LFS: The Storyteller

©2010 by LeeZard LeeZard is concerned that the true spirit of Halloween is lost. Forget about the day’s historic Celtic origins; I’m talking about the time-honored tradition of TRICK or treat. Back in the day, LeeZard remembers when you actually “tricked” someone who failed to give you a treat. Wait; forget about forgetting about Halloween’s origins. It turns out the Celts also started the trick or treat thing. According to Neopagan.com, Halloween grew from the ancient Celts’ celebration of Samhuinn, the beginning of winter or the dark half of the year: "Being “between” seasons or years, Samhuinn was (and is) considered a very magical time, when the dead walk among the living and the veils between past, present and future may be lifted in prophecy and divination. Samhuinn, from 31 October to 2 November was a time of no time. Celtic society, like all early societies, was highly structured and organized; everyone knew their place. But to allow that order to be psychologically c...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:          Lee Somerstein                         (425) 269-3207                         LFS777@comcast.net October 22, 2010 AMCS Signs as Major Sponsor for Seattle’s 2Million Dogs Puppy Up! Walk (Seattle, WA)  The Department of Oncology and Internal Medicine at the Animal Medical Center of Seattle is the Presenting Sponsor of the 2 Million Dogs Puppy Up! Walk , scheduled for November 7 th at Seattle’s Seward Park. AMCS’s generous donation puts Seattle in the lead as the top fundraiser among the dozen cities across the country participating in this inaugural event.  “I’m very excited to have AMCS as a charter sponsor for this important event,” said Dr. Chelsea Tripp, ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:           Lee Somerstein                         (425) 269-3207                         LFS777@comcast.net September 30, 2010 Seattle to Puppy Up! November 7 th (Seattle, WA) On November 7 th Seattle will join cities all across the country in the inaugural 2 Million Dogs Puppy Up! Walk for cancer. The event is part of a national effort organized by 2 Million Dogs 2 Miles, a 501 C (3) organization that relies on the generosity of individuals and corporations to help in its mission to eradicate both human and canine cancer through investing in comparative oncology studies. “We are thrilled to be part of this exciting and challenging effort to raise money for research that...

©2010 by LeeZard America’s military mission in Iraq is over; that’s what our political leaders tell us. So, is the war over? Who won? Nobody. Certainly the U.S. cannot claim victory, not with almost 40,000 of our young soldiers killed or wounded; not with about (GASP!) $900-BILLION tax dollars down the gun barrels and certainly not because the war started with lies from Dubya and his goons. Weapons of mass destruction my ass. But we all know the war isn’t over. More than 50,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq. Call them “advisors,” call them “trainers” but whatever you call them, they are still at risk. Why? I’ve Iraq’d my brain and can’t come up with a good reason. Of course, I couldn’t come up with a good reason for the war at the outset. This is Vietnam in reverse. In that doomed war we started as advisors and ended up defeated combatants. Just flip it for Iraq (LeeZard slaps his head in disgust). No, we didn’t get our ass kicked in Iraq as we did in Vietnam but this war is mor...

©2010 by LeeZard The rose that lives its little hour Is prized beyond the sculptured flower. - William Cullen Bryant This was a very good summer for LeeZard’s rose garden. Well, it’s not a garden per se; I have the bushes spread throughout our ¾-acre property. But we’ve enjoyed a bevy of big beautiful blooms (All the photos in this piece were taken by LeeZard). No mean feat; as many of you know, the fabled rose requires considerable care and feeding, especially in the damp Pacific Northwest. LeeZard is fascinated by the rose. I love the flower’s look and intoxicating scent. I am not alone. More than any other bloom, the rose has a unique place in our hearts and in history. Their lips were four red roses on a stalk. - William Shakespeare According to the University of Illinois Extension, roses have a long and colorful history. “They have been symbols of love, beauty, war, and politics. The rose is, according to fossil evidence, 35 million years old. In n...

Fox News - 8/2/2010 ©2010 by LeeZard LeeZard is troubled by the broohaha over the planned Islamic Community Center and Mosque near “Ground Zero” in New York City’s lower Manhattan. I am more than troubled; anything that breeds prejudice and hate (= ignorance) makes me sick. Rick Lazio, the Republican front-runner in the New York State gubernatorial race, calls the imam behind the center’s development a “terrorist sympathizer.” Sarah Palin Tweeted after President Obama expressed support for the development, “ Mr. President, why are they so set on marking an area w/ mosque steps from what you described, in agreement with many, as "hallowed ground”? (Grammatical error – question mark outside of quotes – is hers). Palin further mangles the language with this Tweet, “ "Ground Zero Mosque supporters: doesn't it stab you in the heart, as it does ours throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, pls refudiate." Arrrrghhhh!! Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) j...

NOTE: LeeZard had the pleasure to help organize and put on a wonderful event to raise money for canine cancer research. If you are a dog lover (even if you are not), please go to:   http://www.goldenretrieverfoundation.org/index.html   and make a donation. Thanks!  This is the news release LeeZard sent out. LOCAL BREEDER FIRST IN COUNTRY TO RAISE MONEY FOR NATIONAL FOUNDATION  -  Auction Raises $9,800 for cancer Research (Maple Valley, WA) - It wasn’t exactly “Lassie Come Home.” It was more like a Golden Jubilee Saturday night as more than 70 people brought their dogs, most bred at Maple Valley’s SmokeTree Golden Retrievers, back to where it all began for a very special evening. Owned by David and Sally Maryatt and Randy and Julie Schepper, SmokeTree became the first breeder in the country to host an auction to benefit the National Golden Retriever Foundation (GRF). “We’ve always held an annual dinner party for our family of owners,” said Randy Sch...

©2010 by LeeZard Is digital communication destroying the art of good writing or, is it merely continuing the evolution of our language? It’s a question that’s been on my mind for a while. I’ve thought for a long time that it’s the former. All this abbreviating to save time (minutes!) and space for emailing, texting and chatting, I thought, eliminates the use of proper punctuation and spelling, not to mention creative word usage. That would be tragic to LeeZard, who cherishes good writing. I’m rethinking it, though. After all, how did we get from Old English, the written and spoken Anglo-Saxon language circa 1000 AD, to our modern version? One of the best examples of beautiful writing in Old English is the classic poem “Beowulf,” a portion of which appears here with a modern translation: Hwæt. We Gardena in geardagum, LO, praise of the prowess of people-kings þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon,   of spear-armed Danes, in days long sped, hu ða æþelingas ellen fre...

Car Tales ©2010 by LeeZard Fans of LeeZard (Both of you) know well his love affair with The Blue Streak (sigh). Cars play a big part in our lives. We remember our first car, our first family car (infant seat won’t fit in a roadster, dammit) or our mid-life crisis car. I remember them all, from the lemons to the lemonade. I’m not quite a motorhead. Oh, I could change the oil but I choose not to. I remember my first best friend, Arnold Feldman. His dad owned a gas station (and bought Arnie a cream-colored 1960 Volvo for his 17 th birthday) and we used to help out on weekends. I tried working on the engines but hated the weird angles at which you had to twist your hands and wrists; hated the resultant scraped and bleeding knuckles. Nonetheless, I love anything on wheels or tracks and want to drive ‘em all. I read Motor Trend, Car & Driver, etc. to stay current on trends, styles, road tests and the like. As you all know, I dreamed of owning a Porsche since teenhood. Each...