When I’m Sixty Four - cake and a bottle of wine.

I was sixty four yesterday, and after church we all went off with Miss Maddie Merritt, a Hillsdale graduate, to Newport Beach to meet with our good friends the Kendal-Bells and the Hoffmans for an afternoon of gentle sumptuousness. We said grace and enjoyed a really good meal, with wine and ate Mrs. McLeod’s chocolate cake which you can imagine is to die for. I have been attempting to sing and whistle the old Beatles Song but they won’t let me get a breve out.

Photo courtesy of Susan Kendal Bell

Yummy Platter


Maddie Merritt, with Pamela and wee Lizzie Hoffman

Chris Covell at the Cafe Audrey

Celebrating a friend’s twenty first birthday has always got to be something special, and ours for Chris Covell, the Chapman Film Student, most certainly was. After church on Sunday the McLeods and the Covells pitched over to the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood for and excellent performance by The Actors Co-op of “To Kill A Mockingbird”. Not to be missed, all the performers made this dramatization become captivatingly alive.

Afterwards we convoyed off to the Cafe Audry . We loved this little restaurant tucked away on Las Palmas off Hollywood Boulevard. The theme of Audrey Hepburn adds a delightful old Hollywood feeling to a menu of tasty treats. My tuna melt did just that in my mouth.

Audrey’s quotations are sprinkled here and there and one looks down from the ceiling. With a chef who comes out to make sure his customers are enjoying their fare we could not go wrong.

Chris got a new Tee Shirt to celebrate the occasion

Our caravan continued to our home for an airing of “How To Steal A Million” the 1966 Hepburn /O’Toole comedy. We all fell in love with Audrey again and it made a perfect end to a beautiful day.

John MacArthur's New Bible - Original King James Version

Today, Sunday September 18th 2011, John MacArthur, the Pastor, was preaching on “Gratitude for a Faithful Church” with a text from 1 Thessalonians 1 and 2, when he was acknowledged for his huge contribution at Grace Community Church and to the world through the “Grace To You” Ministry. He has completed the teaching of the entire New Testament over forty three years and from the same pulpit.

The Elders and church leaders, and Grace To You got together to find a special gift to express their gratitude and to commemorate this unusual milestone in John or any other preacher’s career. We are humbled and chastened to have such a man of God in our midst to be our spiritual leader.

What kind of gift, one might ask, could be suitable for such an occasion and to symbolically represent our grateful thanks. Well today John MacArthur was invited up to that pulpit from where he has preached so long, to receive a rare treasure, a 1611 first edition of the King James Bible, calf bound with its original case. It was one of the “He” bibles where in Ruth 3 :15 “he” is used instead of “she”. In accepting the gift John compared his church, Grace Community Church, to the ancient church at Thessalonica, saying they were faithful and loving. He thanked God for his congregation and expressed thankfulness for their salvation. Thessal 1:2-5. You are our glory and joy Thessal 2:20.

Greatsite.com says “Because a typo in Ruth 3:15 is corrected to read "she went into the city" instead of "he went into the city", it is often assumed that these 1611 "She Bibles" are actually the SECOND printing of the original 1611 King James Bible, likely done within several weeks of the 1611 "He Bibles". Many scholars now agree that the much more likely explanation is that the "He" and "She" King James Bible First Editions of 1611 were done at approximately the SAME TIME on two different presses.”

“There is no real evidence that one variant is any older than the other. The main reason “He” variants cost more, is simply because there are fewer of them (fewer than 50 known to exist). If you want an ORIGINAL 1611 King James First Edition, you can save a lot of money simply by choosing the "She" printing (of which fewer than 150 are known to exist).”


Click to play
The Photograph and video were taken by Melinda Welsh, Jogn MacArthur's daughter, who had the presence of mind to change the phone setting

Scout First Class- Another Pin For Mum

On Friday at the Troup 50 Court of Honor, the flag was saluted and the Pledge of Allegiance reiterated as parents and Scouts assembled to celebrate the achievements of the past months. It is a moving experience to see these young men growing up to love and respect their great country, and to strive to manage their lives so that they may become a useful, valuable part in it.
Another Pin For Mum








The flag ceremony starts the proceedings.


It was moving for Nancy and I to see our son Oliver carry Old Glory and step the colors as the ranks of his peers draw off a smart salute.

It takes a lot of work to advance in rank as a Boy Scout. The whole family not just the son needs to be committed to supporting the process.


It is an accomplishment for the family when advancement occurs.
The rank of Scout First Class is an important milestone on the road to Eagle, the highest rank in Scouting, and it was a proud moment for us to see our son receive his rank insignia and shake hands by the left, and for me to watch him pin his commemorative pin on his mother’s chest before hugging his dad.



Such is the Scouting tradition, a tradition that has produced many fine leaders and even claims the first man to step foot on the moon, and Baden Powell would be pleased to see his dream carried on here in Troupe 50.

God bless Scouting, and God bless America!

Farewell to Othello

Farewell Furry Fellow
My condolences to Rick Baum on his loss of his beloved dog, Othello. We will miss Othello's visits to Le Tip during our morning meetings.

Farewell Othello, furry fellow,
Friend was never loved as thee,
Even in your failing form
The gift of joy flowed fast and free
In all who stroked your coat.
Content you were at foot to lie
While any respondents pet,
Drawing enamored smiles and sighs
From every one you met
Who deigned to rub your throat.

You will not have seen the teary eye
In your tensed master’s face,
Nor heard the faltering in his voice
As he imparts with grace
The loss of his beloved hound.
But we who still have eyes that see,
And empathic hearts that beat,
Will long recall nostalgically
The comfort and the therapy
In your blithe spirit found.

Neil Stewart McLeod - August 19th 2011

Uncle Bill Turns Sixty Five

Bill Thompson, the retired K9 police officer is a man of a thousand stories. He spends his time doing good turns wherever he goes. I asked at his "surprise"celebratory dinner at Frankies New York Italian Restaurant, if any one felt that he was an uncle to them. There was a roar of agreement.



With Frankie and Terri

The event was captured by Steve Galland the Photographer, and here are a few of his shots.


















So here is a brief salute to a man who should definitely write a book.


Taylor, Kerry Sue and Bill

Uncle Bill’s Sixty Fifth

They say you don’t feel the years coming
That we rise up each day with a will.
That the ‘sixty five’ ties
Come as a surprise,
So here is a good health to Bill.

They say good Policemen don’t perish,
They fade off and quietly fill,
A place on a list
Of the loved and the missed,
So here is a good health to Bill.

There’s many a villain not sorry
To know that he’s not at his drill,
Sending his hound
’Till the culprit is found,
So here is a good health to Bill.

Now our friend is a jolly good fellow
You can’t say he’s over the hill,
He’s lending a hand
Doing good where he can,
So here is a good health to Bill.

So to finish I just thought that I’d ask
If you’d join me as I share this thrill
To raise up a glass
To a Copper with class
So here is a good health to Bill.

Neil McLeod 8.28.2011

With Roger - My daughter's teddy bear

Graduation from high school is done and so is summer, and our daughter departs for college accompanied by her favorite comfy toy.

Only those who have shared the experience can appreciate how it feels to suppress to choking emotion of saying goodbye to a loved child when sending her off to college. It was four o'clock in the morning, we had bowed heads and asked God's blessing and travel mercies, and as Maran turned to go she said, "Daddy, send me a poem so I can share it with my new friends at College." She then turned to get into the car and the vision of her with her bear packed in at the top of her knapsack resulted in this poem.





















With Roger

I’m leaving with Roger for college,
His top’s sticking out from my pack,
He can see past each ear
To the front and the rear
And everything that’s at my back.

I’m leaving with Roger for college,
It’s the first time that we’ll be long away,
We’ve left our home,
And our folks all alone
And flown up and off for a day.

I am safe because Roger is with me,
He keeps my spirits buoyed up,
He knows if I’m blue
And I’m thinking of you
To listen and not interrupt.

I can tell that he’ll be a good room mate,
He’s had hours of practice you know,
If it’s logic or rhetoric
Or some other what the heck
He’ll wait for my answers to show.

I’m leaving with Roger for college,
In McIntyre we’ll be there,
Working away
At our classes each day,
Miss Maran and Roger her bear.

With my love, Dad

Launching the Contact Marker CM1

For thirty four years I have been attempting to provide my patients with the highest standard of care. My USC training and the legacy of Dr Glazier's practice which I took over in 1976 have inspired me to continue to provide beautiful gold onlays and inlays.

Increasingly we are providing our patients with porcelain restorations; Crowns, veneers, inlays and onlays. It is very important that the contacting surface between teeth and porcelain repairs is precise, not too tight, and not loose. Food packing between the teeth causes gum inflammation and bone loss.

When porcelain work comes back from the dental laboratory, it is either tight, just right or loose. The chances of it being just right are slim, therefore I always ask my technician to make it just a little tight so I can adjust it. There are all sorts of ways dentists use to identify where to adjust their work, and I have tried them all. I have found that nothing is as accurate as a soft graphite pencil. So I have developed a way to carry a graphite marker to the mouth so that it is possible to adjust porcelain work perfectly.

On Tuesday 14th June I will be speaking to the Los Angeles Dental Society and will be announcing this new idea.

I am marketing my new dental instrument on http://www.contactmarker.com

Take a look and see:


Contact-Marker CM1 Demo Video from Dr. Neil McLeod on Vimeo.

John MacArthur - Unprecedented Preaching Achievement

By any standard Grace Community is a big and successful Church, and with good reason, for sound fundamental Christianity is taught there verse by verse every week. The teaching of John MacArthur feeds the need for honest down to earth understandable exposition of God's Word. You can doubt all you want, but once you have heard it you will know the truth of it.

Today was a milestone in the history of this amazing worship center. In a sanctuary packed as usual, John MacArthur brought to a close what can only be described as a nearly unprecedented achievement in his or any other preacher's long career as shepherd of his flock. Today as he brought to a conclusion his study of the Gospel of Mark, he completed a forty three year sojourn through the entire New Testament. All these sermons were from the same pulpit.

John MacArthur is firm and forthright, never wavering in his criticism of sins of our time. He fully recognizes that Christianity is under attack and teaches us the basic truths to which we must attend if we are to achieve the gift of eternal life with our Lord.

His sermons are packed with substantial insights into the real meaning of every verse. Never have I enjoyed the Word of God so clearly explained.

Together with his unfaltering teaching style there is a humor that is playful and understanding of our human foibles.
Showing his humanity and ongoing love for his wife, John presented Patricia with a beautiful rose to thank her for all her support during this academic and preaching epic.

I asked John how he managed to collect and collate all the information he has used to produce the over three thousand five hundred sermons, which are all recorded and available on line through Grace To You, and how big his staff was. His answer, "Neil, I mine all my own data."

Dr. MacArthur, President of the Master's College, and pastor of Grace Community Church is nothing short of phenomenal.

MacLeod Rant - Remembering Ann Skipper

Honoring Ann Skipper

1925 - 2009

Internationally renowned

Dance Mistress of

The Clan MacLeod Dancers

Est. 1983

Last night, June 4th 2011, at the Pasadena War Memorial, the Clan MacLeod Dancers hosted their annual Rant, arguably one of the premiere Scottish Country Dances held in the Southern California each

year.

The event was a great success with live music provided by Any Imbrie on the piano and Debie Benton Grosjean on the "fiddle" who were stunningly good, making the Scottish snap zing through the air and putting lift in the lassies heels as their partners kilts were flying. A positive glut of MacLeod favorites from Angus MacLeod and MacLeod's Fancy to Peat Fire Flame and a new one from Walt Metcalf called Sea Gate. The food was sumptuous as always.

I had a chance to give a small talk remembering Ann and the huge contribution she has made to the Clan MacLeod and Scottish Country Dancing world wide.

In 2002 John MacLeod of MacLeod the 29th Chief of the Clan MacLeod wrote of Ann when she stepped down as Dance Mistress of his Clan

“I must thank you very much for all the work you have done on the dance scene in clan MacLeod. You have been most successful in your role as teacher and enthuser and the clan is in your debt. I am sure that the heritage of dance will live on.”

Sets complete! Ready for the next dance!

Click to see "Reel of the 51st"

The budget should be balanced

Cicero 106 - 46 B.C.

When Julius Caesar was invading Britain in 55 A.D. Cicero was at home contemplating the growing weight of government dependents, and he of wrote:

"The budget should be balanced, the treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work instead of living on public assistance."

My Friend Ray MacEdwards sent this to me, and it has so much significance that I just had to blog it.

So what Ray asks have we learned in the last 2,064 years

The actual quote is: "The arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and assistance to foreign hands should be curtailed, lest Rome fall."

Nothing!

The Bride's First Footing - Missing Alan's Wedding

As my brother Alan lies recovering from a triple whammy I am lamenting not being able to visit with him. He went in to routine colonoscopy, was diagnosed as having had a myocardal infarct, and was whipped away to have his mitral valves tightened up, and during recovery, optical irregularity caused the surgeons to question why and this resulted in a diagnosis of and immediate treatment for a Pituitary tumor.

I had a similar sense of remorse when I could not attend his wedding on a New Years Day back in 1977. Here is a poem about that.

The Bride’s First Footing
Saturday January 1st 10.30 a.m. 1977 For my brother Alan and Nada, whose wedding I could not attend.

Brother Roland, Mike and Brenda, Sandy who
Took photographs,
John McNairn in kilt for show
Like Don MacLeod who read Gibran, and Brenda’s dad
Are all now in my holographs,

My synthesis of that missed New Year’s Day
When crisply lay the snow,
As Alan and Nada plied their troths
With special permission from the Bishop
So many years ago.

I wish I’d been there in my kilt, bearing gifts, to watch them
Blissfully take the oath,
And communion, bread and wine,
Then in the library by the fire share Big Chris’ cake
And hug and kiss them both.

Then out in the country at Brenda’s mother’s house
To be there as they dine.
“The luckiest First Footers of the year.”
Trouping off to Gretta’s to bless her with Nada’s posie
In atmosphere of love divine.

I wish I shared the memory
Of the day when you were wed
Not raising New Year glasses
In Hollywood instead.

Brother Roland, Mike and Brenda, Sandy
the photographer,
Kilted John who sang the songs
And Don MacLeod who read, and Brenda’s dad
Who gave the bride,
Lie far off in the memory now!

Alan MacLeod - Heart Operation

A prayer for Alan

I’ve been saying a prayer for my brother,
Today he went under the knife,
The doctors had said some days earlier,
That his ticker’s not working too right.
They said that a big valve is leaking,
And putting his heart under strain
So they’re stitching it up on the inside
To make sure it works right right again.

Alan’s off at the Royal Infirmary,
The doctors are Scottish you know,
They probably know what they’re doing
And I really should not worry so.
But its hard not to care when a loved one
Is confronting a challenge so grim,
And that is the reason I’m bowing my head
And saying a prayer for him.

I’m watching my e-mail in-box,
I’m waiting for news to come through,
I dying to hear that the op went well,
That my brother is up, good as new.
I’ve been saying a prayer for my brother,
Today he went under the knife,
I’m longing to hear that he’s alright
And safe at home with his wife.

It Is A Great Day To Be Irish

It may not get the publicity that it deserves, but my grandfather, Alexander McLeod, The Chief of Police in Featherston, New Zealand, and a master Mason, married the plumber's daughter, an Irish lass. I of course fell for Nancy Neely, so there is much justification in celebrating Saint Paddy's Day.
Happy Saint Patrick's Day to you!

Ballad of Nessie Wrap Party at the Tam

Disney directors Stevie Wermers and Kevin Deters have just finished production on “The Ballad of Nessie”. The 2D short is described by the studio as having ‘art direction evocative of the Disney shorts from the 1940s and 50s’ and being ‘the honest to goodness true tale of Loch Ness and its most famous resident.’

Stevie Wermers L. yours truly and Kevin Deters R. in the Guards Room at the Tam


Stevie saw me at the Tam O’ Shanter Restaurant on one of the Burns Nights, and wanted to know if I would come back to the Tam to entertain her crew at their wrap party to celebrate the completion of this animated short. Prescindia McIntosh, Cindi the popular lady piper, was also be there to add flare to this luncheon which served to add old time bon homme to their finishing bash. I added tales of 'The Tartan Wot Not', 'The SS Politician', and tried to pitch the idea of having Disney make a new film on the Jackdaw of Rheims, by reciting the old poem

Speculation is that Disney's 'The Ballad of Nessie' may be in the theaters alongside ‘Winnie The Pooh’ and see its debut in the European market first.

Front Crowns a Joyful Result

Adding life to a smile is something I love to do. After 34 years there is still more to learn and great joy to be had from practicing dentistry. Here is an example of four front teeth with crowns that had lack luster porcelain, and veneers on the lateral incisors that have receded margins. By using all porcelain with no metal we are able to bring a vitality to restorations that make them look real.

Here is the original appearance,with the veneers showing and a yellowy hue to the crowns.



And here are the new zirconium crowns.


From the side you can really see the vitality in the way the light refracts through the porcelain.

DENTISTRY THAT LASTS - QUALITY THAT COUNTS

Missing the Cock ‘n Bull on Sunset

The times they are a changing, and as they do so also the choices of places to eat when I leave my dental office on Sunset Boulevard. There used to be a famous English pub right across the street called the Cock ‘n Bull, where the Moscow Mule was invented and the best ginger be

er in the world was used to make a

Pims #1 cup.

Their lunch time fare at the buffet was unmatched, and with the 16 story Luckman building right opposite which was ground zero for music business big wigs such as in Warner, Elektra, Atlantic, Asylum Corp. Many music industry executives were officed there, and many music deals were made at the long bar in the pub.

Well ironically, the pub was sold to Hornburg, the Jaguar agency, because John Morgan’s grand kids weren’t interested in taking it over, and when they auctioned everything off I managed to take home the mascot for the pub, the bronze Chantecler that stood over the bar. I always loved it because that French rooster is beautiful, and is my mother’s family crest.

Now Jaguar and Rover are owned and produced by India’s Tata Motors, and the Luckman building has been taken over by some extremely successful Egyptian entrepreneurs, the Mani Brothers. They also own the Sunset Medical Tower, a medical Mecca with 42 dentists in occupation. A new eatery on the opposite side of the street has changed corners and is now BOA.

And down the street Tower Records has disappeared to become a party event and style shop as the music industry is turned on its head by Apple and the internet.

A rainbow may still shine over the Strip, but the world has turned on its axis and I miss having a good pub across the street.

Honored for Slaying the Haggis

The Tam O’ Shanter Restaurant on Los Felis Boulevard in Glendale was the venue for the celebration of Burns Night on January 25th and 26th. The pipes were played, the dancer danced, songs were sung and the haggis, carried in by Chef Ivan, was slain at every sitting. In short a ‘guid time’ was had by all. My big dirk was brought out for the thirty first year, and this time Isaac Burks, the Arts and Culture envoy from Councilman Tom Labonge’s office, appeared and presented a certificate of appreciation.

I was deeply touched and honored to have received such an accolade for having so much fun all these years in our great city, and for being able to share the occasion with so many close friends and family. Looking back I thank Tom Girvin for introducing me to this event in 1978. In 1980 I took over his part in presenting Robert Burns' famous "Ode To A Haggis"




Neil and Phil
courtesy of Heather Klinger