Paradoxical Resolutions

Found while looking for other things ...

The Paradoxical Commandments were written by Kent M. Keith in 1968 as part of a booklet for student leaders. For more than thirty years, the Paradoxical Commandments have circled the globe. They have been put on walls and refrigerator doors, featured in speeches and articles, preached from pulpits, and shared extensively on the web. They have been used by business leaders, military commanders, government officials, religious leaders, university presidents, social workers, teachers, rock stars, parents, coaches, and students. Mother Teresa thought the Paradoxical Commandments were important enough to put up on the wall of her children's home in Calcutta.

At a time when we make New Year's resolutions, these might form a useful template.

The Paradoxical Commandments

by Dr. Kent M. Keith

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

© Copyright Kent M. Keith 1968, renewed 2001

http://www.paradoxicalcommandments.com/

Mix and match churches

This article by Neela Banerjee in the New York Times indicates that a number of Christians, particularly youth, are comfortable participating in multiple churches.

As examples, it tells about teenagers who attend a traditional church with their parents, then another more contemporary church service or youth group with their friends.

Particularly in the case of youth, but also more generally, it is my opinion that it is healthy for believers to expose themselves to more than one Christian tradition. I grew up in the Lutheran church, but while in high school, I started attending a Pentecostal church that was part
of the Charismatic movement. In later life, I believe I am now more informed by having participated in both traditions. I can see the validity of both points of view. I can understand why people can become comfortable with a church or tradition that they've been associated with for a long time. And, most importantly, it's easy now for me to allow others to enjoy their own tradition, without having to consider them suspect in order to bolster my own beliefs.

Of course, as I read the article, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. The other shoe, of course, being that religious leaders don't like for people to attend more than one church. And why would that be? Well, of course, they don't want to risk your money going to another church. Anyone who tries to say it's any more than that is fooling himself.

"Some critics, particularly conservative evangelicals and the ministers of various denominations, decry such practices as a consumerist approach to faith." OK, so I should keep going to a church, perhaps my parent's church, even if it puts me to sleep, if I disagree with what is being taught or how, or if I disagree with how the church is being run. Not.

<blockquote>"If families spread their loyalties around, it's been my experience that they don't benefit as well as they could," said Peter Beringer, a youth pastor at Pulpit Rock Church, which has about 1,000 adults in attendance every Sunday. "They don't seem to have relationships in the church that are as deep. From what I have seen of students who have done this, they find it easier to disengage and be the kid on the fringes."</blockquote>

I couldn't disagree more. The kids who are on the fringes are the ones who attend only one church, and that just barely. Why would someone who wants to stay on the fringe attend two different churches? Perhaps if they are dragged to both by their parents. But even in that case, the kids are getting double the exposure to the message, and they are likely getting that message in two different ways ... perhaps one of those ways will be effective at reaching to them.

Even the terminology Mr. Beringer uses, "families spreading their loyalty," confirms that each church wants to keep you close by to retain your loyalty, that is, for the well-being of the church, not to further your spiritual well-being. A church that is concerned about your spiritual condition will want you to be exposed to the gospel in as many settings as possible, so that perhaps the message might take root.

And when families attend multiple churches, it is usually the case that one is the "primary" church where strong relationships are formed, and the other is a church where other spiritual needs are met. In time, perhaps the roles of the different churches in one's life might reverse, and the formerly "primarly" church will take on a more secondary role. But this doesn't necessarily mean that personal relationships are being sacrificed. It simply means that new relationships are being formed.

Turning to Bibles for Divine Returns

By Colleen DeBaise, Dow Jones Newswires

More people are turning to the Bible as a safe refuge from a struggling stock market and rising inflation, pouring large sums of cash into rare 1611 King James Bibles, centuries-old Matthew-Tyndale Bible leaves, Hebrew scrolls, prayer books and other ancient liturgical texts.

At Sotheby's Western Manuscripts sale in London in June, a three-volume, 13th century Bible in Latin with prologues attributed to Saint Jerome sold for $1.8 million, while an 11th century Bible sold for $164,081, well above the estimate.

Rare biblical work "is like California coastline real estate -- there's a finite quantity of it," says John L. Jeffcoat, Greatsite's owner, who estimates that the value of most rare Bibles appreciates by 15 percent each year, and first editions sometimes rise 25 percent.

"The biggest concern could be the hassle of protecting it," said Mark Ferris, an Old Saybrook, Conn., financial planner. "If you really had a Gutenberg Bible -- could you keep it in your house on a stand?"

But as collectibles go, some people swear on the Bible for its steady and stable returns. "There is probably nothing out there that has done better as an investment than rare Bibles," said Tom Cloud, founder of Turamali Inc., a Duluth, Ga., tangible-asset investment manager.

A popular investment -- the rare 1611 King James Bible -- sold five years ago for $50,000. Now, the same Bible would sell for between $250,000 and $400,000, according to Cloud. Meanwhile, pages from an original Gutenberg Bible are selling for $100,000 to $150,000 a page, almost double what they sold for five years ago, he said.

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2005/nov/27/turning-to-bibles-for-divine-returns/

Spam Strategy

Eudora allows me to filter messages into separate mailboxes based on various criteria. I can filter a message directly into the trash if I think it is spam. Here's how I deal with spam:

• First, make sure I filter out all the mail I know is good. Emails from my wife, my friends, and mailing lists I'm subscribed to. Don't forget good commercial emails like Ebay or Amazon if you're a customer.

Now, anything that's left is suspect.

• Filter out any message that has an attachment of type PIF, SCR, or ZIP. It's spam. Not only that, it's a virus. Get rid of it. Only my known friends would send me a ZIP file attachment. Those were filtered out in the first step.

• Filter out any message that has a link. Yeah, I know my own messages almost always have a link to my blog. But you've already filtered out my messages as a friend in the first step, right? RIGHT? GOOD! Anyway, the easiest way to find a link is to look for "html" or "http".

• There are words that are more commonly contained in spam emails I receive than in legitimate emails I receive. You might think they would be words like body parts or "Rolex." But no. the two most common words that spell SPAM to me are "free" and "best." Searching for the string "est " will also find variations like "fastest," "strongest," etc.

• Spam emails frequently have characters like []|*@#! in the subject of the email. Get rid of all those. Especially "!"

• Lots of spam comes from certain domains, actually certain countries. I get rid of anything from ZY (???), SE (Sweden), SG (Singapore), PT (Portugal), RU (Russia), NO (Norway), PL (Poland), MX (Mexico), NL (Netherlands), HU (Hungary), IT (Italy), ES (Spain), FR (France), CN (China), DE (Germany), AR (Argentina), and AU (Australia).

You might know people from those countries. I don't, except Susie R from the Netherlands, and I filter her out as a friend in the first step.

Don't forget that if you use a service like Ebay or Yahoo where you might buy things from someone in another country, you won't want to filter out their emails. So you must treat Ebay or Yahoo as a mailing list and filter those emails into the "good" pile.

• Lots of spam comes from certain IP blocks. I filter out anything from 61, 211, 217, and 218. It's all spam.

Floor It

We got a quote of $250 to "possibly" fix some small damage to our vinyl floor near the dishwasher, but the repairman never called back. Sigh. We also got a ballpark quote of $2500-3500 to replace our 200 square foot kitchen floor with anything else. Bah.

Well, after pricing out laminate flooring at Home Depot, Lowe's, and Costco, we found this place in Fremont, Universal Floor Covering at 4500 Automall Parkway near Fremont Blvd. We worked with a gentleman named Sam, and his number is 510-659-9553. He had some Armstrong brand laminate flooring for only $1.74 per square foot. The entire price including underlayment and tax came to less than $500. When we picked it up, we bought an extra couple of boxes with which we hope to later replace the hallway tile as well.

Mary found this web page that shows how to install an Armstrong laminate floor:
http://www.internetfloors.com/armstrong_laminate_installation.asp

She also found this page that shows how to remove a ceramic tile floor, possibly the hardest part of the process, but something we will save until later anyway:
http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/diy_main/pg_diy.jsp

Mary's brother-in-law Jerry Bacho installed a floating hardwood floor when they remodeled last winter. There are some big differences between hardwood and laminate, mostly when it comes to cutting, but the preparation is the same and the installation procedures are similar. I'm sure he will be big help to us when we start this project. Jerry? Jerry? Where are you?

The nice guy in the "Tool Corral" at OSH found us the proper circular saw blade for cutting laminate. It takes a little searching to find the right one.

Square Dancing By The Numbers, Part 3

I bid $11 on this Ebay auction earlier today:
SQUARE DANCE CALLS PIONEER FOLK 1930S-50S 5 BOOKS LOT

Ha! The auction ended at over $140. This lot included the book that started it all. No, not Pappy Shaw's Cowboy Dances, but Henry Ford's Good Morning. It also includes Dance A While, another highly-sought book that is still being published in its 9th edition, and is the classic intended for public school teachers who want to teach square dancing to their students. (Remember those good
old days?)

Good Morning is available in a number of editions and a wide range of prices on Amazon.com. So is Dance A While.

I wish the demand for old books like this translated into a burgeoning interest in square dancing. But I fear it mostly translates into my paying very high prices for old square dance books.

Club of the week: Stanford Quads

I learned to dance at a small Mainstream-level club in south San Jose. When it came time that I should learn Plus, someone in that club suggested I should try Stanford Quads. This was a club where I could not only learn Plus, but I could re-learn everything from an APD perspective. (APD stands for All Position Dancing, a mode of dancing that allows a larger repertoire of dancing formations.)

When I started at Quads in the fall of 1986, they held three introductory nights on the deck outside the student union on the Stanford campus. It was fun dancing on the cement outside, dragging unsuspecting passers-by into the squares. After the intro nights, the club danced in the Old Student Union ballroom, a wonderful room with space for about ten squares on a wood floor, barre along the side walls and mirrors on the back wall. There was also a back room with couches where dancers could relax between tips.

Quads was always a peculiar club. Their classes included many students and even some faculty. Square dance attire was never required. Early on, the club always had more men than women in attendance. This required (or allowed) men to practice dancing as women. Of course, it wouldn't be fair if women couldn't therefore also dance as men. While caller John Sybalsky faithfully taught all his classes from an APD point of view, the ability of dancers to freely swap gender roles allowed reinforcement of the principles of APD.

Many challenge-level dancers enjoyed dancing at Quads. John almost always called multiple star tips after the Plus dance, especially during the summer after the beginner class had already graduated. Star tips frequently included A1, A2, C1, and C2. On rare occasions higher-level dancers would attend, and there might be C3 or C4 star tips. I recall one occasion during my first year at Quads that a large group of strangers showed up. They wore matching t-shirts with a spiral of stars, an arrow, and a sign saying "You are here." I called them the Space People. I quickly learned that they were great dancers and they could fix any problem in my square. Years later I learned that they were C4 dancers attending an annual C4 dance nearby.

Many of the bay area's best challenge-level dancers have had some association with Stanford Quads, either having started dancing there, or having practiced advanced and challenge dancing at the star tips there.

After John Sybalsky moved here from Massachusetts around 1980, he started Stanford Quads as a club modeled after the already-successful Tech Squares of MIT. John was already a notable C4 caller who had taught a series of C3 classes before moving to the west coast. The club hosted two beginner classes during the 1983-1984 season, and has hosted a beginner class every fall since then. The class
of 2005-2006 will be 24th class. John is a thorough but patient teacher who makes sure the class members are more than well prepared for the "real world" of Plus hoedowns.

Stanford Quads had to move off the Stanford campus after the earthquake of 1989 damaged the Old Union building. Since early 1990, they've been dancing at Fairmeadow School, near East Meadow and Middlefield in Palo Alto.

In 1996, cuer John Flora started teaching and cueing rounds at Quads. After seeing the early days of jeans and t-shirts, bare feet, and cross-sex dancing, round dancing seemed an unlikely direction for the club to take. But club members took to round dancing with the same enthusiasm they had for square dancing, and soon almost everyone had learned.

The highlight of the year for Quads members is the annual hoedown, which used to take place in early June right after class graduation, but now takes place in late September just before new beginner classes start. This year's hoedown takes place September 24, 2005, at St. Andrews Methodist Church on Alma Street in Palo Alto. A fun feature of the Quads hoedown is the full hour of star tips at the end. Even if you don't dance the higher levels, they can be fun to watch. Star tips start at A1 and continue up the levels until there are not enough dancers to field a square. As far as I recall, there has been only one year that failed to field a C4 square. Of course, the hoedown now also includes John Flora cueing pre-rounds and rounds between tips.

Berlin Square Dancers Do-Si-Do to YMCA

by Mary Beth Warner, Christian Science Monitor

The normal quiet of a Sunday spring evening in the German capital was broken recently by all the whooping and hollering down at the White Rose recreation center. Lofting from the basement windows are calls of "yee-hah" and "do-si-do," as dozens of feet slide across the parquet floor.

Due to the cramped, temporary quarters, the 30-odd T-shirt and jeans-clad dancers aren't outfitted in their traditional garb, including full petticoats for the women and Western-style shirts with bolo ties for the men. About 100 people in all belong to the Berlin Swinging Bears, just one of the city's nearly dozen square dance clubs.

Square dancing was brought to Germany and other European countries by American military personnel after World War II. At first, Germans could only go to dances on US bases if they were invited by local servicemen or women. As its popularity grew, Germans began forming their own clubs.

https://www.csmonitor.com/1998/0514/051498.intl.intl.6.html

Square Dance History in the U.S.

The square dance is an American institution. It began in New England when the first settlers and the immigrant groups that followed, brought with them their various national dances, which we now call folk dances, but which were the popular dances of the day in the countries of their origin - the schottische, the quadrille, the jigs and reels and the minuet, to name a few.

After a week of toil in building new homes and carving homes out of virgin forest, the settlers would gather in the community center on Saturday evening and enjoy dancing their old-world favorites.

http://warriors.warren.k12.il.us/whitney/squaredancehistory.html

Starlite Stumblers

By George V. Schubel

It all started at the New Dancer dance hosted by the new dancer class of the Starlite Shufflers square dance club of Sacramento, California. Three club members (Joyce, Sharon and Betty) asked my wife Patty and I if we would like to join the Starlite Shufflers comedy demonstration team, the Starlite Stumblers. I knew they wore a big sack over their heads and it was sure to be hot in there. I get very hot when I dance even without a sack over my head. In fact I think most of the club members knew me as the new guy who always fans himself before they even knew my name.

To get ready for out first performance we would have five Sunday afternoon practice sessions. The first two would be in regular street clothes; the next practice would add the swim flippers. Then there would be one with the sack over my head and the flippers and the last practice would be in full costume with the sack, the jacket with the fake stuffed arms and of course the swim flippers. The large burlap sack had a face on it and the costume made you look like you were 4 feet tall.

Roy and Evelyn, past Stumblers, gave us a beautiful set of matching costumes. I could not resist trying mine on in my house. On went the flippers; over my head went the comic sack head. Inside the sack I held onto the plastic pipe that held up the sack. Patty fastened the fancy jacket with the great false arms around my waist. I tried to walk around in the house, but right off I stepped on the dog and banged into the walls a few times. No doubt about it, I was getting the hang of this. This will be a piece of cake.

http://squaredancehumor.blogspot.com/

Wheaton College lifts 143-year dance ban

Wheaton College is a Christian school that had not allowed social dancing since the war.

The Civil War.

For generations, students were barred from dancing -- on campus or off -- unless it was with members of the same sex or a square dance. It was not until the 1990s that students and faculty were permitted to dance with spouses or relatives at family events such as weddings.

Nine months ago, the school lifted the ban altogether, freeing students to cut the rug on campus or off, at Chicago clubs or other places. Under the new set of rules, called the Community Covenant, students may dance, but should avoid behavior "which may be immodest, sinfully erotic or harmfully violent."

Judging by what happened at a recent dance in the gym, meeting those criteria will not be a problem. There was no slithering going on, only students, some about as rigid as rakes, watching their feet as they tried to master some basic steps.

"They had a lot of fun, but they kind of approached it from almost an academic standpoint," said Rich Nickel, a local dance instructor who helped get the students ready for the Rhythm Rockets' lineup, which will feature such standards as "Sentimental Journey" and "Sunny Side of the Street."

All of which led one parent to remark: "They MAY dance at Wheaton. Whether they CAN dance is another question."

https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/wheaton-college-makes-history-by-holding-a-dance/article_e2e43454-b5a4-510c-a33a-5f62a9ad353a.html

URDC Top 15 Predictions 2005 - Results

Here are the actual URDC Top 15 for 2005, compared with our predictions:

Actual Top 15	Our Predictions
15 - Hola Chica 15 - Cavatina 14 - Chilly Chilly Cha* 13 - The Old House* 11 - Java Jive 11 - Jack Is Back 9 - Sleeping Beauty 9 - Orient Express 6 - Adeline 6 - Boulavogue* 6 - Beyond 5 - Smoke Gets In Your Eyes 4 - Beale Street Blues 3 - Jurame 2 - Papillon 1 - And I Love You So	Adeline All That Jazz And I Love You So Beale Street Blues Begin To Color Me Boom Boom Cavatina Chilly Chilly Cha Dark Waltz I'm Still Me Jack Is Back Jurame Liebestraum No. 3 Orient Express Papillon Sleeping Beauty Symphony Warm and Willing

* Denotes dances that are new in the Top 15 this year.

We were able to predict 8 of the 16 dances selected.

Our performance this year was poor. Last year we were able to predict 14 of the Top 15, missing only Beale Street Blues. The new dances are the hardest to predict. In 2003 we were able to predict 13 of the Top 15.

Hola Chica and Smoke Gets In Your Eyes also ranked high on our lists, but not quite high enough.

URDC Report #4

Did we guess that "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" would be in the Top 15? If not, then Al and I really have egg on our faces. The #1 dance was "And I Love You So," which surprised no one.

Today I met Anita Froehlich, who posts occasionally to the list. She saw my emails and sent me a personal message to look for her. We didn't talk a lot, but she doesn't appear so shy in person as she does on the list. I also met a lurker by the name of Erwin (sorry, it's late and I can't remember your last name) who offered to help me with Mac problems. Erwin, speak up! Also, I neglected to mention previously that I talked several times with Vanessa Otto, a dancer from southern California who I see frequently at dances all over California.

I counted 6 couples here from the San Jose, California area and 4 couples from Sacramento, but the Sac-ites corrected me and said there are 7 couples from their area. With 26 northern Californians here and untold others from southern California, we were disappointed that Kay didn't include us when he recounted the attendance from states and countries who sent the most attendees.

Kay has his hands full with other things right now, as Joy fell during this evening's dance and apparently injured her (other) wrist. Joy, you are in our prayers tonight!

Several teachers who met Daisuke Doi this week were surprised to find that he has been attending URDC conventions annually since 1998. But they didn't really know who he was until this year. Both CRDA and NCRDTA have selected his dances as ROMs recently. Maybe we'll see one of those dances in the Top 15 someday?

Today we learned a difficult West Coast Swing, "Draggin' The Line" by Randy and Marie Preskitt, with music by the same name from Tommy James and the Shondells, vintage 1972 or so. The dance is only a Phase V but was confusing for those of us not yet experts at WCS. The dance is ultimately rewarding because the choreography fits the music so well.

We happened to line up right next to Bill and Olga Cibula to dance their "Hey Mambo," a dance we unfortunately do not know. At least we had someone knowledgeable to watch when we got lost!

Mary's back problems eased up considerably today after icing last night. We were able to dance anything we wanted to tonight and with reasonable form and flexibility. We were even able to dance Bill Goss's waltz. It was during the workshop of this waltz that Mary's back went wonky. No refection on the dance ... Mary's back doesn't like the "standing around" and "looking circles" that happen during a dance teach.

A friend of mine who grew up in San Antonio but now lives in our area suggested that we eat at a certain Mexican restaurant here. But she said to call first and make sure it's still there because the last time she ate there was 12 years ago! Well, Karam's Mexican dining room is still here and going strong after 58 years! The food, service and ambiance were wonderful. They gave us all the information we needed to order around our food allergies. They had a wonderful guitar band who played the whole time we were there. They played "La Paloma," "Cuando Calienta El Sol," and other favorites. Most had a rumba rhythm and I tried to get Mary to dance with no success. Karam's is at the corner of Commerce and Zarzamora in San Antonio, and we highly recommend it.

I just discovered something funny. My Mac screen is updating while I write this email. So I checked and our hotel room at the Alamo Travelodge has wireless internet. All week I've been dragging the computer down to the Menger Hotel to use their wireless access, and it was totally unnecessary. This week has been a comedy of errors in many ways.

URDC Report #3

The HOF dance for 2005 is Boulavogue, a beautiful waltz by Richard Lamberty. A board member had mentioned to me that the choice of HOF might be surprising to some. Not to me; I love the dance. But it has apparently never been in the top 15 before, so maybe to some it appeared to come from out of left field.

Did we guess that Sleeping Booty, Boulavogue, or Beyond might be in the Top 15? If not, then we sure missed by a mile. This is apparently Boulavogue's first time in the Top 15. I don't have all the records with me, but you can check the web site.

I managed to apologize about this afternoon's confrontation and hopefully all ruffled feathers are smoothed over. We've been able to do a few slow dances tonight despite back problems. Now if I
can just get the problems with our hotel room fixed I will believe in miracles. I can't be that hard to please, eh?

Tonight Tim Eum managed to hook me up with Bob Benjamin, a delightful man. We hope to talk more tomorrow.

URDC Report #2

Our backs haven't been cooperating with us today. We went to the teach for Bill and Carol Goss's waltz "Try To Remember" but we couldn't do it, despite the fact that we knew 95% of the figures. We decided to try an easier dance in the afternoon, since Kenji and Nobuko Shibata's mambo "Tequila" seemed way out of reach of our frail bodies. We did Tim and Debby Vogt's beautiful Bolero "My Heart Will Go On" instead. We just barely made it through Chris and Terri Cantrell's cha "Una Manana,", which came next.

The Tango we learned yesterday was "Don Diego," by Brent and Judy Moore.

I also failed to mention that we met Roy and Janet Williams. We still have not hooked up with Bob Benjamin.

The San Antonio convention center has the best dance floor we have ever been on. Why they don't hold the dance here more often is beyond me. The weather here is warm and humid, but not hot and not nearly as humid as Ohio, Virginia, or New York, other places that I've danced in summers past. There have been some thunderstorms but all at night or during a dance session, not while traipsing back and forth between hotel and convention center. The fallout from Hurricane Emily gave us some rain during yesterday afternoon's session, then was quickly gone.

Our only complaint thus far is that after the afternoon session today, they locked us out of the main hall for about fifteen minutes while practicing the hall of fame dance, which must remain a big secret.
Unfortunately, our street shoes (and those of several other couples) were locked in that room and we couldn't leave the building for that time. This only delayed the process of our getting ice onto our aching backs in the hotel room.

Everyone here has been exceptionally gracious, except of course me, who went ballistic at the aforementioned shoe episode. Mary says I seem to be on the warpath today.

There has been some private discussion of the HOF dance. Someone noted that Kenji and Nobuko's "Beyond" was on last year's ballot but not on this year's ballot. Others have noted that the time allotted for the HOF presentation is long, bringing speculation that there might be two dances in a tie.

After tonight we'll know the HOF dance and the more of the Top 10 dances but not yet the Top 5. They always save the best (and the most obvious) until last.

I have a new PowerBook and I'm trying to use it instead of the MiniDisk to record all the dances. Unfortunately, although I'm quite familiar with Macs, I'm not familiar with the new notebooks. Unknown to me, I recorded several hours of dancing from the internal microphone instead of the audio cable. All told I lost about 1/3 of the convention dancing and 1/3 of the new dances being presented. That's frustrating.

If I can dance all I wish tonight without hurting my back and Mary's, make it to review sessions of dances we didn't quite "get" while at the same time staying in the room and icing our backs, complain to "management" while simultaneously apologizing to innocent others who bore my wrath earlier today, get good sound recordings while not dropping my computer again, and meet all the Weavers who are supposedly here but who I will never recognize, then miracles truly can happen.

Quick report from URDC

We are sitting in the lobby of the Menger Hotel, which has wireless internet access.

We have met several Weavers, including Joe and Pat Hilton, Jack and Sue Lane, Tim and Nana Eum (whose name is not pronounced the way it is spelled), and the wonderful Daisuke and Tamae Doi, who gave us a gift of a wonderful gilt plate with a Japanese scene.

Tim gave me a "W" button. It is for the mailing list, not for our president. Tim tells me Bob Benjamin is here, but I have not met him yet. One other couple, I can't remember who right now. It is late.

We learned a difficult Tango by Brent and Judy Moore this afternoon.

Al and I messed up the Top 15 terribly. Already Java Jive and The Old House are in the Top 15. We have not yet seen the Top 10. Those will happen tomorrow and Friday nights.

There are several couples here from California.

We took a wonderful road trip from California to Texas. Lots more about that later.

Most Popular Round Dances of 2004-2005

Every year in July, just before URDC, I post the most popular 100 dances of the previous twelve months. This according to my count of how many times each dance has been done or been on a request list for any festival that I know about.

The purpose of this list is to let me know which dances I want to work on if I want to be able to dance the most at an upcoming festival.

The following dances have been on the list all four years 2002-2005:

Adeline
All That Jazz
Am I Blue
Amapola
And I Love You So
Bard, The
Begin To Color Me
Beyond
Boulavogue
Cavatina
Children, The
Doolittle Cha
Falling Into You
Fiesta Tango
Fortuosity
Hola Chica
Java Jive
Jean
Kiss Me Goodbye Rumba
Laurann
London By Night
Mujer
Papillon
Patricia Cha
Sam's Song
Sleeping Beauty
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
Sunflower
Symphony
Tampa Jive
Tango Capriccioso
Through Your Eyes
Tonight
Wounded Heart
Wyoming Lullaby

The following dances are brand new this year:

A La Playa
Anastasia
And That Reminds Me
Boom Boom
Chilly Chilly Cha
Close Every Door
Dark Waltz
Five Guys Named Moe
Gotta Get on this Train
I Do I Do I Do
Just Another Woman in Love
Knock On Wood
Libertango
Look At Me I'm Sandra Dee
Looking Through Your Eyes
On and On
Rhythm of My Heart
Right Here Waiting
Scheherazade
Starlight Express
Take A Bow
This Is The Life
Waltz In Heaven, A
Way You Do, The
You Forget

-

In a separate article, I've posted predictions for the URDC Top 15
based on the figures that created this list.

Oregon honors square dance leader on state quarter

by Hugh Noes, Staff Correspondent

The state of Oregon has selected the portrait of a famous square dancer to appear on their state quarter. They are doing so to celebrate the return of the National Square Dance Convention to Portland on June 22, 2005. The state quarter is being released on June 15.

Thanks to a generous donation by the Portland Oregon Visitor's Association, the NSDC will be able to share this piece of Oregon with registered delegates. Each registration packet will contain one Oregon quarter, along with a brief explanatory note card.

Most state quarter fans look at the wrong side of the coin, the side where bureaucrats use Powerpoint to combine clip-art images of flags, banjos, and birds into insufferable montages of state symbols. In the case of the Oregon quarter, this side consists of a rendering of Crater Lake. This drawing, while better than average for the state quarter series, is really a depiction of a big hole in the ground. This is hardly as scenic as ... um, well ... trying to think of a more scenic Oregon location but coming up blank. Back to that later.

Still, Oregon had the hindsight to select for the "other" side of the coin the greatest influence on square dancing this country has ever known.

Few are aware that the "Father of our Country," and our first President, George "Pappy" Washington, was also the one who introduced square dancing into America. After the revolution, he wanted to create a dance form that combined the Schottishes and Quadrilles of the old country, but put a uniqely American stamp on them that would establish the new country's dance identity.

Washington's success was evident in the summer dances he hosted on the large lawn that would eventually become the National Mall. (This was before the Washington Monument was built, of course.) The dances were well attended, and sometimes the hotels could not accommodate the large crowds. In those cases, the President would open the Lincoln Bedroom and other White House facilities for use by the square dancers.

Schwarzenegger asks for special election in support of support square dancing

By Jerry Manders, Disassociated Press Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger went on television statewide Monday to call a rare special election Nov. 8 and ask voters to stop the scourge of gerry-allemanding that has plagued the state for decades.

Gerry-allemanding is a form of redistricting that attempts to put certain undesirables such as square dancers, boy scouts, and Baptists together in the same electoral districts, while putting other undesirables such as movie stars, lawyers, and Congregationalists in other districts.

This ensures that certain districts are easily won by candidates of the Moral Retards party, while other districts are easily won by the Holier Than Thou party. The end result is that incumbent candidates retain their offices indefinitely, or until three strikes or term limits bar them from office.

Square dancers have long complained that gerry-allemanding puts them in districts where the local schools would rather rent space to anti-war demonstrators, drag queens, and tree huggers than to the local square dance club, which would like to put on a wholesome dance.

For example, Stanford Quads, a decidedly left-handed club, has always had difficultly finding a place to dance in a right-wing district.

By outlawing the plague of gerry-allemanding, Schwarzenegger hopes to give square dancers, ham radio operators, and gun owners much more freedom to practice their crazy hobbies.

Michael Jackson to take up square dancing

By Tennessee "Arkie Okie" Slim, Disassociated Press

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - After a jury acquitted Michael Jackson of all charges on Monday, the embattled entertainer announced that he now intends to take up square dancing as a hobby. Experts have always affirmed that square dancing is a great stress reliever. Jackson spent several days over the last two weeks in emergency rooms with various stress-related ailments.

"I heard that when you go out square dancing, you can take four different people home in just ten minutes," Jackson said, a practice he described as "sweet and not at all sexual."

Screams of joy rang out among a throng of fans outside the courthouse. Fans  jumped up and down, hugged each other and threw confetti in celebration of the news.

Some have described Jackson as a humanitarian who wanted to protect kids and give them the life he never had while growing up as a child star. By joining a local central California family square dance club, the "Blue Tail Flies," Jackson hopes to continue being a positive influence on children.

Jackson decided to take part in square dancing because he hoped it would help his image after years of eccentric behavior that included transforming his face through plastic surgery. But not all agreed this would have the intended effect.

Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon sat with his head in his hands. "Square dancing
has always attracted its share of weirdos, and Michael Jackson certainly fits  right in."

The singer's record label, Epic, has not indicated whether Jackson will record a country album.

Club of the week: Sunnyvale Singles

Single Squares of Sunnyvale is one of the largest square dance clubs in the Santa Clara Valley. Six to seven squares dance weekly on Thursday nights at the Murphy Park clubhouse in Sunnyvale. Dancing starts with one half hour of pre-rounds at 7:30, cued by Jim Chico, followed by six or seven tips of Plus level dancing from 8:00 until 10:00, called by Jake Shimada.

Club History

Sunnyvale Singles started in 1957. According to a former member, the club was started by a group of single ballroom dancers. Past callers include Brad Bradford, Bill Davis, Gary Carnes, Scot Slocum, and Ken Carroll. The club has had round dancing from the very beginning. Past cuers include Barbara Bradford, Jim Turner, Larry Segal, and Craig Rice.

The group has had more than 3000 members over the years. The Sweethearts list alone has 492 names of those who married other club members. (This does not include club members who married class members.)

The club has danced at a number of locations, but mainly at Ellis School in Sunnyvale in the 60's and 70's, and Blackford High School in San Jose in the 80's and early 90's.

Former members include callers Ken Kenmille, Jay Klassen, and Ben Goldberg, and cuers Jim Turner, Larry Segal, and Craig Rice.

Past President Joe Carboni says that in the late 80's and early 90's the club had about 400 members, and was considered the largest singles club in the USA. Current membership is about 80 people. The only other valley club of comparable size is nearby Palo Alto club Bows and Beaus.

Beginner Classes

The club also hold classes weekly on Tuesday nights at the same location. Roger Smith is the class teacher. The club runs three beginner classes every year, starting in September, January, and May. Classes last eight months, so each new group overlaps and interacts with the previous group and the next group. One group learns Mainstream from 7:00-8:30 pm, and the second group learns Plus from 8:30-10:00 pm, in separate sessions on the same evening. Plus class members are encouraged to assist with the Mainstream class. This gives them a refresher on the previous calls.

Josie Baumgarner says the new class format works well because class members often bring their friends to the next class and do not have to wait a year. They can become angels to their friends. Also if a person has to miss and can't keep up, they can restart in a short time. The classes also get many people who danced before and do not want to start from the beginning. They can start with the phase 2 class and pick up their dancing skill fast to rejoin the club.

Annual Hoedowns

Sunnyvale Singles sponsors three special hoedowns every year. Spring Fling, a September-level newer dancer hoedown, is held every year in March. The Strawberry Festival is a Plus-level dance held every June. Cactus Jack is a Plus-level dance held every November.

The group also holds other special dances. The largest is the Sweetheart dance held every February near Valentine's Day. On this special club night, former members who met in the club and have
married are invited to return for a grand party. This evening forms a kind of reunion for many former club members, and out come the photo albums going back 30 years or more.

A Place For Singles

The club membership consists of single dancers, but they invite all dancers, single or married, to join them every Thursday evening in Sunnyvale for grand evening of dancing.

With a smile, Joe Carboni says Sunnyvale Singles is an ideal place for singles to meet, dance, and have fun in a friendly atmosphere, but it has one drawback, you must learn to square dance.

Board member Ellie Wierenga says the club schedules monthly non-dancing social events. These might include potlucks, rafting trips, whale watching, theater plays, ball games and anything else that might be of interest to members and friends.

Strawberry Fesival

This year, the Strawberry Festival takes place on Saturday June 11, 2005. Eric Henerlau is calling the squares, and Jim Chico is cueing the rounds.

Bible Illiteracy in America

by David Gelernter, The Weekly Standard

A report just issued by the Bible Literacy Project suggests that young Americans know very little about the Bible. The report is important, but first things first: A fair number of Americans don't see why teenagers should know anything at all about the Bible.

America's earliest settlers came in search of religious freedom, to escape religious persecution--vitally important facts that Americans tend increasingly to forget.

Most historians look to the British and Continental philosophers of the Enlightenment, Locke especially, as the major intellectual influence on America's Founding Fathers and revolutionary generation. Yet the Bible itself, straight up, was the most important revolutionary text of all. Consider the seal of the United States designed by a committee of the Continental Congress consisting of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson. Their proposed seal shows Israel crossing the Red Sea, with the motto "Rebellion to kings is obedience to God."

Teachers don't necessarily believe that Bible literacy has declined in recent decades. They describe a complex picture; naturally, individuals differ. (One teacher said that "Pentecostal kids or religious Muslim kids" seem better-informed than the others.)

The article also has an excellent summary of American history, and the history of the English bible.

https://www.weeklystandard.com/david-gelernter/bible-illiteracy-in-america

Progress Report

I saw the surgeon again the last week of April. At our February appointment, he noticed signs of bone loss. Now he says things look much better and he's no longer worried. He says I can take up just about any exercise except jogging.

(Apparently I misheard him in February when I thought he said jogging would be good. Mary correctly remembered that he had specifically ruled out jogging then, as he did again in April.)

He especially suggested that I get back on my bicycle, or continue to use the stationary bicycle. He also says that just about anything at the gym is OK, as long as I take time to warm up first.

Mary and I attended the Silver State dancing festival in Reno on May 7. This was the first time we tried to round dance. Our rationale was that if I was unable to round dance, we could still square dance. I did not have any problems with my hip. The only problem we had was a lack of stamina. We slept in Sunday and came home instead of dancing the final sessions.

I went to the gym on May 5. I started with the treadmill, like usual, but I also did the 360s (walking sideways and backwards) like we did in physical therapy. Also some stationary bicycle. I was unable to do the stairmaster, again due to lack of stamina. This is always a problem when I start exercising again after a hiatus.

I was able to do lots of weight machines but I started really low. Also, the physical therapist suggested that I do about 50% more reps with the bad leg; in practice I did alternating sets of both legs together, then just the left leg, for five sets total instead of the usual three.

We hope to start dancing again soon with a class to build up our stamina. We hope to spend a week at McCloud, possibly in June but probably in August.

A Shocking Experience

We had an interesting tip at Silver State in Reno last weekend. We took an hour out of round dancing to dance in the A2 hall. We were right in the front. Bronc Wise was calling. We were dancing with Wayne and Donna and two other couples we did not know.

The floor was some kind of rubber material. Mary and I were wearing our round dance shoes. (Since the entire hotel is carpeted, it was easy to put on dance shoes in the room, then go anywhere we wanted, including the restaurants.)

Anyway, I found that we were getting shocks from each other while we square danced. Or more accurately, everyone was getting shocks from me (and from whoever I had most recently touched). Figuring that the round dance shoes were a problem, I took them off. One at a time. While Bronc was calling and we were dancing. 

It didn't help. It made things worse. We almost started dancing "no hands." I figured the socks were the problem. So I took them off. Again while dancing. Bronc never missed a beat and neither did our square, but I was rushing to catch up for a few calls.

Now things were impossible! The shocks were the worst! What could I do? We were all laughing and screaming at the same time. No one wanted to touch me. Now the hard part. I decided to put the shoes back on, but there was no time to put on the socks first. I got one shoe on, still dancing, carrying the other shoe with me. I couldn't get it on. Dancing with one shoe on, one shoe half on, both laces untied.

But this solved the problem ... no more shocks. Don't ask me to explain why. Polyester socks, maybe?

I guess it wasn't that bad. One of the couples had so much fun they got in our next square ... which wasn't nearly as exciting, but still fun.

Club of the week: Lucky Steppers

The Lucky Steppers square dance club has been a fixture on the square dance scene since 1958. They meet in Santa Cruz on Thursday nights. The club is well known for hosting a series of slab dances in Ben Lomond (in the Santa Cruz mountains) every summer.

According to club president DeAnne Alcorn, the club started when one of the charter members was going stir crazy with two kids at home, and her husband needed to learn to have fun. They knew and contacted Harold Furlong, who was a young, avid dancer and caller. They got a group together and after 15 weeks were declared accomplished square and round dancers.

Harold Furlong called for about ten years, after which Ernie Trimpey called for a short time. Harold Fleeman has been calling for the club since 1967, which might make him the longest-lasting caller in the area.

The club currently has about 30 members. They try to hold a beginner class every year, which is not always easy. In a situation that has become increasingly typical, last year they had several false starts before getting a full square of beginners. The club accepts all beginners, of any age, singles or couples. The club is always supportive of the newer dancers. Caller Harold Fleeman and several dancers attended the Sunnyvale Singles Spring Fling newer dancer hoedown recently.

Thursday evening club nights start with a round dance teach by Sue and Phil Harris. The remainder of the evening is split between the square dance teach and club-level dancing.

Lucky Steppers hosts several dances every year. In July and August they host the popular series of slab dances in Ben Lomond. These include the club's anniversary dance in July, and a special A2 level dance in August. In 2005, the anniversary dance takes place on July 23, and the other dances take place on each of the four Saturday evenings in August.

The club also invites everyone to their annual Toy Dance, this year to be held Thursday, December 1, 2005. All proceeds go to the Salvation Army.

During the class season, Lucky Steppers sponsors a September-level newer dancer hoedown and a January-level hoedown. This year, the January class hoedown takes place on May 7, 2005 at John Muir School in San Jose.

http://www.mixed-up.com/lucky/

Square Dancing By The Numbers, Part 2

History of Square Dance Clubs

Trying to find information about local square dancing history on the internet can be frustrating. It's a question of economics. Why would a square dance club waste time and energy on fostering a sense of
history, when they could be putting that same energy into promotion of new classes, new methods, and new ideas?

The SCVSDA web site, which covers my local area, has online a copy of their original 1958 bylaws. This document lists the 20-some charter member clubs of the association. Unfortunately, only four of those clubs still exist today. Two of them will merge into one club at the first of May, and one is now a part of the NCSDA organization instead. This leaves, as of May 1, 2005, only two clubs remaining from the original 20 charter members.

This is a sad situation, but it really doesn't say a lot about the state of square dancing. Clubs come and go, merge and split, change levels and affiliations, and change their names. It may very well be that some of SCVSDA's "lost" charter member clubs still exist under different names. A chronicle of square dance history would answer those questions. The fact that these clubs have been "lost" does not spell the demise of square dancing but a merely our poverty of good record-keeping.

The NCSDA web site lists dates for many of their member clubs. It is not clear whether these dates represent the founding dates of the clubs or the dates when they joined the association. For the purposes of this article, I assume that it doesn't matter. But NCSDA has done a little of the good record-keeping for us. Hooray!

The table below shows some dates when square dancing clubs or organizations were formed in California. The first California association appears to be the *Western Square Dance Association,* which is one of several associations that now cover the Los Angeles area. Perhaps not coincidentally, this happened at about the time that some historians say square dancing was considered a nationwide "fad" about to disappear. Unfortunately for the prognosticators, square dancing was still yet to enter its heyday. In 1948, Ed Gilmore was just getting started with his "new style" of square dancing that replaced the traditional "visiting" style of pre-choreographed routines with "hash" that was choreographed and called on the fly. Many of these clubs that formed in the late 1940s and early 1950s presumably used the old "visiting" style of dancing, where couple #1 interacts first with couple #2, then with couple #3, and on around the square. Ed Gilmore was based in southern California, and it's not likely that the new "hash" style of dancing spread into northern California that quickly.

The Earliest Clubs in California

Gilroy Gliders celebrated their 50th anniversary hoedown in 1999, which places their inception around 1949. This makes them the oldest California square dance club still existing today. At least according to the meager information available to me. Goldancers in Nevada City followed the next year. Why would the earliest clubs be in rural places like Gilroy and Nevada City? Again, there were many other clubs forming around this time, but for most of them either records were not kept, or the clubs do not survive to today.

The California Square Dance Council was formed in 1950 as an association of southern California square dance clubs, but as more associations were formed in other areas, by 1958 they had taken on the role of an umbrella organization to facilitate communication among the other associations.

The Northern California Square Dance Association (NCSDA) was the first square dance association in this general area, formed in 1951. Associated Square Dancers of Superior California (ASDSC), which covers the Sacramento area, came a couple of years later. The Santa Clara Valley Square Dancers Association (SCVSDA) came relatively late, in 1958. I tentatively date the Valley Associated Square Dancers (VASD) at around the same time, because the first Squar-Rama was held in 1958.

Meanwhile, the first National Square Dance Convention was held in Riverside in 1951. This indicates the extreme popularity of square dancing at this early date. It also shows that 1951was probably close to the pivotal time when square dancing tilted definitively towards the new "hash" style of calling. And finally, it shows the importance of southern California in the growth of the new square dance movement. Most of the new "hash" callers and "sight" callers came out of southern California.

Heyday

It should be obvious from the table that the 1950s and 1960s were the heyday of square dancing. To my mind, this explains more than anything the emphasis on 1950s-type attire even today. To try to explain this emphasis on 1950s US pop culture in terms of the French affection for flowing skirts when doing Quadrilles is evasive at best. That might explain petticoats, but what about snap buttons? The western style was popular during the 1930s and 1940s, in music, clothing, children's toys, and other facets of pop culture. Call it a romanticization of the dust bowl and Route 66. Call it a reaction against the flappers of the 1920s and the ostentatiousness of the Gatsbys. Petticoats came along later, in the 1950s.

Specialty Clubs

There's no question that the formation of new square dance clubs fell off dramatically in the 1970s and has not regained its momentum since. But the record has an interesting pattern. Since 1969, starting with Silver Buckles, almost all of the new clubs were specialty clubs of one kind or another: youth, singles, family, gay, and handicapable.

The first gay square dance clubs were started in the late 1970s, and in the early 1980s they came to California (and everywhere else). Western Star was the first club in the state, in 1982, followed only two years later by the formation of the national association (later international).

The formation of clubs for these specialty groups may show that the 1950s pop culture is losing its grip on the future of square dancing. There is no question that the future of square dancing lies with these kinds of groups. This is evident in the very nature of these groups. The couples clubs of the 1950s by definition exclude singles, gay people, and children. But most singles clubs allow couples to dance, most gay clubs allow straight people to dance, and most youth clubs positively encourage parents and families to attend.

The most promising new type of club is the club for "families." These generally encourage anyone to attend - singles, couples, youth, and entire families. Some even accommodate small children.

The Future of Square Dancing

In general, the future of square dancing lies with the younger people. Any club where a youngster can learn to dance is a club that has a future and contributes to the future of square dancing. Whether these be family or youth clubs is not important.

Also, the gay clubs tend to have a younger membership than the straight clubs, so their influence on the square dancing of the future may be larger than we might otherwise expect.

What is interesting is that square dancing, an icon and purveyor of 1950s pop culture, is evolving into something more inclusive and is adapting to changing societal conditions. An activity that was designed for young petticoated-and-snap-buttoned couples has evolved to meet the needs of singles, then youth, then families, then gay people, and most recently the handicapable.

Who knows which group will rise up next to carry the torch of square dancing? Maybe square dancing is even ready for the public schools again.

Appendix: Square Dance Clubs sorted by start date

1940s

1948 : WSDA, Los Angeles area Association
1949 : Gilroy Gliders

1950s : 27

1950 : Goldancers, Nevada City
1950 : Caper Cutters, San Francisco
1950 : California Square Dance Council (Association)

1951 : Jokers, San Jose
1951 : NCSDA, San Francisco-Oakland area Association
1951 : Gingham Squares, San Francisco
1952 : First National SD convention, Riverside

1954 or 1958 : Lucky Steppers, Santa Cruz
1954 : ASDSC, Sacramento area Association
1954 : Concord Stompers
1954 : Funsters, West Covina (LA)
1954 : Circle N Square, Yreka
1954 : Dudes & Daisies, Mount Shasta

1955 : Rafter Rockers, San Jose
1957 : Spinning Wheels, Los Altos
1957 : Sunnyvale Singles
1957 : Clutch Busters, Pleasant Hill

1958 : SCVSDA, San Jose area Association
1958 : Clodhoppers, San Mateo
1958 : Krazy Dazys, San Jose
1958 : Tulare Squar-Rama Association - VASD
1958 : Gadabouts, San Jose

1959 : Sacramento Singles
1959 : Ripsnorters, Walnut Creek
1959 : Pals & Sals, Vacaville
1959 : Pioneer Squares, San Bruno
1959 : Square Hoppers, San Jose

1960s : 15

1961 : Farmers & Farmerettes, Fremont
1962 : Katydids, San Jose

1963 : Martinez Swingers
1963 : Bows and Beaus, Mountain View (Singles)
1963 : Forty Niners, Daly City
1963 : Konocti Kickers, Clear Lake
1963 : Mavericks, Sacramento

1964 : Twin City Steppers, Vacaville
1964 : Clear Lake Squares
1964 : BnB, San Jose (Singles)

1966 : Keeway Swingers, Fremont
1967 : Skirts & Flirts, San Leandro
1967 : Cable Car Squares, Daly City

1968 : Roadrunners, San Mateo (Couples and singles)
1969 : Silver Buckles, San Jose (Youth)

1970s : 7

1970 : Sundowners, Sacramento (Family)
1971 : Adobe Squares, Petaluma (Family)
1972 : Diablo Singles & Doubles, Concord (Singles)
1974 : San Francisco B&B's (Singles)
1975 : Ranchero Squares, Dublin
1978 : Tam Twirlers, Marin County (Family)
1979 : Overalls, Sacramento (Family)

1980s : 10

1982 : Western Star Dancers, San Francisco (Gay)
1982 : Diablo Dancers, Concord (Gay)
1983 : Stanford Quads, Palo Alto (Couples, Singles, Families, and Youth)
1983 : Foggy City Dancers, San Francisco (Gay)
1983 : Capital City Squares, Sacramento (Gay)

1984 : IAGSDC (Gay association)
1985 : El Camino Reelers, Palo Alto (Gay)
1986 : Pleasanton Singles & Pairs (Singles)
1989 : Swinging 21ers, Fremont (Family)
1989 : Golden State Squares, Santa Ana (Gay)

1990s : 6

1993 : Delta Squares, Oakley
1994 : Patchwork Squares, Sacramento
1995 : Guys and Dolls, Sacramento (Handicapable)
1996 : Shoreline Squares, Long Beach (Gay)
1996 : Can-Do-Its, Fremont (Handicapable)
1998 : Empire Squares, Riverside (Gay)

Syntax Error

Washington Post, Associated Press
By Robert MacMillan, Washington Post Staff Writer

The  Associated Press reported that three graduate students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed a computer program that generates fake research papers loaded with ridiculous gobbledygook -- and got one of the resulting papers accepted at a conference.

"The program, developed by Jeremy Stribling, Max Krohn and Dan Aguayo, generated a paper with the dumbfounding title: 'Rooter: A Methodology for the Typical Unification of Access Points and Redundancy,'" the AP reported. "Its introduction begins: 'Many scholars would agree that, had it not been for active networks, the simulation of Lamport clocks might never have occurred.'"

The program takes its cue from the Mad Libs books that some of us grew up with. It uses sentences from real papers, but fills in blank spots with random gems stolen from academia.

Stribling told the AP that the idea was to expose the conference "as being willing to publish any paper regardless of whether it's been peer-reviewed, which is kind of a dangerous precedent to set."

Here's a sample of what got by the conference reviewers, as posted at Blogcritics.org: "Many physicists would agree that, had it not been for congestion control, the evaluation of web browsers might never have occurred. In fact, few hackers worldwide would disagree with the essential unification of voice-over-IP and public-private key pair. In order to solve this riddle, we confirm that SMPs can be made stochastic, cacheable, and interposable."

MIT prankster Stribling told the AP that the episode highlights a continuing problem in the scientific world: "conferences with low standards that pander to academics looking to pad their resumes [and] harm the reputations of more reputable gatherings."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6622-2005Apr21.html

Clubs of the week: Rafter Rockers and Jokers

The Rafter Rockers club will be celebrating their 50th anniversary in April, 2005. They dance on Wednesday evenings in Campbell. Caller Gary Carnes will be retiring at the end of April.

Rafter Rockers will merge with the Jokers starting May 1, 2005. The new club name will be Rockin' Jokers.

Club History

The Rafter Rockers Club was organized in 1955 by Jack and Neva Johannes, with Neva as the first club caller. Callers through the years include:

• Neva Johannes (1955-1967)
• Herb Jackson (1967-1974)
• Bob Tripp (1974-1980)
• Ken Kenmille (1980-2000)
• Gary Carnes (2000-2005)

The club started with 17 couples but grew to about 30 couples during the 1960's. They eventually reached nearly 100 couples and maintained that level through much of the 1980's and 1990's.

Activities

Rafter Rockers has a rich history of social activities that have continued to the present time. These activities have included campouts, picnics, mystery trips, theater parties, progressive dinners, house tours, sailing on the bay, hiking, whale watching, ice cream socials, and more. The Club has also been very active in supporting square dancing. In addition to attendance and participation at local hoedowns, these activities have included membership for many years in SCVSDA, participation in festivals and special events such as the Jubilee, Winterfest, Silver State, Napa, and the Nationals at Anaheim and Portland, and demonstrating square dancing at the Fair and other locations.

The Club has also been involved in many charitable activities over the years. These have included, a Rafter Rocker booth at the De Anza Flea Market to raise money for the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Marathon, volunteer nights at Second Harvest Food Bank, and annual visits to (and performance at) local convalescent homes.

Rafter Rockers sponsors the Circus Circus hoedown every year in April. This year, the dance will take place on April 9, 2005 at John Muir School in south San Jose.

Jokers

The Jokers square dance club also dances on Wednesday nights in Campbell. The club started dancing in October 1951 an unfinished store in the Quito Shopping Center. The first caller was Johnny White. Callers through the years include:

• Johnny White (1951-1978)
• Dick Lawrence (1978-1980)
• Johnny Robertson (1981-1982)
• Kip Garvey (1983-1987)
• Scott Slocum (1987-1990, 1992-1996)
• Doug Davis (1991-1992)
• Gary Carnes (1996-2000)
• Bob Elling (2000-2003)
• Roger Smith (2003-present)

The Jokers sponsor the Hawaiian Luau hoedown every year in May. This year, the dance will take place on May 21, 2005 at John Muir School.

Rockin' Jokers

Gary Carnes is retiring at the end of April. Roger Smith will be the caller for the new Rockin' Jokers club. The new club will be a great place to dance, and they hope to have 8 to 10 squares dancing.

The new Rockin' Jokers will dance at the American Legion Hall in Campbell where the Jokers now meet. Allen Glesser, the current Jokers president, will continue as president of the new club starting May 1. Rockin' Jokers will hold elections in the fall.

The Rockin' Jokers will continue to sponsor the Circus Circus hoedown and the Luau hoedown.

http://www.rockinjokers.com

Club of the week: Bows and Beaus

Bows and Beaus is a large club that meets in Palo Alto. Although it began as a singles club, today it is fairly evenly divided between singles and couples. Both singles and couples are welcome.

Club History

The club started in 1963. The original caller, Jerry denBroeder, gathered some folks in the carport at his apartment house so he could practice calling.  Later the group arranged for the club to dance in Mountain View public schools. The club continued to dance in the Whisman School District until this year when it moved to the *Covenant Presbyterian Church* in Palo Alto.

Club callers include:

• Jerry denBroeder (1963-1979)
• Honey Wolfson (1979-1982)
• Doug Saunders (1983-1984)
• Don Lewis (1984-1987)
• Keith Ferguson (1987-present)

The club has bbout 90 members, almost all of which are "active." They generally have about 6-7 squares dancing on a club dance night.

In 1987, when present caller Keith Ferguson took the reins, the club had about 18 members.
Even with the growth of the club from 18 members in 1987 to its present size it has always strived to maintain a friendly atmosphere. Keith has been voted one of the Top Ten callers by members of the SCVSDA and especially enjoys teaching newer dancers.

Beginner Classes

The club holds a beginner class every year. This year they are using the "multi-cycle" approach: one class started last January and another will start on May 2.  They welcome both singles and couples. The class is held on a separate night than the club so more time is available. The class always gets excellent support from the club members.

Keith says, "Beginner classes are absolutely essential to the health of a club! The continuous
stream of new dancers is vital to the enthusiasm of the club.

"We teach our classes using the LISST method, which interleaves the Mainstream and Plus calls giving dancers more experience with the type of dancing actually encountered in the real world -- the more frequently used and more complex calls are taught earlier so our graduates can really hit the road running."

Activities

The club sponsors the Ice Cream Fling Thing every year. They also sponsor one or two newer dancer hoedowns each year and the club has many other social events for its members. They invite former members to a special Alumni Night every February.

This year, they sponsor the upcoming January class level newer dancer hoedown to be held on April 2, 2005 at John Muir School in San Jose.

The second Wednesday of each month is party night.  The third Wednesday is fun night with a special theme -- those participating in the theme (announced in the newsletter) are eligible for a mystery gift drawing. The club also participates in Fifth Wednesday parties with other Wednesday clubs.

The club is really focused on dancing!  Breaks between tips are short, and squares often form even before the caller gets back to the stage! Very few folks sit out during the tips -- people come to dance.

One of the "secrets" of the club's success is that each evening starts with a half hour workshop.  The caller believes that a distinguishing feature of Western Square Dancing is that it exercises both the mind and the body, and that there is always something new to learn!  These workshops may review Extended Applications (APD), introduce experimental calls or unusual uses of existing calls, or show concepts the caller feels will expand the understanding and enjoyment of square dancing.

www.bowsandbeaus.org

Healing Progress

I guess it has been quite a while since I posted any progress update. Things have changed quite a bit since my last post on the subject, which appears to be January 3 unless I mis-marked some other post.

With the consent and advice of my chiropractor, I attended Mac World Expo at Moscone Center in San Francisco on January 12 and 13. Moscone is a huge convention center and I figured it would be a workout. Unknown to me, they changed the format so that all the exhibits would be in Moscone South, which cut my footsteps in half. I was able to attend both days without any weakness or discomfort. I did bring the cane but I didn't really need it; and when my hands were full, the cane got in the way.

On January 20, I decided to give up the cane entirely. I feared that using it was causing me some back problems. Deciding to walk without the cane was more a psychological adjustment than a physical one. I found that I got along just fine, even in situations where I had previously found the cane useful.

At our follow-up appointment with the surgeon on February 17, he told us that I am losing bone mass and calcium at the fracture. The bone is mending just fine, but it's possible to lose enough calcium in only a month that it will take a year of exercise to regain it. So he suggested that any kind of exercise would be beneficial: bicycle, jogging, walking, and yes, dancing. So we decided that I should start square dancing again as soon as possible.

As a test, I danced one day at an invitational dance in Petaluma on February 26. This was the first time I had danced in over four months. It went well but I did get tired, and I was sore the next day.

The following weekend, we went to a beginner hoedown in San Jose. We figured this would be more exercise than we normally get at a hoedown. Then I started dancing with Mary at her tape group in Concord, partly for my own benefit, and partly because that tape group has some people injured and unable to attend. This has all gone well but I do get sore the next day. The chiropractor and physical therapist are trying to find the exact source of the soreness, since it is only in one spot.

We are not sure yet about round dancing. It requires a lot more balance and stamina than square dancing does. But I'm getting stronger every day.

Gatecrashing for Jesus

Brother Andrew discusses ministry in the Middle East

Interview by Stan Guthrie

Brother Andrew, author of the book God's Smuggler and a former missionary to the Soviet Union, now focuses on ministry in the Muslim world via Open Doors. Stan Guthrie, senior associate news editor for Christianity Today, interviewed Andrew about his new book, Light Force (Revell, 2004, with Al Janssen). The book details the struggles of churches trying to survive in the Middle East and Andrew's attempts to reach out to militant Islamic groups.

The reaction of the West to September 11 was one of panic and overreaction. There was an exodus of thousands of Arabs and Muslims from [the United States]. We want to take fear away. We deal with people. I object personally to the term terrorism, because I want to give [the terrorists] a face. Hamas is not terrorist. Hamas is people who lose all hope in the future and in life. When they decide to blow themselves up and die, it's not because they're politically motivated or want to attack the West. It's because they have not found a reason for living.

We, as Christians, are the only ones in the world that, on the basis of the Book, can offer everybody in the world a reason for living. If that reason for living is not there, do not blame them to find a reason for dying, because that's the only alternative--living or dying. We want to dive right into the very center of the conflict. That's why we go to those groups.

I see Muslims as God-seekers. I almost feel like Paul in Athens. We should have that boldness to go to them and say, "What you seek, I have." It's our attitude, politically, and often theologically, that keeps us away from them. If we view them simply as members of an evil religion, and Allah as a demon, they'll never get there, that's for sure. That [attitude] blocks the door for us.

But you need to be sure that Jesus lives in you, and then you can go to anyplace and approach any single Muslim, because they want to know God. And it's our attitude, politically, and often theologically, that keeps us away from them.

I go gatecrashing all the time. Evangelism, by nature, always has to be aggressive. We have deviated from that whole concept of Acts 1:8, and we've reversed the roles and say, "Well, they've got to invite us." No way. Jesus says blessed are the peacemakers. Where do peacemakers go?
Where there's a war. That's aggressiveness. That is taking risks. That's meeting the enemy, looking into his eyes.

They say, "Andrew, you are wrong, because you make friends with Israel's enemies." To which I reply, "This is the greatest service I can do to Israel, to turn their enemies around." This is a definite attempt to turn them around. Because once they become brothers, they're not enemies anymore.

They're studying the life of Jesus because Islam does not and can never satisfy. It doesn't satisfy any Muslim. There's no forgiveness, no love, no eternal life. And they want to go to heaven. Everybody wants to go to heaven. But we live now in a time when Islam has been radicalized. And they now [think they] know the way to heavenódie in the jihad.

That's why I've been predicting that America will get another dose of terrorism, violence, because Muslims want to go to heaven. And we don't show them the way to heaven. Why don't we do that? That's the only way. They have no reason for living, for they found a reason for dying.

They want a messiah; they expect a messiah. But the Messiah has holes in his hands and he came riding on a donkey, not in a cockpit of an F-16. And they want to see that Messiah. So when we are vulnerable enough to go to them, and this being the only weapon, the Word of God, they accept us and see our message as the alternative, which, deep in their hearts, they fear.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/105/12.0.html

We're all just a little mixed up here

I renewed the mixed-up.com domain name today for another nine years. We'll be happily dancing, computing and blowing smoke until at least February 2014.

We've had this domain name since 1998. It has always been hosted at www.rawbandwidth.com
Raw Bandwidth Communications, although in 1998 they were known as Tsoft. Thanks to *Chris Songer* for telling me about them (among many other things I owe him thanks for).

Why mixed-up.com? Well, the name goes back to way before the internet. Around 1989, I had the late *Milt Strong* make me square dance badges that said "Mixed-Up Squares." The name comes from the old C2 square dance call "Mixed-Up Square Thru," which you can look up on the
www.mixed-up.com/dict/ square dance dictionary page.

The name is also a commentary on the skills of the square dancers I have workshopped with over the years. :-) I've enjoyed "inducting" dancers into the Mixed-Up Squares when I see them flailing in a C2 workshop, unable to remember how to do "Fan the Top" (a mainstream call).

The mixed-up phenomenon is a little less noticable among round dancers. It may be that in round dancing one has to work with only one other dancer (the partner) in order to complete a routine. Thus the chances of working with a mixed-up person is 86% lower when round dancing (there is only one other person) than when square dancing (there are seven other people).

This of course doesn't take into account that the person doing the calculating is the one who is mixed up ... in that case, the chances of having a mixed-up person in your couple or or square go up to near 100%.

mixed-up.com

A Nation of Faith and Religious Illiterates

Los Angeles Times Commentary By Stephen Prothero

The Dutch are four times less likely than Americans to believe in miracles, hell and biblical inerrancy. The euro does not trust in God. But here is the paradox: Although Americans are far more religious than Europeans, they know far less about religion.

In Europe, religious education is the rule from the elementary grades on. So Austrians, Norwegians and the Irish can tell you about the Seven Deadly Sins or the Five Pillars of Islam. But, according to a 1997 poll, only one out of three U.S. citizens is able to name the most basic of Christian texts, the four Gospels.

U.S. Catholics, evangelicals and Jews have been lamenting for some time a crisis of religious literacy in their ranks.

When Americans debated slavery, almost exclusively on the basis of the Bible, people of all races and classes could follow the debate. They could make sense of its references to the runaway slave in the New Testament book of Philemon and to the year of jubilee, when slaves could be freed, in the Old Testament book of Leviticus. Today it is a rare American who can engage with any sophistication in biblically inflected arguments about gay marriage, abortion or stem cell research.

Since 9/11, President Bush has been telling us that "Islam is a religion of peace," while evangelist Franklin Graham (Billy's son) has insisted otherwise. Who is right? Americans have no way to tell because they know virtually nothing about Islam. Such ignorance imperils our public life, putting citizens in the thrall of talking heads.

How did this happen? How did one of the most religious countries in the world become a nation of religious illiterates? Religious congregations are surely at fault. Churches and synagogues that once inculcated the "fourth R" are now telling the faithful stories "ripped from the headlines" rather than teaching them the Ten Commandments or parsing the Sermon on the Mount (which was delivered, as only one in three Americans can tell you, by Jesus).

Americans -- of both the religious and the secular variety -- need to understand religion. Resolving in 2005 to read for yourself either the Bible or the Koran (or both) might not be a bad place to start.

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-prothero12jan12,1,3110459.story?ctrack=2&cset=true

C1 and C2 Definitions Posted

When we danced at Ben Rubright's C3A week at McCloud Dance Country last September, I asked Ben for permission to post his C1 and C2 definitions  on this web site. At that time, my database consisted only of C3 and C4 calls.

Ben gave permission to do so, and I've just finished posting his definitions. So now the database includes most calls from C1 through C4. (Many of the newer C4 concepts are not in the database.)

My database actually contains a lot more than just definitions. It also includes starting and ending formations for most calls, and some bibliographic information such as author, call number in Burleson's Encyclopedia, and so on. There are also pictures for many C3-C4 calls.

The calls Ben contributed each contain the attribution "Definition courtesy of Ben Rubright." The bibliographic information is from Clark Baker's infamous Lisp database. I quickly scratched out
the starting and ending formations myself, and if there are any errors you can blame those on me, not on Ben or Clark.

Unfortunately, there were few pictures for C1 and C2 calls in Clark's database, and I don't have time to put them together from scratch right now. So you'll find only a few pictures for C1 and C2 calls.

The database is here:
www.mixed-up.com/definitions/