Bump in the night - Burp in the morning

Yesterday 2 Mercedes full of explosive and nails failed to detonate in downtown London. I think that probably made the news even in the US. The Brits take things like that with applaudable stoicism. They go on living and fully expect that the next one will likely be less fortunate. After listening to the news last night on the telly :) we fell asleep only to be awakened at 2 am by the firealarm blaring inside our room. It was loud enough to wake the deaf and the dead. Of course Mom thought we were under attack and immediately reached for her makeup. It turned out to be someone sneaking a smoke in their room... We got a lovely letter of apology from the management explaining that ever since the great fire in London a couple of hundred years ago, security measures for our safety are a very serious matter. Sort of a "the price of freedom is eternal vigilance" message. Anyway we are feeling very patriotic this morning, even as we yawn. The entire hotel had the same experience. There were some nasty looks in the lift. We asked a particularly quiet couple, "So - did you enjoy your smoke?"

Below is proof that the Big Boy Breakfast is alive and well in the UK. Mom's plate is on the right, mine on the left. Linda is just visible picking away at her meager meal. My 3/4ths of table tells a different story. My chair is empty - I have gone to get more before it is all gone.

See if you can find:
Rasberry smoothy
Grapefruit juice
Sparking water
Fried egg
Sausage
Hash Browns
Roll
Rashers
Bacon
Chocolate Croissant
Salami
Cold Ham
Smoked Salmon
Brie Cheese
Button Mushrooms

If you think you have found them all, please send your answers with a picture appropriately labeled with your answers to:

Grandpa
1212 Summer Hill Place
Wenatchee WA 98801

Winners will be selected from correct entries. Prizes to be determined by the identity of the winners.

PS:
Linda cringes when I combine grapefruit with salmon and brie cheese.
I don't cringe, but I do burp.

PPS:
Linda and I having finished breakfast. We are taking the tube to join Anna. Being hunters and gatherers by nature we are off to search for more food :)

pictures

Elisabeth and I would love to see some pictures of William's birthday. I haven't yet taken pics here in London. I'll do some tomorrow and post as well.

Simon says ...

Simon says hello from the UK.

Simon Charles Turpin is the last known Turpin relative in England. Not knowing anything about his American cousins, he was astonished that there were so many of his relatives living in America. Simon is the only living Turpin descendant of Abraham Turpin who did not go to America with his brother William through whom we are descended. He was most gracious. Interestingly, he named his cat William and his daughter Hannah. Hannah Washington is the mother of both our William and his Abraham. He had no idea of either... Below is a picture of Simon and William.

We visited several cemeteries yesterday. Below is a picture of the Hartshead Church where Turpins were baptized. In the cemetery we found lots of Drake headstones. Molly Drake is the mother of Hannah Washington. (Reminder: Hannah Washington is the grandmother of Mary Turpin who married our pioneer ancestor John Bennion.)We think we have found her family! We are going back today with bucket, scrub brush, and knife to clean up the headstones and take more pictures.

This really is a lot of fun.

The Grand Old Duke of York ...

Linda and I are here in York (miraculously by some accounts). There has been flooding (big news in England – little news in the US) which has made driving a little more difficult. Someone said “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger…” Our marriage is definitely getting stronger. We rented a GPS along with the car and now I have two women giving me directions. If I make a mistake, one says “at the earliest convenience, please turn the car around”. The other says, “NOOOOO!” Both are very helpful. Mom and I have forgiven each other. I am still not speaking to Ms. Tom Tom.

We met some of the folks who have been helping with Turpin family research. It is curious how they all professional genealogists are smiling. Below are David and Angela Taylor.

We found the old church in Ferrybridge where John Turpin’s grandfather lived. The old church still stands, but not in the same location. Due to chronic flooding and a new coal generating plant the old church was moved and rebuilt stone by stone. We met the vicar and he put us in touch with the lady who cleans the church, who drove us to the old church site where there is the original graveyard. We looked through the old headstones, but saw no familiar names. The graves date from the early to mid 1800’s. John Turpin Turpin died in Hunsworth in 1840. His grandfather would have been considerably earlier. We feel fortunate to have seen the church where he attended.

Today we are off gravelooking and plan to see a distant cousin, Simon Charles Turpin, who is the only surviving ancestor of the Turpin family that has been located. Amazing how the Turpins who left for America have flourished and those who stayed behind have dwindled.

As a reminder, the genealogy is as follows:
Mary Turpin married John Bennion (his 3rd wife). They had Edwin - my grandfather. Mary and her father William Turpin (along with his wife and other children) came west with Brigham Young from Nauvoo. William was a wheelwright and stayed behind to make wagon wheels for the others coming west. (Thus the talk “To Them of the Last Wagon” by J. Reuben Clark was literally referring to them.) William had come to America – his brother Abraham, also a wheelwright, stayed behind. Simon Charles Turpin (whom we hope to meet today) is the last of Abraham’s family (that we know of). He may be surprised to learn how many thousands of distant cousins he has in the US. I have been asked by the Turpin Family organization to give him a book about Utah along with an invitation to learn more about his American cousins. I plan to stop just short of announcing that all are coming to visit in the near future….

2nd Dessert

For 2nd dessert tonight, Wendy and I made smoothies. We used strawberries, ice, raspberry yogurt, nectarines, bananas, and french vanilla ice cream... and sugar. It was so good. Good enough for a post. Incidentally, 1st dessert was brownies.

Keenan Cousins!

Well, actually the name is Keena, not Keenan.

When John Keena and his wife Ellen Doyle came to America with their children (including Helen, Rusty Dunlap’s mother) they changed the name from Keena to Keenan. They immigrated from “Western Athlone”. Counties are big deals in Ireland and Athlone is on the western edge of Westmeath county with the river Shannon forming the western border of the county. The Keena’s lived in Western Athlone, across the Shannon River in Roscommon County. Sort of like Wenatchee - East Wenatchee and Chelan vs. Douglas County. The records for the Keena family are in Roscommon County (alas, another round of expensive genealogists). We found a ton of information, and met some actual Keena cousins!

The Keena family were farmers in the country a few miles west of Athlone in the township of Lisdillure. The Drum Catholic Church is where they were baptized and the Drum Monastic Cemetery is where they were buried.

We had made arrangements through the brilliant genealogist at the Athlone Public Library to meet the caretaker of the Drum Cemetery. The caretaker, knowing we were coming, invited the Keena brothers to meet us. On the far left is Michael Keena and his wife. On the right is his brother John Keena. John and Michael are grandchildren of Michael Keena brother of our John Keena. That makes Rusty 2nd cousins to those in the picture. Michael’s daughter is pictured with Linda. They are 3rd cousins. Anna is a third cousin “once removed”. Linda and I are 2nd cousins to Michael and John “once removed”.

Michael drove us to his farm in Lisdillure and showed us the ruins of the old family homestead where the Keena family lived 2 generations ago. Electricity and plumbing came late to Ireland and both John and Michael remember the arrival.

The old homestead was a safehouse for the IRA in the 1920’s and was burned out by the British as part of the “troubles” (as the Irish refer to those times).







The Keena’s were thrilled to meet us and were surprised that we knew so much about the Keena family. We actually had more genealogy then they had. :) John came to our hotel the next day and spent another hour visiting with us. He is most interested in keeping alive the family heritage and has set aside 20 acres of the family farm as forest in memory of the Keena family gone before. Most impressive people. The Keena family are great relatives to claim.

The old photo is children of Michael Keena (brother to our John). Back row left to right: Michael, Brian, Malachy, John. Front row left to right: Kathleen, Bernice, Mary. Budding genealogists beware, there are lots of Johns, Michaels, and Malachys spread through the generations.

Blackberry Lane

Greetings From The Emerald Isle

It is early Saturday morning in Athlone (Friday night PDT) and we are up (some of us) for another busy day. We arrived on Thursday morning sans sleep :) and have been going full tilt since. Below is a picture of the Hodson Bay Hotel. It is a 4 star which, I have discovered, must be a different rating system from what I am used to. They were unable to accomodate us when we arrived at noon. But they did take our luggage off our hands. When we came back at half three (3:30 for you Yanks), it took a half hour to check us in. The room is nice, we have discovered how to plug in and recharge US electronics, but at least two of us wish the bathrooms had a vent :) :) Too much steam, etc. :) :) Thumbs up on the "full Irish breakfast" which comes with the room. Thumbs wiggle waggle on the Irish dinner. I liked the sound of "fresh burger" which turned out to be a black deposit that tasted like meat loaf cooked at 400 and left in an hour too long. Once you got through the crust (no small feat) the center was ok. The Irish still haven't given up on potatoes. For dinner, both mashed (3 scoops) and roasted (6 medium sized) come standard.

We met with the folks who operate the Westmeath Genealogical Society. They are located in Moate and control all genealogy records for the county of Westmeath. They were very helpful (for a tidy sum) and gave us great information on the John Keena and Ellen Doyle families. John and Ellen and their children immigrated to Boston in the early part of the last century. Their daugher Helen was Rusty's mother (she died of a ruptured appendix when Rusty was an infant). The Doyles lived on Blackberry Lane in College Lands (a neighborhood in Athlone). A very helpful (brilliant, really) librarian at the Athlone public library directed us to the area, and a portion of Blackberry Lane still exists as a path. It was quite the adventure looking for an unmarked path off a busy street with traffic coming at you on the wrong side of the road!! Mom had to sit in the back seat :) Below is a picture of the genealogists. As you can tell from the picture, we had just paid them. Below that is St. Mary's Church, where John and Ellen were married in 1879. It is beautiful. The pictures speak for themselves

Video of Dinner and Dessert in Malaysia

The team eating dinner at Prawn Village in Tumbun. It sits right on the river. It is raining hard

Dinner and Dessert in Malaysia

For dinner on Wednesday, our team went to Prawn Village in the town of Tumbun. We had, mantis prawns (below on my plate, and on the dish), coke :), crabs, regular prawns, soup, and other stuff I can't remember. It was very yummy. For dessert we ate durian (sp?). It is the third picture down. It is very stinky smelling, and not very yummy. The other restaurant patrons were not too happy we brought it but when you are a big company the management doesn't say no to a whole lot. The locals were thrilled that I tried it and not surprised that I did not like it. There was a delicious fruit that we had, thin skin, translucent sweet juicy sections.

Malaysia

Saturday I returned from Malaysia. I had a great time. Our team that manages our high-volume manufacturing is based in the city of Kulim. While there I stayed on the island of Penang (about 30 min drive from Kulim). Penang is a large city, and reminds me somewhat of parts of Hawaii, mostly because it is very lush and green (and humid). The whole area is quite hilly. I stayed at a hotel called the Equatorial. It reminds me of the Kahala. The lobby is open to the outside but is roofed (see the picture below).

Defended

And it was brutal. But I didn't cry once, and I passed (with revisions).

moment of truth

In less than 48 hours I will have finished my thesis defense. The thought of it makes me a bit ill. But hopefully it'll be a good experience. Also, I cut off my hair again, so it is no longer blonde. Sad.

computer update

HP sent me back my laptop. Yay! They also erased all of my files. Six years of college. All of my itunes. Dummies!! Anyhow, my lifesaver Joe luckily pulled all my files before we sent it to the morons, and he is going to reformat everything. I feel like I owe him my first born child. Maybe I'll frame my master's degree and hang it in Joe's room. :)

The Muslim Quarter

Walking through the Muslim QUarter in the Old City.

More Views of Jerusalem

The Dome of the Rock sits on the site of Solomon's Temple.

This is an older church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City.

This is a shot of Jerusalem taken from the top of the Mount of Olives. The foreground is a cemetery, and the shot looks across the old city. The Dome of the Rock is visible as well.





This is an ancient hospital in the Christian Quarter of the Old City.

Jerusalem

One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to Jerusalem. It was a full day. Here are some photos of the place. By the way, tomorrow is the 40th anniversary of the 6-Day War. It was an incredible victory for Israel. Some interesting reading is at Wikipedia.com if you search the Six Day War.

The city is a mix of old and new. You can see a building with gothic features across the street from an apartment with a Blockbuster video on the ground floor.


Below is the Jaffa Gate. The Old City of Jerusalem is surrounded by a very old wall. Since then, the city has grown to be very large. The Jaffa Gate is one entrance point to the old city.

sick irony

somehow between working on my thesis this morning and now my jump drive has erased itself. i hope that more of my electronic equipment can break down, except that i don't own anymore. luckily, though, this time i think it's funny because i only lost a few days worth of notes and my work on cpt 3 this morning (my other 2 chapters are safely in my gmail inbox). anyhow, my computer, then my cell phone, then my jumpdrive. someone doesn't want me writing on networks!

John A. Clark Gravesite in Haifa

Haifa is situated on the Northern Israeli coast. The town is primarily located on the south end of a large harbor, and rises quickly from the coast up to Mt. Carmel. There are two primary areas of Christian burial. One is the larger of the two and is located right on the water on the road from Haifa to Tel Aviv. The second is downtown, on Jaffa and Rothschild streets. I found the grave site here. The third picture down shows John's grave in the foreground and Adolf Haag's in the background.

Gardening and Thomas the Train

Here are some pictures of William helping to water the garden. Amy bought him a cute little watering pail and he loves to come with and help out.

In Heber, UT they do a children's fair on Memorial Day. They have a petting zoo , toys, activities and a real Thomas the train. Will loved seeing Thomas and the highlight was a ride through the country side on Thomas. It was the cutest thing. He kept saying "ride on Thomas!" An amazing old gentleman came through the passenger car where we were, dressed as the conductor and was taking to the kids and handing out Jr. Engineer certificates. Whenever we ask Will, "what did you do today?" he still responds, "THOMAS!"

Jerusalem, Jeff Goldblum, Bethlehem, and USB

Friday we went to Jerusalem and saw... everything. It was incredible! We had considered renting a car and doing the whole thing on our own... bad idea. We decided to hire a tour guide for the four of us. Moshe! He took us to see the Wailing Wall, the Jaffa Gate, the Muslim, Christian, and Jewish quarters of the old city, the Dome of the Rock, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Garden Tomb and Golgotha, David's tomb, the room of the Last Supper, the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, and Bethlehem.

Bethlehem required us going out into the desert, meeting a Palestinian driver who took us to Jerusalem (Jews are not allowed), where we met a Palesenian tour guide. Guide #2 took us to the church on the spot where Jesus was born. We then saw the Shepherds field, and the place where Ruth gleaned in Boaz' fields. To get us back to our Israeli (Jewish) tour guide, we had to be driven to an abandoned security checkpoint back in the desert and meet our Israeli tour guide. At one point, I would not have been surprised to see masked gunmen surround our car. Pretty cool (in retrospect). Bethlehem is very depressed economically, but Jerusalem is booming. The Palestinians are shooting themselves in the foot.

Also, I saw Jeff Goldblum playing the lobby piano in our hotel last night. Today, he was in the executive club, and I told him he did a good job on the piano, and asked if he was learning to play. He thanked me and said he was always a student. He is very tall, and has shaved his head to look bald.

Finally, I have taken 200+ pictures, but have no way to upload. I will do so after I return. I also took some video. Love you all. I love Israel. Went swimming in the Mediterranean today. Surreal.

A title, a title, my master's degree for a title

So, my thesis defense is fast coming upon me. But even faster, I need to turn in the form that schedules the defense; and that form demands a thesis title. I am taking nominations and original works.

Some ideas:
Mom and Dad had a great Al Gore one that I hope they'll add
The Night of the Living Gothic Network.
From Newton to Fig Newtons: Gothic Literature and Informationalism
Spinning the Web: Gothic Literature and Networks
It's Alive! The (dis)Embodiement of Informationalism
The Invasion of the Gothic Snatchers

Any ideas?