Tampa TampaBay BaySounding Sounding A Publication A Publication of of Tampa Tampa BayBay Mensa Mensa Vol. 40, No. 9 October 2015 October Welcome to Tampa Bay Mensa!......................................................3 October Birthdays.................................................................................. 3 LocSec Column........................................................................................ 4 RVC Column for Region 10................................................................5 The Fraud of Man-Made Global Warming, Once Again.......6 October Mensaversaries......................................................................7 Calendar of Events.................................................................................8 October 2015 Calendar.........................................................................9 Member Book Review.........................................................................11 Letter to the Editor..............................................................................12 Treasurer's Report................................................................................13 News & Notes: October 2015..........................................................22 Cryptopoem............................................................................................ 24 Serial Fillers............................................................................................ 26 Fall Picnic 2015 Coming Soon!! A Publication of Tampa Bay Mensa Tampa Bay Sounding (USPS 305-830) Tampa Bay Mensa 5001 Terrace Palms Cir Unit 101 Temple Terrace, FL 33617 Mensa is an international society whose sole qualification for membership is a score at or above the 98th percentile on a standard IQ test. Mensa is a not-for-profit organization whose main purpose is to serve as a means of communication and assembly for its members. All opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors, and not necessarily those of the editors or officers of Mensa. Mensa as an organization has no opinions. Tampa Bay Mensa serves Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando, and Sumter counties. Visit American Mensa at: http://www.us.mensa.org For full instructions on how to join tbm-gm and tbm-discussion, our two Yahoo! groups, visit TBM at Submission Guidelines Tampa Bay Sounding encourages submissions from all members. Submissions must be signed, but names may be withheld or pseudonyms used if requested. All letters to the editor will be subject to publication unless the author specifically requests otherwise. All material submitted will be considered for publication, but nothing can be guaranteed. Everything is subject to editing. Please keep the following guidelines in mind: • Articles, casual essays, opinion pieces, poems, short stories, puzzles, and artwork are all encouraged. • Personal attacks and bigoted, sexist, hateful, or otherwise offensive material will not be published. • E-mail submissions are preferred, either embedded or in Word-readable attachments. Computer printouts and typewritten pages are fine. If you submit hard copy, please make sure your printer has enough toner or your typewriter has a fresh-enough ribbon. Legible handwritten submissions will be considered (but not given preference). You may send your submissions by either of the following means: E-mail: [email protected] (Please indicate “TBM” in the subject header.) U.S. Mail: Ronan Heffernan, 27504 Breakers Dr, Wesley Chapel, FL 33544 Unless otherwise specified in the calendar, the deadline for unsolicited contributions is the fifth day of the month. http://tampa.us.mensa.org Tampa Bay Sounding is the official newsletter of Tampa Bay Mensa, American Mensa local group number 10-335. © 2015 Tampa Bay Mensa. All rights reserved. All material in this issue not copyrighted by individual contributors may be reprinted in other Mensa publications, provided that credit is given to the author or artist and to Sounding. Prior written consent of the editor is required for any other reproduction in any form. Any Mensa publication reprinting Tampa Bay Sounding material is requested to send a copy to the editor. SUBSCRIBE!: The subscription cost for local members is partially remitted from annual dues paid to American Mensa Ltd. Tampa Bay Sounding is available to other Mensans and to non-Mensans at an annual subscription cost of $12.00. To subscribe, send a check, payable to Tampa Bay Mensa, to the Treasurer: Kathy Crum, 7164 Quail Hollow Blvd., Wesley Chapel, FL 33544-2525. ADVERTISING POLICY: Sounding offers free classified ads to Tampa Bay Mensa members for services, items for sale, jobs wanted/available, personals, etc. Ads should be no longer than 50 words. Classified ads need to be renewed on a monthly basis if you wish them to appear in consecutive issues. Tampa Bay Mensa and Sounding are not responsible for the content of ads. All commercial ads are subject to the following rates: Full page - $60; Half page - $30; Quarter page $15. Members of Mensa pay half these rates. Page 2 Tamp a B ay Soun d in g Welcome to Tampa Bay Mensa! Brenda Broers Irv Frankel Luke Lewis * Benjamin Sherwin * Nicholas Sherwin * New members. October Birthdays 10/01 10/03 10/04 10/05 10/06 10/08 10/10 10/11 10/12 10/14 10/15 10/16 10/17 10/18 10/19 10/20 10/22 10/23 10/24 10/25 10/26 10/27 10/30 10/31 Fredrik Tucker Anne Murray, Karen Stowe Patricia Bowker, Tammy Hicks, Craig Hutchinson Jacquelyn Payson, Thomas Richards Victoria Humphrey Daniel Holloway, Ross Richardson William Dattisman, Keven McGinn H Beaumont, Paul Frappollo, Arthur Schwartz Robert Farabee, Linda Raymond Peter Profiro, Frank Valenti James Kennedy Douglas Woolley John Martz, Rodney Phillips Michael Cusumano Lori Brown, Douglas Linkhart, Joshua Shields Elizabeth Iadarola, Ann Kaufman, Robert Smith R Rawls Frederick Carlson Dave Bryant, Debborah Dabaj Eriq Breland, Joel Morris Ron Austin, Ruth Beckman, Michael Garrett, Phillip Geisinger, Damian Kondrotas, Jacki Nesbitt Don Chase John Emerson Robin Burngasser, Christopher Chapman, Cathleen Dunn, Lee Hargrave, Micheal Oldenburg, George Wetzel Oc tob e r 2 01 5 Page 3 LocSec Column Sylvia Holt Zadorozny Here, There, and Everywhere! Good news! We have new Circulation Officers! Lisa & Bryce Blair volunteered to take on responsibility for Tampa Bay Sounding preparation and delivery to the post office. Thank you both, and thank you also to Art Schwartz, who performed the job dutifully for four years and who oversaw a difficult transition from the St. Pete Post Office to the Tampa one. TBM recently joined Manasota Mensa for a Thai Brunch at a Buddhist temple in Tampa. We chose from a wide variety of exotic food selections and enjoyed perfect weather, eating at a picnic table under the trees, next to the Palm River. After dining, some of us went inside the Wat (temple) and learned about the tenets of Buddhism from a guide there. It was all very beautiful! Brunch attendees: Charles Shadrick, Theresa Hohmann, Molly Shadrick, Nancy Heinrich, Carol Cancilla, Ruth Danielle, Don Davis, Isabelle Hohmann, Ronan Heffernan, Sylvia Zadorozny. Continued on page 14 Please consider submitting articles, personal anecdotes, poetry, short fiction, photographs – virtually anything that interests you – to [email protected], for publication in the Tampa Bay Sounding ! Page 4 Tamp a B ay Soun d in g RVC Column for Region 10 Thomas George Thomas Over Labor Day weekend I had the pleasure of attending the Broward Mensa Regional Gathering, “Another Excuse to Eat Chocolate”. It was very well attended, as befits the last RG they will have until 2019 (more on that in a moment). Co-chair Robin Rhea an nounced that over 140 guests attended, including a standing-room only kids’ track on Sunday. There were many excellent programs, including presentations on air traffic control, Thailand, DNA sequencing, and use of a drop spindle for spinning, among several others. There was also a Cabaret performance on Saturday night, along with several games tournaments. A couple of my favorite programs were a home-brewed mead tasting on Friday night with Jay Bertolet, a presentation on the ecology of the Galapagos Archipelago, and an interactive program on leading difficult people. With all the activity, I was exhausted by the end of the long weekend on Monday! Congratulations to Robin Rhea, Marci Barlolotta, Kris Martin, Micki Hawn, Alice Silver, Heidi Jameson, Jason Knight, and many others (I know I’m forgetting some important volunteers) who created this wonderful event. Aside from the RG, I took a trip during the weekend to visit the Diplomat resort in Hollywood with Marc Lederman, Chairman of the 2017 Annual Gathering. Because of this major event, Broward will not be hosting an RG that year, which they usually do in odd-numbered years. Many people from throughout the region will be working hard to make this Annual Gathering a success, and Marc has already tapped many good lo cal people to help in important positions. The hotel itself is a beautiful venue, with di rect access to the beach for sun-worshippers. At this writing, I am in Arlington, TX for a meeting of the American Mensa Committee (AMC) scheduled for September 12, which will be long over by the time you read this. Unfortunately, due to newsletter deadlines, I can’t provide the results of the meeting for this column, but I can mention the major agenda items. The first is a holdover from the July meeting, where a motion was presented to add an RVC to the Executive Committee (ExComm) of the AMC. It was postponed at that time, but there are good points on both sides of this issue. On one hand, the ExComm currently consists of the five nationally-elected officers, who have a legitimate claim to a mandate from the full voting membership of American Mensa. On the other hand, every voting member of the board, whether elected nationally or by a regional subset of the members, has the same fiscal responsibility for the organization. And RVCs have greater day-to-day interactions with local groups of all sizes and therefore have a better – or at least different – sense of the members’ needs and preferences. There will undoubtedly be a spirited discussion of this motion. Additional motions regard changes to the Name and Logo policies. One motion proposes creating special “Members of Mensa” logos and banners for use in events of members’ choosing, allowing them to participate in political or socially-related events without suggesting that Mensa itself promotes or has any opinion on said event. I don’t like this motion because while saying that the bearer of such a banner represents the members and not the organization may be technically true, it’s a distinction that will be lost on outside observers, who will just see the logo on a banner and as sume it represents a Mensa position. Continued on page 10 Oc tob e r 2 01 5 Page 5 The Fraud of Man-Made Global Warming, Once Again Ronnie Dubs Boyle has his law, Avogadro has his number, and no one argues the surreal implications of Einstein’s theory of special relativity -- so what great scientist puts their impri matur on the fraud known as Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW)? Please tell us Deniers just what great scientific mind has proven this and will hang their reputation upon it? Unlike the NOAA data currently being changed, back-dated, manipulated and fabricated to make us believe what is not happening really is happening, the geological ice core data is relatively pure of man-made manipulation and fraud. For hundreds of thousands of years, changes in CO2 levels trailed behind changes in climate temperatures sometimes by hundreds of years. Yet never in this 800,000 year-long geologic record have CO2 levels ever shown themselves in any way to be a predictor of either warming or cooling to follow, which is what the Global Warming hucksters would have us believe. Simply explained, the warmer the climate, the more vegetation is exposed to the at mosphere, and the higher temperatures accelerate the decomposition of it -- putting more CO2 into the atmosphere. That's basic chemistry and easy to understand, quite unlike the convoluted, incomprehensible junk science the Believers use to sell their nonsense to the ignorant and foolish masses as genuine science. As simply as the connection between climate and CO2 can be explained, the fraud of these Believers is explained as well. The climate seemed to be warming, so they blamed man and demanded political power and MONEY. Logically, they need to satisfy both sides of an equation to make their case: that the climate is indeed warming, and also that man is responsible for that warming. They have yet to conclusively prove either one of these two stipulations. The Believers have yet to explain many things. They claim as fact how these rising sea levels only seem to affect obscure island nations and not long established seaports and other island nations, perhaps drawn there by the allure of MONEY promised them by the global elitist promoters of this scam. They claim that 97, 98, or 99 % of all scien tists believe this nonsense – as fraudulent as anything else – as if science has ever been based on consensus or that government-paid scientists are somehow more honest and ethical than those in the private sector. For many months now, I have been submitting to our national magazine a letter sim ply suggesting that we in Mensa could raise our profile and make ourselves more relevant to the nation by simply staging a public debate on this matter, being so rudely pushed upon us with arrogance, insults, and lies. But National refuses to print any thing critical of their own liberal sacred cow. How sad for an organization based on rational intelligence. The problem here is greater than if this supposed AGW is happening or not, but that it undermines any real dialogue we might have, as friends and fellow Americans, as to issues of environmental stewardship. Dialogue on things we may well agree on, such as abatement programs to prevent less developed nations from destroying their own forests, or even rational discussions on water use, refuse and recycling – which all remain clouded by this fraud of AGW and prevent any fruitful discussions between us. Page 6 Tamp a B ay Soun d in g October Mensaversaries 51 47 44 39 37 33 32 31 30 28 24 22 21 19 18 16 15 13 12 11 10 years years years years years years years years years years years years years years years years years years years years years 9 years 8 7 5 4 3 2 years years years years years years Paul Frappollo Norman Linton Lee Hargrave Charles Bell Michelle Kurtz, Patricia Leslie Marylou Seigel Diane Campo Mary Ann Pidick Juana Harper Mitchell Drucker Larry Bush Dennis Jauch, Arthur Kelland, David Starr Robert Topper Malcolm Haynes Roger Zitman Warren Hunnicutt, Michael Wenditz Brett Husselbaugh, Charles Stewart Wayne Johnson, John Martz, Joshua Shields Trude Diamond, Angel Onesty Micheal Oldenburg Michael Becker, Daniel Holloway Kenneth Berg, Robert Bradford, Kathleen Johnson, Tom Warnes Rebecca Erwin, Neil Rupani Anthony Sommo Garrett Cardwell, Susan Cornett Nicholas DuBose, Lillian O'Neill Alison Guinan, Jay Myers Robert Farabee, Taylor Gregory, Robert Shackton Note: Years are for continuous membership. Members who let their membership lapse start from the date of reinstatement. Oc tob e r 2 01 5 Page 7 For updated event information, check our online calendar: http://tampa.us.mensa.org/cal Calendar of Events Page 8 Tamp a B ay Soun d in g October 2015 Calendar Except for rare cases that hosts will make clear, all events listed in our Calendar of Events, whether hosted in private homes or public venues, are open to all Mensans, their spouses, and accompanied guests. While kitty amounts are mandatory, hosts often spend far more than the specified amount. Donations in excess of the kitty amount will be appreciated. If you have special needs or restrictions, it is prudent to discuss them with your host before at tending an event. October 1 12:30pm Lunch Bunch Location: Piccadilly Cafeteria, 11810 North Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa We meet at Piccadilly Cafeteria (next to Barnes and Noble Bookstore), in Tampa. For directions, descriptions, and/or encouragement to attend, call: Jim Perry 813-837-3473 [email protected] October 7 7pm Reading Group Location: IHOP, 4910 West Spruce Street, Tampa Read whatever you like and bring books you'd like to recommend, discuss, exchange, or give away. Ronan Heffernan 727-537-6626 [email protected] October 8 12:30pm Lunch Bunch October 10 7pm Games Night Location: 651 Timber Bay Circle West, Oldsmar We play fun board and table games. Snacks and sodas provided ($2 kitty helps defray refreshment expenses). No smoking indoors. Sylvia Holt Zadorozny 813-855-4939 [email protected] October 15 12:30pm Lunch Bunch October 21 7pm Reading Group October 22 12:30pm Lunch Bunch October 24 2pm TLC Location: 18244 Collridge Dr, Tampa It's time to Tape, Label, and Chat, as we prepare the next issue of Tampa Bay Sounding for mailing. Come help out and be one of the first to get the latest issue. Lisa & Bryce Blair 813-907-2418 [email protected] October 29 12:30pm Lunch Bunch Oc tob e r 2 01 5 Page 9 RVC Column for Region 10 (cont) At the same time, a companion motion is being made to add a final review to any Name and Logo Committee decision to make sure that new logos are not created that could be interpreted as taking a political or social position. The impetus for this motion was the creation of a logo earlier this year that placed the Mensa emblem on a rainbow background, to which some members have objected. This motion allows the Name and Logo committee to take into account factors beyond whether the proposed use meets the technical requirements of the policy, as this logo did. Page 1 0 Tamp a B ay Soun d in g Member Book Review Jim Perry David Hackett Fischer’s Historians’ Fallacies: Toward a Logic of Historical Thought Fischer offers, as promised, a survey of historians’ fallacies, organized in eleven chapters: Question-Framing, Factual Verification, Factual Significance, Generalization, Narration, Causation, Motivation, Composition, False Analogy, Semantical Distortion, and Substantive Distraction. He gives and explains examples of each of these, taken from the published work of a hundred and more well-known names including Charles Beard, John Maynard Keynes, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Macaulay, Karl Marx, Ashley Montagu, Samuel Eliot Morison, Bertrand Russell and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. Most of the fallacies were inadvertent, but they are all instructive for any reader. Fischer proposes three specific principles in his positive and optimistic effort to find a logic of historical thought, as follows: 1) Every true statement must be true to itself, to the evidence, and to all other statements accepted as true. (p. 40) This is a principle that must be applied to statements made anywhere, e.g., in a court of law and in advertising. A statement of historical fact, to be accepted as true, must not contradict itself; it must not deny or misrepresent the evidence available; and it must not contradict other statements accepted as true, including the laws of physics. 2) Neutralize bias toward continuity or change. (p. 160) Fischer doesn’t have much to say about this, but it is an enormous issue between those who want to preserve the status quo and those who want to change it. Fabricating some facts and suppressing others for the sake of social advantage is no business of historians. 3) Analogy (and, by analogy, any argument) is misused if it aims “to persuade without proof, or to indoctrinate without understanding, or to settle an empirical question without empirical evidence.” (p. 259) This seems to me to summarize what Fischer aims to say: if historians don’t tell the truth, they will forfeit their most important functions (see below). (I might add that, as Richard Feynman gleefully remarked, natural scientists try to prove themselves wrong. Social scientists, including historians, theologians, and educators, generally try to prove themselves right. Fischer is properly ashamed of them for that. He might have added that the historian who doesn’t know what evidence would disprove his claim, is proposing a definition, not a fact.) Fischer also notes that they “have been known to write ‘always’ for ‘sometimes,’ and ‘sometimes’ for ‘occasionally.’” (p. 270) I encountered a tacit example of this in Max Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Weber claims in his Chapter II that in pre-Protestant times employers “repeatedly attempted to interest workers in increasing their productivity by increasing the piece rate [but] workers responded to the increase by decreasing their daily productivity.” Weber concludes that “People do not wish ‘by nature’ to earn more and more money. Instead, they wish simply to live, and to live as they have been accustomed and earn as much as is required to do so.” I’m sure some people thought this way, and still do; but I am no less sure that others earned as much as they could in anticipation of a long winter and eventual old age. Of course, earning more requires a safe place to put it and a stout will to defend Oc tob e r 2 01 5 Page 11 Member Book Review (cont) against every begging relative and neighbor’s pleas and threats, but that’s a different story. I conclude with a list of what Fischer considers five important functions for history as such. (pp. 315ff.) First, history helps clarify the contexts of contemporary problems. Second, history helps establish trends, directions, and prospects for the future. Third, history helps us refine theoretical knowledge, e.g., about “historical conditions in which social stability, social freedom, and social equality have tended to be maximally coexistent.” Fourth, history helps us find out who we are. (The history of philosophy did that for me!) Fifth, history helps us to help us learn how to think historically in the face of an unparalleled threat in modern times to the survival of the human race. “Reason is… a pathetically frail weapon in the face of such a threat. But it is the only weapon we have.” The book is far more interesting, optimistic, and funny than the title might lead us to expect (think: Judi Dench’s Skin Blemishes). It runs to more than 300 pages and copies are available at Amazon.com for little more than the cost of shipping. The book contains a 19-page index including two pages of the names of fallacies discussed in the book. Fischer is the author of Washington’s Crossing, Albion’s Seed, and Liberty and Freedom. Letter to the Editor I have been a Mensan for many years and am a lawyer by trade. I have recently completed my first novel but, unfortunately, I have virtually no formal training in literature. I feel that I have reached the maximum level of my ability with the current working draft. Is there a knowledgeable Mensan or two out there that may be interested in assisting on a project of this type? Briefly described, the book is a representation of society personified as a school of fish. The story line focuses on addiction and its far-reaching effect upon a population as well as so many individuals. It has a fantasy aspect and targeted toward the young adult. The content has real relevance to me having watched a loved one run that solemn path through addiction and the devastation that follows. I am willing to compensate for the time and expertise with the right person. J.J. Nolan Interested Mensans can contact J.J. Nolan at [email protected] for more information. -Ed. Page 1 2 Tamp a B ay Soun d in g Treasurer's Report ASSETS as of 06/30/14 Wells Fargo Checking $ 18540.98 Wells Fargo Savings $ 2951.22 2nd Class Mailing Account $ 252.28 TOTAL $ 21744.48 ASSETS as of 09/07/15 Wells Fargo Checking $ 14780.17 Wells Fargo Savings $ 5052.75 Treasurer’s Report St. Pete Mailing Account $ 103.55 June 30, 2014 to Tampa Mailing Account $ 199.76 September 7, 2015 TOTAL $ 20136.23 By Kathy Crum TBM Treasurer CASH FLOW for 06/30/14 to 09/07/15 INCOME This Treasurer’s report gives the general membership a quick update on the finances of Tampa Bay Mensa. Our overall financial status is looking pretty good. Our biggest expense besides the printing of the Sounding is for our Socials, which occur approximately quarterly. The report is showing a small net loss for the 2014 RG, which was attributed to a charge for the hospitality rooms that was reimbursed after my previous report was submitted. Even with that small loss, we still had a ridiculously successful 2014 RG! So much so that even our loss on the 2015 RG was covered. Some of the expenses on the 2015 RG may still be recovered, since most of the loss was for a supply of tshirts that we will be able to sell at future RGs. We are in the planning stages for the 2016 RG now, so please volunteer to help make it the best ever! On a side note: The caricature that I use at the head of my column was done years ago at a Beach Bash RG by a long-time member of TBM, the infamous Joe Joeb, who passed away recently. He will be missed! Till next time… Oc tob e r 2 01 5 Misc Income Interest Income National Support $352.59 $ 1.65 $ 8222.62 Proctor Revenue $ 325.00 RG ‘14: Net $ -399.84 RG ‘15: Net $ -1219.09 TOTAL INCOME $ 7282.93 EXPENSES Fees $ 40.00 Miscellaneous Expenses $ 204.71 Proctor Costs $ 411.70 Postage - TBS $ 1032.19 Postage - Misc $ 2.45 Printing - TBS $ 3323.02 Publicity $ 150.00 Refreshments $ 904.56 Retreat – Excomm Socials (5) $ 35.69 $ 2849.96 TOTAL EXPENSES $ 8954.28 OVERALL GAIN/LOSS $ -1671.35 Page 13 LocSec Column (cont) Wat Mongkolratanaram, in Tampa. The following weekend, I learned even more about Thai culture during a presentation at the Broward Mensa Regional Gathering. 144 people from all over Florida (and beyond) attended this RG, where we listened to speakers, played games, and chatted in hospitality. It was a lot of fun! (See RG pictures, below.) Speaking of RGs, TBM is now in the planning stages for its own RG over Memorial Day weekend in May. More details should be available soon, I hope, and eventually we should be getting a registration form up on the website. May is still a long way away, though, and it would be nice to see more fun events on the calendar in the meantime. If you have an idea for a Mensa event, especially if you’re willing to host it yourself, email me, and we’ll see if we can make it happen. In the past we’ve had successful bowling nights, visits to museums, ethnic food dinearounds, etc. We still have the Reading Group, Lunch Bunch, and Games Night, but it would be nice to see other events too. I’m not sure if it will make it on the calendar in time for publication in the written Sounding, but we also will be having a fall picnic soon. Please check online for the date, time, and place: <http://tampa.us.mensa.org> On a completely unrelated topic, a few members complained about a column that appeared in a recent Tampa Bay Sounding issue. They felt the author went too far expressing controversial, bigoted opinions. The thing is, although you and I may not agree with the author, he does have a right to his own opinions. But that doesn’t mean TBM has to print them in the Sounding. Accordingly, the ExComm is now Page 1 4 Tamp a B ay Soun d in g LocSec Column (cont) asking TBM’s editorial board to preview newsletter submissions before the Sounding goes to press. And before anyone yells “Censorship!”, please remember that this is a private organization putting out a newsletter for the enjoyment of its membership and (hopefully) to attract new members. Political attacks in our local newsletter alienate members and, at least in my opinion, don’t reflect positively on TBM. (Note: I’m not on the editorial board.) Finally, since we’ll be convening a new ExComm soon, there’s a chance this might be my last LocSec column. If it is, I want to thank you all for reading. It’s been fun. Now for my promised photos from the Broward Regional Gathering: After dinner and mead tasting, I went to a program on the Galapagos Islands. The presenter had discovered this turtle sleeping underwater there. Judy Ford beat me to win the Scrabble tournament. Oc tob e r 2 01 5 Page 15 LocSec Column (cont) Tammy Hicks, Evvy Rabin,Bob Haley, and I joined forces to assemble this tough vocabulary jigsaw puzzle. The presenters of the program on Thailand – they showed lots of wonderful pictures, but unfortunately my photos turned out fuzzy. Page 1 6 Tamp a B ay Soun d in g LocSec Column (cont) Jene Kapela’s presentation topic was listed as “Leading Difficult People”, but she actually spoke about different personality types. Maran Fulvi taught us all about drop spindle spinning. I didn’t know that it pre-dates the wheel! Oc tob e r 2 01 5 Page 17 LocSec Column (cont) Spinning is harder than it looks! During a game of Power Grid, all my cities blacked out when I couldn’t afford fuel (oops!) with Maran Fulvi, Jennifer Michel, and Ryan Martin. Page 1 8 Tamp a B ay Soun d in g LocSec Column (cont) Saturday evening’s cabaret featured a talented, but rather strange, cast. The kids’ track displayed cute owls they made from cotton balls. Oc tob e r 2 01 5 Page 19 LocSec Column (cont) At the RVC Rap, Thomas Thomas informed us what was happening at the national level in Mensa. Monday’s going-away brunch in the hospitality suite. Page 2 0 Tamp a B ay Soun d in g LocSec Column (cont) The winning Treasure Hunt team—Broward’s Treasure Hunt is very different from Tampa Bay Mensa’s. Be cool -- advertise your business at Tampa Bay Mensa events! TBM is looking to obtain large capacity wheeled coolers to be used at Regional Gatherings, picnics, etc. If you are willing to donate large wheeled cooler(s) in working condition, not only would our group greatly appreciate it, but you could put your business logo or advertising on top for all to see. For more info, contact Art Schwartz - [email protected] or 727-418-0172. Thanks! Oc tob e r 2 01 5 Page 21 News & Notes: October 2015 Happenings & Celebrations: 4th: World Animal Day 5th: World Teachers Day 9th: Fire Prevention Day 24th: Make a Difference Day Resources: World Animal Day is celebrated on the Feast Day of St Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals. If you’re an animal lover, explore these fun animal sites: • National Geographic Kids has lots of information about a wide range of animals kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals. • The National Zoo in Washington, D.C., is part of the Smithsonian. It has animal webcams that allow you to bring the zoo into your living room. nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/webcams. World Teachers day is celebrated every year on October 5 th and is a day devoted to appreciating, assessing and empowering the educators of the world. Take the opportunity to celebrate the teachers in your life. Fire Prevention Day: Remember “EDITH”, which stands for “Exit Drills in the Home”. Today is a good day to have a practice drill. www.sparky.org allows kids to explore and learn about fire safety in a safe and interactive environment. Make a Difference Day: Make a commitment to help others in your community. Millions of Americans participate in community improvement projects. How do you plan to participate? You can find a project near you or start your own by going to www.makeadifferenceday.com Triviality: · Even though October is the tenth month in the calendar, its name is from the Latin “octo” meaning "eight" because in the original Roman calendar it was the eighth month. We can’t change to the Latin for “ten,” because that’s taken – by December. · On October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus landed in America. · On October 31, 1864, Nevada became the 36th state of the United States. · In the Southern hemisphere, October is the seasonal equivalent to April. Page 2 2 Tamp a B ay Soun d in g News & Notes: October 2015 (cont) It’s Your Birthday! If you were born in October, you share your birthday month with the 39th U.S. President Jimmy Carter (1st), Julie Andrews (1st), Kate Winslet (5th), R.L. Stine (8th), Matt Damon (8th), John Lennon (9 th), Eleanor Roosevelt (11 th), William Penn (14 th), Ralph Lauren (14th), User (14th), Oscar Wilde (16th), Pope John Paul I (17th), Chuck Berry (18th), Johnny Carson (23rd), Pablo Picasso (25th), Hillary Clinton (26th), Theodore Roosevelt (27th), Julia Roberts (28th), and Juliette Gordon Low (31st) xkcd.org Oc tob e r 2 01 5 Page 23 Cryptopoem Sylvia Holt Zadorozny ILW KIEPIDWY TREAD AH SQUAWK FLAP GPQB ‘HWEIL NQRP GWWI EK QH NQR KIPEN EDQHZ ILW HEPPQF ILPWEY-DAOW VEIL, ILAK SQQD QSIQMWP YEN. … QH WUWPN KAYW ILW ZQDYWH PQY’K DQHZ, ZPESWGRD VDRBWK QG IEFHN ZQDY EHY EZWPEIRB’K VRPVDW MDQQB — ILW MEHHWPK QG ILW FQDY. ILW KIRMMDW QG ILW CRHW-PWEVWY FLWEI KIEHYK RV AH MPAKIDAHZ PEHOK QG KVWEPK, AIK ZQDY AK SQUWPWY HQF FAIL GPQKI, DAOW FEPPAQPK ZPWN FAIL NWEPK. … Page 2 4 Tamp a B ay Soun d in g Cryptopoem (cont) ILWPW AH ILW KIPWEB MWHWEIL ILW WDBK, ILW DWEUWK, DAOW KLAVK QG DAD’VRI, GEAP, YPAGI YQFH, KEHK PRYYWPK EHY KEHK KEADK IQ VQPIK ILEI DAW HQFLWPW. ~ CEBWK WYFAH SEBVMWDD, “ILPQRZL QSIQMWP GAWDYK” Answer to the September Cryptopoem: A pretty deer is dear to me, A hare with downy hair, A hart I love with all my heart, But barely bear a bear. … Quails do not quail before the storm, A bough will bow before it; We cannot rein the rain at all— No earthly power reigns o’er it. … The springs shoot forth each spring, and shoots Shoot forward one and all; Though summer kills the flowers, it leaves The leaves to fall in fall. ~from The Beauties of English Orthography, anonymous Oc tob e r 2 01 5 Page 25 Serial Fillers To round-out the page count for publication, here is some not-quite-random public domain content. If you would like to submit articles, stories, etc. for publication, please see the Submission Guidelines on page 2. THE JUNGLE BOOK By Rudyard Kipling It was seven o'clock of a very warm evening in the Seeonee hills when Father Wolf woke up from his day's rest, scratched himself, yawned, and spread out his paws one after the other to get rid of the sleepy feeling in their tips. Mother Wolf lay with her big gray nose dropped across her four tumbling, squealing cubs, and the moon shone into the mouth of the cave where they all lived. "Augrh!" said Father Wolf. "It is time to hunt again." He was going to spring down hill when a little shadow with a bushy tail crossed the threshold and whined: "Good luck go with you, O Chief of the Wolves. And good luck and strong white teeth go with noble children that they may never forget the hungry in this world." It was the jackal—Tabaqui, the Dish-licker —and the wolves of India despise Tabaqui because he runs about making mischief, and telling tales, and eating rags and pieces of leather from the village rubbishheaps. But they are afraid of him too, because Tabaqui, more than anyone else in the jungle, is apt to go mad, and then he forgets that he was ever afraid of anyone, and runs through the forest biting everything in his way. Even the tiger runs and hides when little Tabaqui goes mad, for madness is the most disgraceful thing that can overtake a wild creature. We call it hydrophobia, but they call it dewanee— the madness—and run. "Enter, then, and look," said Father Wolf stiffly, "but there is no food here." Page 2 6 "For a wolf, no," said Tabaqui, "but for so mean a person as myself a dry bone is a good feast. Who are we, the Gidur-log [the jackal people], to pick and choose?" He scuttled to the back of the cave, where he found the bone of a buck with some meat on it, and sat cracking the end merrily. "All thanks for this good meal," he said, licking his lips. "How beautiful are the noble children! How large are their eyes! And so young too! Indeed, indeed, I might have remembered that the children of kings are men from the beginning." Now, Tabaqui knew as well as anyone else that there is nothing so unlucky as to compliment children to their faces. It pleased him to see Mother and Father Wolf look uncomfortable. Tabaqui sat still, rejoicing in the mischief that he had made, and then he said spitefully: "Shere Khan, the Big One, has shifted his hunting grounds. He will hunt among these hills for the next moon, so he has told me." Shere Khan was the tiger who lived near the Waingunga River, twenty miles away. "He has no right!" Father Wolf began angrily—"By the Law of the Jungle he has no right to change his quarters without due warning. He will frighten every head of game within ten miles, and I—I have to kill for two, these days." The rest of this story and thousands of other public domain works are available at www.gutenberg.org Tamp a B ay Soun d in g 2014-2015 Tampa Bay Mensa Officers EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ➢Local Secretary Sylvia Holt Zadorozny 651 Timber Bay Cir. W. Oldsmar, FL 34677 813-855-4939 [email protected] ➢Deputy LocSec ➢Publisher Kevin Brawner 727-397-8483 [email protected] ➢Scholarship Chair Ronan Heffernan scholarship@ tampa.us.mensa.org Art Schwartz 1909 Dover CT Oldsmar, FL 34677 813-818-8109 asstlocsec@ tampa.us.mensa.org ➢Scribe ➢Treasurer ➢Testing Coordinator Kathy Crum 7164 Quail Hollow Blvd. Wesley Chapel, FL 33544 813-907-0526 [email protected] ➢Auditor Kevin Brawner 5001 Terrace Palms Cir Unit 101 Temple Terrace, FL 33617 813-732-3837 [email protected] ➢Calendar Editor Art Schwartz [email protected] ➢Circulation Officer Art Schwartz distribution@ tampa.us.mensa.org ➢Members-At-Large Barbara Loewe 12401 N. 22d St. Apt #C111 Tampa, FL 33612 813-968-3343 [email protected] Kay Shapiro 349 Shore Dr. E. Oldsmar, FL 34677 727-543-2004 [email protected] ➢Publicity Officer David Fleming 5303 Reflections Club Drive, Apt 104 Tampa FL 33634 [email protected] David Schwartz [email protected] ➢SIG Coordinator David Schwartz [email protected] Jen Michel [email protected] ➢Webmaster Ronan Heffernan webmaster@ tampa.us.mensa.org OTHER OFFICERS ➢Editor ➢Proctors Jay Johnson Kay Shapiro Thomas George Thomas ➢Programs Officer Melissa Stephens [email protected] ➢SIGHT Coordinator Susan Anderson 10733 Dowry Ave. Tampa, FL 33615 813-494-6517 [email protected] ➢Volunteer Coordinator Hillary Miller 1700 66th St N St Petersburg, FL 33710 [email protected] ASSISTANT OFFICERS ➢Asst Treasurer Kay Shapiro ➢Asst Webmaster Kevin Brawner Tanya Stay [email protected] ➢Asst GYC ➢Membership Officer ➢Asst Programs Officer Steve Shapiro 349 Shore Dr. E. Oldsmar, FL 34677 727-543-2004 membership@ tampa.us.mensa.org ➢Gifted Youth Coordinator Melissa Stephens 2023 Blue Rock Rd. #301 Tampa , FL 33612 813-476-5405 giftedyouth@ tampa.us.mensa.org ➢Editorial Board Kay Shapiro Melissa Stephens Jen Michel ➢Election Committee Pending 2016 election ➢Election Supervisor Pending 2016 election ➢Ombudsman Kay & Steve Shapiro Art Schwartz ➢Asst Publicity Officer Art Schwartz ➢Asst Editor Jen Michel & Kay Shapiro ➢Asst Membership Officer Kay Shapiro ➢Asst Circulation Officer David Schwartz REGIONAL CONTACTS ➢RVC, Region 10 Thomas George Thomas 27647 Sky Lake Circle Wesley Chapel, FL 33544 813-994-3981 [email protected] Text: [email protected] Tampa Bay Sounding (USPS 305-830) is published monthly by Tampa Bay Mensa at 5001 Terrace Palms Cir Unit 101 Temple Terrace, FL 33617. 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