King Charles Visits the USA

Uh-oh. The United Kingdom's national flag was paraded the wrong way during the royal visit to Arlington Cemetery. The Union Jack was mistakenly flown upside down, a breach of flag protocol. The royals laid a wreath and posy at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to honor the fallen and the military partnership between the United Kingdom and the United States.

Britain's Flag Institute explains that there is a correct way to raise the national emblem. To fly the Union Jack in the proper position, "in the half of the flag nearest the flagpole, the wider diagonal white stripe must be above the red diagonal stripe, as Scotland's St. Andrew's Cross takes precedence over Ireland's St. Patrick's Cross." The Union Jack unites the heraldic crosses of the kingdoms of England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland where King Charles reigns, though only Northen Ireland has been part of the U.K. since 1921.

Who'da thunk?

But you can see a difference in widths of the white stripes.

So now we know. 

But that does not explain the mix-up in flags a few days before. A similar flag mix-up occurred earlier where Australian flags were displayed instead of the Union Jack. Before the King's visit officially kicked off, Australian flags were briefly raised alongside American flags on the light posts lining a major thoroughfare of Washington, D.C., the King and Queen's first major stop.

I'm not sure how one could confuse the two flags. Admittedly it includes the Union Jack in the upper quadrant. But beyond that, it is not the same.

national flag of Australia

Erin, Dumped for the First Time

Poor Erin. She's 15, and her first love has left the mountain and gone back to from whence he came leaving her crying possibly for the first time -- but not the last -- over a boy.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

The Waltons - "The Competition" - S4, Ep5 1975

Dubai Chocolate

Back in November, before Thanksgiving, I saw an advertisement for "dubai chocolate." I had no idea what it was. But it looked tempting and chocolate was part of the name, so I was intrigued. I spent the next month trying to find it in local stores. I especially wanted to give it to P and J for Christmas.

Art Mart, a specialty food store, seemed promising. But not there. I researched a little bit on the Internet, and it seemed like Dubai Chocolate could be found just about anywhere -- Walmart, Meijer, Target, grocery stores, candy aisles of drug stores. I looked in all those places. I even found it on the local online Meijer store site with a note saying available and what aisle it was in. I printed this info, and took it with me to Meijer. I presented my printout to an employee and asked him to help me find it. He looked in the aisle that was listed, plus he looked in the candy aisle. I followed him around. He asked another employee who said "It always says available in the online store." I finally gave up.

Sometime towards the end of January, I was walking from one side of the Schnucks store to the other. I came to a screeching halt halfway through the store when I randomly saw a stand-alone display full of Dubai Chocolate. I looked it over, and I do not recall if there was a price attached. But I had already decided that I was going to buy a package if I ever found it anywhere no matter the cost.

The upper left was the package (3.5 oz.) that I purchased at Schnucks. I do not recall precisely, but I think the price was around $8. I snacked on it over several days. It was different, but good. The shredded kataifi (phyllo dough) did not have much of a taste, but it added a nice texture.

Several days later, I found the Dubai Style chocolate bar (3.53 oz.) pictured on the right at Aldi. As I recall, it cost $3.99. I was afraid the chocolate would have a cheap plastic chocolate flavor, but it was good.

Then awhile later, I came across the 3rd chocolate bar (pictured at the bottom) at the checkout counter at CVS. It was the smallest of the three (1.4 oz.) and cost around $12 I think. Wow. That Lindt brand sure carries a hefty price.

I have now given up my quest. 

But wait . . . . . . . .

Just when I thought the hunt was over, I stumbled on another name-brand version of Dubai chocolate. I was at Walgreens looking through the Easter candy to make a couple selections to take to P and J's. There was no price on the shelf. But I consider myself independently wealthy, so I picked up a bag. This Ghiradelli brand (4 oz.) cost $15. I sampled one piece. As expected, it was good.

Conclusion: Dubai Chocolate is good, but expensive. The name-brand varieties are especially pricy.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Dubai Chocolate is a viral food trend featuring a milk chocolate bar filled with a creamy pistachio and tahini filling mixed with crispy, shredded kataifi (phyllo dough) pastry, inspired by the Middle Eastern dessert knafeh. The combination of rich chocolate, nutty pistachio cream, and crunchy pastry creates a unique texture and flavor that became a social media sensation, leading to imitations and inspired desserts worldwide.

Which Sister?

This picture speaks to me because these are the names of my two youngest sisters.

Two Birthday Parties

Our mother's birthday was in a February. Of course, we always observed it however we could. But we celebrated two "big" birthdays with special parties.

70th Birthday - 1998

For Mom's 70th birthday, we sisters hosted a surprise party. We invited many of her friends to come surprise her at her house. It was a real surprise for her. We told her we were having a family get-together and that we would bring the food.

Shortly after noon that Sunday, people started arriving. That was Mom's first clue. She was especially surprised when she saw her sister and niece walk by the dining room window. We played a trivia game and served a variety of delicious food. So happy our cousin was able to bring our mother's oldest sister.

80th Birthday - 2008

As described by one of my sisters:

Blizzard of '78

It was 48 years ago that a January blizzard struck our state.

I have previously written (scroll down) about this snowfall so I shall not explain my personal remembrance of it again. But the winter of 1977-78 was definitely a rough one. Especially if you were commuting ~40 miles on state highways.

Perry Mason's Last Case

When I was a kid in the 1960's, we frequently watched "The Early Show" when we got home from school. Mostly black-and-white movies from the 1930's, 1940's, and 1950's, I suppose.  We always enjoyed the Tarzan movies, especially when Johnny Weissmuller was the star.

One movie of the series included a character played by Raymond Burr, later known as the title character in the "Perry Mason" television series. That series first aired in 1957.

I do not recall the plot of the Tarzan movie with Raymond Burr. But I do recall that he got caught up in an elephant stampede and was killed. At which point one of my siblings said something like "That's Perry Mason's last case." We all thought that was hilarious.

About 8 years ago, Turner Classic Movies must have been highlighting Tarzan movies. I probably "watched" or sat through several of them. And suddenly, there was Raymond Burr. I stuck through until the end when Perry "lost his case."

I've since learned the title of that particular movie was "Tarzan and the She-Devil" from 1953.

While watching the movie in 2018, I made some screen-shots and created my own graphic.

Perry Mason's last case