Art by Hart

Auden, an orange roughy, explained that he was actually as smooth as silk, as long as he wasn’t being hooked or cooked

Even at dawn, the beach club was a happening place

In a dramatic career change, the Pink Panther accepted a role as a world-famous drag queen

Martine, a shrimp, and Ron, a baked potato, could never get along

Lizzie and Dankworth’s duets were hauntingly beautiful

Art and photos by Jane Hart

In and Around Kendal

Maybe Not the First This Spring, But Certainly Welcome!

Photo by Ed Lannert

Transportation Modes of a River Town

Photo by Ed Lannert

Photo by Aruna Raghavan

Old Man of Rockwood Park

Artists at Work

Marisa Campbell recently taught a class in drawing birds. Clearly, students worked hard at their new-found skill—and with happy results.

Photos by Carolyn Reiss, with the exception of the final one of happy and successful bird drawers, which is by Marisa Campbell.

Our New Dining Room— Still in the Works, But Gettin’ There

Photo by Joe Bruno

Artist in Residence

Ann Lasusa’s art—paintings, mixed media, collage—is well known both at Kendal and beyond. We spotlight here her delightful assemblage work. On her website—lasusart.com—she says, “Using found objects that have been discarded or are no longer useful can be given new life and can be metaphors  for a lifetime. I assemble objects in boxes that tell my story, deliver my sense of visual order or are remembrances of life experiences and sensations. I use found objects paint, glue. modeling paste, paper, wood, plant life etc. etc. to compose a new order and accomplish my goal.”

We include a few pictures of Ann’s assemblages here, including the one in the Winter Art Show, now hanging in Robert Fulton. They are entrancing, distinctive, thoughtful, often designed with humor—and, overall, delightful.

From Women’s Eyes This Doctrine I Devise

What Sits Within

African Melody

Birds of Calm Sit Brooding

Mandalay Memory

And from the Kendal Winter Art Show:

Diversifying Harmony

Strictly for Men Only . . . Yeah, Right

“Take my wife . . . please.” Rodney Dangerfield may have aced the comedy of the wife joke, but others—in all fields—have joined in the fun:

When a man steals your wife, there is no better revenge than to let him keep her. Lee Majors

After marriage, husband and wife become two sides of a coin; they just can’t face each other, but still they stay together. Al Gore

By all means marry. If you get a good wife, you’ll be happy. If you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher. Socrates

Woman inspires us to great things and prevents us from achieving them. Mike Tyson

The great question . . . which I have not been able to answer . . . is, “What does a woman want?” George Clooney

I had some words with my wife, and she had some paragraphs with me. Bill Clinton

To Be Continued

Contributed by Simone

I Never Knew That

May 3, 1978: The Birth of Computer Spam

On this day in 1978, a marketing manager for a Massachusetts computer company unknowingly made history: He sent the first spam email. The Internet as we know it did not yet exist. But ARPANET, an experimental computer network that connected government-supported research sites in the United States, was up and running—albeit with a much, much smaller audience than the Internet has now. There was an actual printed directory of ARPANET users—all 2,600 of them.

Gary Thuerk, of the Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), was pondering how to advertise upcoming demonstrations in California of his company’s latest computers. In a moment of inspiration, he decided to send an invitation, which also touted the products, via ARPANET to about 400 people on the West Coast he found in the directory. The response, as one might expect, was not particularly favorable, with DEC being chided by ARPANET users who did not think that the network should be used for sending bulk messages of that nature. Thuerk’s boss made him promise to never do that again. And yet, some 40 recipients of Thuerk’s message did attend DEC’s California product demos, with Thuerk estimating that the company made more than $12 million in sales.

A promising new sales strategy was born. Or not. The practice of sending unsolicited emails in bulk didn’t take off until much later, after the Internet became widely used by the general public. The first intentional sales spam email was sent in 1994. Now, of course, spam emails are as ubiquitous as they are reviled.

So why is it called “spam”? The non-meat use of the term came from the online chat room community, which by the late 1980s was already using it to denote a mass influx of data into their chat rooms that could trigger a computer crash and/or annoy chat room users. They had taken the name from a now-infamous 1970s Monty Python’s Flying Circus sketch in which a group of Vikings in a restaurant sings a chorus about the SPAM meat product, chanting the product’s name repeatedly and drowning out all other conversation.

Source: Amy McKenna, Editor, Britannica

Art by Hart

Bernice and Rory had stopped talking to each other, and they both were miserable

Mark and Janet’s kids were the first generation of zebra fish

Mitzi thinks it’s funny to bite the hand that feeds her

Finally, it was the fish’s turn to tell a story

The bird on Rawson’s head evoked comments

Art and photos by Jane Hart

In and Around Kendal

Celebrating Earth Day at the Kendal Environmental Fair

Earth Day this year meant Kendal’s very first Environmental Fair, held on April 22 by the Environmental Action Committee and dedicated to the memory of Anne White. Highlights were information on a range of topics, a door prize, snacks, and the premier new Kendal skit: “A Visit from the Eco-Angel.”

A few examples of the information tables offered here:

Kendal’s campaign to collect soft plastic goes onward, even after we hit the 1,000-pound mark and were awarded our very own recycled-plastic-produced bench.

Information about Kendal’s Foodscrap Collection Program is important

Raising Native Plants is another critical effort.

And the important door-prize table and those who encouraged Fair attendees not to forget to pick up a ticket.

A Visit From the Eco-Angel

What happens when a couple just can’t decide what’s recyclable and what’s not?

Why, naturally, a visit from the Eco-Angel, who, of course, set them on the right track.

A production enjoyed by all.

Photos contributed by Harry Bloomfeld and Carolyn Reiss

Out and About

A View From Lyndhurst Mansion

The Lannerts explored the outs and ins of one of the many Gilded-Age castles in our area.

Photo by Ed Lannert

Swan Lake on a Spring Day— Without Swans

Photos by Carolyn Reiss

Pat McGrath’s Great Adventure

Pat McGrath traveled to Montreal earlier this month to hear a presentation given by a former classmate of his—Pascale Francoise Xavier Cossart—on “cellular microbiology,” a field she is considered to be the founder of. She was invited to give this presentation by another former classmate of theirs—Nabil Seidah—who is the Director of Biochemical Neuroendocrinology at the Montreal Clinical Research Institute. 

But the weekend was much more about getting together with old friends rather than what they do for a living.

Thus:

Here they are on the St. Lawrence River where the rapids make it unnavigable, necessitating the first lock of the St. Lawrence Seaway.

As formidable as Pascale’s subject sounds, it took a distinct second place to what was going on in Montreal at the time: maple syrup season. Here they are at the Meunier Erabliere (maple syprup “shack”) south of the St. Lawrence in Richelieu, a farming community.  A prize of a slap on the back to whoever first finds Pat in the picture.

And here is Pascale communicating with one of the “waiters” in the huge dining room where they were served all manner of pork, pancake, eggs, and sugary dessert—all floating in maple syrup.  Proof that cellular microbiologists are anything but stuffy.

As it was much colder in Montreal than Paris—home to Pascale—she needed help staying warm on her visit. As you can see from the wall behind them, Canada maintains at least some of its 16th century raison d’etre as a source for fur.

And after they were finished, they returned to Montreal where Nabil, the host, has an apartment with a view like ours at Kendal—except of the St Lawrence rather than the Hudson.

Photos and story contributed by Pat McGrath himself—with a little judicious editing.

Homage to Jazz in Pocantico Hills

Photo by Ed Lannert

Kendal Fun: It's in the Cards

Canasta Players Wanted

Polo is the game of kings. Fine. Canasta is much more: a game of luck, skill, and—most important of all—fun!

The Kendal Canasta contingent meets Mondays at 3:00 in the Bistro.

Sure, sure, you played Canasta with your grandparents, lo, all those decade ago. Well, hold onto your hat ‘cause this ain’t your granddad’s canasta any more.

Today’s game is called “Modern American Canasta” with new rules and new strategies.

Don’t know how to play? No problem: we’ll teach you. We’re patient and kind instructors.

Know how to play? Come join us!

No cut-throat urges in this group. We encourage and help beginners at all levels. Chat and play at the same time. Enjoy each other’s company.

Want to learn to play? Contact Donna Nye at x1804 (not after 9:00 pm, please) or email: dnye@verizon.net.

© Kendal on Hudson Residents Association 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 all rights reserved.  Please do not reproduce without permission.

Photographs of life at Kendal on Hudson are by residents.