On 11/11/11, Carroll Lutheran Village paid tribute to Veterans Day by presenting a remembrance of the Home Front in World War II. It was set up beautifully by members of the Mens Club and the Red Hatters. Some of our fellow residents served in that war and were honored. Some others of us who served in later wars were also honored. However, the main topic was, as I said, The Home Front in World War II. .
Many of us who were too young to be drafted helped in the war effort by collecting scrap paper and metal. Some of us wrote about that and other wartime experiences on The Home Front and a book was published with our writings. It's available for viewing at our library, a very nice place in our Village to sit and read, surrounded by thousands of good books, old and new.
At the Veterans Day presentation, some library books about WWII were on display and I was pleasantly surprised to see one by recently-deceased Andy Rooney. As the one or two who read my blogs, you already know that Andy was one of my heroes. I thought of him variously as: a curmudgeon, a humorist of the first order, a naive observer of the world, a fantastic public speaker, a wise old man, .... depending on the article I was reading that was written by him, or the words that he was saying to close out a television show... or by what I read in the humorous books written by him that I unfortunately gave away before I moved to the Village. And.. of course, I have tried to imitate him in some of my writings. Charles Caleb Colton wrote in 1820: "Imitation is the sincerest (form) of flattery."
The book was titled: My War by Andy Rooney. 1995 by Essay Publications, Inc.
ISBN: 0-8129-2532-7
Andy tells about his life from 1939 to 1945. As a staff writer for the GI publication, The Stars and Stripes, he traveled in his beloved Jeep all over Europe and Asia for stories, often hemmed in between massive tanks and 4x4 trucks, sustaining lots of enemy fire. Many of his fellow correspondents were killed, some right by his side, and how he escaped his own demise is a mystery to me, as it was to him.
He was near the action on D-Day and was with the troops when they drove the Germans out of Paris. He observed that Parisian man crying when the French partisans and American GI's entered his city, and tries to tell how much that liberation meant to the people who had suffered so long under German occupation.
Andy was there with the troops when they entered Cologne (my old "stomping ground") and the Schnee Eiffel (where I spent 18 months in the 1950's). He has nothing good to say about General Patton, who took credit for the Battle of the Bulge. He got chewed out by the General one time, but ignored the admonition and lived to tell about it.
Andy was also there when the American troops entered Buchenwald.. I quote: "Buchenwald represented the worst of everything in all the Nazi extermination camps. The dead and dying were still everywhere." My friend, Harry Wade, was there at that time too and he echoes what Andy said.. and also what Andy said about the SS-run work camp at Thekla:
"When these SS troops realized U.S. soldiers were going to arrive in Thekla within hours, they herded 300 prisoners into one of the barracks... They threw pails of gasoline over the barracks and onto some of the prisoners and then tossed incendiary grenades into the building. It surely was one of the pinnacles in the annals of man's inhumanity to man."
Some of the Thekla citizens who lived close to the barbed wired compound, came out of their neatly trimmed homes and told Andy: "We didn't know."
Andy was also not very impressed with the dropping of two atomic bombs on Japan. He reminds us that our B-29's had already bombed 39 Japanese cities in the spring of 1945. The Russians were impressed though and joined us in the war against Japan.
From what I have been saying, you might think that this is a depressing book. Not so. Andy's subtle humor shows through on almost every page.
For example: One of Andy's assignments was to cover an American unit that was training Chinese soldiers to help us in the war. He found that many people in that area of China understood English and used a form of it for communication. He liked these examples:
A billboard ad: Chenmen cigarettes: smoke one and you'll never smoke another.
A sign over a tailor shop: Respectable ladies having fits upstairs.
A dentist's sign: False teeth. Latest methodists employed.
Well, Andy Rooney survived the Great War, and lived to be over 90.. but he left one unsolved mystery that I want to clear up right here and now. Andy had this Jeep that became almost a part of him. He traveled everywhere in Europe with it.. but when it came time for him to leave Europe in 1945, he couldn't fit it into a duffle bag, so he had to leave it sitting on a corner somewhere in an Army base. He always wondered what happened to it.
I came to Europe in 1953, just 8 years later, and began my term of duty in that "Scnnee Eiffel" that Andy liked to pronounce. A little while after I arrived, I won a Jeep in a game of chance. It was in the Motor Pool, buried in 6 feet of snow (Schnee) with just an antenna poking out. I dug the Jeep out, turned the ignition (no key). It started right up and became my constant companion for over 3 years in Germany. When I departed for home in 1956, I left that Jeep on a corner, just as Andy did before me. I'll bet that someone adopted it and it's still running today.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep
Read the book! Enjoy!
.....................................................................................................................................
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Friday, November 25, 2011
What, why and how do you eat?
A few months ago, I finished studying (not just reading) a book authored by a gentleman seen or heard by most Americans on TV and radio shows. He makes a good guest. He has a lot to say about our use of food. The author is Brian Wansink, and the book is:
Mindless Eating (Why We Eat More Than We Think) by Brian Wansink, Ph.D. Bantam Books. 2006 ISB-13:978-0-553-80434-8
I devoured this book (sorry about that). Yes I did.. using a modified Hugh Downs Method. First, I read the whole 200 or so pages little by little.. that is, a few pages each day, marking passages that I wanted to come back to later. Next I went through the Notes Section, checking out those notes refered to in the text that I hadn't looked at earlier. Then I went through the Index, alphabetically, rereading parts of the text on related points in separate parts of the book. This sounds like a chore, but it was not, because I like the way that Brian writes.
What did I learn from this book that I did not know before? Not much. But that is because I have heard the author talk before on NPR and have read much of his subject in a number of popular magazines.
So.. why did I like the book so much? Because I am a chubby little rascal who knows that he must lose weight, and this book put a lot of weight-management tips together with healthful food-eating tips into a kind of common-sense manual for guys like me. Doctor Wansink looked me right in the eye and said: "Hey, fatso, you've got to reengineer your eating habits or you are going to waddle on for the rest of your life!" This is what he told me to do: (He cites studies and rationales for each of these strategies.)
Reengineering Strategy #1 (Think 20%)
Put 20% less in your plate than you think you will want to eat, and make sure that includes more fruit and vegetables than foods like pasta.
Reengineering Strategy #2 (See all you eat)
Put everything you decide to eat on a plate before you start eating.
Do not remove the remains of what you have eaten before the end of the meal.
Reengineering Strategy #3 (Control your own tablescape)
Repackage big containers to smaller Ziploc containers.
Use smaller plates.
Don't make so much that you have tempting leftovers.
Reengineering Strategy #4 (Make overeating a hassle)
Keep serving dishes off of the table.
Put tempting items in hard to reach places.
Eat snacks only at the dining table and on clean plates.
Don't bring impulse foods into the house.
Eat before you shop.
Shop from a list.
Reengineering Strategy #5 (Remove distractions when eating)
Eat only at the kitchen or dining table.
Try not to watch TV while eating.
Try not to read while eating.
Try to concentrate on what you are eating.
Reengineering Strategy #6 (Tricks for thoughtful cooks)
Prepare healthful food and give the food enticing names like "succulent" or "homemade".
Think about using fancy plates, tablecloths,.. candlelight.
Reengineering Strategy #7 (Make comforting foods more comforting)
Keep the comfort foods, but eat less of them. Do not deprive yourself.
Pair healthier foods with positive events. (Like celebrating graduation with something with less calories than "Death by Chocolate!")
...........................................................................................
Brian also does a comparison of these popular diets:
The South Beach Diet
The Sugar Busters Diet
The Weight Watchers Points Diet
The Zone Diet
The Atkins Diet
He even lays out many of his suggestions in a diet that he calls: "Your Mindful Eating Plan".
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
This is only part of the information that Doctor Wansink puts forth in his marvelous book. I highly recommend it to anybody who is concerned about what they eat.
Check it all out at:
http://www.mindlesseating.org/
...or else:
Watch those calories! Joe
.......................................................................
Mindless Eating (Why We Eat More Than We Think) by Brian Wansink, Ph.D. Bantam Books. 2006 ISB-13:978-0-553-80434-8
I devoured this book (sorry about that). Yes I did.. using a modified Hugh Downs Method. First, I read the whole 200 or so pages little by little.. that is, a few pages each day, marking passages that I wanted to come back to later. Next I went through the Notes Section, checking out those notes refered to in the text that I hadn't looked at earlier. Then I went through the Index, alphabetically, rereading parts of the text on related points in separate parts of the book. This sounds like a chore, but it was not, because I like the way that Brian writes.
What did I learn from this book that I did not know before? Not much. But that is because I have heard the author talk before on NPR and have read much of his subject in a number of popular magazines.
So.. why did I like the book so much? Because I am a chubby little rascal who knows that he must lose weight, and this book put a lot of weight-management tips together with healthful food-eating tips into a kind of common-sense manual for guys like me. Doctor Wansink looked me right in the eye and said: "Hey, fatso, you've got to reengineer your eating habits or you are going to waddle on for the rest of your life!" This is what he told me to do: (He cites studies and rationales for each of these strategies.)
Reengineering Strategy #1 (Think 20%)
Put 20% less in your plate than you think you will want to eat, and make sure that includes more fruit and vegetables than foods like pasta.
Reengineering Strategy #2 (See all you eat)
Put everything you decide to eat on a plate before you start eating.
Do not remove the remains of what you have eaten before the end of the meal.
Reengineering Strategy #3 (Control your own tablescape)
Repackage big containers to smaller Ziploc containers.
Use smaller plates.
Don't make so much that you have tempting leftovers.
Reengineering Strategy #4 (Make overeating a hassle)
Keep serving dishes off of the table.
Put tempting items in hard to reach places.
Eat snacks only at the dining table and on clean plates.
Don't bring impulse foods into the house.
Eat before you shop.
Shop from a list.
Reengineering Strategy #5 (Remove distractions when eating)
Eat only at the kitchen or dining table.
Try not to watch TV while eating.
Try not to read while eating.
Try to concentrate on what you are eating.
Reengineering Strategy #6 (Tricks for thoughtful cooks)
Prepare healthful food and give the food enticing names like "succulent" or "homemade".
Think about using fancy plates, tablecloths,.. candlelight.
Reengineering Strategy #7 (Make comforting foods more comforting)
Keep the comfort foods, but eat less of them. Do not deprive yourself.
Pair healthier foods with positive events. (Like celebrating graduation with something with less calories than "Death by Chocolate!")
...........................................................................................
Brian also does a comparison of these popular diets:
The South Beach Diet
The Sugar Busters Diet
The Weight Watchers Points Diet
The Zone Diet
The Atkins Diet
He even lays out many of his suggestions in a diet that he calls: "Your Mindful Eating Plan".
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
This is only part of the information that Doctor Wansink puts forth in his marvelous book. I highly recommend it to anybody who is concerned about what they eat.
Check it all out at:
http://www.mindlesseating.org/
...or else:
Watch those calories! Joe
.......................................................................
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