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Palm-Mensa©
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Palm Beach County Mensa November, 2001
most recently updated Sunday, November 4th, 2001 |
Happy Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving! |
Contents
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News and Notices * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * On National Testing Day our group tested 19 potential members at Delray Beach and Port Saint Lucie locations. On Sunday, Oct. 21, the Sun Sentinel published an article after interviewing test takers in Delray Beach. Thanks to Hank Colman and Janice Johnson for supervising the test sessions. On November 3 another test session will be held in West Palm Beach. Tell your friends! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Our new Circulation Manager, Donna Bognar, took over this month. November's newsletter was processed and mailed from Port Saint Lucie, in the far north of our group. Look for a review of their FSM (fold, staple, & maim, I mean, mail!) event next month. Thanks to Amy Shaughnessy for performing the interim job in the interim. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Dan Tobias updated our Bylaws and the draft is now being reviewed by our board of directors. One change that was made was to change the name of our group to "Palm Beach Area Mensa" to better represent the other counties where our members now live or the counties where potential members live: Saint Lucie, Martin, Okeechoobee, and even Glades. You will get a chance to vote on the new bylaws via a ballot in a future newsletter. No recounts. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Big Deal in December. Our chapter is hosting the 4th quarter board meeting of the American Mensa Committee (AMC), November 30, December 1 & 2, at the Airport Hilton in West Palm Beach. We need 2 kinds of volunteers--transportation experts and hospitality experts--to help make this meeting a great success for the AMC. When AMC members deplane, it would be nice to have a friendly south Florida Mensan escort them to the Hilton. Most members arrive Friday afternoon. We will have a hospitality suite for Friday and Saturday nights; it would be great to a couple members stock the suite with snacks and drinks-we do get a subsidy from the National Office to offset costs. If you would like to volunteer to help make this event a fun one for all, please call Elissa, 561.272-0475 or email elissa12@bellsouth.net. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Regional Gatherings October 12-14 - FloRanGe '01 in Hollywood, FL. Web site: www.geocities.com/broward_mensa/pages/florange.html or Registrar: Jerry Fortner, POB 100457, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33310;954.572.6049; drhea@mindspring.com January 25-27, 2002 - Heart of Florida's "Smarti Gras" in Orlando, FL. Registrar: Eddie Trulove, 3333 Honeysuckle Lane, Orlando, FL 32812; 407.855.9078; truluvs@cfl.rr.com * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Positions still to be filled.... Scholarship Chair-to distribute information to schools about Mensa's scholarship program that last year awarded over $50,000 to deserving students. Please contact Barry or Elissa if interested. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself. Being true to anyone else or anything else is impossible -- Richard Bach |
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Elissa Rudolph Now that I live in a flat landscape in south Florida, I am intrigued by hills and mountains. Flying into Ontario, CA, for September's AMC meeting, my view was filled with the real thing: mountains, dotted with green scrub pine and girdled with yellow smog, a typical southern California feature. Later I learned that the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains nearly surround Ontario, which is 30 miles east of L.A. Curious, I asked the shuttle driver and local citizens-Do you climb the mountains? Are there trails? When does the smog go away? What kind of vegetation is that? While they were courteous with answers, I could tell they were somewhat taken aback by my consuming interest. Not having any extra time to explore them, I settled for staring at the mountains from the airport gate while I waited for my flight home. Inland Empire Mensa hosted the AMC meeting during their RG, New Beginnings. I.E. put on a very relaxed gathering with a great icebreaker on Friday night. AMC members, National Office staff, and RG committee members were encouraged to submit baby pictures of themselves. We then all wore a baby picture (not our own!) and tried to guess who was who from a list of participants. Fun! I won the most beautiful baby award (blush!). Onto business. The mini minutes have been distributed; the most significant items considered at the meeting had to do with the expulsion of a member and the adoption of a new policy and procedures appendix for the national SIGHT program. Briefly, the AMC voted to concur with the decision of the Hearings Committee to expel Mr. Frank Repp from American Mensa. This action has occurred very rarely in the history of our society. The SIGHT program's process of selecting local coordinators has not been spelled out clearly up until now. The new appendix does just that and is designed to complement the new SIGHT manual, which should appear shortly. If you want further information on these business items or any others that were discussed please contact me. Thank you to the groups who responded to my request for your ideas on "centralized mailing" of local newsletters.Your comments were discussed at the AMC meeting and have been forwarded to Tyger Gilbert, Communications Officer, who will be working with Scott Rainey, RVC9 on this project. While many groups, especially small ones, might welcome this idea, overall it seems that groups want to keep their individual characteristics intact by having total control over their publications and how they are distributed. This program, should it ever see the light of day, would be voluntary, not mandatory. Thank you also for your comments/ideas on the lapsed member program. Several groups in Region 10 took advantage of the reimbursement, but still did not have a huge return of members. There are some lapsing members who truly forget to pay on time and others who truly want to be gone. By contacting all of them you'll find out which category they fall into. Looking forward to FLoRanGe, October 12 to 14, in Coral Springs, hosted by Broward Mensa. Hope to see YOU there!! Middle Keys Mini-G, Miami Mensa, November 9-11, at the Lime Tree Bay Resort, 1-800-723-4519 or 305-664-4740. It's on Long Key. Call Jenny Brown or Stan Berkovitch, 305-652-3547 for details. Sounds like a fun, relaxing time! AMC Meeting, Airport Hilton, West Palm Beach, November 30, December 1 & 2. Call me for details. AMC meetings are open to all Mensans. Join Palm Beach Mensans in welcoming the AMC on Friday night-hospitality Florida-style. AMC members are very happy to be coming to our warm Gold Coast for a December meeting.... Smarti Gras, Central Florida Mensa, January 25-27, 2002, Orlando, Registrar: Eddie Truelove, truluvs@cfl.rr.com. Elissa Rudolph |
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Barry Karas PANICKY. I'm writing this because of what I see and hear around me. You'll be giving in to the terrorists if you panic. Concern? Fine. Curiosity? Fine. Awareness? Fine. Taking common sense measures? Fine. But by panicking, people will be falling to one of the terrorists' main goals. In fact, one synonym for "terror" is "panic." DON'T PANIC COPPER BLACK AWARD. This $500 award is made to the member who makes the most outstanding creative achievement during the year. The achievement can be an invention, an innovation, or a unique improvement that has actually worked. Artistic accomplishments are not eligible. You may nominate yourself or another member. For further information, nomination form, and further instructions, contact me. GOING HOLLYWOOD. There is a quiz and a link to the national Mensa website on the web page promoting Ron Howard's new film, A Beautiful Mind. This film is about 1994 Nobel Prize winner John Forbes Nash, Jr. (who won for his pioneering analysis of equilibria in the theory of non-cooperative games). The film stars Russell Crowe and Ed Harris. By the time you read this the website should show the quiz & link. www.abeautifulmind.com. AMC MEETING. On Friday, Nov. 30 and Saturday, Dec. 1, PBC Mensa will be hosting the AMC Meeting. We need some local members to transport the AMC members from the airport to the Airport Hilton Hotel on Friday night and to help out with the dinner the next evening. This is a very low maintenance, on our part, event. And you'll have the opportunity of meeting some of the "bigwigs" that you have been reading about. WELCOME. New members: Gregory Barry and Randolph McKinley. Members moving in to our territory: Pat LaBarbera and Riley Shipman. Members renewing after less than one year: Robert Behren, John Owens, and J. Gary Underwood. Members reinstating after one or more years: Rich Clay, Shane David Hammond, and Robert Nasser. WICCAN. This month, we are having a discussion about the Wiccan religion and its philosophy. It looks to be a very interesting event. (If you want, you can do a little preparation on the web; start here: paganwiccan.about.com/mbody.htm and click on "Pagans/Wicca 101" in the upper left corner.) THANKSGIVING. It's not my style to get all spiritual, etc. but we do have something additional to be thankful for: that we're living in one of the best societies around. SAVE FENWAY! |
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Glen Moulder and Elissa Rudolph As of 9/31/01, we have 288 members, 2 brand new, 2 who moved in, 3 reinstating after more than a year, and 3 renewing after less than a year. See "Notes from the Underground" for names. Welcome to all-we look forward to meeting you for the first time, or renewing our acquaintance! Please note: If you don't see your birthday shown in this section when it should appear, you probably indicated to the national office that this information should be withheld. If so, and you do want it to appear, simply contact the national office and change your information withholding preferences. |
Happy November MensAnniversary (year and persons) to:
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34 Hubert Elkins 29 Rhoda Gelwarg 28 Robert Franke 27 Nancy Greenberg 23 John Owens 22 Ernest Dumas, Charles Huttig and Allen Rockwerk 19 James Mann 18 Robert Behren and Elizabeth Kehres 17 Benjamin Field 14 Craig Gathman 13 Samuel Henson 12 Richard Friedman 05 Richard Doggett 03 Leo Mercier and Michele Stanek 02 David Pelligrinelli, James ReMite and Ronald Stich 01 Richard Linett |
Happy November Birthday (day and persons) to:
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1st Rosemarie Dowling 2nd Lester Long 3rd Joanne Garner, Charles Huttig and Ivan de Quesada 5th Charles Chipley 6th Robert Franke 7th Eric Ackerman 12th Neil Dowling 14th James Pike 15th David Humes 16th George Kierspe 19th Ellen Jaffe 20th Gene Donney and Frank Flynt 23rd Philip Kapp and Vickie Mathews 25th David Accetta 28th Jo Gayne 29th Harry Powell |
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Crab House Breakfast Glen Moulder October was a busy month for me folks, so I wasn't able to host the breakfast. Look for our *real* host, the funny and entertaining Rich Linett, who's returning from his snowbird summer. |
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FloRanGe '01 Elissa Rudolph Broward Mensa hosted a regional gathering in October that really "blew us away," sort of like the two years ago event that was threatened by a hurricane but carried on nevertheless. On our arrival Friday night, we found hospitality well turned out with various eats and snacks. My favorites were in plain sight (like to know what they are? call me....). Several icebreakers type quizzes/games were available to get people to talk to one another. Not such a hard job with Mensans! The most intriguing one was a list of unusual characteristics of the attendees. Examples: person who lives on a boat, person who lived in Alaska before it was a state, person who is a doctor, a nurse, a retired Marine, etc. Great fun! Saturday morning several of us took advantage of the nature walk in Sandy Ridge Sanctuary in Coral Springs, a haven of naturalness surrounded by an urban environment. Our guide, Mark Westphal, was knowledgeable, passionate, and cute. We went beyond the gate into a protected landscape, home to gopher tortoises and other wild creatures. Mark identified plants and trees for us, remarking on the butterfly bush that had attracted numerous zebra wings. Luckily we actually got to meet a gopher tortoise that was probably very surprised to meet us. Sandy Ridge is a 38-acre plot that was initially slated for development-195 zero-lot homes. Aaaarrrgh! The City of Coral Springs bought the plot so it will be kept in a natural state in perpetuity. City employees will maintain the tract and educate the public through school programs and visits such as ours. Thanks to Mark and the RG committee members who added this event to the RG menu. Saturday afternoon the Broward group held an auction to benefit their scholarship fund. Interesting items such as a singing groundhog, signed artwork, feathered masks (think "Smarti-Gras" in January 2002), D&D games, costumes for Halloween, and lots of other esoteric items went up for bid. A really fun event! If you haven't been to an RG, I encourage you to try this type of event. There is nothing like spending a weekend with your fellow Mensans, staying up late talking, playing games, trading jokes, feeling the bond we all have as members of an unusual organization. I'm ready for the next one! |
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Palm Beach Science Fiction Club Laura Michaels We had a great turnout for the second meeting of our club. After discussing club business, I gave everyone the inside story about what I knew about author Brian Daley after having met him at a science fiction club meeting in New Jersey. The group then discussed what they thought of the new Enterprise TV show. Then we segued into talking about science fiction in general. Old club business included mention that the science museum is running free star observation nights on Fridays all this month. Next club meeting is Thursday, November 1, when Elissa Rudolph will discuss the deeper meaning of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. See our web site at http://www.gopbi.com/community/groups/pbsf/ for more information on upcoming meetings and SF-related news. |
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First Friday - still Chesterfield's at this Writing! Elissa Rudolph We met on the first Friday in October, as usual. We had a great time, as usual. Several Broward Mensans attended, as usual. What is unusual is that the list of attendees was misplaced. You know who you are and we were really glad to see you!! Join us in again on a First Friday!! |
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Northern Exposure Elissa Rudolph No information was received this month. |
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Perkophiles - Glen Moulder October showed the smallest Perkophiles attendance ever! I had inadvertently set the date to be on the same day that the City of West Palm Beach and the American Heart Association held their Heart Walk. Hmmm. Not a good idea. The only person beside me who showed up was Jim Morse, a new transplant from Chicago. We watched the walkers and runners warm up and then take off, accompanied by sirens and roaring Harleys. But we enjoyed talking about computers, Linux, networking, programming and other geek stuff. If you're a computer buff, you missed it! |
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Upcoming Events
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Coming Event!! Wicca Today and Yesterday In November, Palm Beach County Mensa will have the privilege of hosting a discussion of Wicca, including such topics as the Growth of the Neo-Pagan Movement and Wicca during 20th Century; What Wicca is and what Wicca is not; Ethics and Spirituality of Wicca; Practices and Ways of Worship; The Wheel of the Year, including the eight Festival days; Some things Wiccans do and do not believe; and Living in the World of Non-Wiccans. Our presenters will be Lady Nokomis, Regina, the original founder of a Wiccan path known as Pantheist Wicca and a retired high priestess of three circles in Ohio and Florida. Her focus is primarily the spiritual/philosophical aspects of Wicca. Lady Nokomis offers her handcraft skills to the Universe in the form of designing and making jewelry. Lady Morrigan is high priestess of the Circle of the Winged Lion. She refers to herself as "Priestess of the Craft, Daughter of Nokomis, Daughter of the Moon, Sister to the Craft." She is a Licensed Massage Therapist, healer in training, craftswoman, singer, mother, lover and friend. She is young, beautiful and full of loving energy. Lady Bridget has been a practicing Wiccan for over 11 years, a teacher, singer and songwriter. "My worship is in my music and in needlecrafts," says this mother of two, grandmother of two, and spiritual 'mom' to many. She is a talented, wise high priestess of her own circle. Lord Riekin was first dedicated to the Goddess in 1974 and was a solitary individual until 1991. At that time, through his involvement with Starfire Circle, he became part of the Wiccan community. He has dedicated many years to exploring the transformative male mysteries: brewing, forging, foundry, woodworking, agriculture, herbology, combat, and many more. "I am constantly trying to learn new hand skills," Lord Riekin comments. He is a forester and very bright and able. These Wiccans have taken the names of old gods, goddesses, heroes, heroines with whom they identify or admire. They are eager to share the old lore with us and expect to be answering many questions. This event begins at 7:30PM in the Clubhouse at Morningstar Circle in Delray Beach on Saturday, November 17. We will collect a small donation of $2 per person to cover drinks and snacks. RSVP to Elissa at 561-272-0475. Arrive early, doors (and the gate to the Circle) will close shortly after 7:30PM. |
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Dusty Recommends Miss Dustinea Jacquette |
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Remember the yeti? A near mythical beast akin to Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster, the yeti lives in the Himalayas, leaving footprints now and then and baffling scientists. Philip Kerr's book, Esau, gives the myth a reality check. Here you have a thriller, a mystery, an account of what can happen when you put together a mountaineer, a climatologist, a paleontologist, sherpas, and one traitor to the group. You won't discover who he is til nearly the end of the book. For the record, Kerr provides a really convincing tale that supposes that yetis are real, undiscovered, and closer to Homo sapiens than the chimpanzee, with whom we share 98.4% of our DNA. The group captures a female yeti in hopes of studying her thoroughly. What luck-she is pregnant and delivers while in captivity. The scientists have named the yeti Rebecca, then name her baby, Esau, for the hairy brother of The one Judas in the group doesn't care about Rebecca, yetis, or anything else but his mission. He rues the day he underestimates the yeti.... Descriptions of the mountainous landscape provide a cold background (brrrr...!), but one that is perfect for the story. |
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I picked up Total Control, by David Baldacci, in an airport 2 weeks after 911. What do you suppose was described in the first 20 pages or so? An airplane crash in a field outside Washington, DC-no survivors. I almost put it down & forgot about it. But Baldacci is an intriguing storyteller, so I continued on. It's a very long book and tracks a woman whose husband supposedly was on that plane. But he was not. Now she has to figure out what exactly is going on while running for her life. Good airport book except for the opening scenes. |
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On a long car trip I listened to Gap Creek written by Robert Morgan and read by Jill Hill. The story of a turn of the century (19th to 20th) couple, scraping out a living in the Appalachian mountains of the Carolinas, Gap Creek describes every imaginable hard circumstance that could befall anyone. There's fire, flood, death, swindlers, starvation, and even eviction. Julie Harmon is the 17-year-old wife married to her handsome sweetheart Hank, just a year older. With no near neighbors, their house nestled beside Gap Creek in a fruitful valley seems idyllic. The good times don't last long, however. Julie's philosophy: "People could be born and they could suffer, and they could die, and it didn't mean a thing. The world was exactly like it had been and would always be, going on about its business." Morgan's descriptions of the hard lives of Julie and Hank are so graphic, so compelling, that the reader feels the sore muscles and the hopelessness that burden the couple. Want to know more than you ever wanted to know about hog butchering? Scraping the hair, rendering the fat, slicing up the hams are all described in excruciating detail. The description of Julie's labor and delivery of her daughter is so true to life that it is hard to believe that a man is writing about the pains, the stretching, the sense of joy and fulfillment that accompany most births. Jill Hill's reading captures the Carolina mountain dialect so much so that the audio version is probably better than the printed one. Good pick, Oprah! |
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Til next month, use your library card! |
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Note: The opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors and DO NOT reflect opinions of Palm Beach County Mensa, its officers, or of American Mensa, Ltd., which holds NO opinions. |
© 2000-2007 Palm Beach County Mensa. The Mensa logo is a registered trademark of Mensa International Limited and American Mensa Limited, all rights reserved. Mensa does not hold any opinion or have, or express, any political or religious views.