What Inspires Me? Canada Did Something!
We talk-talk-talk about plastic waste while garbage islands—the size of Texas—float through the Pacific. We talk-talk-talk about overflowing land fill, about reduce and reuse. We talk. And we “bribe” ourselves to use less plastic with returnable deposits and nickel/dime bag charges and pat ourselves on the back when we put plastics into recycle bins to be repurposed and call it “doing something.”
Canada actually did something.
This is a photo of one of the huge plastic islands —See anything you discard?
Last Month the Canadian Government passed a ban on six categories of single-use plastic manufacture, import, export and sale.
A ban that begins now and will be fully implemented by the end of 2025.
“WE DON’T HAVE TO WAIT FOR A LAW TO BE PASSED—LET’S ACT UNLAWFULLY!
LET’S BAN SINGLE-USE PLASTIC THE EASY WAY—-DON’T BUY IT! DON’T USE IT!”
This is our park, our garbage cans, our picnic leavings—3 points for cleaning up after ourselves…but did we?
You may not remember it, but back in the good-old days, right here in the good old U.S of A, the highways, byways, parks, roadsides, parking lots were festooned with—trash! And everyone seemed fine with it. Really!
After all tossing trash out the window or into the bushes is easier, isn’t it? After all, isn’t that what all the marvelous new-fangled plastic, cardboard, Styrofoam containers and utensils are made for—one use and toss? So easy! Whooppee!
It took then first lady, Lady Bird Johnson, a shy thoughtful woman who loved flowers and nature, to say “Enough!” Convinced cleaner highways and streets would “make American a better place to live” Lady Bird launched her “anti-littering” campaign—publicly (and privately, no doubt). On Oct. 22nd, 1965, her husband, LBJ, signed the Highway Beautification Act.
Now, thanks to Lady Bird, while many of us still do it, we find littering deplorable. Doubt me? When the series Mad Men aired an episode where the Drapper family goes on a picnic and tosses their trash viewers were outraged. Here’s the Mad Men Picnic Littering clip.
But here’s the thing. We Americans don’t like anyone—especially “Government”—telling us what to do. We don’t want to be bossed around! We don’t like bans. Do we?
So why wait? Let’s show them who’s BOSS!
Let’s simply STOP! Stop buying and using single-use plastic. (And Styrofoam, too, while we’re at it. Styrofoam is as bad, worse than plastic.) But how? you ask. Below is a handy-dandy 5-item list of ways to stop buying and using single-use plastic.
“Hint: As Lady Bird did with her anti-littering campaign, get the kids involved. Let them help you—and us—be the change. ”
BYOB! BBD! BYOS! BYOC! BYOU!
Just as with using seatbelts, it might be uncomfortable at first, but we’ll get used to it!
Fin Pal asks Norman "Need Help Decorating Your Tank"?
Ready to read Norman’s answer? Scroll down . . .
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But first a finny!
Q: What type of music should you listen to whilst fishing?
Q: What type of music should you listen to whilst fishing?
A: Something Catch!
Do you have a question for Norman the Goldfish- about friends, school, pets, family, life in and outside the fishbowl? Send him a letter!
Don’t forget to order your copy of NOT NORMAN: A GOLDFISH STORY and NORMAN: ONE AMAZING GOLDFISH!!
Poetry Challenge #253-Lolli-POP!
Lollipop, lollipop, oh lolly lollipop…
The very popular song Lollipop, written by Julius Dixson and Beverly Ross in 1958, used this line to ear worm its way onto #20 on the pop charts; and later, when the Chordettes covered it to #2 & #3 on Pop and R&B*
The song Lollipop originated when Julius Dixson was late for a songwriting session with Beverly Ross. He explained that his daughter had gotten a lollipop stuck in her hair, and that had caused him to be late. Ross was so inspired by the word "lollipop" that she sat down at the piano and produced a version of the song on the spot. —
Why the fixation on Lollipops? Because July 20th is National Lollipop Day, of course!
*Not to be confused with Lil Wayne’s Lollipop song: Lil Wayne - Lollipop (Audio) Ft. Static Major - YouTube
Here’s the perky Utube Video—Watch and Make this cute Lollies!
Poetry Challenge #253
Lolli-POP!
Lollipop, lollipop, oh lolly lollipop…
Read it aloud several times and listen to the L’s, the P’s, and the rolling rhythm.
Next, pick a different three-syllable word and make your own refrain, being sure to repeat a word or syllables.
Once you have your refrain, try to write at least 2 verses, repeating your refrain.
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing!
Don’t Think About it, just do it!
All puckered up for a tasty read? Check out Rukhsana Khan’s Big Red Lollipop with art by Sophie Blackall.
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 2000+ days ago. Now we take turns creating prompts to share with you. Our hope is that creatives—children & adults—will use our prompts as springboards to word play time. If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.
Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in . . .
What Inspires Me? The Perfect Game
While I was recently reminded (by The NY Yankees Museum Curator) that “perfect pitch” is a musical term, not a baseball term, there is such a thing as a perfect pitch. This is what a perfect pitch looks like.
Don Larsen’s final “Perfect Game” pitch to Yogi Berra
The “Ball Wall” exhibit in the NY Yankees Museum shows the trajectory of Don Larsen’s final (97th) pitch to Yogi Berra on October 8, 1956, in game 5 of the 1956 World Series, against the Brooklyn Dodgers at Yankee Stadium.
The "Ball Wall" features hundreds of balls autographed by past and present Yankees. There’s even a touch-screen finder to help fans locate their favorite players autographed ball.
The NY Yankees Museum is open to the public—tours are available. And the Museum is open on home-day games to ticketholders.
Cy Young, the winningest pitcher in baseball history, pitched three no-hitters over his professional baseball career, only one of which was a perfect game, for the Boston Americans in 1904.
As I write, there are fourteen MLB games scheduled. Weather permitting, that means that at least 28 MLB pitchers will take the mound, wind up and fire off perfect pitches—lots of them.
On average according Baseball Scouter, “each Major League Baseball (MLB) team throws an average of 146 pitches” during the course of a game.
Some of those pitchers might even throw no-hitters (alone or combined), although it could take the 120, 130, maybe even 140 pitches to do it.
But just imagine, a pitcher, over the course of nine innings, firing baseballs into the strike zone so fast, so hard, with so much finesse that though one after the other batters try—MLB Batters! the heaviest of heavy hitters! —they can’t get on base. Three hitter up-Three hitters down. Nine times. 27 batters who strike out, fly out, or are tagged out. Game over! A Perfect Game.
What are the chances of that? To date, there have been only 23 perfect games in MLB history, but only ONE in World Series competition!
“The “Perfect” Perfect Game would be one in which the pitcher threw each batter out on the first pitch. The batter would have to swing on the first pitch and fly out or get tagged out running to first. 27 pitches.”
While a Perfect Game in baseball requires phenomenal pitching, pitching is not everything.
A “No-Hitter” is all about the pitching.
A Perfect Game means no hits or walks, no hit batsmen, no fielding errors that allow a player on base, no uncaught third strikes, and no interference.
. . . no “fielding errors.” Every player on the field must make every play hit to them.
A Perfect Game is what baseball is about—teamwork. It’s a team win. Now that’s inspiring!
BTW: The NY Yankee Museum is open to the public, and on game days to ticket holders. For Tour info Click.
Monument Park, located in center field, recognizes legends who have appeared at Yankee Stadium, is free and open to ticket holders on Yankees home game days. Monument Park opens when the park opens and closes 45 minutes before the scheduled start of games.
Poetry Challenge #252-There Was a Good Old Cow . . .
A few years back on a tour of Margaret River, Australia’s wine region (near Perth), instead of the expected—kangaroos, wallabies, boomerangs—we stumbled onto painted cows. Everywhere! Along with the cows was some utterly ridiculous Moo-ology. (If you’re curious, I wrote an article about being on the Margaret River Cow Parade entitled “Where’s the Cow, Mate?” for Now! Jakarta Magazine. Moooore on that in the magazine (which I highly recommend!)
For today, because it’s National Cow Appreciation Day, July 13th, here’s some Moo-ology:
“MOO-OLOGY FROM MARGARET RIVER
Cow-operation for co-operation
Sh-udder, as in “I sh-udder to think about it.”
Cow-herd, as in “don’t be such a cow-herd, try some more…”
Cow-L-neck, as in “I’m chilly; I think I’ll change into my cow-L-neck sweater.”
Curd-yah, as in “curd-yah please mooove out of the way, I’m trying to snap a picture.”
Let’s moooooooove it!
Better hoof it on out a here. Cheers, Mate!”
Poetry Challenge #242
It Was a Good Old Cow . . .
Write an elegy about a cow. An elegy is a poem or song expressing sadness or grief. Write your elegy in three parts.
An elegy is lyrical but does not necessarily rhyme.
Part #1 Express grief
Part #2 Praise for the departed
Part #3 Comfort and support
If you’re at a loss as to how to begin, begin with this snippet of an elegy my mom used to sing to my brother and me on road trips:
It was a good old cow . . .
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing!
Don’t Think About it, just do it!
And if you’re really keen on cows, this month’s Visual Verse Anthology prompt might really mooove you… But hurry, submissions must be in by July 15th!
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 2000+ days ago. Now we take turns creating prompts to share with you. Our hope is that creatives—children & adults—will use our prompts as springboards to word play time. If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.
Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in . . .
Ellie the Fin Pal asks Norman "What About People Food?"
Some finpals can’t read or write, yet, so they tell an adult their questions for Norman. That’s how this one pop into our email. Ready to read Norman’s answer? Scroll down . . .
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But first a finny!
Q: What do fish need to stay healthy?
Q: What do fish need to stay healthy?
A: Vitamin Sea.
Do you have a question for Norman the Goldfish- about friends, school, pets, family, life in and outside the fishbowl? Send him a letter!
Don’t forget to order your copy of NOT NORMAN: A GOLDFISH STORY and NORMAN: ONE AMAZING GOLDFISH!!
Poetry Challenge #251-Roll of the Dice
Know who coined the idiom “The die is cast”?
If you answered Shakespeare, thinking it one of the many idioms and phrases William Shakespeare coined for his plays, think again. It was Julius Caesar, and no not in the Shakespeare play either. The real Julius Caesar.
Technically, according to my go-to, Writing Explained.org, Roman historian, Suetonius, said, what Caesar said was Alea iacta est, the Latin phrase meaning “die is cast.” The year was 49 B.C and Caesar had just entered Italy with his army, thus starting a civil war.
Since then, the saying “the die is cast,” has come to mean that the dice—literal six-sided gaming cubes—had been thrown and whatever numbers had come up were the numbers that would be played. For Caesar it meant that it was too late to stop the war from beginning. He had already disobeyed orders, and he must win the war if he wanted to keep his life. On that cheery note, let’s toss some dice!
Poetry Challenge #251
Roll The Dice!
Topics for poems are all around us, but sometimes we don’t know how to start.
This is a simple exercise you can use as many times as necessary to create a structure for a poem.
Roll a pair of dice. The lower number indicates how many words should be on each line. The higher number indicates how many lines in the poem.
(If you don’t have dice, you can use the A-6 cards in a deck of cards. Or use a number generator on the computer. Or make slips of paper with the numbers 1-6 on them and draw numbers from a hat…)
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing!
Don’t Think About it, just do it!
Warm up the dice with Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s song “Roll the Dice”! It’s a winner!
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 2000+ days ago. Now we take turns creating prompts to share with you. Our hope is that creatives—children & adults—will use our prompts as springboards to word play time. If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.
Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in . . .
Fin Pal asks Norman "Tell Me a Finny Goldfish Joke!"
Today, instead of Norman answering your questions, our fishy friend has some questions for you! Why? Because it’s International Joke Day! (July 1st). To celebrate here are six of Norman’s finniest goldfish jokes.
Why only six jokes? Because seven ate nine and then all the rest ran away. . . get it? ate nine. . .glug-glug-glug
(Scroll down, there are more where that came from!)
Q: How did the computer catch the goldfish?
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A: With the internet!
Q: What did one goldfish say to the other?
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A: Keep your mouth shut and you'll never get caught!
Q: What's the difference between a piano and a goldfish?
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A: You can tune a piano, but you can’t tuna fish!
Q: What kind of guitar do goldfish play?
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A: Bass
Q: What do whales order when they’re hungry for fast food?
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A: Goldfish and ships!
Q: What did the goldfish shark say after eating a clownfish?
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A: It tastes a little big funny!
If you think thought these goldfish jokes were finny and you’d like to read more, check out the Ask Norman letters. Norman will share a goldfish joke with each response—no clown-fishing around! And . . .