CURRENT EVENTS

What city is this?

I was on a vacation last week and filmed this activity at a city park.

BOOK OF THE WEEK

Expect The Unexpected

(Or You Won’t Find It)

By Roger Von Oech

I first read this book back in 2001 and I just finished reviewing it again last week.  I find it just as interesting and thought provoking as when I first read it and the various times over the years that I have reviewed it.

Heraclitus lived 2,500 years ago, but his adages, including “You can’t step in the same river twice” and “Dogs bark at what they don’t understand, ” remain surprisingly relevant today. Expect the Unexpected or You Won’t Find It uses 30 of Heraclitus’s epigrams to unleash creativity (Source: Goodreads)

MOVIE OF THE WEEK

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

I just saw this film and it brought back some memories.

Even if you aren’t from my time

I think you will enjoy this movie.

A faded television actor and his stunt double strive to achieve fame and success in the film industry during the final years of Hollywood’s Golden Age in 1969 Los Angeles. (Source: IMDB)

MUSIC OF THE WEEK

This is strange, but I found it rather captivating.

Kenzo World (2016)

Music

Message

ART OF THE WEEK

Hamilton (The Play)

I saw Hamilton last week and thought it was absolutely terrific and lived up to all I had heard about it.

  EXTRAORDINARY PERSON OF THE WEEK

Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 – July 12, 1804) was a statesman, a political theoristand an economist. He was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Hamilton was the United States’ first Secretary of the Treasury. He was known for the creation of a national bank.

Born on the island of Nevis in the Caribbean, Hamilton moved to New York. When the American Revolutionary War started, Hamilton served in the Continental Army. He was a close aide to General George Washington. After leaving the military he started a bank. He was one of the framers of the United States Constitution. Along with James Madison and John Jay, he wrote the Federalist Papers, which supported the new Constitution.

Hamilton became the Secretary of the Treasury under George Washington. He helped set up the United States’ financial system. Hamilton supported a national bank as well as the funding of the national debt. A leader of the Federalist Party, he was a long time rival of Thomas Jefferson. He was killed in a duel with political rival Aaron Burr in 1804.

Today, Hamilton is usually thought of as one of the most important of the early leaders. Hamilton’s portrait appears on the United States ten-dollar bill. 

Hamilton’s Early Life

Hamilton was not born in the United States. He was from the Caribbean island of Nevis. His father was James Hamilton and his mother was Rachel Fawcett Lavien. Hamilton’s mother had a child from a previous marriage that she left behind when she moved to Nevis. At the time, she was still married to another man. This meant that Hamilton was illegitimate. He was very sensitive about this fact. His father had left him as a child. Two years after this tragedy both Hamilton and his mother became sick. Hamilton recovered, but unfortunately his mother died. He was grief-stricken and moved in with his cousin. His cousin committed suicide.

In 1772 Hamilton went to New York to continue his education. He attended Kings College, now called Columbia University, until 1776.

Anti-Slavery

Hamilton was very anti-slavery. Along with John Jay he was a leader of the New York Manumission Society. The society worked to end slavery in New York and supported manumission, which is the practice of slave owners freeing their slaves. The society would get slavery abolished in New York. Hamilton also had great respect for the small Jewish community in America and was a major supporter of religious freedom.

(Source: Wikipedia)

THIS WEEK’S JOKE

PHYSICAL TRAITS

I was going to ask for french toast,

but instead I think I will have an egg white omelet.

CHARACTER TRAITS

SOCIAL TRAITS 

LEARNING TRAITS

MISCELLANEOUS

LAST WEEK’S POLLS