Thursday

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

“Remember what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, except for herpes, that sh-t comes home with you.”

               Jeffrey Tabor in the movie “The Hangover”

Here is a thought from me:

Why is that people will classify anyone as being ignorant or stupid because they do not believe as they do but will rebel indignantly if they are lumped into a similar category? One must be very careful in not believing certain concepts simply because it make one feel more comfortable with preconceived prejudices. Worse still is fostering certain concepts because it is expected from the social group that you wish to meld into. In either case the learning process stops and others will be your decision makers because you are too cowardly to do it yourself.

As some of you may or may not know there was a very advance civilization known as the Minoans on the Mediterranean Island of Crete. This civilization disappeared about 1,400BC for reasons yet to be determined. The ruins of their structures are still with us and in 1908 an archaeological team investigating these ruins discovered a small clay tablet with symbols arranged in a clockwise spiral ending in the middle. Every so often there would be a perpendicular mark obviously meant to separate the symbols into groups. The tablet was a disc about 6 ½ inches in diameter and there were 45 different symbols. The really strange thing is the symbols were not carved into the tablet using an instrument like a stylus or a pencil, they were stamped using a carved block with a raised surface like is used with a printing press. These symbols used have never been seen anywhere else and therefore are undecipherable. Not only that, some of the symbols were very detailed and if these stamps were man made today it would take the skill of a watchmaker using a magnifying device to get the job done. The making of this disc remains an unsolved mystery to this day. My opinion about the disappearance of the Minoans is this. The island of Crete is located about 70 miles south of the Greek island of Santorini. This island was at one time known as Thera and was a very active volcano. About 1,400BC this volcano erupted in one of the most cataclysmic explosions in history. The middle of the island disintegrated and sank into the ocean. The remains of Thera is present day Santorini. When the island sank there had to be a gigantic tsunami and probably flooded Crete or most of it. I think this disaster encouraged the survivors to get the hell out of Dodge making the Minoan civilization vulnerable to invasion and annihilation. But this is just an opinion.

This Date in History May 21

1539 About 1500 a man later known as Estevan was born on the west coast of Morocco. At an early age he was sold into slavery and then to the Spanish explorer Andre de Carranza. Carranza was the leader of an ill-fated expedition to Florida in 1527 where through a series of disasters reduced the original force of 300 to only four men: Dorantes de Carranza, Cabeza de Baca, Alonzo Del Castillo and Estevan. These guys decided to live with the Indians on the Florida Gulf Coast for several years. They finally decided to head west with the hopes of reaching Mexico City. With the help of Spanish slave hunters; they reached Mexico City in 1536. Their tale of survival caused a sensation and the Spanish Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza decided to take advantage these men’s knowledge of the southwest area and organized an expedition looking for the alleged “cities of gold” in Pueblo country. The three white men said hell no. They had been gone for nine years and they wanted to go home. Estevan had no choice because he was a slave and off he went back where he came from. Estevan was leading the expedition commanded by Fray Marcos de Niza. As usual their was a Catholic friar along and several slaves to carry their supplies and they left Mexico City on March 7, 1539 headed into present day Arizona and New Mexico. The pious Marcos was irritated by Estevan’s penchant for turquoise and native women but he sent Estevan to scout ahead. Six days later Estevan sent word back to Marcos that he had encountered some Indians that had told him that wonderful things lay ahead. Marcos assumed that the “wonderful” things ahead were the fabled cities pf gold. On this date an Indian contacted Marcos to tell him the Estevan was dead. Marcos found out that on his previous transcontinental crossing, Estevan had found out that a gourd filled with pebbles and rattled was big medicine with the plains tribes. He tried that with the Pueblos and demanded women and treasure. The Pueblo were very suspicious of anything to do with the plains tribes, especially a black man demanding treasure. They held him for three days and then killed him on the present day Arizona border near Zuni, New Mexico. Upon hearing this, Marcos got his young ass back to Mexico City. Everybody thinks it was the Spaniard Coronado that was the first to penetrate the southwestern area of the present day United States, it wasn’t, it was a black slave named Estevan. If I was Estevan I would have just reported myself killed and been a free man. In fact, I would not choose to believe that baloney about a gourd filled with pebbles.

Born today:

427BC Greek philosopher Plato. He said “An empty vessel makes the loudest noise.”

That reminds me of this date I had once. We met at a seafood house in Birmingham, Al. We were trying to chat but she must have received 10 cell phone calls in 30 minutes. That ain't all, she also made several calls. I went to the bartender and explained to him was was happening and to cash me out as of this minute and anything after will be on her. He laughed out loud and said he had been watching and didn't blame me. I paid and walked out. Was I wrong?...maybe...but she was mega-rude...great legs, though.

A couple of days ago I was at a meeting of the Four O'clock Club and a couple came in and sat at the bar. The woman was typing on her I-Pad when she came in the door and had to be helped up on the bar stool because she would not take her eyes off the f—king I-Pad. She ordered her drink without taking her eyes off the I-Pad and was still at it when I left 45 minutes later...Great date, huh?

Died today:

1983 US philosopher Eric Hoffer. He said “Non-conformists normally travel in bunches. You rarely find a non-conformist that travels alone. And woe to him in the non-conformist clique who does not conform to non-conformity.” Eric, you were a hell of a philosopher.

      Thanks for listening       I can hardly wait until tomorrow