Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Thursday, October 08, 2009

Tusker Larger - from Chip Hammack

Tusker Lager - a very fine beer
for William “Chip” Hammack 1954 -2009 who passed away too young

He was a member of the Executive LeTip of West Los Angeles, the networking club that I love.























William "Chip" Hammack



I was raised as a kiddy in Kenya,
An urchin in khaki and grime,
Where crawling under the floors of the club
Seemed to us quite a lark at the time.
There were cigarette boxes and matches
Razor wraps by Gillette that were blue,
Bottle caps of all flavors and spent bullet shells
Discolored by the damp and the dew.

Above was the bar of the Club House
A Kericho town watering hole
Where away from the heat with the weight off their feet
Folks would sew back their body and soul.
Permeating the cracks in the floor boards
From the bar where the Bwanas stood near,
Was the tinkle of glass and the roar of a laugh
And the wonderful smell of warm beer.

That smell of the brew got my notice
I wondered just how it would taste,
And though years in a row would come and would go,
The memory did not go to waste.
For many more later in Ojai
To see Kenyan friends in that vale
I stopped at a duka to buy me a tupa
And found Tusker Lager for sale.













What a fluke to find that very bevy,
I liked it well from the word go,
I flipped off the top, took a swig with the froth
And one whiff made the memories flow
From then on that beer was a favorite
Tusker became my new bent,
And if I had the chance at a party or dance,
I brought it wherever I went.

But I found the supply was not constant,
Sometimes the shippers went dry,
So I kept my lids peeled as I passed town and field
For some place that had a supply.
Well one day I met with Chip Hammack
A vintner who also sold beer,
He wasn’t averse to dampen my thirst,
And that is the reason I’m here.

Chip was an affable fellow,
He had oodles of charm and a smile,
When I asked if he had Tusker Larger
He just beamed and said “Might take a while!”
Then what do you know two hours later,
He called me, his voice like a reed,
Singing “Doc, your in luck I’ll get Tusker,
“Now how many cases you need?”

That was it, Chip and I became buddies,
He kept me in beer and in wine,
He’d pick out a mixed case of specials
So the grog with our grub was sublime.
But it grieves me to think of him gone now,
God calls the best folk away young,
So raise your glass high, wipe the tear from your eye,
To Chip Hammack whose song has been sung.

Dr Neil Stewart McLeod -10 .7.2009

























Neil with brother Alan "Bundu Saints" 1957

Swahili words used in the poem

Bwana - master
duka - a small shop
tupa - a bottle
bundu - the African bush

Monday, September 21, 2009

Islam - Telling lies doesn’t change the truth

























My poem in tribute to the 911 disaster has hit the thousand mark on YouTube for the number of viewings, and the emails have poured in expressing thanks for the effort. One comment however, that was left on my Blogspot, deeply disturbed me, and I feel forced to make a public rebuke to its author.

Shahid, a proud to be Muslim Fundamentalist male of 24 years of age, in Lahore, Pakistan, left a note saying, and I quote,
“hey, 9/11 was fake daram, they plan by your secret angancies and moosad.”

Shahid, you are wrong, and if you adhere to your ignorant beliefs you will die wrong.

His link will take you to his site which is filled with vileness. His point is that he believes and spouts the myth that the towers were brought down by our own American agencies.

At a time when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is making hateful and ignorant remarks denying the Holocaust, we should be warned that these extremists needs to be isolated and feared. The 1945 evidence supporting the facts of the holocaust are undeniable. It is deplorable that the elected leader of a nation can mouth such wicked lies repeatedly. We cannot let our guard down.



I therefore draw attention to what Winston Churchill observed in 1899 when a correspondent in South Africa and what is published in “The River War”.-Sir Winston Churchill (The River War, first edition, Vol. II, pages
248-50 (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1899).
1 November 2005 - Australia


“How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy.

The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live.

A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men.

Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities, but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it.

No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome.”


























Winston Churchill 1899 in South Africa


Friday, September 18, 2009

9-11 Tribute Poem on YouTube

Yes I took a break, but I have been busy. 911 came and went, and we have been dealing with a post flood experience at my dental office. Burst pipes above brought ceilings down and required a complete upheaval to restore the workspace.

While this was going on I made a presentation to the Executive LeTip of West Los Angeles, our hundred member breakfast networking group to commemorate the September 11th atrocity. The presentations centers on a parody in the Dr. Seuss style of a poem called "Blank The Binch".

Justin Sloggart of “Six 14 Productions” and his brother Bill made a video of it, and posted it on You Tube.





Watch it to the end and post a comment ion You Tube if you like it.

Sunday, June 07, 2009

Full Service Dentistry - Visit My New Web Site



I have just launched my new professional website, and would welcome your critique. Take a look at http://drneilmcleod.com and see the way we provide Dentistry That Lasts - and Quality That Counts for our patients seeking fine dental care. For dental implants, crowns, bridges, or just a simple dental cleaning and a check up, or to take advantage of our new digital x-rays which give large clear diagnostic images with a 90% reduction in x-ray exposure, consider us for your dental care.

Keep Flossing for a biting chance at life!

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Wallace The Smiling Lion

For Dermot McQuarrie, of FOX Sports, who knows a good dram and the value of a good smile.

There's this lion at t'zoo up in Blackpool
Who is famous or so the tale goes,
He is large and ferocious and savage
With great scars all over his nose.

One day with the least provocation
From Albert, a dear little chap,
He snatched him through ’bars and he ate him
Leaving nought on the ground but his cap.

When the bill for the lad had been settled
There were one thing remaining quite plain,
They 'ad to do som'it quite special
To stop this from 'appenin' again.

So Zoo Keeper and t'Insurance feller
They 'ad this big meeting you see,
To decide how Wallace the Lion
Could be harnessed and kept trouble free.

They said when meeting were over
That the answer was some how to block
The size of the throat of the lion
With a grate or some big plastic chock.

They'll ave to fit Wallace with Choppers
There's no average dentist will do.
The impressions will be quite a challenge
For that lion mustn't choke or turn blue.
















And then there's the matter of timing
He'll have to be quick as a flash,
To get in and out in a hurry
Before Wallace chomps down with a gnash.

So they called up this world famous dentist
In Hollywood, land of the stars,
And explained they were having some trouble
With this pussy cat kept behind bars.

When he came he flew in on a Jumbo
And while driving him up from Heathrow
They explained there idea about dentures
But the Hollywood dentist said “No!”

I think you’d do better to crown him
Aye crowns for the king of the beasts
I’ll lengthen each nasher so a thin bacon rasher
Is all that’ll fit when he feasts.

He got right to work without flinching
Though he said that the job might be tough,
He said, “That lion’ll like thin strips of bacon,
I’ll make his teeth gap just enough.”

To start with he gave anaesthetic
So that Wallace lay still and relaxed
But while bending over to reach a back molar
'Lion gagged and then swallowed by reflex.

It would have been bad but for Sandy
His able assistant who came
To the rescue by giving emetics
So he brought up the dentist again.

He continued, ’e took the impressions,
And he made 'im some nashers so tall
That when Wallace The Lion opened widest
The gap ’tween `is teeth were quite small.















Oh! it did your heart good to see Wallace,
In his cage sitting grandly arrayed,
With a smile on his face like a rabbit,
From the teeth the dentist had made.


Neil Stewart McLeod

The illustrations were drawn by my friend and long time patient Colin Bailey, who has since past away, but whose imagination and humor live on in his drawings.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Santa's Holiday


When Santa takes a holiday he dumps the sleigh, gets in his car and heads south.

Well Christmas is over, and Neil McLeod, the famed photographer, of Merritt, British Columbia, is taking a jaunt with June, away from the cold to recover from his hard seasonal work. You may not have heard of the MacClause Clan, but Neil is a member. No kidding! he takes his work seriously. He joshed me saying he didn't think he'd shaved since some time back in the nineties.

He popped in to see us for a good Clan MacLeod welcome yesterday, and left a picture of himself at work for the record. This is the real Santa folks!























Run on Down

There are clansmen coming in,
Run to meet them, run to meet them.
There are clansmen coming in,
Run on down.
There'll be news from overseas
Of our family and their country,
There are clansmen coming in,
Run on down.

Will the piper be there playing?
Heart a beating, heart a beating.
Will the piper be there playing?
Hear the call.
Our chests will proudly swell
As we bow and bid a welcome.
Should the piper be there playing
Here the call.

And will banners then unfurl
Where we greet them, where we greet them?
And will banners then unfurl
Flying free?
Then we'll raise a dram together
To the chief and seed we share.
And the banners will unfurl
Flying free.

Then together we will dine,
Thanks be given, thanks be given.
Then together we will dine,
As of old.
Telling tales by the firelight
Singing songs and dancing.
Then together we shall dine
As of old.

We will all be there to meet them,
Piper playing, singing, dancing.
We will all be there to meet them
Run on down.
And we'll toast the time together
Say the grace and stay till morning,
There are clansmen coming in
Run on down. N.S.M. 11.8.1986.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

United States Marine Corps perform free


What’s Free
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." wrote Thomas Jefferson

The Battle Color Detachment of the United States Marine Corps are to perform at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on February 28th 2009. The performance is free and open to the public. I was asked in disbelief by Maddy Horn, a Scouting Mum, when I suggested we take the Scout to see this event, "Is anything still free?"


Can you believe that something’s still free?
Not Freedom and certainly not Liberty.
For they need recharging with blood from the vein
Of tyrants and patriots again and again.

The soldiers and airmen who keep us secure,
The life guards and sailors watching our shore,
The policemen and firemen who watch our front door
Their work is not free, that's for sure, that's for sure!

But the air that we breath and the sun in he sky,
And the pain in our hearts when a friend says goodbye
And the droplets of rain and the wind passing by,
Only they still are free, say I, say I!

Monday, January 05, 2009

FORREST


Helen Anderson MacDonald passed away June 5, 2008, at the age of 92, after complications of hip surgery. Helen is survived by her husband, Forrest, and daughters Karen M. Rosenthal and Lauren M. Cassatt and their families.








I sit and think about your news and don’t know what to say,
That won’t seem trite or empty were it said another way.
I think about the times we shared a laugh and then a drink,
But then the words you’ve written make my heart begin to sink.

I want to say a lot of things to show you that I care
To say how sorry I am now that I could not be there,
When friends and loved ones gathered round to help you share the grief
Instead of being limited to comments stiff and brief.

But Forrest I can never know the pain you feel inside,
When you reflect upon the loss of Helen, your fair bride.
I saw you two as constants by whom marriage should be scanned,
And shudder when I contemplate that life won’t go as planned.

I forward look and fear to see how fate might rule my life
And rob me at a crucial hour of Nancy, my dear wife.
Yet even now though time is brief when we have had our stay
I can but only thank God for the blessing of each day.

I have no comfort in my words to offer that are sage,
I only know that backward glances show upon the page,
That you were always good to me and brightened up my day
The same is true of Helen who now has flown away.