Welcome to Tampa Bay Mensa!......................................................3May Birthdays.......................................................................................... 3LocSec Column........................................................................................ 4Travelogue Thailand..............................................................................5RVC Column for Region 10................................................................6As I See It.................................................................................................... 7May Mensaversaries.............................................................................8Margarita Bay......................................................................................... 10Calendar of Events................................................................................ 11May 2015 Calendar................................................................................ 12News & Notes........................................................................................ 17Serial Fillers............................................................................................. 18Cryptopoem............................................................................................ 20Até logo!.................................................................................................... 22

Regional GatheringRegional GatheringMemorial Day Weekend: May 22-25

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Vol. 40, No. 4Vol. 40, No. 4

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Page 2 Tampa Bay Sounding

Visit American Mensa at: http://www.us.mensa.org

For full instructions on how to join tbm-gm andtbm-discussion, our twoYahoo! groups, visit TBM at

http://tampa.us.mensa.org

A Publication of

Tampa Bay MensaTampa Bay Sounding (USPS 305-830)

Tampa Bay Mensa5001 Terrace Palms Cir Unit 101

Temple Terrace, FL 33617

Mensa is an international society whose sole qualification for membership is a score at or above the 98th percentile on a standard IQ test. Mensa is a not-for-profit organization whose main purpose is to serve as a means of communication and assembly for its members. All opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors, and not necessarily those of the editors or officers of Mensa. Mensa as an organization has no opinions. Tampa Bay Mensa serves Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando, andSumter counties.

Tampa Bay Sounding is the official newsletter of Tampa Bay Mensa, American Mensa local group number 10-335. © 2015 Tampa Bay Mensa. All rights reserved. All material in this issue not copyrighted by individual contributors may be reprintedin other Mensa publications, provided that credit is given to the author or artist and to Sounding. Prior written consent of the editor is required for any other reproduction in any form. Any Mensa publication reprinting Tampa Bay Sounding material is requested to send a copy to the editor.

SUBSCRIBE!: The subscription cost for local members is partially remitted from annual dues paid to American Mensa Ltd. Tampa Bay Sounding is available to other Mensans and to non-Mensans at an annual subscription cost of $12.00. To subscribe, send a check, payable to Tampa Bay Mensa, to the Treasurer: Kathy Crum, 7164 Quail Hollow Blvd., Wesley Chapel, FL 33544-2525.

ADVERTISING POLICY: Sounding offers free classified ads to Tampa Bay Mensa members for services, items for sale, jobs wanted/available, personals, etc. Ads should be no longer than 50 words. Classified ads need to be renewed on a monthly basis if you wish them to appear in consecutive issues. Tampa Bay Mensa and Sounding are not responsible for the content of ads. Allcommercial ads are subject to the following rates: Full page - $60; Half page - $30; Quarter page - $15. Members of Mensa pay half these rates.

Submission GuidelinesTampa Bay Sounding encourages submissions from all members. Submissions must be signed,but names may be withheld or pseudonyms used if requested. All letters to the editor will be subject to publication unless the author specifically requests otherwise. All material submitted will be considered for publication, but nothing can be guaranteed. Everything is subject to editing. Please keep the following guidelines in mind:• Articles, casual essays, opinion pieces,

poems, short stories, puzzles, and artwork are all encouraged.

• Personal attacks and bigoted, sexist, hateful, or otherwise offensive material will not be published.

• E-mail submissions are preferred, either embedded or in Word-readable attachments. Computer printouts and typewritten pages are fine. If you submit hard copy, please make sure your printer has enough toner or your typewriter has a fresh-enough ribbon. Legible handwritten submissions will be considered (but not given preference).

You may send your submissions by either of the following means:E-mail: editor@tampa.us.mensa.org (Please indicate “TBM” in the subject header.)U.S. Mail: Ronan Heffernan, 27504 Breakers Dr,Wesley Chapel, FL 33544

Unless otherwise specified in the calendar, the deadline for unsolicited contributions is the fifth day of the month.

Welcome to Tampa Bay Mensa!

May Birthdays05/01 Lynette Pittman 05/02 Pamela Farnsworth 05/03 Eloise Hurst 05/04 Ferdinand Pointer, Edwin Tucker 05/05 David Dockery, Patrick O'Neil, Thomas Timberlake 05/06 Linda Christina 05/08 Todd Tokish, Jean Waters 05/10 Lewis Prichard 05/11 Charles Cosner, Debra Hartland, James Johnson 05/12 Michael Harris, Allison Jirsa 05/13 Eduardo Buenviaje 05/14 Kenneth Louis, Kay Shapiro 05/15 Todd Jennings, Rosalynn Solomon 05/17 Paul Sutcliffe 05/20 Sandra Kischuk 05/21 Andrew Dassing 05/22 Joseph Lucas 05/23 Timothy Johnson, Rebecca Sinnreich, John Turnbull 05/27 John Copeland 05/28 Susan Gardner, Sheldon Livingston, Christopher Orozco 05/29 Pamela Dodge 05/30 Barry Siegfried

May 2015 Page 3

Brian AveneyRichard Averitt Ruth Beckman Clifton Butts Suzanne Fahy

*Nicholas Fairbank Jacqueline Frenkel Jessica Frenkel

*Sarah Grady *Anna Gust

Daniel Jenkins *Max Kohn *Elizabeth Lechman *Joseph Lechman Kirk Luttrell Ronald McDonald

*Prescott Metzler Alan Miller Joel Morris Jacki Nesbitt

*Aadi Patel *Alanna Patricio Gary Posner Karen Rainville Marcus Reinhart Ami Schilian

*Morgan Shuman Todd Tokish Brandon Vola

* New members.

LocSec ColumnSylvia Holt Zadorozny

Page 4 Tampa Bay Sounding

A Gathering1 of Mensans

Did you go to our Spring Picnic? Because of newsletter printing deadlines, I’m writingthis column before the picnic has actually happened, but if attendance is/was like ourother quarterly ExComm-sponsored events, the picnic will have been one of our largergatherings in Tampa Bay Mensa. I hope a good time will be/was had by all.

Our largest gathering, not just of TBMmembers, but of Mensans from allover Florida and states beyond, is ourRegional Gathering, Margarita Bay,coming up Memorial Day weekend(5/22-5/25). Details should appear else-where in this issue, but I just want toemphasize here that you really shouldcome if you possibly can. You’ll notonly be supporting our local group,but you’ll have a great time doing it!

Mensa is about to have a couple of na-tionwide gatherings as I’m writing

this. I’m making a trip to San Diego to attend Mind Games, where about 300 Mensanstry lots of new games all in one weekend and choose the “Mensa Select” winners. AlsoCultureQuest is a nationwide cultural knowledge (trivia) team contest for prize money.Interested Mensans in our group organized one Culture Quest team at the last minutethis year, and we also had one member join an Orlando team. Maybe next year TBMwill have enough interested members to field more than one Culture Quest team.

Coming up July 1-5 is American Mensa’s AnnualGathering (AG). This year the AG will be inLouisville, Kentucky, and our own Bonnie Wilpon,along with former Tampa Bay Mensan BettyWadsworth, will be running tournaments. Therewill be multiple speaker tracks—pretty muchguaranteeing something to interest any taste—and some attendees like to just hang out withother smarties in Hospitality. Attendance is ex-pected to be 2000 people, maybe more.

If huge crowds aren’t your thing, we have small gatherings of Mensans at local events

Continued on page 14

[1] There are collective terms for specific groups of animals, such as a herd of cat -tle, a pod of whales, a murder of crows, and a parliament of owls. Some in Mensahave asked what a group of Mensans should be called. One suggestion was a“gathering” of Mensans, since that’s what we already call our largest get-togethers(Regional Gatherings and the Annual Gathering). So this month’s column will beabout a “gathering” of Mensans.

Travelogue Thailand Ronnie Dubs

May 2015 Page 5

I realized in Thailand, capitalism smellslike street food: grilled, boiled, fried andraw -- right on the roadside, in the openair, without the involvement of a singlegovernment bureaucrat or health inspec-tor. Just good, delicious, spicy, fresh food,readily available everywhere you go;cooked and served by your friends andneighbors. Oh God, I loved it.

Bangkok, our first city, took me by sur-prise. It’s a very large city with modern-looking skyscrapers and buildings to thehorizon. Intimidating at first, but quickly‘we’ -- that is the lovely Eileen S. and my-self -- were easily riding their skywaytrams, tuk-tuks, cabs, and ferries. Bangkok(Thailand) is a young place. Everywhereyou look in this crowded city, and theothers we visited, are young people; gen-erally all so nice, industrious, and polite. Aquick trip to a luxury skyscraper rooftopbar was an added treat -- as was my ven-ture to a seedy little local bar, where Iwas warmly received and forced to drinkwhiskey.

Their language is very difficult for West-erners, incorporating tonal inflection witha 59-letter alphabet. Learning Englishseems to be just as difficult for them, andfew spoke it well enough for conversa-tion, despite the fact that almost everysign and advertisement is written in bothThai and English. I'm proud to say Ilearned about 40 Thai words and phrases,and used every single one before I left.

The Gate One thirteen day tour of Thai-land consisted of significant personal timein-between travel by tour bus -- whichwas clean, modern, air conditioned, andwell maintained; our driver pleasant andcompetent, both a knowledgeable tourguide and helper. Their airport pickupsand drop-offs were right on time as well,and the hotels mostly excellent to satis-

factory. Lavish breakfasts were provideddaily, as were many authentic Thailunches and dinners.

The tour took us across their country,south to north, stopping at all the usualtourists’ sites and some out of the wayplaces too, like our cash-only entry toBurma and Laos. The tour took us tomany Temples (Wats), some in ruins,some active and modern. Buddha-Bud-dhism is everywhere here, and it's very at-tractive as a religion. The Buddha,‘Siddhartha,’ was very wise and thought-ful. The Buddhists themselves resent for-eigners buying his image for non-religiouspurposes, such as house decorations. Atone Wat a monk spewed me with prayerwater, hit me in the head with a woodenbrush, and tied a string around my wrist.At another, a woman approached me forthe purposes of marriage. It was pointedout to me by the lovely Eileen S. that Iprobably violate most of the Buddha’steachings on a daily basis, but still thespirit of Buddhism moved me, and I, ofcourse, made the usual donations.

After Bangkok, the next stop was Ayut-thaya -- site of an ancient kingdom in cen-tral Thailand. The best Wat ruins werehere, as well. ‘Chaiwatanaram’ a UNESCOsite was amazing. Several hundred yearsold and destroyed by the Burmese, theplace was quite impressive. The rain gaveit a haunting spiritual aura, and some ofmy best pictures! A trip into a junglelounge was included here, where most ofus drank the moonshine containing adead cobra. The following morning was atrip to see the village of long neck people,woman who wear multiple brass hoops toward off tigers -- kind of less-than-authen-tic and touristy, we’ll say.

Continued on page 16

RVC Column for Region 10Thomas George Thomas

Page 6 Tampa Bay Sounding

Region 10 did very well with membership growth in 2015. At the close of the fiscal yearon March 31, our increase in membership stood at 5.13% – more than twice the percent-age of the next Region. American Mensa had an increase of 740 members over the year,215 of which came from our Region. Only one out of twelve local groups in Region 10had a decrease this year, and that was only 2 members (statistically insignificant). Thegroup with the highest percentage growth was Manasota Mensa, with an outstanding9.49% increase, while Central Florida Mensa added a stunning 59 members to their ros-ter, leaping past Tampa Bay Mensa to become the largest group in Region 10, and into

a tie for 21st largest group in the country – the highest ranking any of our groups hasachieved since I started tracking it in 2008. Central Florida Mensa also had the mostimproved retention numbers in Region 10, although Tallahassee Mensa did better per-centage-wise with a 32% reduction in lapsed members from 2014 to 2015.

Manasota Mensa had another noteworthy achievement when a panel of three memberjudges selected Ruth Danielle as one of four winners of the Member Event Contest!Ruth won for Manasota Mensa’s Professional Meet & Greet, and her local group re-ceived a prize of $150.00 for support.

As mentioned last month, on the weekend of April 10-12 Central Florida Mensa oper-ated a booth at MegaCon, the Southeast region’s largest fandom convention. DavidFleming led a fine team of volunteers to promote Mensa at this multi-genre conven-tion catering to the comic book, sci-fi, animé, fantasy and gaming communities (thanksto Edgar Coudal for that description), and based on the photos on the Central FloridaMensa Facebook page, the event was a colorful success – there were even Mensa Su-perhero banners to draw attention! This is the proactive approach that helped CentralFlorida achieve their terrific growth last year, and they will be sending lists of prospec-tive members to each of the other local groups in Region 10 who offered to participate.

On a national level: You should have received both your American Mensa and MensaInternational Ltd (MIL) ballot materials by now. Please be certain to familiarize your-self with all the materials and vote! While many of you will be able to vote online inthe American Mensa elections, Mensa International is limited to paper ballots only.Nevertheless, it is still vitally important to make your voices heard in the InternationalElection, as a sizable portion of your dues go to the international component, which isdetermined by the MILboard.

Don’t forget: At the end of this month, on Memorial Day weekend, Tampa Bay Mensawill kick off the summer with their “Margarita Bay” Regional Gathering in Oldsmar.Visit www.tampa.us.mensa.org and click on the owl for details and to register. At theend of the summer, Broward Mensa will be holding their “FloRanGe 2015 – Another Ex-cuse to Eat Chocolate!” gathering on Labor Day weekend. You can visithttp://www.broward.us.mensa.org/rg.php for their registration information. In-betweenthose two is the Annual Gathering, this year in Louisville, KY. I plan to be at all ofthese, and look forward to seeing many of you there!

As I See ItDuke Mader

May 2015 Page 7

It has been said that “Children should beseen and not heard." Youth are impres-sionable; teenagers are punks or on dope,and over 40, is over-the-hill.

Classifying people into preconceived cate-gories based on their age is about as igno-rant as saying that blue-eyed people aremore intelligent than those with browneyes.

Even more disgusting is a widely acceptedattitude that the elderly. should be placedon the back burner, or on the shelf, out ofthe way, to serve out their remaining timeon earth. Note I ‘said “serve out,” as if thesenior citizens were being punished forhaving lived so long. Categorizing our el-derly in this manner is like playing “Mo-nopoly” with the game of life, when theyreach their retirement age, they go di-rectly to jail; they do not collect $200.

There are societies today, where being el-derly is a reward, and a justifiable honor.These elderly are honored members intheir children’s homes, not left in a retire-ment community or an “old folks home,”the reason being that there they wouldhave people their own age to associatewith. Poor logic built on false premise,and an inaccurate hypothesis.

The first few years of life a person is basi-cally helpless, and dependent on othersfor physical, moral, and educational train-ing. Youth is a time for growing and devel-oping, and usurping virtually all itsnourishment from friends and family.

How is it that a person of years — withproven talents, acceptable standards, anda special insight that only comes withtime and cannot be bottled or sold — isthought by many to be a handicap or lia-bility to those of lesser years?

I have wondered how old ‘old’ is, or how‘old’ you must be to be 'too old’. There areoccasions when we hear the phrase ‘tooyoung’ but one can always grow out ofthat stage. However, if you are ‘too old’

you cannot grow out of it, but one canonly ‘outlive’ it.

There is an old brick building in town,very stately, and well maintained, butempty. I enquired of a neighborhoodyouth, about 18, as to what would becomeof the manor.

I was told that it had been bought toserve as a restaurant. but due to the zon-ing restrictions the idea failed. The youthpaused and said someone had mentionedturning it into an old folks home, “Butwhy waste something that nice on oldfolks?”

“Waste it on old folks.” The words re-sounded in my ears. Collectively, I esti-mate, there is more talent, moreknowledge on any given subject, more ex-perience, and more ability in the retiredsector of our society than in any other. Ifthe elderly don’t deserve to live in nicelodgings, who does?

Many of our elderly are impaired only inas much as their physical bodies are lessresponsive to changes and are proportion-ately slower in the healing process.

Many of us know and respect the fact thatwine mellows and increases in value withage. Coins, stamps, and other collectablesmay become priceless with age, and, ofcourse, there is no such thing as a newantique.

Stooped shoulders, twisted fingers, thin-ning grey hair, and a slow-moving gaitmay be the markings that identify the el-derly. Rather than causes for burden, theso-stricken elderly should wear these signsof aging with the same pride as the deco-rated soldier wears his medals.

Growing old isn’t a stage of life we passthrough, it’s a time we finish with. Let’shelp our elderly finish as winners.

Think about it.

This column was originally printed inthe Bay County Journal

May Mensaversaries

Page 8 Tampa Bay Sounding

45 years Allen Garber 38 years John Evan 36 years Marilyn Wolf 35 years John Woerner 34 years Christopher Clement, Michelle Stencel 31 years Bruce Bohnker 30 years Charles Lardent 29 years Sandra Sorenson, Sylvia Zadorozny 28 years Joanna Gili, Penny Levin 26 years Gerri Almand, Janet Darmanin 25 years Rudolph Trosin 24 years Roland St Marie 23 years James Brower 21 years Rick Craig 20 years Anne Murray 17 years Chris Hachey 16 years Audrey Silver 15 years John Cattel 14 years James Clack, Geoff LeCain 13 years Charles Godfrey 12 years Larry Paradis 11 years Catherine Hall, Keith Lussen, Spencer Young 10 years Don Davis, Laurel Moore 9 years Mary Lou Clark, Edwin Smith, Devin Statham 8 years Tyler House 6 years Scott Kurland 5 years Tristan Goodrich, Kenneth Kline 4 years William Allen, Brian Terjung 3 years Caitlyn Doel, Logan Laxton, Scott McInnes

2 yearsDrew Meyerson, Lucas Prescott, Connor Stec, Edwin Tucker, Julee Vance

1 yearGilroy Ames, Logan Geisler, Peter Grarup, Michael Harris, Jim Hawkins, Christian Seoane, Paul Smith, Kiera Wells, Alison Work

Note: Years are for continuous membership. Members who let their membership lapse start from the date of reinstatement.

May 2015 Page 9

Tampa Bay Mensa proudly presents

Memorial Day weekend

May 22-25, 2015

The WHOLE HOTEL is reserved just for us!Three days of friends, speakers, activities, demonstrations, contests, tournaments,

24-hour hospitality and games,and other fun stuff.

Meals included!

Programs (we’re adding more, but here are some we’ve already lined up):• Lowry Park Zoo - new animals, and the zoo manager will speak on “Running a

Zoo”• ESPN radio host Todd Wright• Actor Michael Milhoan (Field of Dreams, Crimson Tide, Third Rock from the

Sun, etc.)• Trash Bowl with Eileen Steinhice• Home Brewing Demonstration (and taste testing!) with Jay Bertolet• Treasure Hunt by Jack Brawner• Dave Bryant and Steve Shapiro—topics still to be determined• Antarctica travelog by Becky Sinnreich• Hypnotherapy with Christine Quinn• Tarot Cards by Kay Shapiro• Arts & Crafts with Theresa Shadrick• Kids’ Track on Saturday with Melissa Stephens• Casual games and Tournaments with Kevin Brawner• Frozen margarita / piña colada machines dispensing all weekend; non-

alcoholic slushies too

Registration: Before April 25 $85; April 26 – May 20 $95; after May 20 $105.Single day rate $40 (not available online). Children 12 & under, half price.Please make check payable to ”Tampa Bay Mensa”, and mail registration checks to:Kathy Crum, Registrar; 7164 Quail Hollow Blvd.; Wesley Chapel, FL 33544. Online registration, using PayPal, is available on the Tampa Bay Mensa website:www.tampa.us.mensa.orgHotel: Holiday Inn Express & Suites, Tampa Northwest—OldsmarAddress: 3990 Tampa Road, Oldsmar FL 34677.Phone: 813-854-5080. (Important: mention you’re with “Mensa.”)Rates: Standard King/Double Queen $79 plus tax; King/Double Queen Suite $89plus tax. Questions? Contact Jack Brawner at MadeiraVistaMgr@aol.com or Sylvia Zadoroznyat sylviachocolate@gmail.com

Page 10 Tampa Bay Sounding

Margarita Bay RG 2015 Schedule, tentative

SR = Speaker Room TR = Tournament RoomMisc. room = Kids Track/Craft suite

FRIDAY4pm: Registration Desk Opens (Lobby),Casual Games Room opens5pm: Dinner (Lobby) and Hospitality Suiteopens6pm: Icebreaker Trivia (Kyle Lai)(SR)7pm: Offbeat Travelers—Slovenia (RuthDanielle)(SR)8pm: Home Brew Demonstration (JayBartolet & Laura Peralta)(SR)9pm-midnight: Karaoke (Sapir & ArtSchwartz)(SR)10pm: Poker Tournament (Kevin Brawner,Keith Brawner)(TR)Midnight: Cards Against Humanity(scheduled game)(SR)

SATURDAY9am-3pm: Kids track (Melissa Stephens)(misc. room)10am: How Not to be a Victim (SteveShapiro)(SR)10am: Testing in Conference Room11am: Tai Chi (Rowena Kinchley, CharlesGodfrey)(SR)11am: Splendor Tournament (TR)Noon: Lunch—Cheeseburgers in Paradise(Ronan Heffernan, Art & Sapir Schwartz)(Lobby)1pm: Sports Radio (Todd Wright)(SR)1pm-3pm: Settlers of Catan Tournament(Kevin Brawner)(TR)2pm: Actor Mike Milhoan(SR)3pm-5pm: Lowry Park Zoo (both SR &games room)5pm-6:30pm: Dinner on the Town (outand about!)6:30pm: Chocolate Orgy (Sylvia Z &Melissa Stephens) (Lobby)7pm-9pm: Trash Bowl (Charlie Steinhice)(SR)9pm: Portugal (Keith Brawner & Andrea)(SR)9pm: Set Tournament (Maran Fulvior &Kevin Brawner)(TR)10pm: D&D (David Fleming)(misc. room)

10pm: THE Game (Vicki Abbott) (SR)10pm: Mexican Train Dominoes (Sylvia Z)(TR)SUNDAY9am: Yoga (Lisa Blair)(SR)9:30am: Dominion Lesson (Kevin Brawner)(TR)10am-noon: Dominion Tournament(KevinBrawner)(TR)10am: Antarctica (Becky Sinnreich)(SR)11am: Genetic Engineering (Steve Maranz)(SR)Noon: Lunch (Lobby)1pm: Boggle Tournament (CharlesGodfrey) (TR)1pm: Reverse Charades (Vicki Abbott)(Lobby)1pm: Hypnosis (Christine Quinn)(SR)2pm: Zookeeper (SR)3pm-5pm: Treasure Hunt (Jack Brawner)(Lobby)5pm: Topic TBD (Dave Bryant) (SR)5pm: Farkle Tournament (June Brascalla)(TR)6pm: Dinner (Lobby)7pm-8:30pm: Fictionary Tournament(Sylvia Z) (TR)7pm: Tarot (Kay Shapiro)(SR)7:30pm-9pm:Werewolf (Lobby)8pm: The Cartoon that Won a PoliticalElection (Larry Bush)(SR)9pm: Crafts (Theresa Hohmann Shadrick)(SR)9pm: Pente Tournament (JackBrawner) (TR)10pm: Double Deck Hearts (Sylvia Z)(TR) MONDAY10am: Ticket to Ride Tournament (MelissaStephens) (TR)10am: RVC Rap (Thomas Thomas) (SR)11am: Awards Ceremony (Lobby), followedby Noonish: Lunch Throughout the weekend:Scrabble Tournament (bracket)Sudoku (Jacquie Brawner) (puzzles inregistration packet, deposit in box ingames room or hospitality)

Calendar of Events

May 2015 Page 11

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May 2015 Calendar

May 6 6:30pm Mensa TestingLocation: Southwest Pasco County

For information, contact testing@tampa.us.mensa.org

May 6 7pm Reading GroupLocation: IHOP, 4910 West Spruce Street, Tampa

Read whatever you like and bring books you'd like to recommend, discuss, ex-change, or give away.

Ronan Heffernan 727-537-6626 ronansan@gmail.com

May 7 12:30pm Lunch BunchLocation: Piccadilly Cafeteria, 11810 North Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa

We meet at Piccadilly Cafeteria (next to Barnes and Noble Bookstore), in Tampa. For directions, descriptions, and/or encouragement to attend, call:

Jim Perry 813-837-3473 philart@gte.net

May 9 7pm Games NightLocation: 651 Timber Bay Circle West, Oldsmar

We play fun board and table games. Snacks and sodas provided ($2 kitty helps de-fray refreshment expenses). No smoking indoors.

Sylvia Holt Zadorozny 813-855-4939 sylviachocolate@gmail.com

May 14 12:30pm Lunch Bunch

May 20 6:30pm Mensa Testing

May 20 7pm Reading Group

May 21 12:30pm Lunch Bunch

May 22 5pm - May 25 12pm Margarita Bay--Regional GatheringLocation:

Kick back and relax in a tropical paradise as Mensans take over an entire hotel! Margarita machines, zoo animals, speakers, contests, 24-hour Hospitality, Saturdaykids' track, games & tournaments, chocolate orgy, and more cool stuff we're still thinking up! Meals included (except Saturday dinner-on-the-town). And it's Memo-rial Day, so we get an extra day of fun! Registration rates are: $75 by Feb.14; $85 byApr. 25; $95 by May 20; $105 after May 20. Location: Holiday Inn Express & Suites Tampa Northwest Oldsmar 3990 Tampa Road Oldsmar, FL 34677 813-854-5080 Room rates are $79 for a standard room, and $89 for a suite. (Both have King & Double Queen options.) Group rates are guaranteed through April 30. Our group isTampa Bay Mensa. Please call the hotel directly (813-854-5080) to get our group

Page 12 Tampa Bay Sounding

Except for rare cases that hosts will make clear, all events listed in our Calendar ofEvents, whether hosted in private homes or public venues, are open to all Mensans,their spouses, and accompanied guests.

While kitty amounts are mandatory, hosts often spend far more than the specifiedamount. Donations in excess of the kitty amount will be appreciated. If you havespecial needs or restrictions, it is prudent to discuss them with your host before at-tending an event.

rate. Hotel web site (for your information, not for room reservations): http://www.ihg.com/holidayinnexpress/hotels/us/en/oldsmar/oldfl/hoteldetail?qAdlt=1&qChld=0&qRms=1&qGrpCd=TAM&qPSt=0&qRtP=6CBARC&qSmP=3&qWch=0&qSHp=1&qBrs=6c.hi.ex.rs.ic.cp.in.sb.cw.cv&qSrt=BRAND_SORT&qRpp=25&qRRSrt=rt&qFRA=1&srb_u=1&icdv=99801505&icdv=99801505

To register for the RG, mail your check, payable to Tampa Bay Mensa, to: Kathy Crum, Registrar 7164 Quail Hollow Blvd. Wesley Chapel, FL 33544. Or (soon) you will be able to register online with PayPal, by visiting the Tampa Bay Mensa websiteat tampa.us.mensa.org. For more information, contact Jack Brawner at MadeiraVistaMgr@aol.com (727) 239-8225

May 28 12:30pm Lunch Bunch

xkcd.org

May 2015 Page 13

cheap gps

LocSec Column (cont)

Page 14 Tampa Bay Sounding

listed on our monthly calendar. If you don’t see an event that appeals to you, you caneasily start one of your own—just send an email description of what you want to doand when, and we’ll add it to the calendar. Note that if you want your event printed inthe paper newsletter, you’ll need to allow plenty of lead time.

Speaking of the printed newsletter, those of you who get the print copy of the TampaBay Sounding probably noticed a considerable delay receiving the April issue. We onceagain attempted to use the Tampa post office as our drop off point, and ran into newproblems with the postal forms. Who would have thought that switching from St.Pete to Tampa would be so difficult? (sigh) We think we have everything fixed now,but if anyone is willing to take over responsibility for getting the Sounding mailed ontime each month, help would be appreciated.

I’m delighted to report that we now have a new Tampa Bay Sounding Editor! (Everyonecheer!) Tanya will have to introduce herself, but please joinme in welcoming her to our friendly circle of TBM volunteers.J And a great big Thank You! to Ronan Heffernan for his yearsof dedicated service as Editor (more cheering).

Next month are TBM Executive Committee (ExComm) elec-tions. Even if you didn’t submit a candidate nomination form,you could still run as a write-in candidate. Also note that Ex-Comm meetings are open to all Tampa Bay Mensans, elected ornot, so don’t let not being on the ExComm stop you from get-ting involved.

Hope to see you at a gathering of Mensans soon!

-----------------------------------------------------

Last minute addendum: After I wrote the above column, I received notice that we losta long-time member of TBM. Condolences to his family. Here is his obituary:

Richard Bachmann of Palm Harbor, FL, a member of Mensa since 1971, diedpeacefully under hospice care with his wife at his side on December 17, 2014 atage 72.

Born on December 27, 1941, Richard grew up in New Hyde Park, NY and at-tended Hempsted High School where he played varsity football and lacrosse,graduating at the top of his class in 1959. In September 1958, he was notifiedthat he had received a Congressional appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy.

Upon graduation from USNA, he entered the Nuclear Power Program, assignedto the Bainbridge prototype in West Milton, NY. At his request, he transferredto comm school in San Diego where he served as communications officer, nav-igator, and assistant engineer on the reefer ship USS Graffias. Following histour on the Graffias, he was assigned to the harbor defense unit in Cam RanhBay from December 1966 to December 1967 and completed active duty as Asst.

12th Naval District comm officer in San Francisco.

After leaving the Navy, Richard attended Hastings Law School, University ofCalifornia, graduating in December 1978. Upon graduation, he accepted

LocSec Column (cont)

xkcd.org

May 2015 Page 15

Thank you for teaching us how big our world is by sharing so many of your own.

a position with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Washington, D.C. as alitigation attorney representing the NRC staff in contested hearings concern-ing the licensing of nuclear power plants. His career with the NRC spanned20 years until his retirement in 1999.

He met his wife, Susan, in the spring of 1988 while trying the Shoreham caseon Long Island. They married in February 1989. Susan cherishes the memoriesof their wonderful life together; his endearing qualities, his beautiful smile,and the laughter they shared.

Richard’s remains are to be interred at the U.S. Naval Academy Columbariumon April 20, 2015.

Tribute gifts may be sent to The United States Naval Academy Foundation, Inc.to benefit the Class of 1963 Academic Center or to the Navy support organiza-tion of your choice.

Travelogue Thailand (cont)

Page 16 Tampa Bay Sounding

The next stop was Chiang Rai and an abso-lutely beautiful hotel. This is the Goldentriangle area, the renowned opium cross-roads of years ago. While that may still goon, it’s not visible in any tourist areas.Trafficking can lead to death, and evensmall amounts of cannabis not worth therisk. Our tours into Burma (Myanmar) andLaos originated from here.

The elephant camp was here as well, andwhat a great side trip that was, yet severalof our group declined to ride them basedon stories of their mistreatment. We sawnothing like that, and certainly no onecondones cruelty. The truth be told, theseelephant shows and rides provide a signifi-cant source of revenue in some very poorregions of this country. These elephants,which are amazingly smart, can eat up to500 pounds of food a day -- which has tobe paid for by someone. To not attend ele-phant shows or to encourage their elimi-nation from circuses doesn’t lead to morefree wild elephants, but to the eliminationof these elephants who have no other pur-pose but to interface with man and inspirethe public’s knowledge and empathy forthem. One can know these great creaturesfrom books or movies and love them, butto touch them, feel their embrace, and seefirsthand their great intelligence is reallysomething else.

After the elephant camp, some of us vis-ited a tiger preserve, and what thrill it wasto get in the cage with the big tigers, petthem, and have your picture taken. Theyseemed docile enough, but we were as-sured they were not drugged or tranquil-ized, and at times were quite active.

The last stop was Chiang Mai, a largenorthern city, where we toured the citytemples, the markets, gem shops, a silkfactory, and cashew farms. A large farewell

dinner here was staged in a private homeand numerous paper lanterns released tothe sky. Our last night was a Saturday, andmost of us hit the local disco for a wildtime among the very attractive Thai youth,who seemed puzzled by our group’s diver-sity and enthusiastic dancing. Mosttourists here are not Westerners, but morefrom both Japan and China.

Every one of these Gate One trips I’ve beenon is like an in-depth history lesson, andwe learned much of Thailand’s recordedpast of alternating wars and temple burn-ings between the Burmese, Cambodians,and others. Also their more recent history,from the colonial period when a succes-sion of wise kings and leaders preventedtheir foreign domination with wellthought out alliances and treaties. Thai-land remained allied with America as wetried to prevent the communist enslave-ment of nearby Vietnam. Unfortunately,little was said of that region’s prehistoricpast.

Their reverence to the current King andQueen, while a bit overdone, seems to begenuine; posters of his face are every-where and on their currency as well. 30Baht to the Dollar, with their beer atabout 30 Baht a pint, and a typical restau-rant entrée at about 120 to 200 Baht.

The Thai love to barter, and negotiatingprices is fun to play as a sort of game, butthe times I’d bargained too hard, I oftengave those vendors more money thanagreed on, and we both were richer for it.

In the end no man is an island. We eventu-ally become a composite of everyone wehave ever known and every place we haveever been. I may never be able to return toThailand, but the Thailand I’ve known willnever leave me, Krap.

News & Notes

May 2015 Page 17

News & Notes is a monthly item made available to Gifted Youth Coordinators, LocSecs,and newsletter editors to provide content related to Young Mensans for Local Groupnewsletters. Happenings & Celebrations:4th: Star Wars Day9th: National Lost Sock Memorial Day14th: Dance like Chicken Day23rd: Lucky Penny Day

May is National Photograph month. Resources:Star Wars Day:Star Wars Day is May the Fourth (because it sounds like “May the Force (4th) be withyou.” If you want to celebrate, how about watching the original Star Wars movie orplay some of the games or do some of the crafts (like make a Chewbacca puppet) forkids on the official Star Wars site starwars.com/play/online-activities/ or visit the StarWars Day site: starwars.com/may-the-4th.

Lucky Penny Day:To celebrate, explore Mensa’s activities you can do with pennies bit.ly/mensa-pennies.

Dance like a Chicken Day:Want to learn how to Vogeltanz like a pro? This video will show you bit.ly/chicken-dance-video.

Triviality:Do you know which author wrote a poem that includes the line, “Rough winds do shakethe darling buds of May”? If you guessed Shakespeare, you’re right. A book by H.E.Bates included the phrase in its title, The Darling Buds of May. The book later becamea TV series whose cast included Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Benefit Highlight:Be sure to participate in Mensa’s YM Contests and win cool prizes! Visit http://us.mensa.org/gycontests for more information and to find out about thecurrent contest.

It’s Your Birthday!If you were born in May, you share your birthday month with:Catherine the Great (2nd); Johannes Brahms (7th); Peter Tchaikovsky (7th); PresidentHarry Truman (8th); Peter Pan author James M. Barrie (9th); Bono (10th); FlorenceNightingale (12th); Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum (15th); Pierre Curie (15th); PopeJohn Paul II (18th); Henri Rousseau (20th); Sherlock Holmes author Arthur ConanDoyle (22nd); Queen Victoria (24th); President John F. Kennedy (29th); and Peter theGreat (30th).

Serial Fillers

To round-out the page count for publication, here is some not-quite-random public do-main content. If you would like to submit articles, stories, etc. for publication, please see the Submission Guidelines on page 2.

Page 18 Tampa Bay Sounding

Tarzan of the Apes

by Edgar Rice BurroughsI had this story from one who had nobusiness to tell it to me, or to any other. Imay credit the seductive influence of anold vintage upon the narrator for the be-ginning of it, and my own skeptical in-credulity during the days that followedfor the balance of the strange tale.

When my convivial host discovered thathe had told me so much, and that I wasprone to doubtfulness, his foolish prideassumed the task the old vintage hadcommenced, and so he unearthed writtenevidence in the form of musty manu-script, and dry official records of theBritish Colonial Office to support many ofthe salient features of his remarkable nar-rative.

I do not say the story is true, for I did notwitness the happenings which it portrays,but the fact that in the telling of it to youI have taken fictitious names for the prin-cipal characters quite sufficiently evi-dences the sincerity of my own belief thatit MAY be true.

The yellow, mildewed pages of the diaryof a man long dead, and the records ofthe Colonial Office dovetail perfectly withthe narrative of my convivial host, and soI give you the story as I painstakinglypieced it out from these several variousagencies.

If you do not find it credible you will atleast be as one with me in acknowledgingthat it is unique, remarkable, and interest-ing.

From the records of the Colonial Officeand from the dead man's diary we learnthat a certain young English nobleman,whom we shall call John Clayton, LordGreystoke, was commissioned to make apeculiarly delicate investigation of condi-tions in a British West Coast AfricanColony from whose simple native inhabi-tants another European power wasknown to be recruiting soldiers for its na-tive army, which it used solely for theforcible collection of rubber and ivoryfrom the savage tribes along the Congoand the Aruwimi. The natives of theBritish Colony complained that many oftheir young men were enticed awaythrough the medium of fair and glowingpromises, but that few if any ever re-turned to their families.

The Englishmen in Africa went even fur-ther, saying that these poor blacks wereheld in virtual slavery, since after theirterms of enlistment expired their igno-rance was imposed upon by their whiteofficers, and they were told that they hadyet several years to serve.

And so the Colonial Office appointed JohnClayton to a new post in British WestAfrica, but his confidential instructionscentered on a thorough investigation ofthe unfair treatment of black British sub-jects by the officers of a friendly Europeanpower. Why he was sent, is, however, oflittle moment to this story, for he nevermade an investigation, nor, in fact, did heever reach his destination.

Clayton was the type of Englishman thatone likes best to associate with the

Serial Fillers (cont)

May 2015 Page 19

noblest monuments of historic achieve-ment upon a thousand victorious battle-fields—a strong, virile man—mentally,morally, and physically.

In stature he was above the averageheight; his eyes were gray, his featuresregular and strong; his carriage that ofperfect, robust health influenced by hisyears of army training.

Political ambition had caused him to seektransference from the army to the Colo-nial Office and so we find him, still young,entrusted with a delicate and importantcommission in the service of the Queen.

When he received this appointment hewas both elated and appalled. The prefer-ment seemed to him in the nature of awell-merited reward for painstaking andintelligent service, and as a stepping stoneto posts of greater importance and re-sponsibility; but, on the other hand, hehad been married to the Hon. AliceRutherford for scarce a three months, andit was the thought of taking this fairyoung girl into the dangers and isolationof tropical Africa that appalled him.

For her sake he would have refused theappointment, but she would not have itso. Instead she insisted that he accept,and, indeed, take her with him.

There were mothers and brothers and sis-ters, and aunts and cousins to express var-ious opinions on the subject, but as towhat they severally advised history issilent.

We know only that on a bright Maymorning in 1888, John, Lord Greystoke,and Lady Alice sailed from Dover on theirway to Africa.

A month later they arrived at Freetownwhere they chartered a small sailing ves-sel, the Fuwalda, which was to bear themto their final destination.

And here John, Lord Greystoke, and LadyAlice, his wife, vanished from the eyes andfrom the knowledge of men.

Two months after they weighed anchorand cleared from the port of Freetown ahalf dozen British war vessels were scour-ing the south Atlantic for trace of them ortheir little vessel, and it was almost im-mediately that the wreckage was foundupon the shores of St. Helena which con-vinced the world that the Fuwalda hadgone down with all on board, and hencethe search was stopped ere it had scarcebegun; though hope lingered in longinghearts for many years.

The Fuwalda, a barkentine of about onehundred tons, was a vessel of the type of-ten seen in coastwise trade in the farsouthern Atlantic, their crews composedof the offscourings of the sea—unhangedmurderers and cutthroats of every raceand every nation.

The Fuwalda was no exception to the rule.Her officers were swarthy bullies, hatingand hated by their crew. The captain,while a competent seaman, was a brute inhis treatment of his men. He knew, or atleast he used, but two arguments in hisdealings with them—a belaying pin and arevolver—nor is it likely that the motleyaggregation he signed would have under-stood aught else.

So it was that from the second day outfrom Freetown John Clayton and hisyoung wife witnessed scenes upon thedeck of the Fuwalda such as they had be-lieved were never enacted outside thecovers of printed stories of the sea.

The rest of this story and thousands ofother public domain works are avail-able at www.gutenberg.com

CryptopoemSylvia Holt Zadorozny

Page 20 Tampa Bay Sounding

H I U Y Y T B A F Q U E L W I L L W A U H O F F L E ’ H S U N ?

W I A O U E W F A E L Y A X L Y N U R S F A E L W L F Q L E U W L :

E A O D I M T R S H S A H I U V L W I L S U E Y T R D P O S H A C F U N ,

U R S H O F F L E ’ H Y L U H L I U W I U Y Y W A A H I A E W U S U W L :

H A F L W T F L W A A I A W W I L L N L A C I L U X L R H I T R L H ,

U R S A C W L R T H I T H D A Y S B A F Q Y L K T A R S T F F L S ;

U R S L X L E N C U T E C E A F C U T E H A F L W T F L S L B Y T R L H ,

P N B I U R B L , A E R U W O E L ’ H B I U R D T R D B A O E H L , O R W E T F F L S ;

P O W W I N L W L E R U Y H O F F L E H I U Y Y R A W C U S L ,

R A E Y A H L Q A H H L H H T A R A C W I U W C U T E W I A O A M L H W ;

R A E H I U Y Y S L U W I P E U D W I A O M U R S L E ’ H W T R I T H H I U S L ,

M I L R T R L W L E R U Y Y T R L H W A W T F L W I A O D E A M L H W :

H A Y A R D U H F L R B U R P E L U W I L , A E L N L H B U R H L L ,

H A Y A R D Y T X L H W I T H , U R S W I T H D T X L H Y T C L W A W I L L .

~ M T Y Y T U F H I U V L H Q L U E L

Answer to the April Cryptopoem:

May 2015 Page 21

From its sources which well

In the tarn on the fell;

From its fountains

In the mountains,

Its rills and its gills;

Through moss and through brake,

It runs and it creeps

For awhile, till it sleeps

In its own little lake.

And thence departing,

Awakening and starting,

It runs through the reeds

And away it proceeds …

~ From “The Cataract of Lodore”

by Robert Southey

Até logo!

Page 22 Tampa Bay Sounding

Please consider submitting inspiring articles, fascinating personal anecdotes,intriguing poetry, beautiful and/or quirky photographs – nearly anythingthat interests you – for publication in the Tampa Bay Sounding!

2014-2015 Tampa Bay Mensa Officers

May 2015 Page 23

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

➢Local SecretarySylvia Holt Zadorozny 651 Timber Bay Cir. W. Oldsmar, FL 34677 813-855-4939 locsec@tampa.us.mensa.org

➢Deputy LocSecArt Schwartz1909 Dover CTOldsmar, FL 34677813-343-8850asstlocsec@ tampa .us.mensa.org

➢TreasurerKathy Crum 7164 Quail Hollow Blvd. Wesley Chapel, FL 33544 813-907-0526 treasurer@tampa.us.mensa.org

➢AuditorKevin Brawner5001 Terrace Palms Cir Unit 101Temple Terrace, FL 33617813-732-3837 kevbrawner@gmail.com

➢Calendar EditorArt Schwartzcalendar @tampa.us.mensa.org

➢Circulation OfficerArt Schwartzdistribution@ tampa.us.mensa.org

➢Members-At-LargeBarbara Loewe 12401 N. 22d St. Apt #C111Tampa, FL 33612 813-968-3343bloewe@juno.com Kay Shapiro349 Shore Dr. E.Oldsmar, FL 34677727-543-2004kay@kayshapiro.com

➢Publicity OfficerDavid Schwartz1909 Dover ctOldsmar FL 34677813-965-0370 p ublicity@tampa.us.mensa.org

➢PublisherKevin Brawner 727-397-8483 kevbrawner@gmail.com

➢Scholarship ChairRonan Heffernanscholarship@ tampa.us.mensa.org

➢ScribeDavid Schwartzscribe@tampa.us.mensa.org

➢SIG CoordinatorDavid Schwartzdavidsdover@yahoo.com

➢Testing CoordinatorJen Micheltesting@tampa.us.mensa.org

➢WebmasterRonan Heffernanwebmaster@ tampa.us.mensa.org

OTHER OFFICERS

➢EditorTanya Stay editor@tampa.us.mensa.org

➢Membership OfficerSteve Shapiro349 Shore Dr. E.Oldsmar, FL 34677727-543-2004membership@ tampa.us.mensa.org

➢Gifted Youth CoordinatorMelissa Stephens 2023 Blue Rock Rd. #301Tampa , FL 33612813-476-5405 giftedyouth@ tampa.us.mensa.org

➢Editorial BoardKay ShapiroMelissa StephensJen Michel

➢Election CommitteeEloise Hurst 3615 W Renellie Cir Tampa, FL 33629 813-839-2695

➢Election SupervisorEloise Hurst election@tampa.us.mensa.org

➢OmbudsmanEloise Hurst ombudsman@ tampa.us.mensa.org

➢ProctorsJay Johnson Kay ShapiroThomas George Thomas

➢Programs OfficerMelissa Stephens programs@tampa.us.mensa.org

➢SIGHT CoordinatorSusan Anderson 10733 Dowry Ave. Tampa, FL 33615 813-494-6517 sight@tampa.us.mensa.org

➢Volunteer CoordinatorHillary Miller1700 66th St NSt Petersburg, FL 33710volunteer@tampa.us.mensa.org

ASSISTANT OFFICERS

➢Asst TreasurerKay Shapiro

➢Asst WebmasterKevin Brawner

➢Asst GYCKay & Steve Shapiro

➢Asst Programs OfficerArt Schwartz

➢Asst Publicity OfficerArt Schwartz

➢Asst EditorJen Michel & Kay Shapiro

➢Asst Membership OfficerKay Shapiro

➢Asst Circulation OfficerDavid Schwartz

REGIONAL CONTACTS

➢RVC, Region 10Thomas George Thomas27647 Sky Lake Circle Wesley Chapel, FL 33544 813-994-3981rvc10@us.mensa.orgText: RVC10@vtext.com

Tampa Bay Sounding (USPS 305-830) is published monthly by Tampa Bay Mensa at 5001 Terrace Palms Cir Unit 101 Temple Terrace, FL 33617. Periodicals postage paid at Tampa, FLPostmaster: Send address changes to: Tampa Bay Sounding, c/o American Mensa Ltd. 1229 Corporate Dr. W., Arlington, TX 76006-6103.

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