google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Saturday, Dec 28th, 2013, Steve Salitan

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Dec 28, 2013

Saturday, Dec 28th, 2013, Steve Salitan

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing F,J,Q,Z)

Blocks: 28

   Thank you all for last week's get well comments; I had such a high fever I thought I was going to lose my mind - literally. This is the first time I've gotten to a crossword in two weeks.  I was able to review the last three LAT this week, and I have to say thank you to C.C. for covering my part last Saturday, and for a stellar effort on Thursday's puzzle. As for today, when I saw Steve's name at the top, I figured I was looking at a DNF - I am usually thwarted by his misdirection and vagueness, but with only one cheat,  I was able to finish this one.  Nothing longer than the two 11-letter cross fills today;

 31A. "Violator" band : DEPECHE MODE - JUDAS PRIEST fit, too - but I knew that was wrong; I was finally able to tune in to Pandora for the first time in a month yesterday, and Depeche Mode pops up on my favorite channel with this song

39A. 1996 film with the tagline "YIKES! They've Landed!" : MARS ATTACKS! - Hysterical parody of science fiction and horror directed by Tim Burton with a cast of big names - and Tom Jones, too~!

Onward~!

ACROSS:

1. There may be tears in them : DUCTS - Right off we have ambiguity; tEErs, or tAIrs~???

6. Track event : GRAND PRIX - the Indy car kind of track; clecho 16A. Track event : RELAY RACE - the human leg kind of track

15. Like some office boxes : IN/OUT

17. Yellow-flowered medicinal plant : SENNA


18. Champing at the bit, and then some : OVEREAGER

19. "__ Cheerleaders": 1977 comedy-horror film : SATAN'S - I wonder if the people at IMDb feel like they really, really need to include these types of films; then again, the summary does sound intriguing....

21. Campus not far from LAX : USC - well, I figured it was University of something/something California

22. Camera that uses 70mm film : IMAX - So far, I've only seen Skyfall in IMAX (and a nature film at the Museum of Natural History)

23. Exploit : USE

24. Casual evening? : NITE - night (evening) spelled casually

26. Inedible orange : OSAGE

27. Aspire to greatness : AIM HIGH

29. "84, Charing Cross Road" novelist Hanff and others : HELENEs

33. Deco designer : ERTE

34. Agreeing words : "SO AM I"

35. Latin quarters? : CASA

41. Arizona retirement community : SUN CITY

45. Black-footed albatrosses : GOONEYS - also the nickname of the Douglas C-47


46. Ring material : ONION - steel? nylon? oh, duh

47. Savory, e.g. : HERB

48. Tex.-based carrier : SWA - Southwest Airlines - they are the leading airline at my 'local' jet airport, MacArthur; gets so little respect being in the neighborhood of JFK and LGA....

49. "Such a shame" : PITY

50. It's a mess : STY

52. Zen awakening : SATORI

54. Daily reading for many : HOROSCOPE - NEWSPAPER fit, too - and I DO read my daily horoscope each morning; said nothing about getting sick, tho

57. Nitpick : CAVIL

58. New members : INITIATES - Rookies, probies, neophytes (hey, that one fit) - I am a 'new member' of the driver's group at UPS - but I have not made their UNION yet

59. Whence Icarus fled : CRETE

60. Ones on the way up : ASCENDERS - yes, they, are....

61. Had a row : OARED - and another ambiguous word; roe, or rOW

DOWN:

1. Convince otherwise : DISSUADE - took a little too long to let go of PERSUADE

2. More disturbed : UNEASIER

3. Disdain : CONTEMPT

4. Skipjack, perhaps : TUNA - my one look-up; I was sure it was a boat, and it turns out it's also a block cipher, and the one we needed - TUNA

5. Tinny : STANNIC - which means "containing TIN"- STANA KATIC is better

6. Nursery product word : GRO - Miracle-Gro, e.g.

7. Follies : REVUE

8. Draft picks : ALES

9. Traffic blocker? : NARC - the drug traffic

10. Shade provider? : DYE - the "?" meant it was NOT "ELM"

11. Extol : PRAISE

12. Dealer in old clothing : RAGMAN

13. Way more than a cold snap : ICE AGE

14. Darius I's successor : XERXES - Persian (likely Bibilical) kings

20. Reacts to with an eye roll, perhaps : SIGHS AT - wasn't there a 'Friends' episode where Joey wasn't allowed to roll his eyes at what Phoebe said?

25. Something to test : THEORY

26. Cry of approval : OLE - I had O-HO, then OYE, and I wondered what other "Heyenes" there could be (29A)

28. Laugh line? : HEE - hee-hee

29. Respect : HOMAGE - if you're being really reverent, it's an OH-MAHJE

30. Corrections staff? : EDITORS

32. Humanities degs. : MAs

35. Soup holder : CAN - sometimes, the simplest answers....

36. Best kind of full house : ACES OVER - I had ACE/KINGS, and that stopped me from getting anywhere in the SE for the longest time

37. Use lofty words? : SKYWRITE - HAR-HAR~!!!

38. Pounced on : ASSAILED

39. Short time? : MINute

40. Caldwell's "__ Road" : TOBACCO

41. Most popular baby girl's name of 2011 and 2012 : SOPHIA - what's the inspiration? Usually there's a super-popular female singer/star that causes the increase in popularity; Britney Spears was one I recall

42. They may be civil : UNIONS - wars, rights, engineers

43. __ acid : NITRIC

44. Prairie predator : COYOTE

47. Bouncing off the walls : HYPER

50. Large amount : SCAD

51. Haul : TOTE

53. Frank Kennedy saved it from foreclosure : TARA - the plantation from "Gone With the Wind"

55. Moral lapse : SIN

56. Twisty character : ESS - as in

Splynter


48 comments:

OwenKL said...

I feel a bit sheepish
Commenting on DEPECHE
Even worse, parsing MODE
From my seat on the commode.

DEPECHE MODE, in France,
A magazine to enhance
One's knowledge, with passion,
Of the world of haute fashion!

OwenKL said...

Next, the GRAND PRIX
(Grand Prize, that can be),
For the great sport of Futsal
(Arena soccer, to y'all)!

You've not heard of that sport?
Well, I've more to report;
There's a GRAND PRIX instead
For the sport of Six-red!

This French is amusing?
Or maybe just confusing?
At foreign tongues you are lax?
Then despair, MARS ATTACKS!

Barry G. said...

Morning, all!

Definitely a challenge today, but I kept plugging away until I finally managed to finish unassisted. I correcdly guessed DUCTS right out of the gate, but then got stuck in the NW until I finally remembered that skipjack was a type of TUNA. Having actually heard of "SATAN'S Cheerleaders" helped as well. As for STANNIC...

The SW was the hardest for me. Had CORAL instead of ONION for the longest time, as well as SLEW for SCAD and TAKE instead of TOTE. Once I finally abandoned CORAL, I threw down CITRIC at 43D. That got me most of the way home, except that I was left staring at SUCCITY at 41A until the light bulb finally went on.

desper-otto said...

Good morning, Saturday soldiers!

This was definitely a Saturday-level offering, and it took the full allotted time. There were lots of "maybe" answers, but very few I felt absolutely sure of. My anchors turned out to be ICE AGE, MARS ATTACKS, SUN CITY and DEPECHE MODE (how the heck did I know that one?).

OARED? Really? Does anybody say, "He oared the boat…"? Maybe, "He oared around town," but that would mean something else.

Steve, thanks for the workout. Splynter, great to have you back in the Saturday saddle.

Argyle said...

I was disappointed when 19-Across didn't turn out to be "ZOMBIE Cheerleaders".

Anonymous said...

"Savory, e.g.: HERB"

Please explain.

Great puzzle, by the way.

Husker Gary said...

No white flag or CAVILS here. It took some doing but a single word in each corner unlocked that area and perseverance paid off. Great Saturday.

Musings
-Geez, MARS ATTACKS and SATAN’S Cheerleaders. Tough decision for Oscar voters!
-Great video of Shuttle Launch (1:16). Spectacular in IMAX!
-Bill Whither’s USE Me (3:36) that was, uh, used in American Beauty
-I remember HELENE Curtis ads from my ute. Novelists? Not so much.
-I always ask if their ONION Rings are fresh or frozen. Big difference!
-HOROSCOPES are harmless and useless at the same time. Like me.
-Stacking HOROSCOPES, INITIATES and ASCENDERS? Are you kidding me? Wow!
-The pix I posted of our summer yard are testimony to the efficacy of Miracle GRO
-_ _ _ X _ _ portended roman numerals for Darius I successor but…
-If Andy Warhol says a soup CAN is art…
-ACES OVER is a curse in Texas Hold ‘Em if the other guy had four of a kind
-Dudley’s SKYWRITING plea for help? ;-)
-HYPER, thy name is kindergarten
-I played 27 holes yesterday in 60°F weather. 58°F today, hmmm…
-Name the 1964 artist that sang The Moon is High and SO AM I

Montana said...

This puzzle was definitely way out of my league, but I know we need some puzzles each week to challenge you, pros.

I-max: I chaperoned two busloads of HS juniors and seniors to the Science Center in Regina, Saskatchewan. The other science teacher and I got to select two I-Max shows for the kids to see. Most of them had never been to an I-Max theater, so they really enjoyed it. We picked a sciency one in the morning and a fun one in the afternoon.

Husker, bet you don't golf the first of next week. Look at the weather forecast! 40-50 degree drop in temps are coming.

Splynter, I always enjoy your Saturday writeup. Glad you are feeling better.

Montana

JD said...

ah, that would be Roger Miller, me thinks

Good morning all,

It seems I've been AWOL for awhile, and so I am sending belated get wells to Irish Miss (ouch) and to you, Splynter...glad you have recovered. Enjoyed your write up this morning too.

Saturdays are nearly impossible for me, but LOVED the bottom 1/2 as I didn't need help. However, the top 1/2 was slow. I LOVED all of your misleading clues, Steve, even though it took MANY tries to fill MANY answers.When the vocabulary is as rich as this one, so many memories come alive.

Bumppo said...

Amen, Anonymous @9:22: Would someone please explain how "Savory, e.g." = "HERB"? "Savory" is an adjective; "herb" is a noun. The "e.g." indicates a call for an abbreviation in the answer; but neither "herbal" nor "herbaceous" means savory (and, in any event, not all herbs are savory).

Splynter said...

Hi again~!

Savory is an herb - here's the Wiki

Splynter

Dennis said...

Bumppo et al, 'Savory' is a herb. Check Wiki for more.

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

Another toughie, but, surprisingly, finished w/o help, once I changed BAs to MAs. Enjoyed the misdirections and some sparkling fill. Thanks, Steve S. for a Saturday challenge and thanks, Splynter, for your always enlightening expo. Glad you are feeling better.

JD, thanks for your best wishes. For the most part, Extra-Strength Tylenol is keeping me on track.

Have a great day

buckeye bob said...

Thanks Steve for a challenging puzzle. Welcome back, Splynter!

My hat is off to all the puzzlers who solved this one without help. Not me! I won’t go through the specific details. Some I didn’t know. Some were vague. I fell for misdirection.

After an hour and a quarter, I had the bottom half filled in, and only a part of the top half. I turned on red letter help, and every entry in the top was red, plus one word in the bottom. Kept at it and eventually got done in an hour and 38 minutes. Frustrating, challenging, and fun all in one puzzle!

Back to Tom Clancy…

PK said...

Groan! I won't be saying OLE, Steve. Sorry. I'm tired from last night's Christmas celebration with my family, I know, but all I want to do is CAVIL. The only clue I thought was clever and fun was "use lofty words: SKY WRITE".

Splynter, glad you're back. Bummer to be sick this time of year.

I got the NE then the SW and red-letter-alphabet pecking got me started in the other areas, NW last. HELENES threw me. I kept trying to put in EUGenes which seemed more likely to me. Never heard of the person.

I don't know anyone who named their baby SOPHIA. Not a popular name out here. The popularity of the name could have come from watching the movie or play "Mama Mia" the beautiful daughter is named Sophia.

Tinbeni said...

Splynter: I'm glad you're feeling better.
Thank you for explaining my Rorschach Ink Blot, it's a beauty!

Yup! DNF ... couldn't fill-in _ _ _AGE (I have my scruples ...).

SOPHIA was my gimmie today ... must have seen that list somewhere.

Really wanted 'ganja' for my 'medicinal plant' (SENNA) ... was 40% correct.

A 'toast' to ALL at Sunset.
Cheers!!!

Husker Gary said...

-Yeah, Roger Miller sang “Well the moon is high and so am I. The stars are out and so will I be pretty soon” Ah, the classics!
-Tin, I had a ball roll out on a frozen pond yesterday and I know the ice is 8” thick and so, yup, I went out on the ice and hit a 4 iron 50 yards back onto the fairway. Hmmm… Cold weather and ice made me think of you.
-Montana, yes, today would be the last day for golf for awhile but Joann has had a tough last few days acting as an intermediary between her mother and the government and so I’m staying home and staying home and helping her. How long did it take to get to Regina? Surely that was not a day trip.
-PK – I got the NE and SW first too
-Sophia, et al have made me a devotee of Modern Family
-Splynter, I read that the delivery companies are fielding a lot of complaints about late deliveries. There are just so many airplanes, trucks and hours in the day and it looks like they got overwhelmed especially by late packages.

C6D6 Peg said...

First time on the blog today. Always read, but never comment, as I've never done it before.

Loved the puzzle today, as Saturday's are always a challenge. After a long workout, I did manage to finish Steve's puzzle, and was happy to see Splynter back in form.

Misty said...

First of all, welcome to the Corner, Peg! And Splynter, it's wonderful to have you back. Glad you're feeling better again!

Well, Saturday puzzles--can't live with them, can't live without them. Got only about 2/3 of this one before I felt I can't spend a whole sunny morning on a puzzle, and quit. But I have to admit that if I had only broadened my vision to wilder and wilder misdirections, I might have gotten a few more. They were certainly clever and in some cases funny. So I guess rather than CAVIL I'll take a bit more responsibility for not finishing this one.

Liked the clues for ONION and SKYWRITE (got the first, didn't get the second). Also liked "Corrections staff" for EDITORS. As I say, clever, even if a lot of it did elude me.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Yellowrocks said...

After a very long time i finished with one Google. I had MODE, but looked us DEPECHE.
I liked Latin quarters = CASA and CORRECTIONS STAFF = EDITORS,
Except for DEPECHE and SATORI, there were no unknowns, but still difficult to come up with.
Glad to have you back, Splynter.

Dudley said...

Hello Puzzlers -

Whopping DNF for me today. I managed maybe 30% unassisted, then TIT (Threw in Towel). This has to be my worst effort since joining the Corner. I'm pretty sure I could have squeaked in more fill, given enough time, but probably not to completion.

Lucina said...

Hello, Word Warriors! It's great to see you back, Splynter. I hope you stay well. I'm sure that harsh weather doesn't help.

Yowza! Ay, Caramba! This was for me a "do some, come back, think deeply" and finally finished with one error. No red letters to alert me that it should be SWA not TWA.

I really enjoyed the challenge, so thank you Steve Salitan.

The SW filled the quickest thanks to SUN CITY though I had to erase inductees for INITIATES.

Next the NE but that took some time and was no RELAY RACE. Then I guessed ARLENES but had to search for HELENES. I love and own the movie but her name is not on the cover.

Finally, the SE really gave me fits until I realized that Savory is the name of a HERB, Icarus went to CRETE and Erskine Caldwell wrote TOBACCO Road. Whew! That all was tough!

In between times I have been making chicken enchiladas for tonight's progressive dinner followed by a White Elephant game. It's our annual party and great fun.

Have a spectacular and restful Saturday, everyone!

PK said...

Husker, You are probably right that Modern Family Sophia is responsible for the popularity of the name. Not being male, I forgot about her.

I got to be with ten of my descendants and four of their spouses last night for a late Christmas. Much fun. Very loud with six little boys and a new trap drum set in the basement. We got to see and talk to the missing military son on Facetime. He was very homesick as were his buddies. They all wore Santa hats to fly a Xmas day peace-keeping mission (no shooting, no bombs).

My autistic barefoot 6-year-old grandson came charging out of the house when I got there yelling my name and gave me a big hug. Then he told me to be careful because the big puppy also greeting me "would try to eat" me. (Well, it was definitely using some teeth.) I hadn't seen my grandson in a year and was delighted with his progress socially and verbally. He also sounded out and read one of his gift cards to us. We all cheered. No screaming tantrums this year. Ah, progress!

guerita23 said...

USC is nowhere LAX. LMU is. (Loyola Marymount University, just up the 405 from LAX.

Bill G. said...

Sophia could be a different spelling for Sofia Vergara. One of the girls I tutor is Sophie. I rather like that old-fashioned-sounding name.

Two of my kids went to LMU and yes, it is a bit closer to LAX than USC. But USC is close compared to SMU, Yale, Oxford, etc. It's all relative. UCLA is pretty close too. USC is about 15 miles (ENE) and UCLA is about 12 miles (NNE). (I am about 4 miles south.)

Ol' Man Keith said...

Impossible.

... for me, and/or for today at any rate. Definitely a DNF. It was a good and fair pzl, but my patience ran out early on. Somehow I managed to "see" DEPECHE MODE after only two or three fills, but since I don't really know anything about that group except its exotic name, I had to recognize that Mr. Salitan's references are outside my range.

I congratulate myself that I finally cracked the SE sector after belatedly switching from GOONIES to GOONEYS, but that wasn't enough to prevent my tossing a towel and Googling for SENNA & HELENES.

(And I never did get GRO right. GRrrr.)

Qli said...

A DNF for me today, heck, a barely-got-started-before -I-had-to look-stuff up for me! Once I got into it, though, it was fun. Thanks, Steve and Splynter.

New word for the day: CAVIL. Favorite clue; ring material. My DH is on a quest for the perfect onion ring. Which involves lots of tasting...

Jayce said...

Whew. Tough but fun solve. Had to look a few things up. Sometimes even filling a long answer, such as DEPECHE MODE and MARS ATTACKS (both of which I got only by looking them up) didn't help much in figuring out other answers. Hand up for spelling the albatross as GOONIE, which (other hand up) inhibited me from solving that area. At least SUN CITY, TUNA, and SATORI I was pretty certain of.
Glad you are better, Splynter. Best wishes to you all.

HeartRx said...

Hi all!

Really late to the party today, but wanted to say how great it is to see that you have recovered, Splynter. What a time to get so sick! I am still pondering whether or not to get a flu shot. Pros? Cons?

Barry G., I also stared at SUCCITY for the longest time before the light dawned…

I thought EDITORS for "Corrections staff?" was fun misdirection. Also loved the clue for SKY WRITE. HG, I doubt that Dudley would ever have to write that message, unless it was his warped sense of humor that drove him to it!

Have a great evening,e veryoen!

Tinbeni said...

HeartRx:
I've never gotten a flu shot.
Haven't had the flu since ... I can't remember, (was it 20 or 30 years ago?)

Ahhhh, the healing power of Scotch!!!

And the Sun is setting ... Soooooo ...
Cheers!

Abejo said...

Good afternoon, Folks. Thank you, Steve Salitan, for a good puzzle. Thank you, Splynter, for a fine review.

Well, this one beat me up a little. I got the NE, East, SE, South, SW, and some of the West. The NW was my downfall. I had a couple look-ups after about 4 hours.

DEPECHE MODE?????????????

STANNIC???????????????????

XERXES was easy. As was ALES.

Liked GOONEYS. Took a couple perps, though.

HOMAGE was a good one. Took me a while.

SATORI was definitely with perps.

Tried MEMORY for 25D, but THEORY appeared after DEPECHE MODE.

Welcome C6D6 Peg. Hope to see you again soon.

Hey buckeye bob: Hope you had a fine Christmas. My daughter, who lives about 300 feet from you, did.

See you tomorrow. I am trusting Sunday will be more doable than today's was.

Abejo

(9599968 2537)

Abejo said...

Welcome back, Splynter. It's a bummer to be sick.

Abejo

Al Cyone said...

A major DNF and I wasn't going to post a comment but, as far as I can tell, no one's said anything about the OSAGE orange. Which isn't an orange. It's also known as a hedge apple. But it's not an apple either. I'd never heard of it until I was visiting my mother in Springfield, MO, for her 95th birthday. I was walking along a nature trail when this giant green thing dropped from a tree just a few inches from me. Looking down I saw that the ground was littered with them. So naturally I gathered up a half-dozen to take with me. I wasn't sure how I'd Google them but my mother's next-door neighbor knew right away what they were. The Indians used the wood for bows so the early French explorers called the tree "bois d'arc" (and there's a Missouri town with the same name though it's pronounced "BO-dark").

Anonymous said...

t

Yellowrocks said...

I have discovered that enlarging the captcha also enlarges the space between letters and makes it more readable, although not foolproof. I hold down "Control" while moving the wheel in the center of the mouse away from me to enlarge and towards me to make smaller.
PK, How wonderful for your family and your grandson. Ever step forward is a celebration. I share your excitement.

desper-otto said...

HeartRx, I've been getting a flu shot every September for years and years. During that time I've never had the flu. Don't know if that's due to my general good health or to the shot. But it can't hurt. I say, "Go for it."

OwenKL said...

When I saw "Corrections staff," my first thought went to newspapers. Is there a title for the editor of the daily corrections? Maybe fact-checkers? When I didn't find the right word right away, I thought, "wait a minute. Corrections also means prisons. Bet that's the hidden sense that I'm being misdirected from!" and kept looking for warden or guards until perps put me out of my misery.

Dr. Taub, on House, M.D., had his (ex)wife and his girlfriend both have babies at the same time, and each woman insisted Taub call her baby Sophia, not Sophie. Also, "Σοφία" is the personification of wisdom.

I like Burger King onion rings best. Bite-size and always uniform size. Makes me wonder how much they must waste, though.

OwenKL said...

Al Cyclone: interesting comments on OSAGE, thank you!

Yellowrock: Thanks for the advice on the Captcha! Never tried it before, but looks like it will work! On my machine, wheel while holding right mouse button changes size of whatever the mouse is pointing at; no hassle of using the mouse and keyboard together.

BarbieMom said...

Good fun today. Depeche mode. Never heard of it. New word for me:cavil.I got a late start so I just finished up.

PK said...

Owen, the corrections staff at our weekly newspaper was just called a "proofreader" and came in part-time to do only that. We had an eagle-eyed lady with a little blue pencil who was superb. At the daily I edited we proofread our own stuff then all the writers read everyone else's stuff as time permitted. We who wrote tended to miss our own mistakes.

We had Osage orange on the farm in a hedge/wind break around the pasture. The only use we made of them was as an insect repellent in the basement. Killed crickets especially.

I was told by my MIL that they fed hedge balls to the cows one winter in the dirty thirties when nothing else was available except some turnips to keep them from starving. What little milk the thus poorly fed cows produced tasted odd but was not unusable.

PK said...

Marti, I was sicker after a bad reaction to the flu shot than I ever was with the flu itself. I was told by my doctor not to get another one. So it sometimes can hurt.

YR: There are four little boys the same age living in my DIL's neighborhood and all are in the same first grade class this year. They played well all summer and DIL was a bit nervous how they would treat my grandson when they realized he has a disability. No problems so far. I wonder if the other boys' behavior hasn't influenced our boy's demeanor for the better. Just the fact that he has been able to maintain friendships in a play group is heartening to me. I wasn't expecting that. Sometimes kids can be really kind to each other. These are military kids whose dad's are frequently gone for long periods. DIL says they look out for each other in her neighborhood -- there are 39 kids on her cul-de-sac. She loves it.




Anonymous said...

I have heard from more than one source that the flu shot contains 25x the mercury considered safe for drinking water. Also...it CAN cause serious immuno-system problems. I have taken it twice since I`ve been an adult...both times I had a horrible case of the flu...so no more of the flu shots for me.
There is a considerable body of research that suggests that infant and childhood vaccines play a part in the development of Autism and Asperger`s Syndrome. Do some research yourself and consider the options/consequences...don`t just "follow the herd."

aka thelma said...

Marti - I too resisted the flu shot for years. This year I relented and I did not get the flu :) My recommendation - for what it is worth - is to speak with your doctor about it. He may feel you don't need one. My lung specialist said that at my age he recommended very highly that I get one. I trust him.

I don't recall ever having the flu and up until this year I stood my ground... :)

The puzzle for today did me in.... about half way thru I said to heck with it... :)

If I don't get back before the New Year I hope you all have a very Happy New Year.... :)

thelma

PK said...

I just finished reading the book by Phyllis Tamares, the lady C. C. introduced to us the other day. Her narrative style is reminiscent of Maeve Binchy and had a happy ending. For age 82, that's good enough for me. Some interesting ideas about reincarnation.

Reaction to the flu shots has a lot to do with personal sensitivity, I believe. I react to things that produce problems in no one else I know. My brother is a medical researcher and he is doing some work now with autism and a relationship with viruses.

Lucina said...

Marti:
I've had the flu only once in my life but since age 50 I have had a flu shot yearly. And since my health in general is good, that may also contribute.

Research also shows that vaccines do not measurably contribute to either autism or any other childhood diseases.

Anonymous said...

fyi

never had flu shot.
never had flu.
wash hands.
eat healthy.

Bill G. said...

Lucina, I'm glad you wrote what you did. I was going to write a response also but I think yours was gentler than mine would have been. I hate to think about any kids who have not been vaccinated and have gone unprotected because of that misinformation.

Any tamales left?

Anon, we should all be so lucky!

Phyllis Tamres said...

Thanks PK for your kind words. I wrote two books, "Maddy and Terri" and "Maddy & Terri in Murder at the Dry Dock," which one did you read?