I have been working in business for over forty years and now have the time to work in special areas of interest. My passion has always been to create compelling stories of fiction. I have authored six novels and am working on my Seventh. The first novel is still in manuscript form and being utilized as a door stop in the laundry room. The second is a contemporary fiction novel of 89,000 words and is complete and I am currently seeking a publisher. I also write poetry but have not had the guts to share any with anyone. The one time I read a piece to a person their only comment was, “it doesn’t rhyme.” I will continue to write and hopefully my blog, Fiction Favorites at www.johnwhowell.com will provide some entertainment and an interesting thought or two.
I live in the Austin area with my wife Molly and an assortment of loving pets.
In Keith’s words: Using this image (below) as inspiration, write a short story, flash fiction, scene, poem—anything, really. Either post your offering (or a link to it) in a comment or email it to me at keithchanning@gmail.com before the end of the week. If you post it on your own blog or site, a link to this page would be appreciated, but please also mention it in a comment here. Thank you for taking part.
This post ran on January 15th, 2018. Since people still visit cities, it may be helpful.
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The inspiration for this post was thinking about supercities and possibly taking tours of them. These tours are not necessarily guided but just touring in general.
Top Ten Things Not to Do on a City Tour
10 If you are touring Chicago, do not wear your Yankee baseball cap. If you do, at best, people will believe you have just been released from the mental hospital. At worst, the police will arrest you for unlawful assembly. (The crowd that gathered trying to convince you to burn your cap did get out of hand, right? Cnute?)
9 If you are touring New York City, do not hire Tiny, the WWF champ, as your tour guide. If you do, at best, your only tour stop will be Gold’s Gym. At worst, you and Tiny will get into a principal argument about going to the 100th floor of the Empire State Building. (You had no idea Tiny was afraid of heights, did you, Colla? Now it doesn’t matter, because all you are seeing now is the inside of Bellview Hospital Center.)
8 If you are touring San Francisco, do not shut the cell door on Alcatraz Island. If you do, you will hear no click, and at worst, you will have picked the only cell that automatically locks when the door is closed. (The bad news is the guard with the key retired ten years ago. Yelling won’t help, Conell. Maybe the fire department can figure out a way to release you.)
7 If you are touring London, do not try to make the guard at Buckingham Palace smile. If you do, at best, someone will ask you to leave. At worst, you will be the 100th person to try today, and the guard’s Zoloft dose will have just worn off. (So much for your ugly American imitation, Cruz. Now you have to run.)
6 If you are touring Berlin, do not try to cut to the front of a line. If you do, at best, you will be politely told about your rudeness. At worst, you may be rewarded with a knuckle sandwich served without mustard. (I know you are used to doing that, Cyril. Here, that is a big no-no.)
5 If you are touring Paris, do not walk down the street eating a croissant. If you do, at best, you’ll collect a bunch of stares. At worst, passers-by will mistake you for someone who is mentally challenged and call the medics. (That straight jacket is only for your own protection, Cydney. Might as well relax.)
4 If you are touring Rome, do not speak loudly or draw attention to yourself in other ways. If you do, at best, the locals will scowl. At worst, the police will mistake you for a Russian spy. (You can guess how this will turn out, huh, Christiano?)
3 If you are touring Madrid, do not mention Francisco Franco, the dictator, unless you know the people well. If you do, at best, you’ll be forced to listen to a three-hour lecture on the evils of his regime. At worst, you might be mistaken for a follower and end up in a duel. (Why didn’t someone warn you, Crey? Well, one would have thought you knew enough to avoid politics with people you don’t know.)
2 If you are touring Cairo, do not bring flowers to your host’s dinner. If you do, at best, someone may tell you to dispose of them. At worst, the host will think you are offering condolences or wanting to get married, which are the only reasons to bring flowers in Egypt. (Looks like you are getting hitched, Conyn, since no one has passed away. Good luck.)
1 If you are touring Moscow, do not keep your seat on the bus if an elderly person has to stand. If you do, at best, someone will give up their place but glower at you. At worst, you might be helped off the bus two miles before your stop. (You need to pay better attention to the local rules, Coltrane.)
Lakeway has three new sculptures, so we want to go see them. Also, there are bluebonnets in bloom, and we want to check them out too. We are catered by Second Bar and Kitchen in Austin, and our entertainment is Gene Autry.
The machine diligently produces the mind-saving elixir that is the legal import of Columbia. The beans are ground, tamped, and scalded with boiling water to give me what I need most: that first cup of coffee. With it in hand, the clock is set to March 16th, 1924. The location is the port city of Fiume on the Adriatic Sea, and the time is set for two hours. The plunger is pulled, and we are there.
We arrive in time for a grand celebration: the city is formally annexed to Italy. Benito Mussolini is present, and King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy reads the annexation proclamation to cheering crowds.
The city’s autonomous municipal government had declared in late October 1918 that Fiume wanted to be annexed to Italy, explaining their reasoning with words like “national self-determination.” Italy had only entered WWI because of promises of territorial expansion along the Adriatic at Habsburg’s expense. Fiume is now named Rijeke and is the third-largest city in Croatia
Fiume was once labeled the center for fascism since Mussolini began his takeover of Italy from there. By pulling the wool over King Victor Emmanuel III’s eyes, he was able to take over the government.
As the crowds cheer, the alarm goes off, and a soft landing on the couch is the result. My text tone lets me know Linda Hill has sent this week’s prompt. The text reads: Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “wool.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!
“What do you mean by pulling the wool over King Victor Emmanuel III’s eyes?”
“Mussolini was able to convince the king to place him in the position of head of the government. No election or anything. I would say that was a wool pull.”
“Okay, before your explanation, I envisioned Mussolini holding up a sheep.”
“Not a bad visual for this situation.”
“When did this happen?”
“It was in 1922. 30,000 citizens protested to the king demanding Mussolini be put in charge.”
“So he did.”
“Yup. The king felt his dynasty would be preserved by doing so.”
“Did it help?”
“Well, the king stepped down in 1946 after 46 years on the throne. I would say it helped.”
“All this talk of Kings makes me thirsty.”
“There’s no pulling the wool over my eyes. Did you order the Uber?”
“Yup. Right over there.”
“Wow. That’s a 1963 Studebaker Avanti.”
“It is a beauty, and we get to ride in it.”
“This might be the best ride yet.”
“As you can see, I haven’t been gathering wool.”
“No, I think you scored big on this one. Let’s go.
In a truly monumental discovery, scientists studying coral restoration in Indonesia found that artificially restored coral reefs can regrow as fast as naturally occurring reefs just 4 years after the initial transplantation.
With many reefs around the world believed to be threatened by stronger storms and acidic seas, the finding shows that as long as corals can survive in the water, humans can quickly rebuild reefs that are damaged.
The study was conducted at the Mars Coral Reef Restoration Program in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, one of the largest restoration projects in the world, and included an international team of marine biologists. The site was turned from a colorful reef to rubble 30 to 40 years ago from dynamite fishing.
At the project site, “reef stars” are first affixed to the seafloor. These small, recycled metal scaffolds provide a foundation for the coral larvae to glom onto and begin building their hard bodies.
“Corals constantly add calcium carbonate to the reef framework while some fishes and sea urchins erode it away, so calculating the overall carbonate budget basically tells you if the reef as a whole is growing or shrinking,” says Ines Lange of the University of Exeter, UK.
“Positive reef growth is important to keep up with sea-level rise, protect coastlines from storms and erosion, and provide habitat for reef animals.”
Four years after coral transplantation onto the metal reef stars, net carbonate budgets have tripled and are indistinguishable from healthy control sites. The only drawback is that because branching coral is preferred for reef restoration, the overall species diversity is lower in restored reefs than in natural ones.
“The speed of recovery that we saw was incredible,” said Lange. “We did not expect a full recovery of reef framework production after only four years.”
The carbonate budget method of calculating reef restoration has never been used before, and the team believes it offers a simple, surefire way to assess whether a reef is growing, static, or in decline.
Tim Lamont, a study co-author at the Lancaster University Environment Center, UK, said that while a longer-term assessment of restored reefs is needed to fully understand its capability, the success at Mars shows that if humanity can stabilize the climate, we have the tools to undo some of the damage that climate change has wrought on coral reefs.
The good news in Today’s story is that even fully destroyed coral reefs can be regrown. Today’s JohnKu talks about humankind’s responsibility to repair damage caused by human behavior. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
“Okay, Tempeste. We need to start some instruction today.”
” I’m so glad you are going to teach me.”
“Hmmmm. I’m wondering about you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, was that statement sincere, or are you trying to butter me up?”
“Gee, I don’t even know what buttering you up means.”
“Okay, I’ll accept that. I think you might be too young to be political.”
“Is that a good thing?”
“Believe me, it is a perfect thing.”
“So you’ll teach me what I need to know?”
“Yes, but first a pact. You do as I say, right?”
“Of course I will.”
“Great. Now we can start. Where are you going?”
“I thought I would try these black thingys.”
“These are several lessons off. Let’s start with the game-playing basics.”
“That sounds good to me. Let’s begin at the beginning.”
“Yeah, that’s what basics mean. Okay, this is a play bow.”
“That looks friendly. How’s mine?”
“It looks good. Now, we choose your animal. I’m a vicious puma, and you are a panther.”
“You do look vicious. Is the panther vicious, too?”
“OMG, I would say the panther could be even more vicious than the puma.”
“I like the feeling. Grrrrrrrrrr.”
“You are going to be fun.”
Here is a close-up of Tempeste. She was in her puppy mill mama, which Dog Ranch Rescue in Anna, Texas, saved from that situation. She is a brindle French Bulldog, eight weeks old, and born in freedom. Her mom has a forever home as well. The producer picked her up on Saturday. She lives up to her name and has us all wrapped around her paw.
“Using this image (below) as inspiration, write a short story, flash fiction, scene, poem; anything, really. Either put your offering (or a link to it) in a comment or email it to me at keithchanning@gmail.com before the end of the week. If you post it on your own blog or site, a link to this page would be appreciated, but please do also mention it in a comment here. Thank you for taking part.
This post ran on January 8, 2018. Since there are still Mega Millions winners, it might be useful.
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This post was inspired by the fact that this week, single-winning tickets were sold for the Mega Millions and Powerball Lotto games. Since you and I don’t have to worry about how to handle these winnings, I guess this post is dedicated to those two winners of over $400 million each.
10 If you have a winning Mega Millions ticket, do not Xtweet, “Yay, I just won $400 million. If you do, at best, you’ll only have ten followers. At worst, your tweet will go viral, and you will now have a million close and personal friends. (It looks like everyone needs a loan, huh, Carmichael?)
9 If you have a winning Mega Millions ticket, do not hire Tiny, the WWF champ, as a bodyguard. If you do, at best, you’ll have to hire another to watch Tiny. At worst, Tiny cannot resist helping himself to your winnings even though he is a graduate of an intensive self-help course for kleptomaniacs. (You should have known when he showed up at your door offering his services, Carswell.)
8 If you have a winning Mega Millions ticket, do not give a press conference on national TV. If you do, at best, it will take you hours to get home because of the traffic jam around your house. At worst, you will be asked for money every place you go since you are now well-known. (Who’s bright idea was that conference, Casimero? Oh yeah, the lotto company.)
7 If you have a winning Mega Millions ticket, do not answer your phone. If you do, at best, it might be your aunt, Mary. At worst, it will be your cousin Vinny reminding you of the five-dollar bet you had back in high school. (Vinny believes that the interest on the bet now makes it worth $500,000. Told you not to answer the phone, Cassian.)
6 If you have a winning Mega Millions ticket, do not claim your prize without consulting a tax attorney. If you do, at best, you can afford the tax hit. At worst, the new tax laws will put you in a bracket called the 110 percent bracket. (Good luck in raising the extra $4o million you owe, Caster.)
5 If you have a winning Mega Million ticket, do not go out and buy everything on the planet. If you do, at best, you’ll come to your senses while there is still money left. At worst, you’ll realize too late that there is no return guarantee on yachts, planes, castles, jewelry, and art. (Now that you have all this stuff, Cavan, maybe it is time for a garage sale.)
4 If you have a winning Mega Million ticket, do not let it out of your sight. If you do, at best, it will still be where you left it last. At worst, the ticket will ride in your shirt pocket through the wash. (Those tickets sure come out clean, don’t they, Chadburn? You would hardly know it used to be worth $400 million.)
3 If you have a winning Mega Million ticket, do not quit work. If you do, at best, the ticket is genuine. At worst, your ticket is not the winner due to a computer error. (So much for telling the boss where he could shove your job, huh Chiko?)
2 If you have the winning Mega Millions ticket, do not forget to look both ways before crossing the street. If you do, at best, the traffic will be light. At worst, your heirs will be enjoying the fruit of your lotto win. (It’s hard to tell where that truck came from, right, Cal?)
1 If you have the winning Mega Millions ticket, do not fail to set aside some for charity. If you do, at best, you’ll be labeled a cheap skate. At worst, you won’t get a charitable deduction, and the world will be no better off having you in it. (You wonder why dogs growl and cats hiss when you come by, Scrooge?)
Today, we will drive the neighborhood to see if spring is making its presence known. We are catered by Eberly of Austin. Our entertainment is Elvis Presley.
The machine diligently produces the mind-saving elixir that is the legal import of Columbia. The beans are ground, tamped, and scalded with boiling water to give me what I need most: that first cup of coffee. With it in hand, the clock is set to March 16th, 1924. The location is the port city of Fiume on the Adriatic Sea, and the time is set for two hours. The plunger is pulled, and we are there.
