dog fur birds nest

some extremely smart bird used labrador fur to insulate its nest. then the nest fell on the ground. then i brought it home.

Palm Beach resident (AKA Grandpa Wallace) to see Memorial Day through his brother's eyes

I don't know if my Grandpa Wallace got a new PR agent or what, but he's been in the Palm Beach news three times in the past year. The most recent was on Memorial Day, with the following article about his brother Robert McTammany who died during World War II:


Palm Beach Resident to see Memorial Day through his Brother's Eyes
(via Palm Beach Daily News)

By John Nelander

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Robert McTammany was one of 12,000 American soldiers forced by the Japanese during World War II to march under brutal conditions to a prisoner of war camp in the Philippines. Miraculously, he survived 61 miles of starvation, beatings and random executions only to die of malaria after he reached his destination.

His four brothers — including Wallace McTammany of Palm Beach — didn’t learn of Robert’s death until years later in 1945. But the family, originally from Providence, R.I., never forgot, and Wallace doggedly pursued official recognition of his brother’s heroic deeds.

His efforts were rewarded earlier this year when an array of medals honoring Robert were delivered to Wallace’s home. They include a Purple Heart, a World War II Victory Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, a bronze Prisoner of War Medal and an Honorable Service Lapel Button.

It will make this Memorial Day — almost exactly 70 years since Robert enlisted in the Army — a little more special.

Robert joined the Army in September 1940, and left for the Philippines as a sergeant on Oct. 6, 1941, two months before the attack on Pearl Harbor. He became embroiled in the historic Battle of the Philippines after the Japanese invaded the island chain just before Christmas.

Fighting raged in January through April 1942, with the American troops under the command of Gen. Douglas MacArthur defending the strategic island of Corregidor and the Bataan Peninsula.

It ended with the surrender of American and Filipino troops on April 9. Ten thousand Allied troops died and 20,000 were wounded — and 75,000 (including 12,000 Americans) were taken prisoner. They were forced to walk the 61 miles to a prisoner of war camp, a journey that became known as the Bataan Death March.

It was marked by beatings, casual shootings, starvation and even beheadings. Still, Robert somehow made it to Camp O’Donnell, a temporary holding facility for American soldiers before they were sent on to other Japanese-held camps.

Wallace keeps a copy of a newspaper clipping from 1945 that announced Robert’s death at the age of 30 — he was counted as missing for three years. He also keeps an unnamed and unmarked copy of a book describing the camp in which his brother spent his final month.

“The sanitation was so appallingly bad, the stench so overwhelming, that the few Japanese who ventured inside the camp almost invariably wore surgical masks,” the author says.

There was one place in camp to house the critically ill, which the soldiers came to call St. Peter’s Ward because they believed there was no chance of survival. Patients died of malaria, dysentery, acute dehydration and starvation.

Wallace says simply: “It was a horror show.”

Robert was buried in Manila, in a cemetery for American soldiers. The McTammany family chose not to have his remains moved back to the United States.

Fast forward to 2009. Wallace had been taking morning walks with another World War II veteran, Martin Davidson, a retired Marine major who fought in Iwo Jima. They began chatting about McTammany’s brother Robert.

“I’d been reading in a military magazine that the government had opened up new opportunities for getting Purple Hearts,” Davidson recalls. “So I told him about it. It’s a good thing, no matter when and how it was received. It puts the government in a good light, which doesn’t happen very often.”

Of the Bataan Death March, Davidson adds: “It’s hard to imagine what these guys went through.”

Four of five McTammany brothers, including Wallace, entered the military. They served in various capacities and locations — Wallace in the Bahamas, the Caribbean and West Palm Beach. “I just lucked out,” he says.

Wallace went on to a career doing architectural renderings. Robert never had the chance to pursue his career as a classical musician. Before enlisting, he had played string bass in the Providence and Boston symphony orchestras.

“All five of us boys were industrious,” Wallace says. “Bob had a lot of different jobs, but he loved music. He was different from the rest of us.

“He would sit in a corner in a rocking chair when he was home, and listen to this huge Stromberg-Carlson radio. He’d just be carried away.”

And now his memory lives on in the hearts and minds of his family, the collection of medals and honors Wallace proudly displays in his home office, and within the flag he flies each Memorial Day on the balcony of his condo on South Ocean Boulevard.

savory crepes

now for a positive local food review.

every saturday morning from april to october there is a farmer's market in a shady parking lot at UNCA.

the first tent sells the most amazing savory crepes, which they make while you wait. they are usually backed up, so you order and then browse the market (read: push through a sea of strollers and puppies) for 15 minutes and by the time you're back your crepe is piping hot and ready.

she pours buckwheat crepe batter on the hot plate and adds eggs, goat cheese, pesto, spinach, onions, and potatoes. these form a gooey filling to a hot, semi-sweet, crispy buckwheat wrap.

it is more than enough food for two people and super delicious, and a highly reasonable $8.

porked

i feel very lucky that there are dozens of excellent, worthy restaurants in asheville that i am thrilled to patronize.

for instance, i love 9 mile, salsa's, the early girl, laughing seed, limones, marco's pizza, sunny point, and 12 bones. i would recommend any of these restaurants at any time to anybody.

i can not say the same about havana, the bright pastel cuban place downtown. we went off a recommendation from a friend, and it looked interesting from the outside, but we were sadly disappointed.

this is going against thumper's rule if you can't say something nice don't say nothing at all, but it was too bad and too expensive to let it go.

it would be one thing if the prices were low, or even reasonable, but for $14 a plate, at a place that clearly did not spend money on decor, i expect a heaping plate of good food.

we started off with weak mojitos in small glasses full of ice. ($7)

i ordered arroz con pollo ($14). first came out a 'dinner salad' which consisted of shredded iceberg lettuce with shredded carrot sticks swimming in canola oil and salt and pepper. it was...not good....

then the waitress came out and said the arroz con pollo wouldn't be ready for a few hours so could i order something else? i ordered the garlic calamari appetizer for my dinner. it was billed as 'lightly fried and tossed in a special mix.' what came out was a plate of thick rings only, wet with dark grease, seemingly from a bag in the freezer. ($9)

my friend ordered the first thing on the menu - columbia lechon - and the waitress recommended it saying "he is known for his pork." the pork was good - tender and spicy and fresh. the mango on top of it was tangy and a good complement. the rest of the plate was extremely blah. black beans from a can, clumpy white rice, dry yucca fries, and soggy plantains. ($14).

we spent $60 and left hungry and sad. maybe we misordered, or went at a bad time, but with all the great restaurants downtown i'm not sure how this place will stay afloat.

under construction

i changed the template for this blog around this weekend, the first update since finding some crap template on the internet when i started in 2006.

dealing with html and technicalities and change is always frustrating and infuriating, but after some hyperventilating i think it looks pretty much the same with the shiny new corporate blogger template, but now there's a link at the bottom to go to older posts, and the comments should be easier to work.

baby steps...

shrimp people

went down to spartanburg yesterday to see neil young solo. i'd never seen him live and was struck by how he made his instruments sound like 2 or 3 people were playing at once.

the tailgate before the show was the best tailgate i've ever been to. my dad gave us a box of frozen shrimp to carry on to the plane back in march and kevin made shrimp pierre and they were completely scrumptious and completely gone by the end of the night.

thank you shrimppeople.com!

shrimp pierre recipe:

young buck

saw this long lost little cousin of my brother henry while walking nacho. he is super sweet. they stuck their noses through the fence and licked each other.

ump's heads

if i were an umpire and needed an x-ray of any kind, i would go to asheville radiology and demand free service.

window

I used to lie between cool, clean sheets at night after I'd had a bath, after I had washed my hair and scrubbed my knuckles and finger-nails and teeth. Then I could lie quite still in the dark with my face to the window with the trees in it, and talk to God.
- Frances Farmer

i want a baby polar bear!

looking west

smoky mountains at sunset

also the title of the new tea leaf green album - http://tealeafgreen.com/album/looking-west

peace and chicken grease

what happens when a dog sticks his head under the grill while chicken is cooking?