LEAVES OF GOLD

The Fall colors are beginning. Trees are turning gold and yellow. We do not have many reds--none yet. We have had a lot of butterflies at the zinnia and marigold plants but with begnning to have some cooler temps they are decreasing and continuing on their trek to Mexico.! Witht the beginning of Fall the winter season of the theater and symphony has begun. The theater has performed "Beauty and the Beast". They did a good job. Mary is not into fantasy but it was very good production. The symphony had as its first production of the season, Beethoven's 5th. and the guest performer for the production was Tracy Silverman playing a "strange" instrument--the electric violin. I had never heard one and it can make a lot of different sounds, however and few of them sound like a regular violin. It does go well with modern music so we had a wide variety of musical experience.
With Fall comes football which takes up a lot of the news and ink in the paper as well as TV time. I am sure that it is very popular but I can not get very interested in watching it on TV. Our grand-daughter, Kirsten, who lives in Durago has been playing ladies Rugby footbal, which is more straineous that regular footbal. She did not get it from her grandfather. I have a problem getting on the treadmill and walking as much as I should. Always easy to have an excuse to not do it and be involved in something else.
Let us all hold our breath for the 15 of Oct. The date hopefully of the Iraq referendum on the constitution. I have just finished the book "Night draws Near--Iraq's people in the shadow of American War", by Anthony Shadid. The author is an Arabian-American journalist who has lived in Iraq befor, during the war and after the war and with contacts and friends he has known and met gives a very good reporting of the feeling of the ordinary citizen. We have done some things right but also manythings poorly or wrong. The Infra structure was broke and as some have said it is ot a problem of re-building--it is a problem of re-creating. The author also gives a good reporting of the influence of the religion and of the mosques. He knows the language and the culture .
Of course the problems are not limited to Iraq--bombing in Bali, etc. A book that I have not read as yet, "THE WEST'S LAST CHANCE--will we win the clash of civilizations?", written by Tony Blankley was exerpted in the Washington Times--the newspaper that he is an editor of. "The threat of the radical Islamists taking over Europe is every bit as great to the United States as was the threat of the Nazis taking over Europe in the 1940s. ....The radical Isllamist ae able to rationalize concessions to mofernity with ancient-sounding mumbo jumbo while still sounding like authentic fundamentalists, the only true voice of Islam.
The Nazis overwhelmed german society with these methods 70 years ago. Thjer is bulding evidence that the radical islamists are moving ever more successfully down the same path--particularly withing the younger generations in Europe and , to a lesser extent, in the United States."
The Washington Times is a good newspaper available on the internet--register but it does not cost.
The last posting of "Baghdad Burning" blog--www.riverbendblog.blogspot.com of OCT 3 has an interesting take on the feeling of some regarding the referendum. Of more concern for many is how to live with the problems of scarcity of electricity-transportation, gas, security, food etc.
To change the subject--I have been making some audio-video files using "snagit" as training files--it works quite well. We are trying to get some action going in the Senior living facilities for people to get connected to computing. So far, only minimal success.
Well, I have rambled long enough, I note that it hs been about a month since the last posting--so much for every 2 week plan.
Hope that this finds all in good health and spirit
HAF AKA Happy Doc