Araucaria Appreciation Thread

[Thad1527]

Hi! I don't think I've been here before!
I bring good wishes for the weekend. I plan on carousing tomorrow.

Finnish, eh? Some of my favorite hockey players, past and present, are from Finland. Teemu Selanne:

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[PalacePaul]

Good Friday morning/afternoon, Frankie and Paul!

Paul, Finnish would certainly be a challenging language. It is my understanding that it is a completely different language, which is not connected with any of the major European language groups (Germanic, Romanic, Slavic). As it turns out, there is a sizable Finnish population in my area, and they have Finnish-American clubs and even Finnish language publications. I have no idea how they feel about Tom of Finland.

Frankie, I hope all is well with you.

Good morning, John
Yes, Finnish looks very different. Most languages in Europe (Romanic, Germanic, Slavic, Celtic, Greek) are part of the big Indo-European family. But Finnish isn't. Fun fact: Euskera (an old language spoken in northern Spain) isn't either.
I'll admit that Tom of Finland is a major plus. Imagine being able to read his diaries or correspondence in Finnish
It's fantastic that you have some Finnish culture near to you.

 

[Triple G]

Another team enters the Swamp only to be devoured. I enjoyed this game. Your Florida teams where well represented on my TV. Florida, A&M, Southern, Western.

The Holy Men destroyed again, but next week it gets real for them.

Our heat is continuing, 109 today.

 

[rmcrae]

Night John!

 

[Araucaria]

Good Sunday morning/afternoon Frankie, Thad, Paul, Gary, and RM!

Hello, Thad, and welcome! Teemu Selanne is indeed a Finnish stud. I'm not particularly familiar with him, but believe it or not, I had some friends when I lived in Tampa that were great Lightning hockey fans, and I attended a good number of games with them. You certainly get a sense from the players' origins what the big hockey countries in the world are-- Canada, of course, and Finland, Sweden, Russia, the Czech Republic. It seems there are few American players in the NHL.

Yep, Gary, my Gators dispatched with Tennessee in fine form last night. How could I have ever doubted them? I see your Holy Men won yesterday, but they meet up with Ohio State next week, and I have a hunch they might win it. Wow, 109? That desert heat just won't let go, will it?

Paul, I don't think I've ever heard of the Euskera language. I'll have to look it up.

 

[LoveMyPeppermill]

Paul, I don't think I've ever heard of the Euskera language. I'll have to look it up.

Euskara = Basque

 

[Araucaria]

Good Monday evening, Matthew!

Last week I made an 80 mile trip north to McKee Gardens in Vero Beach, to take in a quiet setting. The Gardens was one of the "Old Florida" attractions, places that catered to the tourists in the era before the huge theme parks dominated the state. The place had closed some years ago, and much of the gardens was lost to development. Then an effort was made to save what they could, and the place was rehabilitated to where it could be reopened. The place is largely wooded and shady, and has live oaks, bamboo, and a lot of royal palms and even a few coconut palms. The palms are notable because they are cold tender, and Vero Beach is fairly far north in the state. The proximity to the Atlantic and the Indian River probably gives them some protection, though I suspect they've lost some palms to freezes and hurricanes over the years. They said they had made a new planting of royal palms, so that sounds about right. Unfortunately, the Gardens is surrounded by busy highways on two sides, so you heard the traffic noise from outside when you were trying to appreciate the quiet.

Euskara = Basque. OK, I know about the Basques. They are one pocket of indigenous languages in Europe that survived after being pushed to isolated areas by larger groups.

 

[frankifab]

Hello Johnnie , once again thank you for writing to me , it's sad that the accelerated growth of the human population is destroying nature

I hope that you have a very pleasant Wednesday later My Friend

 

[MusicMan321]

Hi John

 

[Araucaria]

Good Friday morning, Frankie and Andrew!

Have a great weekend!

It seems that elderly Venezuelan lady had gone to Venezuela to visit her daughter and her family. She keeps sending me pics and texts about what she's doing down there. I think I may have figured out the immigration issue. She said her daughter is married to an American man, and is trying to get into the States. And I'm thinking, if her daughter is married to an American, then why can't she just come to the United States to live with him? But remember that I once said the elderly lady thinks of herself as a proper Catholic woman. I bet that's the hitch-- her daughter isn't married to the American man, she just told her mother that so she wouldn't have to deal with her mother's disapproval. Oh well, not my circus, not my monkeys, as the saying goes.

 

[rmcrae]

Happy FRIYAY and howdy, John!

 

[frankifab]

Hello Johnnie I hope that you have a pleasant and fun weekend

it's better not to care about their circus like you said ...

Take care buddy

 

[PalacePaul]

The lion is the king, but the wolf doesn't play at the circus... or something like this. I don't think you are the kind of man who gets involved in other people's drama.

I hope you have a good weekend

 

[Thad1527]

I'm home!

Hope your weekend is going well.

I should go out tomorrow. It's the last weekend of the Philly Fringe festival which is chock-a-block with performances, many with LGBT themes. I did go to one performance before my trip.

 

[Triple G]

Good morning, John

I not happy with the outcome of the Holy Men's game. But then USC had a victory and the Gators did well.

We have cooled down nicely with the coming of Fall.

 

[PalacePaul]

Good afternoon, John

 

[frankifab]

Hi Johnnie , I hope that you have a nice Monday buddy

 

[Araucaria]

Good Monday morning Frankie, Paul, Gary, Thad, and RM!

My Gators won Saturday against a weak opponent, but there were still troubling aspects to the game. They scored only one touchdown, and they kept stalling inside the red zone, a problem they've had for the last couple of years. Five field goals is quite a lot, especially when at least some of them should have found the end zone. That's something that will give them trouble in the SEC games ahead.

I'm sorry about your Holy Men, losing in the end like that. I was thinking they were going to pull that game out. It's good that it's cooling down in the desert a bit.

RM, it looks like that cowboy is enjoying getting his ass eaten out.

Thad, that Phiily Fringe Festival sounds like a hoot. It sounds a bit like the King Mango Parade in the Coconut Grove section of Miami, which is a silly sendup of the Orange Bowl Parade. Sounds like you had fun in Pittsburgh.

Paul, you're right about wolves not playing at the circus, the ones that submitted to human foolishness became dogs. It must be quite upsetting for them to see their domesticated cousins performing tricks and wearing silly costumes. As for humans, I try to avoid getting caught up in others' entanglements.

Hello Frankie, thanks for writing. It sounds like you're an introvert, and it's better to be yourself and be lonely than to get involved doing things other people want you to do, and being what other people want you to be. Some people will never understand it, but it's better to be by yourself than be miserable being around people who aren't right for you.

 

[frankifab]

Hello Johnnie , it's great that your favorite team won ... I hope that you have a Nice Tuesday later buddy

I know ... I'm used to being an outcast from early childhood , I don't plan to be accepted or understood by regular / typical people

 

[Triple G]

Good afternoon, John

I am afraid Kentucky will give your Gators a hard time. Let's hope for a good victory for Florida.

Looks like another easy game for the Holy Men against Duke and USC vs Colorado.

Hope your weekend goes well.