Volume 22 #3 |
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November/December 2005 |
Articles in This Issue
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The Brief
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Just some things you might want to remember:
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Fall Festival Dance
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Our annual October 22nd dance brought forth a lot of creativity to match the theme "Ain't Miss-Behavin". All the dances on the program honored a Miss, and you could tell by titles like Miss Bennet's Jig, Miss Burn's Reel, and Miss Milligan's Strathspey. At the dance we met dancers with aliases like Miss Walla Melon, Miss Step, Miss Chief, as well as a tigress, a medieval maiden, and a pirate. Harkening back to the era when "Ain't Misbehaven" was a popular musical, Marge and Fred Van Nus came in their best 20's garb, and we had a real gangster with a beautiful starlet on his arm (Bart and Valerie Moore). As he raised his Tommy gun Bart was heard to say, "I just brought this along to make sure yous ain't misbehavin." Many thanks to Lisa Scott (piano) and Leslie Hirsch (fiddle) who provided the lively music, and to our four briefers (John, Liza, Linda Mae, and Geri) who took turns helping us make each dance a fun and stress-free experience. We welcomed folks visiting from Eugene and Portland, Oregon, as well as Kelso, Washington. Several people were happy to call this dance their first. We 'miss'ed our dance chairman, Renee, who had to go home and rest up. Valerie Moore provided many of the decorations. Tigress Van Meter Hord welcomed guests. It wasn't until the dancing had ended that Marge Van Nus found out that her dear husband, Fred, had organized a sub-theme of 'emerald green' to celebrate their 55th anniversary. As we looked around we could see that most everyone was dressed in green, the delicious goodies on the tea table were green (whenever possible) and the green swag along the top beam was taken down to reveal a sign in green letters declaring "Happy 55th Anniversary." Linda Mae had devised a strathspey in honor of the occasion entitled "Emerald Hills of Home", which was performed on the spot to Lisa's music. We finished the evening with a relaxed "tea", in the afterglow of the dance and of friendships shared. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thank You!
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THANK YOU DANCERS, especially the attendees at the Fall Dance, "Ain't Missbehavin'". That was an extremely nice touch for Fred and me -- in celebration of our 55th Anniversary. A big thank you also to Linda Mae for the dance "Emerald Hills of Home" and to those who demonstrated it. The room really looked spiffy, too. Interestingly, the food was as tasty as ever -- even though it did have a green tinge, or I should say "emerald blush"!! Many thanks, from Marge and Fred | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Counting in Gaelic
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Tha Sinn a' Cunntas nan Àireamh -- We Are Counting Numbers. In the last 500 or so years of Scottish history, Gàidhlig has been under constant threat. Even today, according to the General Register Office of Scotland, there are only 92,400 people aged 3 1/2 and over with any knowledge of Gàidhlig whatsoever. How do you suppose a language that is threatened, such as Gàidhlig, is kept alive by its speakers today? That is an interesting topic considering that during the week of October 14-22 this year, Am Mòd Nàiseanta Rioghail or the Royal National Mod took place in the Western Isles of Scotland. The word Mòd means a kind of festival. My Gàidhlig teacher derisively calls it the "Whiskey Olympics" although it is more than that pejorative term would indicate. It is a celebration of the Gàidhlig culture through competitions of instrumental music, both solo and choral singing, dance, and drama. People of all ages compete, from little ones all the way up to senior citizens. It is also a major social event for Gaels and non-Gaels alike to gather together and renew old frienships as well as forge new ones. The Mòd attracts visitors and competitors from throughout the UK, Ireland, Australia, Canada and the USA to participate. The Mòd even has Royal patronage these days and members of the English Royal Family regularly attend this event. And now, to our lesson. This time, we are going to explore the world of numbers in Gàidhlig. The Gaidheal most often think of numbers in terms of twenties although there is a secondary decimal system that has been created for Gàidhlig to mesh more effectively with the modern world. Here's how it works up to twenty! English Gàidhlig Phonetics English Gàidhlig Phonetics One Aon uon Eleven Aon deug uon jeuk Two Dà daaa Twelve Dà dheug daaa yeuk Three Trì treee Thirteen Trì deug treee jeuk Four Ceithir cayher Forteen Ceithir deug cayher jeuk Five Còig caewek Fifteen Coig deug caewek jeuk Six Sia shea Sixteen Sia deug shea jeuk Seven Seachd sheak Seventeen Seachd deug sheak jeuk Eight Ochd awchk Eighteen Ochd deug awchk jeuk Nine Naoi nuoe Nineteen Naoi deug nuoe jeuk Ten Deich jaich Twenty Fichead feechkut Now, there is not enough space to lay things out through 100, but to give you some idea, from 20 (fichead) and up, this same pattern is repeated something like this: "One on twenty, two on twenty, three on twenty -- h-aon ar fhichead, dhà ar fhichead, trì ar fhichead", et cetera. Well folks, if this makes your brain itch, it does mine, too, at times. Chi mi sibh an ath thuras! See y'all next time! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tom's Retirement Party ... Scottish Country
Dancing Style
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If you want to have a great retirement party, just make sure it includes Scottish Country Dancing! It also helps to have some wonderful family and friends attending. I concluded working 31 years at Hewlett Packard on Friday, October 14. I had previously sent a farewell email message to Vancouver site HP people and a few other friends in other HP sites, and I had a fun time exchanging replies with well wishes from 45 people. I attended a small gathering at HP with a cake and talked about the good old days. I packed up my remaining personal items and returned home from work for the final time. Once I arrived home, the real fun began. Liza, Kat, and Hannah organized a wonderful retirement party for me to say hello to my friends with whom I will spend the rest of my life doing fun things. I enjoyed greeting 35 guests. We ate some food and discussed the colorful posters that illustrated the code names of the 22 projects during my HP career. During the Toasts and Roasts, Kat and Hannah sang a funny retirement adaptation of the "Shaving Cream" song. Susan Shaw then called upon Bart Moore and Linda Mae Dennis to help perform "Tom's Retirement Song", with the catchy chorus, "Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom ... Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom". The highlight of the evening then began with Scottish Country Dancing in the living room. Liza led three walking dances, including the Tom's-retirement-inspired dance, "Home for Supper". To my delight, I was surrounded with the tribal chanting of "Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom" each time we circled to the left and right. We finished the evening as I reviewed some festive greeting cards and gifts. Thank you all for joining me in a wonderful evening to begin my retirement. I look forward to many more years of Scottish Country Dancing with you! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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