Notes From A Bear's Journey

   One tends to show one's age when remembering songs, the song above being an "oldie" even in my book (but still a classic).  I bring that up partially because of a parody of Don McLean's classic song, American Pie, a parody sent to me by a friend and now making its way through the internet; but the parody also caused me to look at the lyrics of the original song, it's ending proving to seem a bit of a downer and hinting that that "bad guys" were winning in the battle to take down our country's standards.  Here's the final verse of McLean's original words:  Oh, and there we were all in one place, a generation lost in space with no time left to start again; So come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack Flash sat on a candlestick 'cause fire is the devil's only friend.  Oh, and as I watched him on the stage my hands were clenched in fists of rage, no angel born in Hell could break that Satan's spell. And as the flames climbed h

  We were back in Las Vegas, our first getaway in awhile and a chance to rendezvous with my brother and his wife.  Maybe because it was Vegas in winter and Vegas during the weekdays and Vegas downtown (vs. the Strip) but it was all a bit subdued from what we remembered, the smaller crowds seeming to display less energy and enthusiasm than usual, although it did perk up, vampire-like at night.  It's not that the usual things weren't there but it certainly didn't seem to be there in the way that my wife and I remembered.  "That's been gone a year now," one security person told me when I asked about the discount-ticket stand that used to sell unsold tickets to many of the popular shows so associated with Vegas, the Cirque du Soleils (every version you could think of), the concerts, the magic, the comedians, the ostentatious show costumes, and yes, every state of dress or undress one could or would want (one male street performer had nothing on but a tiny sock cov

   The other day I picked up a copy of the 2019 ACT test booklet, one of several "prep" guides to help graduating high school students prepare for college entrance exams.*  No real reason other than I was curious on just how much I had retained or how much I had forgotten from my school years some eons ago.  I admittedly surprised myself at figuring out many of the algebraic and geometry questions, although trig (trigonometry) had become a nebulous dust cloud, the words secant and cotangent stirred something but I couldn't remember what (all this coming as the guide emphasized "remember the following Pythagorean Identities:  sin2(θ) + cos2(θ) = 1; 1 + tan2(θ) = sec2(θ); 1 + cot2(θ) = csc2(θ) .  Yeah right...but that caveat was followed with this: There are typically only four trigonometry questions on the ACT Mathematics Test...(Even if you NEVER learn trigonometry, don't worry; four questions are not likely to seriously affect your score).   If only I knew th

  Those of you who may have watched the recent Senate impeachment hearings here in the U.S. may be wondering just what exactly happened.  First off, despite an expected acquittal by the Senate, President Trump will remain impeached and thus be the third U.S. President to have that added to the history books; but once impeachment is decided by the House of Representatives it then moves on to the Senate to decide on whether or not to remove him from office.  In the Senate, the minority Democrat side argued that since there were first-hand witnesses and documents that could prove the president's guilt or innocence, why not have them testify under Oath and have the documents produced, their argument being that in order for something to be considered a "trial" doesn't there have to be witnesses?  And if Trump was indeed innocent and had nothing to hide then the witnesses would say as much (President Trump has continued to order such witnesses not to testify); the majority