Westminster's sacred places are shrines of community life

My Sunday Carroll Eagle column is up…

Westminster's sacred places are shrines of community life

EAGLE ARCHIVE By Kevin Dayhoff Posted on www.explorecarroll.com on 7/25/08

Since this is a Sunday column, I do hope it's fitting to talk about sacred places.

Not necessarily houses of worship, mind you, though those are most often considered sacred places.

I'm thinking of the sacred public places as described in a 1981 book by Dr. Ira Zepp [pictured here in a 1996 file photo] and Marty Lanham, "Sacred Spaces of Westminster."

I thought of the book as I sat in a recent Common Council meeting at Westminster City Hall -- a building that many consider one of the true sacred places in Carroll County.

At the beginning of the meeting, Mayor Tom Ferguson read a proclamation recognizing July as Recreation and Parks Month, and paid tribute to the city's recreation and parks director Ron Schroers, as well as other employees who work tirelessly for our benefit.

One of the recreational facilities that Schroers oversees is the popular Westminster playground in the heart of the city.

The playground is one the first pictures, taken by Lanham, in that 1981 book.

Moreover, toward the end of the book, the authors discuss one of the overlooked sacred landmarks in Westminster: the Memorial Gateway to the Westminster playground off of Center Street.

Zepp and Lanham explain that the "gateway was given to the city by H. Peyton Gorsuch in 1937. Its primary purpose was to acknowledge the community's debt to Carroll Countians who had served in the nation's wars."

The book goes on to highlight public places such as Belle Grove Square, various other parks, gardens, memorials and monuments.

Read the entire column here: Westminster's sacred places are shrines of community life

When he is not watching the ducks at the Westminster Community Pond, Kevin Dayhoff can be reached at kdayhoff@carr.org. Please don't feed the ducks ... or the Dayhoff.

20080725 Westminster's sacred places are shrines of community life

Labels and related: People Carroll County Zepp – Dr. Ira Zepp, Religion Dayhoff articles and essays, Art The Library, Art The Library Carroll County, History Westminster, Dayhoff Art writing essays and articles,

Westminster Dept Recreation and Parks Westminster Playground, Westminster Dept Recreation and Parks Dir Ron Schroers, Westminster Mayor 200505 to 2009 Thomas K. Ferguson

20080709 This week in The Tentacle

This week in The Tentacle
Wednesday, July 9, 2008

The Path of History
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Hidden away in plain sight, in a storybook setting in northern Frederick County’s Catoctin Mountains, sits Eyler’s Valley Chapel, like a silent stone tribute to a Ralph Waldo Emerson essay.

Writing a Book
Tom McLaughlin
Everybody wants to write a book, including me. A recent survey revealed that 87% of all Americans want to take pen in hand or fingers to keyboard. There are three reasons experts have cited; and they include a person having a message to share, ego and money.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Ike Was the Man!
Roy Meachum
No one gets bored faster with the nitty-gritty of politics. My frequently criticized "impatience" comes into play. Once a candidate captures my approval, the game is over. There was one exception I recall.

Christmas in the Summertime
Nick Diaz
I just rode home from Lewiston, Maine, on my new Yamaha Venture. Rode Amtrak to Portland and met the seller at the station. A half hour later we were at the seller’s place, where the Venture was waiting for me.

Monday, July 7, 2008

Political Street Gossip – The Final Chapter
Richard B. Weldon Jr.
In an effort to run the table, and to affirm that I really have no idea what I'm talking about, I thought I'd weigh in on the 2010 gubernatorial race.

Firearms Clutching in Maryland
Steven R. Berryman
Having grown up with guns, little did I know that the politics surrounding them packed more energy than a .44 Magnum “wheel-gun.” Of course, that was when television came in over an antenna, was black and white, and afforded four stations of programming.

Friday, July 4, 2008

Enjoy the Fireworks!
Roy Meachum
Frederick's Fourth of July festival ends with cascading fireworks over Baker Park. People's awe and sighs complete the package. No more sparklers and individual acts of setting off banging are out.

Modifying Lady Liberty’s Invitation
Steven R. Berryman
In search of straight talk about immigration law reform, happenstance found me at yet another “Maryland Thursday Meeting” in Annapolis. Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center For Immigration Studies (CIS) was the headline speaker.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Behind The Celebrations
Chris Cavey
This week is prime vacation time for many citizens, me included. Doubtfully many people will take the time to read a political junkie website this week, especially the day before summer’s biggest holiday; however, for you few, here are some thoughts.

Hail and Farewell…
Joan McIntyre
What do I say? I’m done; finished, doing a Happy Dance. Nope, not at all, I want to thank this county for the honor of serving on our Planning Commission for the past 10 years.

Recycling’s Flip Side – Part 3
Farrell Keough
Recycling is not the simple toss-it-in- the-blue-in-and-save-the-planet activity that we generally believed. While it has value, we have seen that it is not the panacea generally ascribed. Today we will consider a few of the existing situations which strip away the benefits attributed to recycling.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

The Lords of Annapolis
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Happy 4th of July. One of the main reasons we sought our independence from England was taxes. The only thing is – that this long after we won our independence – we are still fighting over taxes.

Speculation on Tar and Feathers
Tom McLaughlin
The main focus of the oil crisis has now shifted to people called speculators and fund managers. As a liberal Democrat, who reads the Wall Street Journal (now there’s an oxymoron), I have endeavored to learn how they fit into the equation.

Recyclying’s Flip Side – Part 2
Farrell Keough
In yesterday’s column we reviewed some basic information on recycling. We determined that while tossing our plastics in the blue recycling bin may make us feel as if we are saving the planet, it may be we are using substantial resources to produce products we buy back which are no longer recyclable.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Blaine Young Rumors
Roy Meachum
Saturday mornings around my house normally are rest times. The three newspapers stuck through my door receive careful perusal. There are mornings when Pushkin receives pushing onto the patio and we both pile back in the sack. I listened to Blaine Young's Frederick’s Forum only now and then.

Recycling’s Flip Side – Part 1
Farrell Keough
Is recycling a misnomer? In other words, do we actually recycle our waste and containers; or do we just transport them to someone else and feel good about our actions?

Monday, June 30, 2008

From The Desk of the Publisher!
John W. Ashbury
Rick Weldon, whose column normally appears in this space every Monday, is suffering from a major malady of the modern era. His computer crashed; and, like most of us, he was unable to fix it himself. Unfortunately for all who enjoy his work, particularly his political commentary, his column on the governor’s race in 2010 is still locked inside his computer. It will appear next week if the stars align correctly.

A NAC for Social Progress
Steven R. Berryman
Last Thursday The Neighborhood Advisory Council (NAC) Area 5 meeting for the residents surrounding the West End of Frederick, known as the “Golden Mile, headlined an appearance by the sheriff of Frederick County, “Chuck” Jenkins.

20080208 WYPR: Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast - Wynn Rousuck reviews Rosencrantz and Guilderstern are Dead at Centerstage

WYPR: Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast - Wynn Rousuck reviews Rosencrantz and Guilderstern are Dead at Centerstage

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

http://www.wypr.org/MD_MORNING.html

Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast on WYPR

Friday, February 8, 2008

LISTEN

J. Wynn Rousuck reviews Tom Stoppard's play, at Centerstage in Baltimore through March 9th.

External Link: http://www.centerstage.org/index.php

20080208 WYPR: Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast - Wynn Rousuck reviews Rosencrantz and Guilderstern are Dead at Centerstage

20080121 That is the Question: The Ultimate Shakespeare Quiz Book by Tom Delise

That is the Question: The Ultimate Shakespeare Quiz Book (Paperback)

by Thomas Delise

Publisher: Career Press, Incorporated

Pub. Date: April 2004

ISBN-13: 9781564147349

283pp

Table of Contents

Introduction 13

Section I Quoting Shakespeare 17

Quiz 1 This Is the True Beginning: Identify the Play by the Opening Lines 19

Quiz 2 What Do You Call the Play?: Identify the Play by a Quote 21

Quiz 3 I Would My Horse Had the Speed of Your Tongue: Identify the Play by an Insult Used 23

Quiz 4 Thus Men May Grow Wiser Every Day: Identify the Play by a Wise Quote 25

Quiz 5 This Bud of Love: Identify the Play by a Love Quote 26

Quiz 6 Will You Rhyme Upon't?: Complete the Play's Rhyming Couplet 28

Quiz 7 Say But the Word: Complete the Play's Quote 31

Quiz 8 Why, How Now, Hamlet!: Complete the Hamlet Quote 33

Quiz 9 To Be, or Not To Be: Complete the Hamlet Soliloquy 34

Quiz 10 All the World's a Stage: Complete the As You Like It Soliloquy 36

Quiz 11 Now Is the Winter of Our Discontent: Complete the Richard III Soliloquy 37

Quiz 12 Here Is Part of My Rhyme: Complete the Sonnet Rhyme 38

Quiz 13 'Tis Well Said Again: Identify the Play Where a Famous Phrase May Be Found 40

Quiz 14 Our Revels Now Are Ended: Identify the Play by the Ending Lines 42

Section II Shakespeare's Characters 45

Quiz 15 Have We Not Affections?: Identify the Significant Others 47

Quiz 16 Lord, What Fools: Identify the Fool 48

Quiz 17 Where Are My Children?: Identify the Parent and Child 49

Quiz 18 O, Odious Is the Name: Identify the Character With the Unusual Name 50

Quiz 19 Double, Double, Toil and Trouble: Multiple Use of Character Names 51

Quiz 20 This Title Honors Me and Mine: Identify Characters by Their Title 52

Quiz 21 Our Parts So Poor: Identify the Play in Which a Minor Character Appears 53

Quiz 22 We Were the First, Part I: Identify the Female Character by Her First Words 54

Quiz 23 We Were the First, Part II: Identify the Male Character by His First Words 56

Quiz 24 A Woman Is a Dish for the Gods: Identify the Female Character From a Quote 58

Quiz 25 What a Piece of Work Is a Man!: Identify the Male Character From a Quote 60

Quiz 26 A Long Farewell to All My Greatness: Identify the Characters by Their Dying Words 63

Quiz 27 Which Is the Villain?: Identify the Villain by the Quote 65

Quiz 28 What Art Thou That Talk'st of Kings and Queens?: Identify the Kings and Queens in the Plays 68

Quiz 29 We Shall Speak of You: Identify the Character Mentioned or Addressed 70

Section III Shakespeare's Infinite Variety 73

Quiz 30 To Peruse Him by Items: Identify the Play by the Item in It 75

Quiz 31 Particular Additions: Identify the Play by a Description 76

Quiz 32 The Game's Afoot: Identify the Play by the Opening Situation 78

Quiz 33 A Pretty Plot, Well Chosen To Build Upon: Identify the Play by Plot Development 80

Quiz 34 It Is a Sweet Comedy: Questions on the Comedies 81

Quiz 35 The Complot of This Timeless Tragedy: Questions on the Tragedies 84

Quiz 36 Is Not This Something More Than Fantasy?: Questions on the Romances 87

Quiz 37 It Is a Kind of History: Questions on the Histories 89

Quiz 38 At First and Last the Hearty Welcome: Firsts and Lasts Associated With Shakespeare 92

Quiz 39 O, Horrible, O, Horrible, Most Horrible!: Identify the Play Where the Horrible Event Can Be Found 95

Quiz 40 This Supernatural Soliciting: Identify the Play Where the Supernatural Occurs 96

Quiz 41 All the Places That the Eye of Heaven Visits: Identify the Play by the Setting 98

Quiz 42 Away, the Gentles Are at Their Game: Games and Sports in the Plays 99

Quiz 43 How Many Goodly Creatures Are There Here!: Creatures in the Plays 101

Quiz 44 Sir, 'Tis My Occupation: The World of Work in Shakespeare 103

Quiz 45 Tales of Woeful Ages Long Ago: Mythological References in the Plays 104

Quiz 46 I'll Tell You My Dream: Dream References in Shakespeare 106

Quiz 47 He Hath Songs for Man or Woman: Songs in Shakespeare 108

Quiz 48 Doctor, Cast the Water of My Land, Find Her Disease: Shakespeare and the World of Medicine 109

Section IV Film, Stage, and Literature 113

Quiz 49 This Wide and Universal Theatre: Shakespeare in Film 115

Quiz 50 You Precious Winners All: Academy Awards for Shakespeare 118

Quiz 51 The Best Actors in the World, Part I: Actors in Shakespearean Film 121

Quiz 52 The Best Actors in the World, Part II: Actors in Shakespearean Film 124

Quiz 53 Let Her Shine as Gloriously, Part I: Actresses in Shakespearean Film 126

Quiz 54 Let Her Shine as Gloriously, Part II: Actresses in Shakespearean Film 129

Quiz 55 Derived From Honorable Loins: Shakespearean Film Offshoots 132

Quiz 56 The Two Hours' Traffic of Our Stage: Shakespeare on the Stage 134

Quiz 57 Stars Give Light to Thy Fair Way!: Shakespeare and Star Trek 137

Quiz 58 O, for a Muse of Fire: Titles of Other Works Derived From Shakespeare 140

Quiz 59 An Advocate for an Imposter!: Is the Quote Shakespeare or Someone Else? 142

Quiz 60 It May Be You Have Mistaken Him: Is It Shakespeare or the Bible? 144

Quiz 61 Forgive the Comment That My Passion Made: Other Writers' Comments About Shakespeare 145

Quiz 62 All the Peers Are Here at Hand: Theatrical and Literary Contemporaries of Shakespeare 147

Quiz 63 Art Thou Base, Common and Popular?: Shakespeare in Pop Culture 149

Section V Individual Plays 153

Quiz 64 We Have Kiss'd Away Kingdoms and Provinces: The Play Antony and Cleopatra 155

Quiz 65 O Wonderful, Wonderful, Most Wonderful: The Play As You Like It 157

Quiz 66 Pardon's the Word to All: The Play Cymbeline 159

Quiz 67 Now Cracks a Noble Heart: The Play Hamlet 161

Quiz 68 Company, Villainous Company: The Play Henry IV, Part One 163

Quiz 69 A Little Touch of Harry in the Night: The Play Henry V 165

Quiz 70 This Was the Most Unkindest Cut of All: The Play Julius Caesar 168

Quiz 71 Nothing Will Come of Nothing: The Play King Lear 170

Quiz 72 This Dead Butcher and His Fiend-like Queen: The Play Macbeth 172

Quiz 73 I Like Not Fair Terms and Villain's Mind: The Play The Merchant of Venice 176

Quiz 74 If We Shadows Have Offended: The Play A Midsummer Night's Dream 177

Quiz 75 A Kind of Merry War: The Play Much Ado About Nothing 179

Quiz 76 O! Beware My Lord of Jealousy: The Play Othello 181

Quiz 77 Cheated of Feature by Dissembling Nature: The Play Richard III 183

Quiz 78 For Never Was a Story of More Woe: The Play Romeo and Juliet 185

Quiz 79 Pluck My Magic Garment From Me: The Play The Tempest 187

Quiz 80 Laugh Yourself Into Stitches: The Play Twelfth Night 189

Quiz 81 A Sad Tale's Best for Winter: The Play The Winter's Tale 191

Section VI Just for Fun 195

Quiz 82 Wild and Whirling Words: Shakespearean Vocabulary 197

Quiz 83 I Smell a Device: Literary Features and Terms Used by Shakespeare 199

Quiz 84 The Articles Collected From His Life: Biography of William Shakespeare 201

Quiz 85 I Have a Sonnet Will Serve the Turn: Sonnets and Other Poetry 203

Quiz 86 The Numbers True: Statistical Shakespeare 206

Quiz 87 This Wooden O: The Theater of Shakespeare 208

Quiz 88 Behold the Poor Remains, Part I: Shakespearean Odds and Ends 210

Quiz 89 Behold the Poor Remains, Part II: Shakespearean Odds and Ends 213

Quiz 90 Let's Set Our Men in Order: Put Kings in Chronological Order 216

Quiz 91 Mince Not the General Tongue: Unscramble the Play Titles 216

Quiz 92 What's in a Name?, Part I: Unscramble Female Character Names 217

Quiz 93 What's in a Name?, Part II: Unscramble Male Character Names 218

Quiz 94 My Nearest Dearest Enemy: Find the Rivals Word Search 219

Quiz 95 I of These Will Wrest an Alphabet: Shakespeare A-Z Crossword Puzzle 220

Answer Key 223

Grading Scales 225

Bibliography 281

About the Author 283

20080125 The Shakespeare Factory's Distracted Globe Players in partnership with Carroll Community College presents Romeo and Juliet

The Shakespeare Factory's Distracted Globe Players in partnership with Carroll Community College presents:

Romeo and Juliet

William Shakespeare’s tale of star-crossed lovers at the

Scott Center for the Performing Arts,

Carroll Community College,

1601 Washington Rd, Westminster.

Friday, January 25 at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, January 26 at

3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, January 26 at 3 p.m.

Tickets are available at the door at $12 for adults or $8 for students and seniors.

www.theshakespearefactory.com

20080108 Romeo and Juliet by Ford Madox Brown

Romeo and Juliet by Ford Madox Brown (April 16, 1821 – October 6, 1893)

Earlier this Tuesday evening, I was helping a colleague develop some ad copy for an upcoming production of “Romeo and Juliet” by The Shakespeare Factory’s Distracted Globe Players later this month at Carroll Community College. I ran across this painting and liked it…

For more information on The Shakespeare Factory:

www.theshakespearefactory.com

The Shakespeare Factory

P.O. Box 484

Sykesville, Maryland 21784

Phone: 410-218-1479

e-mail: info AT theshakespearefactory.com

####

20071206 Rude Mechanicals stage the bard’s comedy with a contemporary twist By Charles Schelle

Sweet ‘Midsummer Night’s’ dreams are made of this

Rude Mechanicals stage the bard’s comedy with a contemporary twist

Thursday, Dec. 6, 2007 By Charles Schelle | Gazette Staff Writer

If Shakespeare could make a mix tape, it might have included Eurythmics’ ”Sweet Dreams” and Michael Jackson’s ‘‘Thriller.”

The Rude Mechanicals’ staging of the bard’s ‘‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream” features songs from those musicians and even a dance-off, but the story remains the same, said Tom Delise, Shakespeare Factory’s executive director.

The play opens tonight at 7 p.m. and runs through Saturday at Century High School, 355 Ronsdale Road, Eldersburg. Tickets are $6 and are available at the door.

The Rude Mechanicals (named after a troupe in ‘‘Midsummer Night’s Dream”) is composed of Century High School students.

Read the rest of the article here: Sweet ‘Midsummer Night’s’ dreams are made of this

If you go

‘‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream”

7 p.m. Thursday-Saturday

Century High School auditorium,

355 Ronsdale Road, Eldersburg

Cost: $6 at the door

For more information, call 410-386-4400.

20070312 Happy Birthday Jack Kerouac March 12 1922

Happy Birthday Jack Kerouac

March 12, 1922

H/t: Biography.com

I’m not sure I know where my copy of “On the Road” is…

"… nobody knows what’s going to happen to anybody besides the forlorn rags of growing old…"

Of course one of the amusing things about Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road,” is that I had long understood that he did not know how to drive a car. Although Wikipedia says that he did not learn “to drive until 1956 (at age 34) and he never had a driver's license.”

Whatever.

Baltimore Colt fans will not be amused to know that Mr. Kerouac typed “On the Road” –

“on one long scroll of teletype paper, which Kerouac called "the roll."[1] The roll does exist — it was purchased in 2001 by Jim Irsay, owner of the Indianapolis Colts, for $2.4 million — and it was indeed typed in a blazing three weeks, with no margins, singlespaced, and no paragraph breaks.

But the myth of the story overlooks some of the finer points of the novel's composition. Much of the book was actually written as it happened, over the seven years of Kerouac's travels, in the tiny notebooks that he always carried with him and wrote in during his spare time.

The myth also overlooks the tedious organization and preparation that came before Kerouac's creative explosion, as well as the fact that Kerouac revised the novel several times before Malcolm Cowley of Viking Press agreed to publish it.

Owing to Irsay's ownership of the scroll, it was on display in sections at Indiana University's Lilly Library in mid-2003.

In January 2004, the roll began a 13-stop, four-year national tour of museums and libraries, starting at the Orange County History Centre in Orlando, Florida. From January through March 2006 it was on display at the San Francisco Public Library with the first 30 feet unrolled. It will spend three months on display at the New York Public Library in 2007, and in the spring of 2008 will be on view at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin.

_____

Of course, for those of us who are writers, we can understand, “He tended to write constantly, carrying a notebook with him everywhere.”

And – “At the time of his death in 1969, Kerouac's estate was worth little more than ninety-one dollars, but by 2004 had grown to an estimated $20 million.” Is an inspiration for all of us… In a perverse kind of way.

What none of us wants to emulate is that he died at age 47 from complications of a life of chronic alcoholism.

I had always heard about this quote from Truman Capote and found it in the Wikipedia entry…

“Some believed that at times Kerouac's writing technique did not produce lively or energetic prose. Truman Capote famously said about Kerouac's work,

‘That's not writing, it's typing.’”

Despite such criticism, it should be kept in mind that what Kerouac said about writing and how he wrote are sometimes seen to be separate. According to Carolyn Cassady and other people who knew him he rewrote and rewrote.”

_____

"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow Roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars."
—from On the Road, which demonstrates Kerouac's use of imagery in a beat style.

Writer, born in Lowell, Massachusetts, USA. He studied at Columbia University (1940–2), and served in the merchant marine (1942–3) and the navy (1943). Later he studied at the New School for Social Research (1948–9). He lived with his mother in Lowell, held a variety of jobs, and traveled throughout the USA and...

Read Full Biography Article

biography.com/search/article.do?id=9363719

There is another more comprehensive biography over at Wikipedia.

20061127 Ode to shallow narcissism

Ode to shallow narcissism

Or Lady Chatterley's Jaguar

November 27th, 2006

I’ve never had any interest in a Jaguar – nor Kate Winslet, for that matter, but I could be persuaded to change my mind about the later.

As much as I can rant about shallow Hollywood types, I guess we all have our human fragilities and limitations.

As one of my favorite Pastors once said, how can we rail against sin unless we understand it and the inevitable savage pilgrimage that results? For which I have always resorted to reading D. H. Lawrence – (in spite of Kate Millet’s reproach) who, to the best of my knowledge, never used the term headlights. It is one opportunity for censorship for which one can be sure he regrets.

Anyway, one of my old cars on the farm sure is just happy to see the picture of Ms. Winslet – err. I mean the Jaguar.

And with that, I’ll quit while I’m behind. To continue will invite a visit to the monastery of Monte Cassino.

If you are thoroughly confused, click on: “It's inspired some other things, too.”

KED