Weekend Special

A Few Odds & Ends

Don’t forget, dear readers…tonight is when you’ll be deprived of an extra hour of sleep, so remember to turn those clocks ahead.

Taking inventory of the clock adjustments we have to make, I was reminded of how technology has streamlined the process to a large degree over the years. Our computer clocks will adjust automatically, and so will the clocks on our smart phones. We have two atomic wall clocks that will self-adjust, as will the time in our motor vehicle and on our thermostat. That leaves us to manually adjust the time on our wrist watches, our stove and microwave, our answering machine and one other wall clock.

I think many welcomed the announcement of Masterpiece Cuisine (MC) that our restaurant in Anthem Center was abandoning the morning coffee/pastry service and initiating lunch service from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.

At first, I wasn’t eager to visit the restaurant for lunch because the menu didn’t include carbs in the form of sandwiches, bread/rolls and the like, which are part of my diet, even though I was hearing many good things about the lunch offerings.

But now that has been rectified, so I had the pleasure of trying the MC lunch with a consultant friend of mine on Thursday and returning on Friday with my wife.

I can’t tell you how pleased I was with these experiences, and I won’t understand why folks who haven’t given it a shot yet would be unwilling to do so.

First of all, the basic price of $11.95 for all you can eat of the fresh salad ingredients, soups and rolls is a bargain. On Thursday, my dining companion chose to order the Butcher’s Turkey Club, served with delicious fries for $15. A cheeseburger ($16) or Cheesesteak on a hoagie roll ($14) are also available, and a trip to the salad bar for an extra five bucks is available along with the sandwiches.

This past week’s soups were minestrone and corn chowder. The minestrone was good, but the corn chowder was the best I’ve had in years.

I hope the lunch arrangement is just one more step on the road to having MC be a full-service restaurant that will draw business not just from our own residents, but also from those living in the neighboring Anthem communities.

Here are a few photos:

Here’s an example of how polarized things seem to be lately.

The Washington Post reported this past week on the results of a 24-nation survey taken by the Pew Research Center on the percentage of citizens of those countries who view their fellow citizens as immoral or unethical.

A majority of citizens who were polled in 23 of these countries said they view their fellow citizens as mostly or somewhat good.

Except for one country: the United States.

A 53-percent majority of American adults describe the morality and ethics of their fellow residents as being somewhat or very bad.

Is it any wonder that we are divided, with many challenges ahead if we are to come together?

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Pew found that 92 percent of Canadians say their fellow citizens are good, while just 7 percent think they are bad.

How about some music videos to cheer you up.

Some years ago, a clever GEICO television commercial you may remember introduced me to a form of dance —clogging— that I was barely aware of.

Here is the commercial:

The whole concept intrigued me, so I did some research and learned that the “actors” in the ad are an actual family from Orem, Utah, parents Greg and Maria Tucker and their four children. The Tuckers are professional cloggers who operate a dance school called Rocky Mountain Express Cloggers, and their students have won many national clogging championships.

I sent the Tuckers a message to tell them how much I enjoyed the commercial, and Greg responded with a gracious note of appreciation.

This sent me on a journey to learn about clogging, and what I found was fascinating.

In America, clogging came out of Appalachian Mountain communities in the 1700s, with dancers using specialized shoes that have double metal taps to create rhythmic, loud sounds against the floor. Unlike tap dancing, which often involves more upper body movement, traditional clogging is characterized by a “down” motion, with the weight kept on the balls of the feet and the heel maintaining the rhythm.

While rooted in Irish, Scottish, African and Native American traditions, and often performed to bluegrass or “old-time” music, much of clogging today incorporates elements from hip-hop, jazz and show tunes, and is performed to many types of music.

When done in groups, clogging requires incredible synchronization, with the dancers displaying well-rehearsed skills that would be the envy of the Rockettes or any number of professional dance troops.

I want to share two short, enjoyable examples, of which you’ll find many more on YouTube. As you watch them, keep in mind that they were recorded from the audience by fans of the performers, so try not to be distracted by the hoots and hollers. And pay special attention to the foot movements.

The first is from a championship troop clogging to “Uptown Funk” --

This one is from another great group clogging to “Honey, I’m Good,” a hit song by pop idol Andy Grammer: