Thursday, June 26, 2008

Putz Pomade

Putz Pomade, used by the subjects of Emporer Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodsman, in "The Marvelous Land of Oz' to polish his wonderful nickel-plated body.

Said the Scarecrow to his personage:
"Show us at once to your master, the Emperor."
The man looked from one to another of the party in an embarrassed way, and finally answered:
"I fear I musy ask you to wait
for a time. The Emperor is not receiving this morning."

"How is that?" inquired the Scarecrow, anxiously. "I hope nothing has happened to him."
"Oh, no; nothing serious," returned the man. "But this is his Majesty's day for being polished; and just no his august presence is thickly smeared with putz-pomade."

Still in use 100 years later by citizens of the real world to polish printing plates to remove small abrasions before printing. It is also used for cleaning other printmaking equipment and for deep cleansing before color changes on a printing press.

Commercial printers use Putz Pomade to maintain expensive printing equipment that uses etching processes similar to what fine artists use in etching and intaglio methods. Putz Pomade is available in past and liquid form. A 15 ounce tin costs between $12 and $25, depending on source. Valley Litho Supply seems to have the best price.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Sold First Copy of my Kindle-formatted Wesley Sermons book


I sold the first copy of my Kindle-formatted book, "Sermons of John Wesley," the collected 141 sermons of John Wesley, father of the Methodist Church. Sermons are indexed by number, title, and scriptural reference. Over 1,000 pages long, this document is not available in print and is a valuable reference for anyone who preaches the Gospel, is a United Methodist, or is interested in furthering their Christian education.


Kindle: Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

The Door

The outside air is cool,
a gentle breeze from the north,
all the way from the arctic circle,
or so it seems.
Birds sing, everything is green, damp, cool.
Opening the door, I step into the house,
and my senses flood with the smells of cooking -
Simmering, garlic-laden sauces -
and I am hungry.
A house, when it smells good, is home.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Fathers Day Gift Ideas



Fathers Day Gadgets

Something for Dad's Kindle

My Life Theme Songs, updated

Theme songs for my life, in approximate life order:

The Joker • Steve Miller
She Blinded me with Science • Thomas Dolby
The Boys of Summer • Don Henley
The Coldest Night of the Year • Bruce Cockburn
Lord of the Starfields • Bruce Cockburn
All the Ways I Want You • Bruce Cockburn
Someone I Used to Love • Bruce Cockburn
Deepest Part of Me • Dougie McLean

Dream Series: Dream 01 • Flying

Flying • Sacramento, circa 1970

Flying is a common dream among humans. More than a third of the dreaming population reports having had at least one flying dream. I recall reading this fact when I was around 10 and deciding to try to fly in a dream. After that, I had at least several flying dreams. In my dreams of flight, I would have to kick my feet like a swimmer and struggled to reach the height of telephone poles and power lines. I don't remember how many of these dreams I had, but I think I more or less intentionally gave them up since kicking my feet to fly was a lot of work and I was never able to freely soar at will.

I have a related memory recall of dreaming of a western meadowlark sitting on a split rail fence in the midst of wide open green fields. I seem to recall that I was standing or walking along a dirt road, maybe a string of power lines running along the roadside, as well. I believe this dream is from the same time period, if not part of a flying dream. This may even be one place where I "flew," kicking my feet to reach the level of just above the power lines. In addition to flying in the vicinity of this rural pastoral scene, I flew around the Sacramento suburbia where I lived.

At the time, we lived near the edge of suburban development and my friend & I would often ride our banana bikes to undeveloped and developing areas nearby. We would explore the open framed, partially constructed homes, jump our bikes over ditches and dirt piles, and requisition wood scraps to build street racers. We'd borrow money to buy wheels and casters from the local hardware store, attaching them to cross-pieces of 2x6 planks at either end of a 2x12. The front plank was attached to the center frame with a bolt. We could steer the rig with a rope tied to eyebolts on each end of the front plank.

One interesting fact about flying dreams to which I relate is that creative people (poets, writers, musicians, painters, graphic designers, etc.) and people who do public speaking are more likely to have flying dreams than the average population..
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Coming up next in the Dream Series: Dream 02: Pursuit and dim lights, Dream 03: Repeat Dreams - Exploring a large building, its attics, stairs, and basements

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Flying Dream FAQ by Linda Lane Magallón
Image: "The Flying Dream" by Jarrod Russell, MorgueMart
Click on the bird picture to hear the song of the Western Meadowlark
Image: House under construction -
photo by Dean Terry (web site, flickr source), from the documentary film "Subdivided"