Today’s edition: Emphasis on Palindrome or as I call it, “PalindromemordnilaP;” Advice on what to call yourself in the Zombie Apocalypse; and new Zeitgust word of the week.
Colorful Living Tip of the Day (I) …
588: Colorful people challenge each other about who knows the longest palindrome.(see related post below).
Random Zombie Apocalypse Advice …
If you find yourself in the middle of the Zombie Apocalypse make sure you call yourself "The Dust.” Everyone knows zombies never bite "The Dust.”
Arnold Palmer: On This Day in …
1987 -- Sports Marketing News lists Palmer as the top endorser of 1986 with $6 million in off-course earnings, nearly double the $3.5 million off-couse earnings of the second and third place finishers, Ivan Lendle and Jimmy Connors. Jack Nicklaus is fourth with $3 million.
Today’s Reason to Visit Latrobe, Mister Rogers’ REAL Neighborhood …
Our high school has a prominent Fred Rogers display where students see it nearly everyday and are exposed to the subversive message that being good is good.
Zeitgust Word of the Week (a word I made up with the goal of getting it into a dictionary) …
Cannibler: A picky eater of human flesh; a cannibal with an eating disorder.
Days Until Pittsburgh Steelers Come To Latrobe for Training Camp: 207
What to do today in the Laurel Highlands …
• Step outside and with social distancing in mind patronize one of Westmoreland County’s many stalwart businesses that were closed in the hopes of easing the holiday pandemic surge. (Westmoreland Co. Chamber of Commerce.
• Get some New Year’s takeout from Rizzo’s Malabar Inn: For reasons I cannot fathom, I looked across the Rizzo’s parking lot and forgot I was in Crabtree. I could have sworn I was in Korea during the war. I was in a M*A*S*H triage unit with dozens of other needy men and women. But we didn’t need surgery. We needed spaghetti. Covid restrictions have turned the popular Italian destination restaurant into a marvel of speedy and efficient takeout. Customers pull in, lineup and wait by their cars as waitstaff retrieve orders. They then deliver reasonably priced and delicious Italian food to be sent home for consumption. It’s all done with with the kind of easy cheer you’d expect from Hawkeye and Trapper John. Maybe that’s why I thought of Korea, not Crabtree. Both M*A*S*H and Rizzo’s excel at meatball surgery.
• Give your new gun a go. A&S Indoor Pistol Range is a great place to go ballistic.
Colorful Living Tip (II)…
15 Contend that in heaven we still have birthdays, but we’ll celebrate them on the day we died. And the cake will always be angel food.
Today’s post …
A back ’n’ forth on palindromes
I’ve said previously that for the sake of clarity “palindrome” should be spelled palindromemordnilap. That way people would never forget a palindrome is a word spelled the same forwards as backwards.
I bring this up today because I heard an ABBA song — “Waterloo” — on my morning stumble through the grocery store and immediately thought, as I always do, “Here’s a song by the most prominent palindrome rock band in music history.”
I’m not saying they’re better, but ABBA’s enjoyed more commercial success than bands named If I Had a Hi-Fi, To Rococo Rot or Dopapod, the latter best known for its palindromic 2009 album, “I Saw Live Dopapod Evil Was I.”
I know way too much about ABBA and I suspect my curiosity about palindromes is to blame. For instance: “abba” is a Hebrew word from the Bible that means father, but that’s not how ABBA got its name — sometimes printed with the stylized first B backwards so it looks like a true palindrome.
No, the band is ABBA because the band members are Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.
I much prefer the Winnipeg rockers to ABBA, but you have to give it to the Swedes. They put much more thought into their name than did B.T.O., a great abbreviation band named after primary members Randy Bachman, Fred Turner and Bert Overdrive.
I made that last one up. There is no Bert Overdrive.
The word palindrome stems from the Latin words palin, (means “again”) and dromos (means “way, direction”).
ABBA intrigues me because it is a rare four-letter palindrome. Most palindromes are five letters: refer, civic, kayak, radar, etc. Or in this case should that be “etcte?”
I once read a story about a walking palindrome named Zerimar Ramirez. It’d be fun to be his friend because you could be certain he’d never overstay his welcome, always coming and going as he is bound to do.
The Oxford English Dictionary says the longest single-word palindrome is tattarrattat, a 12-letter word palindrome coined by James Joyce to convey the sound of a door being knocked upon.
The longest phrase palindrome I can quote from memory is “A man, a plan, a canal, Panama!” It’s 21 letters long. The phrase is credited to author Leigh Mercer who published the palindrome in 1948. It’s historical and punchy. It will endure.
I wonder how long it took him to come up with that handy dandy. I think it must have taken at least a concentrated week or so. Maybe more.
What about ones like these uncredited gems?
A man, a plan, a cat, a ham, a yak, a yam, a hat, a canal — Panama!
A slut nixes sex in Tulsa
Amy, must I jujitsu my ma?
Lisa Bonet ate no basil!
Zeus was deified, saw Suez.
Blogging, I realize, is an enormous waste of time, but even a guy like me looks at those who compose palindromes and thinks, c’mon, man, get a life!
Of course, they’re all mere pikers when it comes to marathon palindromes. It is said in 1980 David Stephens wrote a 58,795-letter palindromic novel he called “Satire: Veritas.”
Get it?
His other book is called “Dr. Awkward.” Yes, that’s another clever one.
His is an odd obsession. I could find precious little about Stephens or his books. Maybe shrewd booksellers realized the folly of publishing a palindrome novel.
Who’d want to read a book that spoils the ending in the very first paragraph?
So there’s a little overview of these linguistic houses of mirrors for you to start your day, the A to Z of palindrome.
Or in this case the AB to BA.
Those now in the mood can just for the fun of it read the whole thing again backwards starting right here. It’s a time-consuming splurge I’d advise against on what I’m sure must be an already busy day.
Palindromes can all go in reverse.
Time cannot.
Colorful Living Tip (III) …
711 After residing in it for several months, ask the people who just sold you their old home or apartment if they used to hide bags of money in odd places. If they say no and ask why, just smile and say, “No reason.”
Oddly enough …
Mt. Washington, N.H.: Weather tourists risk life and limb to enjoy Mother Nature at her worst.
The world’s worst weather isn’t in at either of the polar extremes, Siberia or other godforsaken places. Nope, it’s in New Hampshire. Author William Lowell Putnam, writes: “There may be worse weather, from time to time, at some forbidding place on Planet Earth, but it has yet to be reliably recorded.” Mount Washington has the record wind speed of a whopping 231 mph (hurricanes blow at a measly 80 mph). Amazingly, some of the weather may actually be worse than the chilly records indicate. Mount Washington also holds the record for most weather instruments destroyed by weather.
The Page 1 “Crayons!” Pledge (still applies)
The Book Is STILL Free
That’s right. Free. Anyone who wants a copy mailed to his or her home, no charge, is welcome to one. Just ask.
Author Chris Rodell, of course, encourages you to buy it and hopes you’ll support him and the people who distribute, promote and sell books. But if you’re one of those Americans who are out of work and having a tough time, or if you know a US serviceman or woman who might benefit from a book that aims to brighten daily lives, then Rodell wants you to get in touch at storyteller@chrisrodell.com.
He doesn’t believe a book that, at its heart, aims to help people be happy should be withheld from anyone over a few dollars. “It’s said the best things in life—love, friendship, laughter—are free,” Rodell says. “I don’t presume this book is among the best things in life but, by God, there’s nothing to say it can’t keep good company.”
And finally …
“Crayons Tip no. 1001” … “Learn the fine art of knowing precisely when to quit.”
About …
Chris Rodell is the author of six books, the most recent being “Undaunted Optimist: Essays on Life, Laughter & Cheerful Perseverance.” Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge says, “Rodell writes about life the way Sinatra sings about New York, unflinching about the gritty realities, but with abiding affection and relentless positivity abut the future.”
A swashbuckling freelance writer since 1992, Rodell has rassled alligators, raced Ferraris, jumped out of cloud-cruising airplanes and in one week gained 20 pounds eating like Elvis.
Besides unconventional biographies on Fred Rogers and Arnold Palmer, his other books include “Use All The Crayons! The Colorful Guide To Simple Human Happiness,” and “The Last Baby Boomer: The Story of the Ultimate Ghoul Pool,” a 2016 satiric novel about the life and death of the last baby boomer (winner of the ’17 TINARA Award for best satire).
He is a sought-after and entertaining motivational public speaker and as seen in this 2015 clip the recipient of the greatest author ovation of all-time.
Rodell lives in Latrobe with his wife Valerie, their daughters, Josie and Lucy, and a small loud dog named Snickers.
He’ll write for anyone who’ll pay him. He is a PROSEtitute.
All Chris’s books can be purchased through www.ChrisRodell.com