Up in the Air

      More Letters From Paradise
           Up in the Air
      Remember Eastern, Republic, Mojave, TWA, and Pan Am? Sure you do, they were once airlines. I miss most of all Pan Am, for its rich association  with Hawaii. Huge flying boats with luxury, 18 hours flying time from California.

       I would bet that you can't name the oldest U.S. airline. Give up? It's our own Hawaiian Airlines. This is its 85th year of operation. In the 1930's it had flying boats, as did Pan Am.
      Tonto, her girlfriend Ann, and I were invited to a luncheon with a group of women who had been stewardesses, on Hawaiian Airlines. I was one of the four men attending. One man had been a pilot of fighter planes and had also flown for the airline. Another man had the distinction  of being the youngest employee at age 13, as a baggage handler. The third man was the Archivist for the airline. He brought with him many photographs, which were passed around each table. He gave a short talk about the history of the airline. He told that during WWII, the windows of each plane were painted over with black paint. You may have guessed that it did not include the pilot's window. There were also some planes which had bullet holes needing repair.
      A story was told by the pilot how all the passengers on one flight were moved forward, while a blanket was spread on the cabin floor for a woman in childbirth. I am sure that there were many stories shared that day between the women.
      The lunch was excellent, and then the women all danced hula to a ukulele. They were very good. Tables were covered with donated items for sale. The spirit of aloha filled the room. A good time was had by all. This event should have been the local paper. But anyway, here's to you gallant women, and Hawaiian Airlines on its 85th birthday.

        Aloha
        Grant      

Progress Report: MaiTai

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        Progress Report  Mai Tai
We paws for a moment to give you a report on Mai Tai's progress.
Peeing on paper A-
Playing with ball A
Told to sit A
Smelling people's feet A
Coming when called B
Putting head in shower D
Running away with kleenex D
Chewing on shoes of either sex D
Amid the debris-strewn floor, one toy stands out. It is a foot-long furry skunk. A recent gift from Mai Tai's aunt Mary.    There is now new game called "Pass the Skunk." The game proceeds as follows: First, let Mai Tai know you have the skunk. Next, roll the skunk into a ball and throw it as far as possible. Mai Tai will then tear away to capture the skunk, and bring it back in triumph.The next step is to distract him and quickly snatch the skunk, and again throw it as far away as possible. The game continues until both players are tired.
Mai Tai has had all of his required shots, micro-chip and a dog license. He made his first trip out into the wide wide smell-filled world. Somewhat uneasy, with tail down. Interested in bird poop, trees, grass, and meeting people. Returning home, his tail was raised, and he wanted to run. Tail raised up is the sign of a happy dog.
While getting some assorted sweet peppers from the fridge, the bag spilled and peppers went all over the floor. Mai Tai quickly grabbed a large yellow one, and took off like a bullet. He hid under the lounge on the lanai, knowing that I couldn't reach him. I captured him after a bit, along with most of the pepper. He has brought great joy into our life.

         Aloha
         Grant      

Cell Phone Sin

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           Cell-Phone Sin
Alright, call me a "fuddy-duddy." I remember when a telephone was used exclusively to send and receive messages. Alexander Graham Bell never lived to see what he had unleas-ed on the civilized world.

Phones are appreciated for their use in emergency situations, such as lost hikers, lost at sea etc. I remember once when with our two boys out in the middle-of-nowhere-Utah, we  used a bag telephone. It was about the size of a WWII walkie talkie, or a giant popcorn box. Much greater range, though.

Smart machines are making people  dumber. Society has been changed forever.  An article in the M. Star Tribune by Allie Shah, "Texting While Asleep Affecting Phone-Reliant Youths,"  tells the story. This is known as "sleep texting," and is not uncommon. This is similar to sleep walking. The author notes that 1 in 3 teens sends more than 100 texts a day.

My beef is not with the cell-phone itself, but the way it is used. If you are one of the following, shame on you.
First, there are those couples in a restaurant, seated across from each other and are texting each other, instead of using oral speech. Or there is junior playing with his phone at the dinner table. Or, how about the person talking on her phone while checking out in a market or store. Rude! And, what about people using their phones while you are watching a movie? Rude again.
How about people who use their phones, while seated with others at dinner? Again very rude.  
Then there are those people who are alone in their own world, while crossing a street. This is just plain stupid. We see this everyday here in Honolulu. They must feel that they are able to stop a couple of tons of steel, coming at them. And in closing my rant, I note those who use their phones while driving. A danger not only to themselves, but to others as well.

 I wonder what historians would have written if Bell had texted Watson, instead of calling him on the phone?

         Aloha
         Grant

The Three Named Mary

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         The Three Named Mary
It was recently reported in the news, that the ancient Coptic fragment telling that Jesus had a wife, was genuine. The fragment had been found some 14 years earlier.

Biblical scholars and students of theology had long suspected that this was true. The source of their information came from the Gnostic gospels. These were other Christian writings that failed to make the cut. In other words, there are other Gospels besides the four in the Christian Bible. They provide a rich treasury of information abut Jesus, and the life and times of that era.

When the Roman Emperor Constantine became Christian, he called for a meeting to decide what Christian writings would be the canon scripture for the Catholic Church. The Council of Nicaea then decided which gospels were in, and what gospels were excluded. The four Gospels we are familiar with in the Bible made the cut, all the others were attacked. But, some of them survived.

These surviving gospels have some interesting information. For instance ;
The lord loved Mary more than all the disciples, and often used to kiss her on the mouth. When the others saw how he loved Mary, they said "Why do you love her more than you love us?" the savior answered them in this way "How can it be that I do not love you as much as I love her?"
    Gospel of Philip 59.9

And also in another writing..
Three women always used to walk with the Lord--Mary, his mother; Mary, his sister; and the Mary Magdalene, who is called his partner.
                   Philip 60:8
We should also note that the idea that Mary Magdelene was a prostitute is clearly false. There is no direct reference anywhere in the Gospels that she was a prostitute. Her identification comes from Homily 33 of Pope Gregory I in 591, who told the faithful that she was to be seen as a penitent whore. And so, the tradition continues in our Bibles.

Some scholars write that it was expected for a Jewish male to marry. They had to be married to teach in synagogues. Not to marry was being disobedient to God.

There is much to be seen in the Gnostic Gospels. I would mention the Gospel of Philip, Peter, Bartholomew, Thomas, and Mary. The Gospel of Mary was unknown for centuries. There is much to learn and understand from these writings that failed to make the cut.

         Aloha
         Grant

Button, Button

  More Letters From Paradise

           Button Button
My brother-in-law Ted, recently gave me a very small button-size compass. This led to a conversation about buttons. We spoke about how thrifty housewives saved odd buttons in a button box. Buttons cut from old clothes were saved, and the clothes were sold to the rag man. Rags were pounded into a pulp, and became paper. If you have ever wondered why old newspapers and modern books, turn brown and brittle; it's because they are made from wood pulp. Cotton paper lasts for centuries.

Ted and I remembered  how some women feeling artsy crafts, would cover a jug with clay, push buttons into the clay. Having covered the jug with buttons, it was put into an oven to bake the clay. Presto! an art object.You can still find these in antique shops. Buttons were cut-steel, jet, ivory, hand-painted, litho transfers. Buttons showing famous people or events. You get the idea. My mother caused me to collect uniform buttons. I had uniform buttons from many wars, both European and American. Many, many Civil War buttons.

My mother was a button collector. And, there are many button collectors all over the country. She was given a special button by her brother who had flown with the R.A.F. during the war. It was a uniform button which when you turned the back of it, a small compass was seen. These were to aid downed pilots, to make their escape from the Germans. There were also silk scarves with maps printed on them.

When my mother died, her button box with that special button just vanished! I wonder if the new owner of the buttons, realizes the secret of that one uniform button.

         Aloha
         Grant

Some Old Poems

 
      More Letters From Paradise
          Some Old Poems
       Kelly Loving
 At the foot of the tree
  with its scarred bark
    a baseball glove
      On the cross
     flowers dried
       abandoned
    stuffed animals
     Rain soaked

        Martha's Story

I think I still have a bag tag.
I threw away all the other stuff
  years ago because it was so
     painful to remember.
  They said we had to get rid
   of all of our possessions
   except for two suitcases.
We didn't have anything of value
     except for our piano.
     We were taken to the
    Santa Anita Racetrack
and kept in one of the stables.
You can say what you will about
       the ALCU
 but at that time they were
    our only friends.

       Aloha
       Grant
Japanese Internment Camp

Just Ain't So

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            Just Ain't So
Question, what was one and a half foot ball fields long,(ca. 450 ft.),75 feet wide, and 45 feet high? It was also covered with pitch,and had a door in its side. You guessed it, Noah's Ark, as related in the book of Genesis.

I was moved to write this as the result of viewing one of the worst movies ever made. I would assign it the grade of D-----, but not an E, for fear that someone might think that E was for excellent. The movie in question is the recently released "Noah."Tonto and I had expected something of a spiritual nature, but what we got instead was very poor science fiction.

In hopes that this review will spoil it for you, I will only have to mention a couple of the movie's events. First, there are the so-called "Watchers," huge stone figures that not only protect Noah and his family, but they are the builders of the Ark. They were once stars that were turned into stone. They also battle a large computer-size army.

One other example is when the animals enter the Ark, they are put to sleep by a woman swinging an incense burner. I could go on and on, but this should suffice.

I thought maybe I had missed something while in seminary, the "Watchers" puzzled me.  It's been years, and I am growing old. So, I read Genesis chapters six and seven. No "Watchers" could be found. And, neither were any of the animals sleeping. God told Noah to put on the Ark enough food for his family and the animals.

Enough of this. I think I have made my point. Don't waste your money on this rotten film, better you should donate the price of admission to some charity.

          Aloha
          Grant

P.S. The measurements for the Ark are given in cubits. One cubit equals 18 inches. My thanks to Tonto for doing the math.