walk upon England's mountains green...'
Dust of Snow
The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.
Robert Frost
(1874-1963)
You won't rue my kisses ! The Castle Lady
 The reproduction of the painting of the corvine above was done by Rudi Hurzlmeier.
It is classified as absurdist, but I think it's delightful and a great way
to usher in impending Autumn !
 A New Year for the Faithful ! All my love to the Singer family, Simona, Patty and anyone I may have forgotten to mention.
Mazel tov ! from The Castle Lady ! 19 settembre Who Really Stole the Tarts ?They told me you had been to her,
and mentioned me to him:
She gave me a good character,
But said I could not swim.
 He sent them word I had not gone
(We know it to be true):
If she should push the matter on,
What would become of you?
I gave her one, they gave him two,
You gave us three or more;
They all returned from him to you,
Though they were mine before.
 If I or she should chance to be
Involved in this affair,
He trusts to you to set them free
Exactly as we were.
My notion was that you had been
(Before she had this fit)
An obstacle that came between
Him, and ourselves, and it.
Don't let him know she liked them best,
For this must ever be
A secret, kept from all the rest,
between your self and me.
 copyright by Lewis Carroll Lithographs by Tenniel
from Alice in Wonderland
Wonderful and truthful endearments from
The Castle Lady
 Lewis Carroll was the pseudonym for Charles Lutwidge Dodgson who was born in England in 1832 and educated at Rugby and Oxford. His qualifications were that of a minister but he never served in a church as one and rarely preached anywhere. Instead, he taught math and wrote works on Euclid, Algebra and Mathematical Logic. He also tried his hand at photography although much of his work was destroyed. It is claimed that he wrote Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass and The Hunting of the Snark for the daughter of the Dean of Christ Church, Alice Liddell, although much of his writing has been paralleled as doubling for political commentary. Whatever the reason, I find it refreshing sometimes to read these books over again when political intrigue seems to be a little heavy. He died peacefully in 1898 two weeks before he would turn 66. 15 settembre Searching for Mr. GoodMovie ! ! ! When it comes to finding the perfect movie and I'm in the mood to go to a theatre to see a new film, the task is a little more difficult than in the past, with all the new ways of getting information, buying tickets (from Fandango, of course ! ) getting to the theatre on time and making myself comfy in those new huge, plush seats. It ought to be easier than ever to see a new film but I think it's a huge hassle in comparison to staying at home to watch a DVD, pay-per-view or a scheduled cable film in your own living room with your own goodies and your broken-in lounger. Personally, I've taken to watching DVDs on my P.C. when I have time because that's the most convenient way. In retrospect, I wonder if all these conveniences made us too lazy to go out and meet the public. I remember my mother dressing me up to go to the movies ! ! How things have changed!
This last Sunday I decided to take Mom and myself to see a movie. I think Mom's become too sedentary and it seems as if (just for fun, mind you!) no one ever takes her anywhere. I started looking at what was available and noticed something that looked like it was sci-fi:
 Later on, I found a review on this one that said there were quite a few gross-outs in it including the forcible removable of someone's fingernails. That went off the list immediately- gaaack !
 I had seen a very short preview of Julie and Julia on T.V. and had already decided that I wanted to see Meryl Streep become Julia Child, so that was inked as a definite. Then I saw what looked like a very romantic movie titled The Time Traveler's Wife. I didn't know anything about it but the photos for it looked interesting to me even though I am definitely not an avid chick-flick attendee.
  I thought we were not going to make it on time because Mom came up with several shopping trips she wanted to make before we went to the theatre. I was pleasantly surprised to find out we arrived at the box office just in time to see Julie and Julia and so we paid and went into the tiny theatre that was nearly empty. It did fill up half way before the film started to run, finally.
I'm so glad we went to see this film. For one, Meryl Streep never disappoints me for her authentic portrayals and perfect accents. It seems she adopted The Method somewhere along the way. She was Julia Child. Why do I say that? Well, Child always put on a fake French accent which in itself was good but definitely overdone. So how does a person match an overdone fake French accent without overdoing it? Well, Meryl Streep did and (may I say it?) ~ with finesse ! Her hair and face were made up in such a way that you forget that you are not looking at the actual person and she became multi-dimensional, which is what people most likely want to see the most. The behind-the-scenes Julia who faced many obstacles in going all the way with her passion, once she ascertained what that was, and how she dealt with her many trials, is fascinating ! This film does not touch on her alcoholism but vaguely implies it. Even so, her real story is very entertaining and maybe it's for the best that we remember only certain aspects of her life.
Julie and Julia is really two stories on a parallel plane, however. There is also Julie from Brooklyn, who doesn't seem to know what to do with herself until she discovers the world of cooking with Julia. She's a blogger who becomes a foodie and consequently a celebrity in her own right. I had a sense that she felt inadequate as a cook. She certainly flounders quite a bit through most of the recipes and discovers she hasn't the heart to even boil lobsters. (Her husband ends up taking the honors.) If you like light fare that is entertaining and uplifting Julie and Julia will be just right for you. Go see it at the cinema. So many subtleties are lost on video and I'm not sure why. Meryl must be seen and appreciated in a theatre.
After this movie, Mom and I started talking about cooks she has followed in her life. She has a sizable library of cookbooks and a drawer full of her own written-down recipes which she either acquired from her father, who was a baker, or those of friends and relatives. Mom loves to bake and owns a baker's oven which likes to overheat even though it's a fairly new stove. We determined that the famous cook who influenced her most and whose book is worn to falling apart is that of James Beard. Just recently I spied a wonderful new copy of his book, "The Fireside Cook Book" which was originally published back in 1949. That was probably when Mom started cooking in earnest. One philosophy of his which I would echo wholeheartedly is this:
"There is absolutely no substitute for the best. Good food cannot be made of inferior ingredients masked with high flavor. It is true thrift to use the best ingredients available and to waste nothing."
I agree with that philosophy and try to stick with it as much as possible even though I am not a traditional cook at all. I am more likely to try exotic dishes of all ethnicities and my favorite is mandarin Chinese cooking. The ironic closing of the movie is when Julie visits the museum which contains Julia's kitchen in a recreation exhibit. A very life-like portrait hangs to the side on the wall of Julia with a berth. She leaves a large stick of butter rather than flowers. It is ironic because Julia's use of butter was as much a staple of her recipes as any other ingredient.
I don't think I share the passion for butter in my food but I believe I share the passion of both women for following and completing the dream all the way through to the end, even if the end is a bit bitter, after all. We can always dilute it with sweet kindness. That's the best bon-bon in the world.
 With kisses like chocolate,
The Castle Lady !
 11 settembre The Forgotten Genius of Stubblefield A little more than a hundred years ago a Kentucky farmer proclaimed, "I have lived fifty years before my time." His words were ambiguous to his slow-minded detractors but he paved the way for the wireless technology we enjoy today in the form of cell phones. I don't need to tell anybody where we have gone from there. Look around you. How many people do you see texting, taking photos, surfing the internet and talking on devices that were crude talk boxes only twenty years ago? Wireless technology has taken off in forms no one could've even predicted a few decades ago but we enjoy all this because one seemingly common man came up with a very uncommon idea and invention.
 Nathan and son, Bernard That Kentucky farmer was a man by the name of Nathan Stubblefield born in Kentucky on November 22, 1860. Many years before Marchese Guglielmo Marconi presented his radio-signaling system as his first successful invention, Nathan should have wowed the crowd that loitered around on the court house lawn in Murray, Kentucky in 1892. Hundreds of people showed up for his demonstration in which he claimed to be able to send messages through the air without wires. At points approximately two hundred feet apart on the lawn, Stubblefield set up two boxes, each two feet square and not connected in any way. The boxes contained telephones and when Stubblefield and his son talked to each other from opposite, disparate sides of the court house their voices were made clearly audible to the curious crowds which gathered around both boxes.
Even though his invention was clearly a success most of the crowd hooted and snickered like the common folk they were, not realizing the magnitude of the event they had just witnessed. Even so, he left with his equipment angry at his expectations of missing accolades. At this time, Marconi was only a teenager fresh out of Bologna University but his invention was that of telegraphy and not anything at all like what Stubblefield had discovered. At the time, Stubblefield was a telephone repairman who barely eked out an existence on his farm in Calloway County. His first demonstration barely made a ripple of recognition to the locals but he hadn't given up at that point, quite, either. He did, however, attract national attention by the few who were astute enough to see the potential of his invention.
When news finally reached the St. Louis Post Dispatch he was sent for by the paper to go there and give a demonstration. Some weeks after they sent Nathan a letter they received a post card from him which said, "Have accepted your invitation. Come to my place any time. Nathan Stubblefield, inventor." A reporter from the Dispatch showed up on his farm on January 10, 1902 and Stubblefield gave him a simple demonstration.
   This innovative genius handed him a telephone which was connected to a pair of steel rods about four feet long and told him to take the set anywhere he wanted in the neighborhood, stick the rods into the earth and put the receiver to his ear.
In a newspaper article some days later, the reporter relayed his experience. He walked at least a mile away from Stubblefield's house, put the rods into the ground and claimed that he could hear every syllable Stubblefield's son spoke into a transmitter as clearly as if he were standing right next to him. In explanation, Stubblefield explained that he was merely using the electrical field which permeated the earth, the water and the atmosphere itself. He predicted that some day wireless transmission of speech would enable people living in Kentucky to listen to weather reports from the nation's capitol and hear music and news from points all over the world.
 Everything snowballed after the newspaper article was published, bringing invitations for Nathan to take his invention to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. in May of 1902. He gave a successful demonstration at Belmont Park in Philadelphia, May 30, 1902 and went on to Washington, D.C. presenting his invention to scientists of his time. This untutored, simple Kentucky farmer was receiving attention from the likes of Tesla at his Philadelphia demonstration. In Washington his apparatus was installed on a steamship with Bartholdi and other prominent people stationed at places of their choice along the Virginia shore of the Potomac. As the ship rolled down the Potomac River startled dignitaries communicated with those aboard the vessel, clearly and distinctly by merely sticking the customary iron rods in the earth and speaking into their telephones. On May 21, 1902 the Washington Evening Star proclaimed, "First Practical Test of Wireless Telegraphy Heard For Half Mile. Invention of Kentucky Farmer. Wireless telephony demonstrated beyond question," in the headlines.
With all the laudits he received and financiers asking him to sign contracts so the invention could be developed further, Stubblefield chose to sign on with the Wireless Telephone Company of America who were responsible for the publicity, public relations and demonstrations in Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia. Their hope was to attract wealthy investors but when Stubblefield found them to be a fraudulent stock promotion outfit he walked away and back to his lab.
Since the company acquired the rights to his natural conduction wireless phone, he dropped work on it and began working on a prototype for his electromagnetic induction phone. In 1907 he filed for a patent on it, but the first application was rejected. He worked on the application for another year, showing his device to be an improvement on earlier applications of other inventors clear back from the 1880s but by the time they accepted the application it was already outdated and useless.
What Nathan invented was a wireless telephone using natural conduction through the magnetic field of earth and water. The difference in the later inventions of others, which still didn't match the clarity of Stubblefield's device, is subtle to the unvigilant eye but he made the quality of transmission unequaled by comparison. He had been experimenting with ground radio since 1882, around the time that a man by the name of Amos Dolbear filed a patent on what he termed induction wireless telephone and demonstrated it publicly in the U.S., Canada and Europe. His invention, however, used an elevated capacitance, which acts as an antenna and only uses the earth for grounding. The induction coil used is a self-inductance creating high tension in free space. In short, it was not the same as a Hertizan wave transmitter.
 Around the time that Nathan was trying to show the Murray locals his invention, Tesla had been working on a transmitter that had better construction rather than of great power. He wrote, "This is essentially, a circuit of high self-induction and small resistance which in its arrangement, mode of excitation and section and action, may be said to be the diametrical opposite of a transmitting circuit typical of telegraphy by Hertizian or electromagnetic radiations." He performed double ground experiments with impulses, spoke of them in lectures and he patented embodiments of these ideas in 1901. Even so they never achieved the powerful transmission with clarity, tone and volume of Stubblefield's ground telephony. The device which Stubblefield invented used natural energies magnifying them to full capacity. All other inventors used artificial sources such as batteries, alternators, dynamos etc.
Stubblefield's true research was sourced in magnetic waves and never made use of ground terminals for exchanging signals. His aim was always long distance wireless telephone communication but his invention was entirely distinctive from radio transmission. From the beginning his transmitters and receivers were telephonic, not telegraphic and used the earth as a battery powering an apparatus which was connected to a long horizontal aerial line. (Apparently, the waves that Stubblefield used were longitudinal in nature.) Marconi eventually used a diagrammatic symmetry which was similar to Stubblefield's in conjunction with grounded copper wire conductors and achieved some success with long distance transmission but Nathan had done this without use of alternators or spark exchange and his medium was voice transmission not the dot and dash system of telegraphy which was Marconi's lot.
His system reasoning was that since electrical waves traverse the earth it would be possible to send signals to distant places. Eventually using electrical waves which were naturally present in the ground and would serve as carriers for the human voice- and more eventually. Therefore his technology made use of the earth as both power generator and signal conductor. This makes the power limitless and cannot diminish in deference to the time of day or even length of use.
 Stubblefield's wife, daughter and himself next to a wireless induction device. As time dragged by and other inventors took up the torch for wireless technology, Stubblefield became increasingly reclusive, morose and stopped working his farm. He was sued by financial backers. His children sold his farm and his wife left him. After his death in 1928 of starvation, investigators found wires leading from the roots of trees on his property. Small arc lamps were attached to the wires and they were put out because it was believed that those lamps had been creating a strange hillside sunlight. However, it did not explain the warmth and light which emanated from the ground around his property, apparently, day and night. In addition, many people had heard loud and unfamiliar noises coming from the area surrounding his cabin. It was supposed by some that he had discovered a way to transduce natural impulses from the ground energy into audio.
Two weeks before his death he remarked to a neighbor, "The past is nothing. I have perfected now the greatest invention the world has ever known. I have taken light from the air and earth... [the same way] I did sound."
On March 28, 1928 he was found dead in his bed. Neighbors who had broken in to investigate noticed that the interior was not cold but warm as if it was heated by a strong fire. Town officials trying to locate the source of the heat found two highly polished metal mirrors which faced each other and they radiated great heat in rippling waves.
A stone memorial on the court house lawn at Murray, Kentucky, marks the spot where he made history in 1892. He is now a local hero and has a radio station named after him. The locals still seem to think that he invented radio. They don't know the half of it.
Would you like to read more about Nathan? Check out www.icehouse.net/john1/stublefield1.html
 The Castle Lady
sending you kisses you'll never forget !
Physical science normally proceeds by inductive reasoning tested by experiment.
-Walter M. Miller, Jr. from "A Canticle for Leibowitz" 08 settembre Punctuation Hell and Other Egregious Blunders Back on August 15th of this year I happened to notice this wonderful little slice of literary criticism in the funnies. It isn't the first time I've read these short quips on proper grammar, phrasing and punctuation of the English language on this delightful strip but this one hit on a subject which has inspired me to expound on just a few of my pet peeves concerning writing.
 www.candorville.com by Darrin Bell
Faulty usage of quotation marks is just the tip of the iceberg on my long list but let's get started with that anyway. Listen up:
Quotation marks seem to be a whimsical sarcasm tool currently but in a professional format their use is quite specific. They are the only way to distinguish somebody else's words rather than our own in a sentence but there is a right and wrong way to employ them. The only proper use is placed with a comma preceding the quotation mark and closed with a comma preceding the closing quotation mark when inserted within a sentence. When the quote is used at the end of a sentence then a period precedes the closing quotation mark . They are the indicators of a direct quotation of someone else and not a single word emphasis of your own or the person you are quoting. I wish to further state that a single word does not constitute a quote.
Any other application of quotation marks is a violation of their proper use. If a person wishes to emphasize a word, it may be best to italicize or underline when italics are not available. To use quotation marks in emphasis when chiding your own use of a hackneyed word or phrase is inexcusable and as far as I'm concerned, ought to be punishable by law !
 While we're on the subject of writing, if I may go on, my other pet peeve is rampant exploitation of the phrases sort of and kind of. Worst of all, would of, could of and should of gets my hair curled in a knot. The first two are the snakes-in-the-grass among the qualifiers which no one seems to be aware of inside or outside the literary world. Not only do qualifiers punch holes in any good narrative but they are stumbling blocks as bad as any four-letter word laid claim to or played as a substitute for a good noun. The last three just simply don't exist. These phrases should be written as would've, could've or should've but as I stated already, these qualifiers should be avoided as much as possible by a serious writer, outside of use in dialogue.
If you are serious about writing the English language as a profession may I suggest that you obtain copies of two reference books? The first is The Writer's Digest Grammar Desk Reference and Strunk and White's Elements of Style. While the rest of the world is sitting back and telling themselves that writing is just typing, you can be at the business of proving them wrong.
The Castle Lady
proving excellence one kiss at a time !   04 settembre The Birthday Dance Hey Everybody !
It's my birthday !
Time to do the Birthday Dance !
 Watch me now !
The Castle Lady with a jig, a jug and a hug !  I've got a lot of info, castles and new everything coming your way in September so stay close by ! 03 settembre Cheshire Crossroads... "Cheshire Puss" she began rather timidly, as she did not at all know whether it would like the name; however, it only grinned a little wider. "Come, it's pleased so far," thought Alice, and
"I don't much care where," said Alice.
"Then it doesn't matter which way you walk," said the Cat.
"-so long as I get somewhere, " Alice added as an explanation.
"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
Alice felt this could not be denied, so she tried another question.
"What sort of people live about here?"
"In that direction," the Cat said, waving its right paw round, "lives a Hatter; and in that direction", waving the other paw, "lives a March Hare. Visit either you like; they're both mad."
"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat; "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."
"How do you know I'm mad ?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."
excerpt from Alice in Wonderland by
Lewis Carroll
 Just mad about you.... wild even !
The Castle Lady
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