Saturday, January 24, 2004

DIRTY DANCING 2: HAVANA NIGHTS (2004)
February 13th, 2004


Diego Luna, Romola Garai, Sela Ward, John Slattery, Mika Boorem, Jonathan Jackson, January Jones, Rene Lavan
Artisan Entertainment, Miramax Films
Drama, Musical, Romance
Not Available




Set in 1958 Havana, this is the story of a lonely 17-year-old American girl (Garai) who moves to Cuba in the days right before the Revolution with her parents, where she soon meets a charming and talented local dancer (Luna), who encourages her to discover her natural dancing abilities. Undoubtedly, it all leads to an exciting climax as Castro's forces take control and the Americans are forced to leave

COMING TO A THEATRE NEAR YOU- THIS VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!

HOMEPAGE FOR DIRTY DANCING 2: HAVANA NIGHTS

"Her life was about Rules. His life was about Freedom."




http://www.dirtydancinghavananights.com/home.html

Friday, January 23, 2004



Some kinDA three -awn grass but what happened to WIREGRASS!!!!

R:
You ain't the only one who saw the resemblence. Check out da blog "Cuba, Alabama" http://www.robertoreg.blogspot.com

Hey, in October of 1834 Robert Forbes bought Bourienne's Napoleon from the estate of Henry Fernando Yonge (1811- 1834) by way of the Probate Court of Gadsden County, Florida. Yonge grew up on two parcels of Forbes Purchase land owned by his Daddy, Henry Yonge (1776- 1834)

Another character who has popped up in all this Forbes Purchase stuff (one of the world's greatest real estate transactions: deal closed by James Innerarity of Mobile for 5 cents per acre- May 25, 1804) is John Carnochan. He was kin to someone in Canorchan and Mitchel, Havana merchants, who bought the Forbes Purchase from John Forbes. Clifton Paisley in Red Hills of Florida claims that this quote is in the American State Papers, Public Lands,( I don't think so) "a large and valuable gang of slaves have not for the four years 1820, 1821, 1822, 1823, paid their own and plantation expenses." Paisley claims that this Carnochan quote is found in American State Papers, Public Lands, 4: 451.
The 1830 census of Gadsden County, Fl, shows that John Carnochan owned 63 slaves. Thought you'd like all dis stuff.
Make sure you remember that the 200th anniversary of the Forbes Purchase is May 25, 2004.
best,
rr



BALD CYPRESS



http://www.iastate.edu/~bot356/species/species/p_tSpecie/TaxoDist.html

Found a Web page that has 15 links to various databases for native plants of North America.Click on http://wiscinfo.doit.wisc.edu/arboretum/earthpartprog/links/links_native_plants.htm



THE CIENFUEGOS BOTANICAL GARDEN WHICH HARVARD IS NOT INTERESTED IN HAVING RETURNED TO THEM

From: John Coatsworth
>To: "robert register"
>Subject: Re: The Cienfuegos Botanical Garden After The Fall of Fidel
>Date: Mon, 26 May 2003 19:12:25 -0400
>
>Robert:
>
>I understand that Harvard University never received a deed to the
>land and structures dedicated to what was once called the Harvard
>Botanical Garden in Cienfuegos. Harvard has thus never filed a
>claim for the the property and has no interest in it whatever. The
>Atkins family, owners of the Soledad plantation (and thus the
>Harvard Botanical Garden located on it), did file a claim with the
>U.S. Government.
>
>I hope this information is useful to you.
>
>John Coatsworth
>
>>John:
>> My name is Robert Register and I have a weblog called "Cuba,
>>Alabama". The URL is
>>http://www.robertoreg.blogspot.com
>> I am very interested in the future of the Jardin Botanico de
>>Cienfuegos in a Post-Communist/Post-Castro Cuba. I was wondering
>>whether you could find out whether Harvard filed a claim with the
>>U.S. Foreign Settlement Claims Settlement Commission over the
>>confiscation of the Adkins Garden. Their website is
>>http://www.usdoj.gov/fcsc/
>>and I can probably get the answer from them, however, I was
>>wondering if you could give me any clues as to what Harvard plans
>>to do with their confiscated property after the end of Communism
>>and Fidel in Cuba.
>> Any information will be appreciated and feel free to forward
>>this email to anyone.
>>
>>Best wishes,
>>
>>Robert

>
>
>--
>John H.Coatsworth
>Monroe Gutman Professor of Latin American Affairs
>Director
>David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies
>Harvard University
>61 Kirkland Street
>Cambridge, MA 02138
>
>Phone: 617-496-1605
>Fax: 617-496-2802
>
>e-mail: coatswor@fas.harvard.edu
>http://drclas.fas.harvard.edu

http://www.palmsoftheworld.com

http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/1999/12.02/cuba.html
Harvard is an important part of the Garden’s history, and the Garden forms part of Harvard’s history. Harvard’s name is still visibly carved into a palm tree at the entrance of what used to be called Harvard House, where the Nov. 12-13 meetings took place.

In a surprise finale to the conference, the Cuban delegation planted two new palm trees in honor of Richard Howard, director of the Arnold Arboretum and professor of dendrology, emeritus. The two new palm trees, Washingtonia filifera, native to the United States, are now flanked by older royal palms – a fitting tribute to Howard, who first came to the Cienfuegos Botanical Garden as a student in 1940.

At that time, the Garden was a department of the Arnold Arboretum with its own staff and budget. The land on which the Garden grounds are located had been donated to the University by Edwin F. Atkins, owner of the nearby Soledad Sugar Mill, in 1919. Atkins had originally approached Harvard in 1899 to start a program of sugar cane research. Harvard operated the Garden until after the U.S. embargo was imposed in 1961, two years after the Cuban Revolution.

Fourteen members of the Atkins family, including former Congressman Chester Atkins, accompanied the academics on the trip to Cienfuegos.

"It was really moving to be here and to see the way in which the Cubans have tended to this garden," said Chester Atkins between a conference session and a short visit to the former sugar mill property.

Sessions were split between history and botany, with themes ranging from orchids to palms, from Cuban dietary patterns to the Spanish-American War, and from the history of the Garden to reflections on tropical ecology.

In a session that received a standing ovation from both Cubans and North Americans, Richard Howard described how he first arrived in Cuba as a graduate student by taking a bus from Boston to Key West, then a ferry from Key West to Havana and then a night train, "because it was cheaper," from Havana to Cienfuegos, some 150 miles east of Havana.

Harvard delegates included John H. Coatsworth, Monroe Gutman Professor of History; Otto Solbrig, Bussey Professor of Biology; Richard Howard; Gustavo Romero, keeper of the Orchid Herbarium; Noel Holbrook, Thomas D. Cabot Associate Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology; and Timothy Stumph, the Center’s Cuba Program coordinator



GREAT WEBSITE FOR PALMS!!!!



http://www.palms.org

This picture has been taken in Baracoa (S.E.Cuba) in April 1998. It is a government managed coconut nursery. Seeds are sprouted within the nursery and then the plants are transplanted to the surrounding plantation when they will be tough enough to survive goats. The tall palms are probably the endemic Roystonea lenis and the fence in the foreground is made of Roystonea wood.
Photo by Carlo Morici



Mary Jo:

Just got off the phone with George Wood. He is very enthusiastic about putting together a guide and he said that he had discussed a similar project with Mark Beeler. He also mentioned that he and Gabrielson used to give tours of the trees on campus. George also knows where a lot of interesting trees now dead were planted and he thinks he can identify the original WWI memorial oaks on University Blvd.

Craig Remington of the Map Lab in Farrah Hall would be a good resource because a map would be the best way to construct a guide. Dr. Weatherwax's IU guide gives each species a number and locates them on a map which also has a narrative accompanying it. I will get the "Guide to the Woodland Campus of Indiana University" out of my files this weekend and make copies for anyone who might be interested in contributing to this effort.

There are a lot of guides which could be constructed. These come to mind: Marr's Creek from Marr's Spring to the River, River Road Park, Kaulton, Bryce Lawn, the Water Department property at Riverview and the monster of all guides would be to the Gulf States property between Taylor Hardin and the neighborhoods along Crescent Ridge Road. That's probably the largest forest completely surrounded by urban development in the state.

Anyway, thanks for your interest and it looks like we've kicked the project off. Mr. Wood is looking forward to hearing from you.

Please feel free to forward this to anyone and I will post our progress on my weblog "Cuba, Alabama" http://www.robertoreg.blogspot.com

Best wishes,

Robert Register



>From: Mary Jo Modica
>To: robert register
>Subject: Re: A Guide To The Woodland Campus of the University of Alabama
>Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2004 17:01:51 -0600
>
>Robert,
>I like your idea of a guide to the trees on the UA campus. Some of them
>are most unusual. The person who was instrumental in planting most of
>the older trees is George Wood. You can find his number in the phone
>book on Ben Clements Rd. If he will walk around and tell the histories
>and interesting aspects of the trees, I will be pleased to record and
>transcribe his musings.
>Let me know.
>Mary Jo Modica

Wednesday, January 21, 2004

Southern Wetland Flora
From: Robert Register
email: robertoreg@hotmail.com




Comments
The best part of the NPWRC site is
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/1999/soutflor/species.htm



THE BIG O!!!!

I HAVE BEEN AN OTIS REDDING FAN SINCE 1965 AND TODAY HIS MUSIC MEANS MORE TO ME THAN EVER BEFORE.

http://www.otisredding.com/



ALISON LOHMAN

CBN.com – Special Notes: Burton was inspired to do this story after the death of his father while he was scouting for “Planet of the Apes” in 2000. His mother passed away last year. Burton said making this movie was therapeutic, “a way exploring that, otherwise those feelings would’ve just kept swirling around.”

WEATHERWAX MSS.


The Weatherwax mss., 1915-1975, consist of the papers of Paul Weatherwax, 1888-1976, botanist. A native of Worthington, Indiana, Weatherwax attended both Wabash College and DePauw University in 1909 and 1910 respectively, but received his A.B., magna cum laude, from Indiana University in 1914. He then continued in graduate work at I.U., receiving the A.M. in 1915 and PhD. in 1918. Weatherwax first joined the I.U. faculty as an instructor while doing graduate work, moved to the University of Georgia as an associate professor after completing his degree, and returned to Indiana University in 1921 where he stayed until retirement in 1959. He remained a very active Professor Emeritus on the Bloomington campus until his death in 1976.

Weatherwax authored several books, including The Story of the Maize Plant (1923), Elementary Botany (1942), and Indian Corn in Old America (1954), as well as numerous articles for both scientific and historical publications. He was also the author of the I.U. walking guide called The Woodland Campus of Indiana University (1966). Weatherwax's major areas of research were the morphology of grasses, and the morphology, origin and history of the Indian corn plant. Among the many awards and kudos he received were the Waterman fellowship, 1925-30, and a traveling Guggenheim fellowship, 1944-45. Prior to retirement Dr. Weatherwax headed the teaching group of Indiana University faculty in Bangkok, Thailand, on a Science Education contract with that country, 1957-59.

This collection of papers includes correspondence, writings, photographs, college class notes, seed lists, trip diaries, and materials relating to Indiana University faculty activities. The files have been retained as Weatherwax had them, including folder headings. Consequently, the correspondence files contain such diverse material as photographs, clippings, botany course outlines, insurance policies, faculty meeting reports, correspondence with botanists, publishers, and seed companies, galley proofs, etc. All of this material is arranged in a single alphabetical file and is contained in four cartons. Writings by Paul Weatherwax are filed in a fifth carton and include his incomplete manuscript for "The Morphology of Grasses." A final box containing college notes, trip diaries, seed lists, and miscellaneous memorabilia completes the collection. The collection has been partially indexed. A box and folder list and list of index entries is available.



Gift. Family of Paul Weatherwax, Bloomington, Indiana. 1977



ca. 3825 items

http://www.pe.com/localnews/desertpass/stories/PE_News_Local_bigfish09.f917.html

'Fish' splash

Actress Alison Lohman, who attended school in Palm Desert, promotes a local film festival


02:05 AM PST on Friday, January 9, 2004



By CARLA WHEELER / The Press-Enterprise

PALM SPRINGS - Giants and werewolves and a witch. Oh, my!

Those fantastical characters inhabit Tim Burton's tale "Big Fish," which reeled in more than 1,200 people to the Palm Springs International Film Festival's opening night gala Thursday.
But before the screening, all eyes followed the film's 24-year-old star Alison Lohman as she walked the red carpet into Palm Springs High School.

"Alison!" screamed a waving friend, Kathy Cole, her former high school counselor. Turns out Lohman is literally the girl next door, having grown up and attended school in Palm Desert. Her story's almost as fantastic as that told in "Big Fish."

"I'm from here. I brought my family and friends," said a nervous Lohman, who cast a smile toward a group that included her father and mother, Gary and Diane Lohman.

From : William Arthur Wheatley
Sent : Wednesday, January 21, 2004 4:14 AM
To : "robert register"
Subject : RE: FW: Camp

| | | Inbox


I've been wanting to see "Big Fish," but haven't. I'll make it a point to do so. The server that hosts my eMail gets a wild hair up its ass every now and then and decides an eMail to a group of people is automatically spam, and returns it. Pisses me off.

Tom and I agree: your son looks just like you at that age!

--William

Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2004 04:33:45 -0500
To: "robert register"
From: "Robert P. Forbes" Add to Address Book
Subject: Re: My Boy Made Waterfront Staff!




great news, Robert! The

Handsome tyke. Looks a bit like Papa.

RPF


Tuesday, January 20, 2004

EDITORIALS

Our man in Havana
In our opinion
12-03-2003

A crack in Cuba’s sugar cane curtain might open many doors, thanks to a timely visit by a trade delegation from Alabama.

For more than 40 years, Cuba’s communist system, put in place and maintained by Fidel Castro, has failed the Cuban people. In that time, Castro has remained in power through the systematic repression of political opposition. However, this page has maintained that the best way to raise the standard of living in Cuba and prepare Cubans for a better (and more free) tomorrow is to lift Cold War trade restrictions and start doing business with the island.

This is why we were so pleased to learn that Alabama Agricultural Commissioner Ronald Sparks and 18 Alabama business officials had visited Cuba, met with Castro, and returned home with orders for Alabama chicken, Alabama cotton, Alabama powdered milk and Alabama newsprint. This hardly makes our state a major player in the Cuban economy, nor Cuba a significant factor in ours. It does mark the beginning of what could eventually be a commercial connection that will benefit us all.

Before the Castro take-over, Cuba was one of Alabama's most profitable trading partners. It might be again. We produce many of the things Cuba needs and there is no reason that we should not claim a share of that market. Other parts of the nation can use our facilities to claim a share as well. Today commerce from the Midwest can move down the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway to our recently upgraded state docks in Mobile. From there a ship can be in Havana in less than two days.

And the rest of Latin America is not that much further away. So while Commissioner Sparks is looking into Cuban markets, he can explore trade opportunities throughout South and Central American. The growth of the Hispanic community in Alabama should underscore the connection we have with those countries and encourage us to strengthen those ties.





About our editorial page Address letters to Speak Out, The Anniston Star, P.O. Box 189, Anniston, AL 36202.

Representatives from all aspects of agriculture in Alabama were among the delegates on the recent trade mission to Cuba. Along with Commissioner Sparks were Roger Pangle, Alabama Farmers Cooperative; Doug Rigney, Department of Agriculture and Industries (ADAI); Jimmy Holley, ADAI; John Gamble, ADAI; Diego Giminez, Jr., Auburn University; Maria Mendez, Alabama State Docks; Pat Rankin, Rankin Farms; Milam Turner, Jr., Gelbrieh cattle breeder; John Dunavant, Dunavant Enterprises (cotton); Guice Slawson, Southeast Wood; Michael Lanahan, Lanahan Lumber Company; Hank Van Joslin, Global Food Resources; Jim Cravey, Alabama Farmers Federation; Billy Powell, Alabama Cattlemen’s Association; Johnny Adams, Alabama Poultry and Egg Association; Anne Payne, Alabama Agribusiness Council and Tony Van Aken, Mobile Chamber of Commerce.

Maria Conchita Mendez, manager for Latin American Trade and Development at the Alabama State Port Authority, signed an accord that will lead to regular shipping services to Cuba from Mobile. “Mobile cannot fall behind,” she said, in reference to ports in Florida, Texas and Georgia that have already signed agreements with Cuba.

Mendez said Mobile would start shipments almost immediately and could become one of the largest ports serving the island country.

“On the agreement between Alimport and Alabama State Port Authority, we have agreed to work jointly in the movement of bulk, breakbulk, refrigerated and containerized cargo via our terminal facilities. We have also agreed to work with our legislature for the lifting of the travel ban and promote tourism via air, cruises, ferries, etc.

“The key of this agreement is the economic impact for Alabama and the surrounding region


in the future. Currently, the only commodities that we can trade are those approved by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The current embargo is not only hurting Cuba but also the U.S. business sector. Realistically speaking, with an open trade policy, our port, due to its strategic location in respect to Cuba, could have, on a conservative opinion, over 16 sailings a week transporting cargo.

This represents:

-Third-party logistics companies establishing operations in Mobile

-New distribution center of one-million square foot or more

-Triple growth in air, trucking and rail services

-An economic impact of $4 billion or 80,000 jobs

-High paying jobs in the maritime community, who provide services to carriers

-Triple growth in Mobile’s local economy.”

Johnny Adams, executive director of the Alabama Poultry and Egg Association, Billy Powell, executive director of the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association and Roger Pangle, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Alabama Farmers Cooperative, participated in the trade mission and want to see Alabama’s relationship with Cuba grow.

Adams said some Alabama-grown chicken has been sold to Cuba in the past by using a broker, but the new agreement allows direct sales.

Powell said Cuba has few cattle and, as a result, restaurants offer few beef dishes to tourists who are flocking to the island from Canada and Europe.


Pangle said that it appeared that the people of Cuba were anxious and ready to trade with us. The agreements would help enhance the lives of the Cuban people, not just as a benefit to the Cuban government. “Certainly food products were at the top of the requirements list for the overall health of the people of Cuba. Food, and particularly the quality of the food that comes out of Alabama, was a big determining factor that enabled us to be in the trade talks. During our three and a half-hours with Fidel Castro, it was evident that he knew agriculture like the back of his hand and knew exactly what he wanted for his people. He is confident he can get a good quality of food products from Alabama.” Pangle went on to say, “We are indeed fortunate to have in Ron Sparks, a proactive Commissioner of Agriculture who chooses to help the farmers of this state. He has vision to realize that the Port of Mobile and products of Alabama are the impetus toward future trade with Cuba.”

Commissioner Ron Sparks speaks through a translator to a group of children during a tour of Havana.

Details are still being worked out, but among the items that Alabama could soon be selling are:

- 285 shipping containers of wood valued at around $2.5 million. - Up to 10,000 tons of chicken leg quarters.

- Some 850 tons of cotton.

- Around 3,000 tons of powdered milk.

- Up to 3,000 tons of newsprint.

- A shipping container of cheese and butter.

- 200,000 metric ton of wheat.

- 300,000 metric ton of corn.

- 160,000 metric ton of soybeans.

- 10,000 metric ton of cottonseed meal.

- 240,000 metric ton of soybean meal.

From: William Arthur Wheatley [mailto:w.wheatley@WheatleyUS.com]
Sent: January 20, 2004 15:44
To: thedeadandboblive@yahoo.com
Subject: Camp


Your Dad, who is a contemporary of my brother (and who with us both was a Scout in Dothan) sent your picture and the news of your aquatics job at BSA camp. Congratulations! I don't know whether your Dad had the same job at the camp near Dothan, but I did one summer. It was a lot of fun, and a learning and growing experience for me. Enjoy!

--William Wheatley
William Arthur Wheatley, AIA, RAIC, ACFE
Chairman and Managing Director
Wheatley UK Limited
US Office
Two Bala Plaza
Suite 300
Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004-1501, USA
Tel. +1 610-660-7819
Fax: +1 610-667-8147
Tel. Direct to Mr. Wheatley +1 610-658-0579
Fax Direct to Mr. Wheatley +1 610-658-6318
Toll Free within the USA: +1 877-WHEATL-1
http://www.WheatleyUK.com
eMail: w.wheatley@WheatleyUK.com
http://www.WheatleyUK.com

Monday, January 19, 2004

Mark:
It was so cold this afternoon I knocked off from work about a half hour early and drove over to that small parking lot east of the Old Bureau of Mines (Yarbrough's ROTC Building) at the three way stop. Just walking down the side walk around that intersection I counted 5 junipers, 2 live oaks, 1 dogwood, 1 oriental magnolia, 3 magnolias, 2 red (ornamental?) maples, 3 hackberrys, 1 ash?, 1 large ornamental(one of those shiny green leaf bushes with the navy blue berries at the NW corner of Lloyd) and about 15 oaks (most I think were Willow Oaks).
Anyway, wouldn't it be easy to blow up portions of the campus map, turn the pages over to volunteers(a.k.a. "students") and compose a "Guide To The Woodland Campus of the University of Alabama"?
Rufus Bealle gave me a copy of "The Guide To The Woodland Campus of Indiana University".
I'll be glad to provide copies of this guide to anyone interested. The guide Rufus gave me has probably been updated. I'll check it out and see if anything is on the Web.
Please feel free to forward this to anyone and
please check out my weblog, "Cuba, Alabama" at http://www.robertoreg.blogspot.com

Best wishes,
Robert Register