Where Did Greensburg Go?

The forces of nature ruled back in May when one of the most powerful weather forces known, an EF5 Tornado, struck Greensburg, Kansas. The town was almost totally demolished in seconds as the storm, which was headed away from the town, suddenly turned due north. I visited the town on June 23. It had rained on June 22, and the similarities between Greensburg and Pass Christian, Ms after Katrina (the wet rich dirt, almost no buildings standing, etc. were striking.

The Passing of James Mock

I haven't been able to discuss it much, but my dear brother (in-law) James passed away Jan. 5, 2007.

More may be said at later times, but I wanted to share a few things.

Here is a picture of the flowers from the National Spiritual Assembly, and a display of the headlines in two of the local newspapers on the day before (the Linden paper) and day following James' passing (the Demopolis paper), complete with an Op/Ed piece about how much James had impacted the local community.

Sometime I will tell you how James and I nearly froze to death walking home to his place in Chicago at midnight the year he and I were both delegates to the national convention.

Imagine, Jameh Tyson Fananapazir at One Year Old!

Believe it or not, my (Rosana and my..., and Lameh and Karen's) first grandson, Jameh, is one year old. The proud parents put together a sweet little party at the Fananapazir spread in Nashville. You can see more pictures on the Nafeh/Katrina/Jameh web site at the link over to your right.

Some Old News, but new picture!

This is an old mid-1980's historic picture I just rescued for my old friend Bob Harris. Bob was a Counsellor during the last years of our old friend Hand of the Cause William Sears. "Bill" started a national "competition" for the most firesides in a month. Rosana put together a "Firesides-R-US" doll (notice the resemblance to Bill") as the Huntsville prize. Fannie Jude won the contest, and Rosana shared the doll with Bill and Bob in Chicago at the National Convention (I was a delegate from Alabama) just outside the Cornerstone Room. About serving with Bill, Bob said, "Those were great days."

Will Geo do a cartwheel on stage!

Geo takes a big step today, yep, after all these years (well, four actually) he will strut across the stage in Spragins Hall and graduate! UAH will miss him a bunch (just like they did the other members of the fam)!
Good going Geo, dude, SON!

Egyptian Court Rules Against Religious Freedom

In a closely watched case that has become the focus of a national debate on religious freedom, Egypt's SupremeAdministrative Court has ruled against the right of Baha'is to be properly identified on government documents.
The decision upholds current government policy, a policy which forces theBaha'is either to lie about their religious beliefs or give up their state identification cards. The policy effectively deprives Egyptian Baha'is ofaccess to most rights of citizenship, including education, financial services, and even medical care.
For more details about the ruling, please visit The Baha'i World News Service @ http://www.bwns.org

The Daily Star Reports on the (Egyptian Baha'i) ID Card Crisis

In Egypt, you're better off Jewish than Baha'i , an article By Abdel-Rahman Hussein in the Daily Star. Read this and other latest developments on the bahai-egypt blogspot link on the right.

Perky giraffe is star in Ethiopia

Enjoy reading about a Baha'i Couple in Ethopia that are teaching children virtues on TV.:-)

Iranian Surveillance of Baha'is

In an ominous move, Iran's Ministry of Interior has ordered officials throughout the country to step up the surveillance of Iranian Baha'is focusing in particular on their community activities.
The full text of the letter giving the order and more on the story, visit the Baha'i World News Service.

Back to the Keyboard.....

Good evening from B&N....after three weeks helping Danesh with a largese house in the NE with one of the best views of downtown huntsville I have ever seen, it is time to hit the keyboard and do some serious writing.
So you may have some idea of the kind of view I was referring to, here is a sunset from the general location...


We also had the joyous surprise of a visit from Katrina, Nafeh, and Jameh. They dropped by Saturday and took R and Geo and I out to dinner at a fab bar-be-que place where I ate way too many ribs (Brian had gone to B'ham for a visit with a chum). Sunday we all went to Devotions, and then went to Nothin' But Noodles where we ate too much as well.
Tonight, the Fananana Brigade is back in Nashville ... Brian and Rachel are tutoring the LSA on Book 2 and thus R and Geo are there and I am at B&N chilln'.
So, ah, beginning in the morning it is write, write, write.
:-)

OK...Heeeeeesssss Backkkkkkkk

Howdy, you all. I am fix'n to write a new entry, just wanted to let you know. I have not been able to get into my blog since, well, about more than a month. Stay tuned!

Smooth Sailing

Every morning at dawn I gaze out from my 10th floor balcony at the normally placid scene of the lights from the shrimp boats dotting the horizon about 10 miles south in the Mississippi Sound. It isn't always smooth sailing however. This lightning storm hit about 4:20 this morning. Quite a show!

Just a little, hummmmmmmmmmmm, Goofy

I took the challenge from my betters to determine who my Disney alter ego is, and to my surprise, or not, the vaunted personage is (tada!)...

Your alter ego is Goofy! You are fun and great to be around, and you are always willing to help others. You aren't worried about embarrassing yourself, so you are one who is more willing to try new things.
Goofy 100%
Peter Pan 94%
The Beast 88%
Ariel 75%
Donald Duck 63%
Cinderella 50%
Cruella De Ville 44%
Pinocchio 44%
Snow White 44%
Sleeping Beauty 31%

To find out who you tuly are, go to: http://quizfarm.com/test.php?q_id=3049

Another Day...Another, ah, Day

I awoke this morning, early, to find that old Ernesto had apparently chosen to go to Florida and leave the Gulf Coast alone....so I decided to just chill, sit on my balcony, read, drink some Green Tea, relax...ponder employment possibilities...relax...read my birthday presents from the girlies in Haifa in my birthday shirt from my girlie, husbandie, and Jameh in Nashville...relax...:-)

Another year?

Yup, I had a birthday in July...and my sweet Rosana came by the Coast to help me celebrate as did my dearest Alicia, general nice guy Brian, Mary Alica and Jose, and the Cooks. No, the cake did NOT set off the smoke alarm.















And then Rosana and I went strolling along the Coast and visited the re-built small craft harbor at Long Beach...













Can you believe she just had surgery just a few months ago!!!!!

Can He Be THAT Busy????

Oh, OK, so my life is busy (yawn)...or is he just lazy (hummmmm). I am surprised as well that I have not posted for a long, long time. But, nevertheless... I woke up this morning early to learn that my newest friend, Ernesto, may be coming for a visit...


The storm will likely be a Category 3 hurricane by mid-week because the conditions are so favorable...the water in the Gulf of Mexico is very warm, 85 degrees plus, and good fuel for a hurricane...

One of the things that has kept young Ernesto from growing up is his center of circulation, the Eye of the Storm, well, he's looking at us now!

So Wednesday could be the deciding day for me as to whether I stay in Biloxi, or be sent home. Stay Tuned, and check with this website every once in a while!

World Cup Final

What a surprise, and what an exercise. Who would have guessed when we all sat around the table in Huntsville that science would prevail! At the end of the World Cup, I guess section A, Geoffrey pulled out all the stops and picked the right teams to win, with the right scores. He scored 96 points, edging dada by one point. Next came Brian Tyson and Alicia and Brian tied at 83 and I had a notion that the leaders were in trouble. Poor sweetheart Rosana was last with 71. We had all decided that we would give points for picking the teams that advanced from that first meeting, to aswage the defeats in choosing winners as the tournament progressed. So, I gave 2 points for picking a team to the Round of 16, 4 points for the quarterfinals, 6 points for the semi-finals, 8 points for the third place match, and 10 points for the finals. Who would have thunk that Brian Tyson and Alicia and Brian would end up with having picked the most advancing teams (certainly not I)...we they tied with 153 points each...but the Grand Winner is .... Alicia and Brian Green due to the fact that they are the only ones who picked Italy to win it all! Congrats (lucky duo). The rest of the field went this way: dada 149; Geoffrey 138; Rosana 107. It was a lot of fun...just wait until, ah, 2010!

Catching Up

Well, it has been a busy week, or so, at Beach Woebegone...or woeisyoufornotbeinghere! And a lot has happened.
First, most of the fam came down for a visit for the 4th of July...

It seems we eat a lot when we are all here...but we also toured the devasted areas, like Pass Christian at ground zero for Hurricane Katrina...

And we visited Annie's Restaurant where we had eaten a big Sunday meal with the Coast Families back in July in Henderson Point across Bay St. Louis from, well, Bay St. Louis...

We also took Jameh to the pool at my new digs for his first swim, and boy did he get a charge out of it...we all did too.....

And, speaking of my new digs, on the 10th floor of the Legacy Towers (wahoooo), I can see beyond Ship Island 12 miles out....

I will do more on my new place later today (I kinda promise).:-)

Ok, tata for now.

Sunday Dinner

Last Sunday, Jose and Mary Alice invited me over for dinner at their place in Gulfport. They had minor damage from Katrina, and are adding a slate roof right now. Well, Maria came too, as did Jose's mother (Tom was at a church meeting). Jose is an architect, but he should have been a chef, he is that much of a Cook (inside joke). Anyway, we had Alaskan Crab Legs...really, really, goood, followed with huge shrimp that were more on the order of scampi. Then we watched the World Cup game...a great afternoon, indeed!

French Fries

Wellllll, look at what Geoffrey and the French did! The French "fried" Brazil just as Geoffrey predicted, moving the Geoff into a tie with the "old coach" at 91 points in the Tyson World Cup Challenge. Geoffrey staged his amazing comeback by accurately calling the winner and winning score in Italy over Australia, Brazil over Ghana, and France over Brazil while the rest of us kinda stood on the sidelines. OK, it is on to the semi-finals. Here are the current standings:
Dada 91 points
Geoffrey 91 points
Brian 71 points
AB 68 Points
Rosana 65 Points