Spirit Spirit Spirit Spirit Spirit Spirit Spirit Spirit ofofofofofofofof 7777777766666666 The Official Newsletter of Mensa 76, Fort Worth, TexasThe Official Newsletter of Mensa 76, Fort Worth, TexasThe Official Newsletter of Mensa 76, Fort Worth, TexasThe Official Newsletter of Mensa 76, Fort Worth, Texas

Volume XXXVII, Issue 8Volume XXXVII, Issue 8Volume XXXVII, Issue 8Volume XXXVII, Issue 8 August, 2009 August, 2009 August, 2009 August, 2009

The Annual Ice Cream Social Join us this month for the annual Ice Cream Social. Bring your cold treats and

sweets and enjoy the company of your fellow Mensans. We plan on devouring

some delicious cold deserts to see if we can manage a break from this hot

weather. All members are encouraged to bring their favorites, but feel free to

come empty handed and leave with a full belly. We will see you there!!!

THIS MONTH

Spirit of 76 Published monthly by Mensa 76

Volume XXXVII, Issue 8 – August, 2009

Editor: Shane Parkerson

Unless individual copyright is noted, all contents

©2009 Mensa 76. All rights reserved.

Permission to reprint articles is granted to Mensa Groups and Editors. A copy of the document

published is appreciated.

Periodical postage paid at Fort Worth, TX, USPS #000-607. The Spirit of 76, published monthly, is the official newsletter of Mensa 76, Group #760. Mensa 76, 8000 Jolie Dr., Fort Worth, TX 76137-6104 USA (this address for postal authority use only). Mensa 76 members, corporate subscribers, and some other newsletter editors get the Spirit of 76 with $6 of their annual dues. All others pay $10 per year; contact Newsletter Circulation Manager to subscribe.

Disclaimer: Mensans have opinions. Under no circumstances are those expressed herein to be construed as being those of Mensa 76 or of American Mensa Ltd., which has no opinions and endorses no beliefs.

Mensa is an international society with only one criterion for membership: a score in or above the 98th percentile on an approved IQ test. This non-profit organization’s main purpose is to serve as a means of communication and assembly for its members.

Qualifications for membership may be determined by Mensa or by submission of properly certified prior evidence of qualification. We encourage anyone interested to submit inquiries to: American Mensa Ltd., Business Office, 1229 Corporate Drive West, Arlington, TX 76006-6103, USA; 817-607-0060. www.us.mensa.org

This Month’s Speaker….……...Front Cover

RVC‘s Column ..….…………….………...3

The Prez Box …….……………………….4

This Month in History…………………….4

Casino-Bound.…………………………….5

Tales from the Bush Country………….. 6-7

Calendar……………………….…….... 8-10

Exercise Your Mind…………………….. 11

Last Month’s Fun………………………...12

Now That’s Entertainment…………….....14

Table of Officers………………………... 15

Directions to Meeting…………..Back Cover

This is YOUR newsletter. That means you

also get to contribute to it - your witty sayings,

puzzles, erudite articles or artwork are all

welcome.

CONTENTS

Mensa 76’s website: http://mensa76.us.mensa.org/ NTM (Dallas Mensa’s) website/calendar: http://www.northtexasmensa.org/ American Mensa’s website: http://www.us.mensa.org/ To join Mensa 76’s online forum contact list moderator Bill Melms, tbil(at)

yahoo.com, then visit: http://www.lists.us.mensa.org/mailman/listinfo/mensa76/ To post to the forum (after you’ve joined): Mensa76@lists.us.mensa.org

But who prays for Satan?

Who, in eighteen centuries,

has had the common

humanity to pray for the one

sinner that needed it most?

- Mark Twain

2

I wish all of you could have been at the Annual Gathering this year. If you have

been harboring any lingering doubts about the health and vitality of Mensa, the AG

in Pittsburgh would surely have laid them to rest. With late registrants spilling

over into two other hotels, the venerable Omni William Penn was completely taken

over by the crowd of nearly 1,900 Ms, who met, debated, partied, learned, played,

ate, drank, laughed and danced every day and night until the wee hours. What an

experience!

AG Chairs Mary Lee Kemper and Marc Lederman and their team worked nearly

non-stop to make this year’s AG a rousing success. Region 6 was fairly well

represented, as I encountered members from the New Orleans, North Texas, South

Texas, Lone Star, Gulf Coast, and Permian Basin groups. Several people indicated

that they were excited about my suggestion of a train trip to next year’s AG in

Detroit, so I’ll start working with Amtrak right away to see if that is financially

feasible. With or without a private rail car, I hope that all of you will at least give

some thought to the possibility of attending next year. The AG is one of the things

Mensa does best.

This year, of course, was my first AG as a member of the American Mensa

Committee (AMC), and I soon found out that we were expected to earn our keep,

with meetings all day and half the night on Thursday. That was pretty exhausting,

but at least we got almost all the business out of the way on the first day, leaving

the rest of the AG relatively free for more enjoyable pursuits. As this was the first

AMC meeting for newly elected officers (about one-fourth of the total), not much

new business was introduced, except to approve the four appointed members of the

AMC. Our own Bob Bevard, of South Texas Mensa, was appointed Development

Officer, and as I requested, Jeff Dommenge of Lone Star Mensa was re-appointed

as Assistant RVC. The next AMC meeting will be in Fort Worth in October. Any

current Mensa member is welcome to attend.

Now, having saved the best for last, I’m delighted to be able to report that the

AMC has selected Fort Worth as the site for the AG in 2013. Carol Hilson and

Karen Brack, both of North Texas Mensa, will be the co-chairs, and the main hotel

will be the Worthington. Even if you never go to another AG, you really should

plan to come to Fort Worth – you’ve got four years to get ready.

From the RVC

by Roger Durham

3

4

The Prez Box by Dave Hodgson

I’ve been whining for months about our paucity of SIGs. How about one of you generating enough initiative to start up a new one? Other clubs have lots of them - sometimes they’re even successful and lasting. Your hobby, your sport, your literary or artistic bent idea - just about any topic can build a SIG. All you need is a place to meet (home, library, school or church meeting room, restaurant) and your leadership. Shane will announce you in the newsletter and the interest will begin to grow. We’ve had some splendid programs lately - I’ve really been impressed. For August, it’s the Ice Cream Social. What a sweet idea! As I write this it’s 105 degrees in the shade, and the idea of ice cream is most appealing. Hope you feel the same. See you in August.

August 1, 1944 - Anne Frank penned her last entry into her famous diary. August 2, 1923 - President Warren G. Harding died suddenly in a hotel in San Francisco while on a Western speaking tour. August 6, 1945 - The first atomic bomb was dropped over the center of Hiroshima at 8:15 a.m., by the American B-29 bomber Enola Gay. August 13, 1961 - The Berlin Wall came into existence after the East German Government closed the border between the East and West sectors of Berlin with barbed wire to discourage immigration to the West. August 15, 1969 - Woodstock began in a field near Yasgur’s Farm at Bethel, NY. August 24, 79 A.D. - Mount Vesuvius, an active volcano in southern Italy, erupted and destroyed the cities of Pompeii, Stabiae and Herculaneum. August 31, 1997 - Britain’s Princess Diana dies from a high-speed car crash in Paris.

This Month in History

5

Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it.

- George Orwell

“Daytimers” travels to Winstar Casino

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

$5 per person Bus with Restroom

Minimum 40, Maximum 55 Participants

Meet at Beth El Parking lot 7:45 a.m. sharp 4900 Briarhaven Rd. Bus Departs promptly at 8:00 a.m. Board Bus to Return 4:15 p.m. Arrive back to Beth-El 5:30 p.m.(ish)

Information Required in advance for Bus Manifest:

Name (as it appears on your driver’s license),

Address, Phone, Date of Birth.

Do you have a Winstar Player’s Card?

CASINO-BOUND

6

Tales from the Bush Country by Bobby Bush

(see next page)

One of my favorite mus ical entities of all time is a jazz-influenced rock group from the late

'60s called simply Cream. If you're within five years of my age in either direction (assuming

you're not the kind of listener who thinks the Archies were a real band), you probably know

what they sounded like. For the rest of you, they were a loud guitar-electr ic bass-drums trio

fronted by Eric Clapton.

Here's a thought: have you ever wondered what they would have sounded like if Clapton's

bluesy guitar work was replaced by that of an equally strong, classically-trained keyboardist

working primarily with a Hammond L-100 electromechanical organ? Please don't tell me I'm

the only person to have ever thought of the idea.

Actually, I didn't think of it. An Englishman in his early twenties thought of it and then

proceeded to answer his own question. His name is Keith Emerson, and he later played to

packed stadiums with Greg Lake and Carl Palmer as Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Born in 1944,

he was already playing in London by the mid-1960s. In 1967 an assignment backing soul

singer P.P. Arnold introduced him to guitar ist Davy O'List, electric bassist Lee Jackson and

drummer Brian Davison, and they formed a stand-alone band called The Nice.

The new band's sound drew from an eclectic collection of sources, with Emerson seemingly

using tr icks from everyone who had ever touched a keyboard before him. He freely cribbed

from a list including but not limited to J.S. Bach, Dave Brubeck, Jean Sibelius, Jimmy

McGriff, Pyotr Tchaikovsky and (especially in live performance) Jerry Lee Lew is, while

guitar ist O'List borrowed from his friends Jimi Hendrix and Syd Barrett. (O'List filled in for

Barrett with Pink Floyd at least once while Barrett was self-medicating his way into mental

oblivion.) There was one element that came unmistakably from Clapton & Co., though: each

member of the foursome was attacking his instrument with the unspoken but obvious goal of

playing the other three into the ground. I have musician friends who dis like this approach,

saying that ensemble players should be working to help each other in an effort to improve the

collective sound of the group. To them I say, “Meh.” Lawrence Welk already did that.

I feel safe in saying you've never heard of The Nice. I say this because I meet musicians all the

time, and I rarely encounter one who knows anything of them. You say,”Well, if they were so

great, why haven't I heard of them?” Hang on and I'll tell you why.

They recorded for a small label, Immediate, that was run in a completely unbusinesslike

manner and couldn’t give them proper promotional support. On top of that, their first album,

The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack, was a minor masterpiece that was psychedelic the way

politic ians are morally bankrupt, but its release was delayed and it was already slightly dated

by the time it reached stores. The band then shot themselves in the foot by releas ing as a single

7

Bush Country

(from previous page)

a clever instrumental reworking of Leonard Bernstein's “America” (from West Side Story) interspersed with bits of Dvorák's For the New World. Two problems immediately surfaced: Bernstein complained that he wasn't particularly happy with what had been done to his song or with the fact that no one had asked him for permission first, and the single was released in the States with a picture sleeve showing four small boys sitting on a curb with their faces replaced with those of Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, and two of Joseph Kennedy's children. Making things worse, the track ended with a very young, very English lad saying, “America is pregnant with promises and anticipation, but is murdered by the hand of the inevitable,” and just in case any rude colonials still weren't getting the message, they titled the piece “America (Second Amendment),” referencing a historic document that certain Americans feel very strongly about. Emerson later called it “the first ever instrumental protest song.” Of course, protest songs don't often translate to gold records.

Every high, such as being chosen by Jimi Hendrix to open for him on his first U.K. tour, seemed to be followed by a low, such as O'List quitting in the middle of recording their second album, Ars Longa, Vita Brevis. While it was obvious that O'List and Emerson each wanted to be the undisputed leader, speculation was rife that chemicals of the same class that left Syd Barrett unable to live in the outside world might have played a role in the breakup.

The remaining trio finished that album, which included a full-on classical suite that filled the entire second side and juxtaposed elements of bebop and free jazz with a kicked-up version of J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto #3 arranged for string quartet, harpsichord and (of course) Hammond organ, and a third one called Everything as Nice as Mother Makes It before disbanding in 1970.

If you're still wondering what they sounded like, here are the links to a 30-minute B&W BBC show in which the foursome completes a grand total of three tunes live. It's broken into four seven-minute sections to minimize download time. In it, Emerson spends a lot of time on the wrong side of his um, organ with it leaning up against the tops of his legs as he nonchalantly flails it with the treble keys on his left and the bass on his right. Like his contemporaries Jimi Hendrix and Pete Townshend, he makes it hard to take your eyes off of him. You really need to view some of it, if only to see what Britain's teens were watching while we were being fed...the Monkees.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NArOpaKC3E&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQpAzLg-38I&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_NR4Y_sEYU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtjulRwy6n0&feature=related

8

AUGUST 2009

Want to know what’s going on at the other end of the metroplex?

Check out the North Texas Mensa calendar at http://www.northtexasmensa.org

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

3

4 5 6 7:00 pm

Denton Area Group

7 8 9 3:30 pm Space

Exploration &

Education SIG

10 6:30 pm Board Meet

7:00 pm Monthly Meeting

11 12

13. 7:00 pm

Denton Area Group

14 .

15. 11:00 am Mensa

Brunch at Our Place

Restaurant

16

17.

18. 19. 20. 7:00 pm

Denton Area Group

21.

22. Newsletter

Deadline

23.

24. 25. 26.

27. 7:00 pm

Denton Area Group

28. 7:00 pm

Movie SIG .

29

30.

31. . . .

9

(see next page)

AUGUST EVENTS Every Thursday Evening

7:00 pm - Hang Out Together. Denton Area Mensans at the Jupiter House Coffee

Shop, 106 North Locust Street, Denton. (Cross Streets: Between W Hickory St/E

Hickory St and W Oak St/E Oak St, located on the east side of the square). Contact

Dave Hodgson at 940 626 4451.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 9

3:30 pm - Space Exploration & Education SIG. Anyone who is interested is welcome.

This meeting is in conjunction with the National Space Society of North Texas. You do not

have to join NSS of NT to attend or to be a member of the Space Exploration and Education

SIG. The August program will be a Japanese anime movie, "Rocket Girls." Meanwhile

here are two yahoo groups: MSpaceExpSIG-subscribe(at)yahoogroups.com is a National

Mensa SIG that was started in Phoenix. NorthTexasSpace-subscribe(at)yahoogroups.com is

the voice of National Space Society of North Texas. If you need further information please

contact Tricia at tricia3818(at)yahoo.com or at (817) 295-0477. We will meet on the second

Sunday of each month except December at 3:30 p.m.at the Spring Creek Barbecue, Beltline

Rd and Airport Freeway in Irving.

MONDAY, AUGUST 10

6:30 pm - Mensa 76 Board Meeting. Open to all members. Opportunity to ask questions and raise issues. Join us at the Coors location just prior to the monthly meeting.

7:00 pm - Mensa 76 Monthly Meeting. Free beer and coolers. You’re invited to bring food to share. No smoking allowed at the facility.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 15

11:00 am – Brunch. The Brunch Bunch will meet at 11:00 am on August 15 at Our Place Restaurant at 7630 NE Loop 820 in North Richland Hills. RSVP to Call

10

SATURDAY, AUGUST 15 cont’d Paulette at 817-253-4030 (cell) or email her at Paulette(at)themoralefairy.com. The restaurant is north of Boulevard 26 (Grapevine Highway), facing the 820 south side frontage road, hidden behind (north of) Hooters, in the old Owens location.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 22

Newsletter deadline. Please submit all info to Shane at sasboo21(at)yahoo.com.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 28

7:00 pm - Movie SIG. Please join us for Movie Night, we're showing Chicago with Richard Gere, Catherine Zeta Jones, Rene Zellweger, and Queen Latifah. Yes, it's a musical, and if you missed it, here's your chance to see Richard Gere sing and dance. Bring a snack to share and whatever you want to drink; coffee will be available. There are friendly dogs and a cat in residence; smoking outside only, please. Vicki Page's address is 536 Bent Oak Dr., Ft Worth, 76131. Call 817-847-9840 for directions or just to say you'll be there. If you forget to call, come and watch with us anyway.

BookSIG will be taking the summer off.

TGIF will not be meeting in August due to the Labor Day Holiday.

ShootSIG and GeoSIG will be cancelled for the months of July and August due to the hot weather. Look for them to both be back in September!

AUGUST EVENTS (from previous page)

INSERT SIG HERE

If you have any ideas for new SIGs, feel free to announce them at the next meeting. The more activities we have, the more fun we enjoy!!!

11

Exercise Your Mind by Ujjwal Lahoti

This month’s puzzle is a classic logic puzzle involving handshakes at a party.

Let’s say Mark and Lisa are married and they go to a dinner with 4 other couples. Thus in total there are 5 couples or ten people at the dinner. At the dinner, anyone who doesn’t know somebody will shake hands with them to introduce themselves. People will not shake hands with anyone whom they already know. And of course you don’t shake hands with your spouse.

At the end of the dinner, Mark asks everyone, including his wife, how many people did each of them shake hands with? He gets the following 9 different answers from the 9 people: 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. Now the question is with how many people did Mark’s wife Lisa shake hands with? It may appear that we are missing some information, but all the information you need is present. There is a logical answer to this puzzle.

If you have an original puzzle that you want to share with other Mensans, please send it to me with the answer. The puzzle will be published with due credits.

If you can’t stand the curiosity, email ulahoti(at)yahoo.com for the answer.

~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~! Answer to the Last Month’s Calculator puzzle:

Last month’s puzzle asked you to provide a set of operations to increase any number entered on a regular calculator by 1, using only the “scientific” functions.

Lets say the number is ‘x’, then the set of required operations can be described by the equation:

The solution is based on basic trigonometry. Look at the triangle on the right. If two sides of the triangle are (x)^1/2 and 1, then by Pythagoras theorem, the hypotenuse will be (x+1)^1/2. The square of which gives us the answer. The above equation, first gets the angle ‘theta’ using tan inverse (Note: tan (theta) = (x)^1/2), and takes cosine of the angle that gives 1/(x+1)^1/2. Then we inverse and square it to get (x+1).

Simple, isn’t it? Let me know if you came up with any other solution.

12

Last Month’s Fun by Shane Parkerson

Last month we were visited by John Smotherman, who spoke with us about consciousness. John is the founder of Applied Consciousness Systems, a consulting company that helps clients transform consciousness to experience more power, peace and joy in life. He writes, speaks, presents workshops and coaches people in raising consciousness. Currently, John is working on his book The Consciousness Paradigm—Why Consciousness is the Most Pressing Issue of Our Time. John began with some very interesting visual aids including a watermelon and a samurai sword. He discussed consciousness as the holy grail of life, with the power to change the world and let everyone live happily ever after. Many of his beliefs have their roots in quantum physics and the belief that we are all one giant conglomerate of particles as opposed to separate, individual organisms. John also discussed the seven levels of consciousness, which have very similar connotations to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. He also wanted to make clear that consciousness was not the same thing as intelligence. Consciousness can be learned by anyone. John told us that his ideas are

different from some current theories in that “it is a safe, neutral language through which otherwise hostile views of reality can communicate,” whereas some other ideas can focus on religious or scientific views. More information can be found at John’s website: AppliedConsciousnessSystems.com. Last month we also welcomed new member Kevin Cashion to our group, so if you get a chance at the next meeting, shake his hand and introduce yourself.

John Smotherman and his wife Cindy.

New member Kevin Cashion

13

Here are the top 25 scorers in order (one tie broken by bonus question).

Winning Next Generation Team: Una Mensa- NGT LG# 440 from Ohio Of the winning teams:

3 from California 2 from Colorado, Ohio and Pennsylvania

313.0 possible points LG# State

201.5 Highbrows 811 CO 189.0 Carolina Brain Gang 293 SC 182.5 MECCA 452 OH

182.0 The ORIGINAL Standard Deviants 150 PA 179.2 Misha's Vineyard Players 100 NY 175.5 Uncle Churd 442 OH

174.2 Brains-a-Roni 940 CA 173.5 Gordian Nots 200 DC

172.5 Indy 5.00 461 IN 169.5 The Phoenix Phive 850 AZ 161.7 Brains on Bourbon 700 LA

160.2 Rocky & Boulder Thinkers 803 CO 160.0 Team Eureka 716 AR

159.5 Just the Facts MAM 640 KS 159.2 Geeks Gone Wild 370 TN 156.0 San Francisco (Mental) Giants 940 CA

156.0 Tormentors Canada ONT 155.0 Carbon-based Life Forms 80 PA

154.0 Anonyms 550 MN 151.5 GLAAM-a-rama 900 CA 151.2 Stout Hearted MENC 275 NC

149.0 IntEllIgEnt entitIEs of MurrIEta 922 CA 146.2 OR Else 970 OR

146.0 Los Angeles Mensans of Anaheim 926 CA 145.5 Grey Matters! 770 TX

CultureQuest® XX Winners List

14

Now That’s Entertainment by Shane Parkerson

In keeping with my desire to contribute my own little touch to the newsletter, I have decided that there is no better way to do this than to take some time discussing the things I enjoy in my spare time. I plan to use this section to discuss movies, music, books, and just about anything else I do that is fun. I also invite anyone else to contribute their enjoyable experiences with the rest of us by submitting it to me when they feel the need; sasboo21(at)yahoo.com. This month I will be reviewing Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and on DVD, Gran Torino.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Another in a long list of franchise movies, the latest Harry installment seems lacking. As a person who had only enjoyed the films, not read the books, I felt this film lacked any of the “WOW” factor of the previous editions. The action is quite slow, even in the few places it occurs. After watching the film entirely, I got the impression it was more focused on developing the future storyline of the final film to come. The actors have grown up before our eyes and you can’t help but continue to love them; however, it may not satisfy you the way the other films have. I recommend it if you have followed the story so far, but if you are a person new to the characters and plot, you may feel a bit bored at this one.

Gran Torino on DVD Clint Eastwood’s latest film does not disappoint. After the loss of his wife, Eastwood’s character resigns himself to being miserably alone at home all of the time. Alienated from his adult children, he spends most of the day grumbling to himself about his neighborhood being overrun with Hmong immigrants. After catching his neighbor’s teenage son trying to steal his Gran Torino as a gang initiation, he inadvertently comes to the boy’s rescue. When the neighborhood begins praising him for the deed, he first is reluctant, but soon begins to realize that the

Hmong people are friendly, with a rich culture. He befriends the boy’s sister and slowly begins to mentor the boy himself. In the end, when chaos threatens his new friends and neighbors, he protects them in the only way that he can. This movie is an amazing addition to Clint Eastwood’s resume and I highly recommend it.

Last Updated July 09

Photo by U

jjwal Lahoti

15

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Arlington, TX 76006-6103

USA

POSTMASTER:

Send address changes to:

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Directions to the Monthly Meeting 7:00 PM, the 2nd Monday of every month

We meet in the Hospitality Room at Coors on McMillan Parkway, just south of Meacham Blvd., one mile south of where NE Loop 820 meets I-35W. Southbound: Exit I-35W at Meacham and go east (under the overpass). Take the first right, onto the new Mercantile Plaza Drive. Where it ends turn right, cross McMillan at the crossover, then turn into the Coors parking lot. Northbound: Exit I-35W at Meacham and turn right at Coors. Come for free beer and coolers and non-alcoholic drinks, munchies (feel

free to bring some, too), and lively fun - all at no charge!

Feel free to bring a guest along.

Periodical Postage Paid

Fort Worth, TX

USPS # 000-607