Table of Contents
Quest
Local Group Notices
Roaming The Region
Minutes from February's Executive Commitee Meeting
Calendar Trivia: The Months
M & M
The 2004 Year-End Quiz
Profile
Quest
By Dick Nuenke
The January Quest asked what nine locations have in common. All are cities which had a different name in the past. The new name is in parentheses:
Bechuanaland (Botswana); Danzig (Gdansk); Christiania (Oslo); Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City); Stalingrad (Volgograd); Fort Dearborn (Chicago); Basutoland (Losotho); British Honduras (Belize); Gold Coast (Ghana).
Correct answers were received from Brian Beery, Alma Litten, Kevin Skehan and Nick Wolf. Brian noted that the city Christiania was misspelled (not helpful in computer searches).
The February Quest asks what these famous persons had in common:
- King Tut
- Baruch Spinosa
- Paul Gauguin
- Niccolo Paginini
- Franz Kafka
- Eleanor Roosevelt
- Vivien Leigh
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- Simon Bolivar
- Frederic Chopin
Send answers by February 18th to Dick Nuenke; 1460 Kingsgate Rd.; Columbus, OH 43221, or call in to 326-0452; Fax to 292-4118; or e-mail to rnuenke@columbus.rr.com.
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Local Group Notices
DIAMOND DAYS
A New Book Written by Columbus Area Mensa's Jeff Klein, Diamond Days, tells the stories of people involved in the game of minor league baseball. Many of these came first hand from author interviews with over 150 people. From bizarre plays on the field to the tribulations of twenty-hour, non-air-conditioned bus rides through Texas in July, the books offers a unique look inside the lives of these people. The tales of players, coaches, umpires, radio announcers, and more span a period of eighty years and over five continents on a journey from the dusty Rookie League fields to a first big league at-bat at Yankee Stadium.
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Roaming The Region
by Charli Bruce (a.k.a. Gloater)
RVC Region 3 (RVC3@us.mensa.org)
It's the end of the month, I'm still on the road (currently in Dallas, Texas) yet my column is due and I'm not sure what I'm going to write about. I guess I should start with telling you about the Inaugural Voyage of the Gatherings At Sea SIG that Terry and I have just completed. Our thanks to Ray O'Conner for hosting a really fun trip, a five night cruise out of Galveston to Cozumel and Calica Mexico. There were approximately 50 of us on board from all over the USA. Ray arranged to have the Card Room reserved every night so we could have our own "Hospitality Suite" and proceeded to keep us supplied with eloquent delights from his blender. (I still wonder what they thought about all the banana peels found in the trash in the men's room.) We also managed to have a DDCH tournament won by yours truly. They plan on doing another cruise later this year, destination TBD, so be sure to watch for it. They're a GAS.
I'm hanging around in Dallas awaiting the finance committee next weekend, then we drive over to New Orleans for the Mardi Gras en route to the
Destin, FL RG the following weekend. We'll then stay in Destin for another two weeks on vacation. I've really got to get used to this retired life. Hopefully the ice and snow will be gone by the time we return.
I'll be in Columbus for March though, since we're hosting the quarterly AMC meeting on March 18th and 19th. On Friday night are the various committee meetings and the AMC meeting is all day Saturday. After the meeting there will be a catered dinner (cost is $15) followed by a games night. Since this is an election year, this will be the last meeting of the current AMC. Come and meet us and talk with those who will be running for various positions next term. Who knows, maybe it will help you make up your mind about whom to vote for.
There will be more details elsewhere in this newsletter. For additional information, please email
Red Bellamy at gonetothedogs@petsolutionsofcolumbus.com.
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A Stag at Evening
By Kevin Skehan
When all across the polished cornfield shone
the brash of orange burnished snow
and twice the eager hunter's footsteps tread
filled the twilight haze with lowering dread
a lone hart froze and faced its hungry foe
its tawny snout alive to musky scent;
indignantly it glared toward sounds below
and trembled slightly as it went.
From far-off roads the traffic hummed away
toward home and rest and end of day;
the din passed close and measured by—
round about dropped stillness from the sky.
With furtive haste the scut rose up in white
And somewhere in the woods blazed light.
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Minutes from February's Executive Commitee Meeting
The Executive Committee met at the home of April Lashbrook on February 6, 2005.
Excom members present were: Jeff Wolfe (President); Red Bellamy, April Lashbrook, Carla Nuenke, Dick Nuenke, Troy Seman, Sky Wavrek.
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The meeting was called to order at 4:20 pm. The Agenda was approved. (Sky)
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Minutes of the January meeting were approved as published. (Dick/Sky)
OFFICER & COMMITTEE REPORTS
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Program Coordinator (Dick) : Discussed possible upcoming meetings. March will be a New Members' Party. Others under consideration are the director of the Ohio Dept of Health; training of police dogs; Merle Crane on transgender issues.
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AMC Committee Meeting (Red): The charge for Saturday only will be $10. No games night will be scheduled since games would be an option on Saturday night of the AMC meeting. There is information about the meeting on the national web site. Troy will get this placed on the local site. The plans for the meeting have been finalized, and the money from National has arrived.
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Webmaster (Troy): He is working on the redesign of our local web site, and arranging for the national site to redirect to ours.
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Bylaws & Rules Ad-hoc Committee (Jeff):
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Renee has located her notes from previous work and are sending them to Jeff.
OLD BUSINESS - NONE
NEW BUSINESS
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RG 2005: Charlie Bruce has the motel cost data, which should be included in the RG ad.
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PRP Award: It was unanimously decided that Columbus does want to enter the annual publications contest. (Jeff/Dick). The rules are on the national web site. It was decided that the webmaster and editor should be responsible for selecting the contest entries. Excom member can email suggestions and preferences.
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Calendar Trivia: The Days
By Jeff Klein
The origins of the seven-day week are quite murky. Historians, archaeologists, anthropologists, and other scholars are in agreement on one thing - no one is really sure. Perhaps the seven-day week could have been created by the same ancient Egyptian who comedian Stephen Wright thought might have invented the pyramids - "some guy named Eddie". Theories abound for the basis of seven days, some of the more common being the following:
- The seventh day of creation in the Old Testament; the Sabbath.
- The mystical and/or geometrical properties of the number seven.
- Creating a week based on the celestial bodies regarded as the "seven planets" in ancient cultures; Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn.
The last theory at least accounts for the names we've given the days. Latin-based languages like Spanish and French still reference these Roman titles in their names for the weekdays like the Spanish lunes, martes, miercoles, jueves, viernes (they do not capitalize their days). Their weekend days are sabado (for "Sabbath") and domingo (for "The Lord's Day").
In English-speaking cultures, the days named for the planets named after the Roman gods were re-named for Norse gods. The names have their roots in Old English, which was spoken during the time of Viking influence in the British Isles. Hence the following:
- Tuesday for Tir, the one-handed god of war or the Norse equivalent to Mars.
- Wednesday for Woden (also called Odin), the father of the gods (he would have made a closer equivalent to Jupiter, whose Latin day is Thursday).
- Thursday instead was named for Thor, the god of thunder and also of farming.
- Friday for Freya, goddess of love and passion. Although a rough equivalent to Venus, Freya was also the goddess of war. (One can only surmise that the war part came about after Woden kept leaving the toilet seat up.)
Unlike Spanish and French, the Portuguese language simplified the names of the weekdays, naming them second-day through sixth-day (segunda-, terca-, quarta-, quinta-, and sexta-feira). However, the weekend days named for the Sabbath and The Lord's Day remained the same as their Latin-based cousins.
The Russian calendar also names it's weekends in similar biblical terms; subbota for Sabbath and voskresnye for Resurrection. Like Portuguese, the weekdays have a numerical count, but with Tuesday (vtornik) counting has the second day, not the third. Wednesday (sreda) is simply the Middle while Thursday (chetverg) and Friday (pyatnitsa) are the fourth and fifth days. The Russians have by far the best name for Monday - ponedelnik, which means "do nothing".
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M & M
By Kathy Beatty
Mensans marrying Mensans?? You probably all know some M & M relationships that have gone down the tubes, and marriages of Mensans with non-Mensans that have thrived. But my marriage to another Mensan has been such a blessing! As never before, except in my “growing up family,” I feel truly appreciated and valued just for being me.
Whether I’m being wise and wonderful or goofy and klutzy, Bob adores me (well…most of the time.) Yet he has also lured me in a multitude of ways and times out of my introverted comfort zone to experience a new adventure with him. Sometimes I dig in my heels and whine, but once we are in full gear, I have a good time – just as he knew I would.
Bob lets me talk on and on about things that excite me and he’s interested in my work.
Sometimes I get to introduce him to new ideas or experiences. He’s always open, and finds himself enjoying a play, a special worship service filled with Mozart’s music, or Michigan’s natural beauty. He doesn’t mind when I spend hours reading, and I don’t mind when he spends hours at the computer. He’s a financial whiz, so I let him deal with most of that aspect of our lives. He’s put up with my poor cooking skill because he declares he has none, but I still think there is a chef lurking inside him. I don’t have to rein in my vocabulary and I love how he knows so much. If he can’t answer a question I bring to him, my standing reply is, “Then why did I marry you?” (He knows the real reason, though.)
Lest you think I am idealizing our relationship, we do have our issues. Bob is a night owl and I am an early bird. He is freezing at night and heaps on the covers, while I am tossing them off over on my side. He’d love to watch TV in bed at night, and fall asleep with it on, but I am a very light sleeper, needing a dark and quiet bedroom. There would be no TV in the bedroom if I had my way, but Bob graciously gave up a long-time habit and now gets his fix by watching morning news in bed while I’m up getting ready for work.
We met at a Detroit RG fourteen years ago. We now have been married for almost twelve years, and continue to enjoy each other’s company. We’re good companions. As husband and wife we continue to affirm, encourage, support, and stretch one another. Inevitable irritations are eased by lots of love and laughter. (Yes – quiet, serious Kathy laughs a lot when she and Bob are alone together. Hmmm) We accept each other, foibles and all, yet seem to have a knack for bringing out the best in one another.
Happy Valentines Day, honey.
I love you.
- Kathy Beatty
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The 2004 Year-End Quiz
By Dick Nuenke
Below are listed 26 statements referring to people that made the news in 2004. Some are specific quotes by or about them (indicated by double quote marks). Where the answers are persons who died in 2001 the questions are preceded by a dagger (†). The persons' names are listed in alphabetical order in the column to the right. Look for hidden clues, tricks, etc. Match the letter identifying the person with the event. No name is used more than once. Two are not used at all.
| 1. Love's Labor's lost |
A. Freddy Adu |
| 2. #18 records #49
| B. Jason Alexander |
| 3. Timber! a Super star is falling.
| C. Yasser Arafat |
| 4. "Superman" loses security jon
| D. Ron Artest |
| 5. Big donkey ads fail
| E. Barry Bonds |
| 6. H & R Block didn't help at all.
| F. George W Bush |
| 7. †Athlete downed by friendly fire
| G. Richard Clarke |
| 8. He put together 567 page best seller about 9/11.
| H. Amber Frey |
| 9. Flaxseed oil for constipation is a hit.
| I. Allen Greenspan |
| 10. That Ukranian diet could be a killer.
| J. Paul Hamm |
| 11. Mother of Phinnaeus and Hazel
| K. Clark Irvin |
| 12. "Former Mr. Spears"
| L. Janet Jackson |
| 13. †"He may deserve a second Peace Prize for dying."
| M. Ken Jennings |
| 14. Making his escape to satellite radio
| N. Thomas Kean |
| 15. †King in aerial rescue
| O. John Kerry |
| 16. Pacer in stands trouble
| P. Karl Malone |
| 17. Improper basketball pass?
| Q. Peyton Manning |
| 18. Finally the gold is back.
| R. Barack Obama |
| 19. Youngest player in major U.S. sports league debuts.
| S. Julia Roberts |
| 20. "Those entrusted with protecting you failed you."
| T. Artie Shaw |
| 21. "The really rich people figure out how to dodge taxes anyway."
| U. George Soros |
| 22. "I miss my old job terribly"
| V. Howard Stern |
| 23. †"I know nothing about marriage, but I'm an expert on divorce."
| W. Martha Stewart |
| 24. "I'm so overexposed I make Paris Hilton look like a recluse".
| X. Pat Tillman |
|
Y. Fay Wray |
|
Z. Viktor Yushenko |
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Profile
Matthew Stevens is 36, married to Kim, and has a daughter, Eliot. He is a Franchise Buyer’s Consultant, holding three masters degrees— in business, marketing, and in personnel management—from Florida Southern College. His hobbies include exercise and fitness, stock investing, franchise research, home repair, and eBay. He’s looking forward to meeting nifty people, and learning new things.
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