Ratha Yatra 2008

from husband Bill, July 19, 2026

Here I am at the Ratha Yatra Festival in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on July 19, 2008, 18 years ago today. My wife and I, along with my mom-in-law, were visiting my wife's family and friends in and around Toronto, and, luckily, the festival was amidst our visit.

My religion is Gaudiya Vaishnavism (Hare Krishna), a sect of Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism).

During the summer of every year on different days, this festival in honor of the Hindu god Jagannath, a representation of Lord Krishna (God) who lived in India about five thousand years ago, are celebrated in small villages up to large cities all over the world. The English word "juggernaut" is derived from Jagannath. 

Ratha Yatra is believed to have been celebrated for thousands of years, with some estimates dating back to the 12th century or even earlier.

Here are two of the many photos that my wife took of myself at the festival.

In the first photo, you can see me help pull one of three colorful chariots for a few miles through the streets of the city. The chariots, which are about 45 feet high and 35 feet in length and width, can be seen in the background. The "tents" on the tops of the chariots had to be lowered and then raised again whenever the chariots passed under traffic lights.

In the second photo, I am holding a plastic bag of halva in my right hand that was given to me at the festival. While my shirt has a Hindu prayer printed on it, written in the Sanskrit language, it does not represent the official garb of the Hare Krishnas. The cloth bag hanging from my neck, which has a Hindu prayer printed on it, also in Sanskrit, IS carried by the Hare Krishnas; it contains mala (prayer beads). My necklace holds a golden, colorful pendant of the Hindu god Jagannath.

About an hour after my wife took these photos, I was taken to the hospital by ambulance with heat exhaustion. We were on line to take a ferry to the islands off Toronto to enjoy some vegetarian food. I passed out on the ground just a few minutes after drinking a root beer with ice and a full, large glass of water with ice. It didn't help.

After all of these years, I continue to thank my wonderful wife for accompanying me on my spiritual pilgrimage.

from husband Bill, July 19, 2026

Today Is ...

from husband Bill, July 19, 2026

When I was a kid in the 1960s and 1970s, I loved going to the nearby Howard Johnson's restaurant on Long Island, New York, with my parents to get chicken croquettes and mint chocolate chip ice cream, my favorite flavor.

I also like cassis (black currant) ice cream after I tasted it in Paris, France, during the summer of 1984 (age 23) while I was studying for six credits of French Composition and Conversation in three weeks in the nearby town of Massy, France, while attending a Villanova University overseas program. I graduated in December 1984 with a bachelor's degree in communications with a minor (18 credits) in the French language.

In the mid- to late 1980s, my father owned and operated a Steve's ice cream shop in Columbia, Missouri, near the campus of the University of Missouri, where I was studying for my master's degree in journalism. The ice cream was terrific. The location was bad, kind of hidden behind the campus with no traffic (foot or car), next to a Korean grocery store. My dad eventually closed the shop permanently. I was a part-time scooper and later the manager there between classes and homework.

from husband Bill, July 19, 2026

Long ago, I would enjoy with friends frozen lime daiquiris made in a blender with ice, rum, and Minute Maid frozen limeade concentrate. We called them Daiqs (pronounced "dahks").

from husband Bill, July 19, 2026

I play games of Words With Friends on my phone with not that many people, unknown and known. These days, I play full games on the app with people I don't know and shorter games on the Facebook version with two of my friends. My username is Wsantos3434.

from husband Bill, July 19, 2026

38th Work Anniversary

Happy 38th Work Anniversary to my wonderful wife !!! She has worked for the same hospital in various capacities for the last 38 years !!!

Congratulations !!!

July 38, 2026

Today Is ...

from husband Bill, July 18, 2026

I like tropical fruit, especially mango, papaya, pineapple, coconut, and passion fruit.

from husband Bill, July 18, 2026

One Christmas Eve long ago at the start of a family celebration, we enjoyed caviar with shots of frozen Russian vodka. I liked it, although I don't particularly like vodka.

from husband Bill, July 18, 2026

I do occasionally like sour candy, but not often.

from husband Bill, July 18, 2026

Listen.

from husband Bill, July 18, 2026

"Yellow Submarine" Video

from husband Bill, July 17, 2026

On July 17, 1968, The Beatles movie "Yellow Submarine" was released in movie theaters in the United Kingdom. It was released in movie theaters in the United States on November 13, 1968. Actors were hired to portray the four Beatles' voices. Of course the actual Beatles songs were used.

I have seen it many times: as a teenager in the 1970s at many Beatles conventions and on television. During the 1970s, Channel 5 (WNEW/New York) would broadcast The Beatles' first movie "A Hard Day's Night" and then "Yellow Submarine" every New Year's Eve evening.

I have it on videotape. I also have the original soundtrack album on CD, which I also had on vinyl in the 1970s. I also have the "Songtrack" album on CD that was released in 1999 and contains all of the songs included in the movie; these songs were remastered.

In July 2018, my wife and I attended a showing in a small theater at a nearby library for the 50th anniversary of the movie. That was the first and only movie my wife and I have ever attended together in a movie theater. We have know each other since November 2000.

Here is the "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" segment of the movie. The images are rather striking. Remember that it was 1968, so computers were NOT available, so no CGI. The entire movie was painted by hand by many artists on sheets of clear plastic. Remarkable.

https://youtu.be/LgR6UNeQxXE?is=fBgMD_EP-8qZdv

"Yellow Submarine" Released

"Yellow Submarine" anniversary 

from husband Bill, July 17, 2026

"Yellow Submarine" (movie)

July 17, 1968 - released in Britain

November 13, 1968 - released in the United States

Today Is ...

from husband Bill, July 17, 2026

I love peach ice cream. It reminds me of enjoying it at my paternal grandparents' house when I was a kid in the 1960s and 1970s. The brand name in their freezer was mostly Sealtest, but sometimes it was Breyers. More recently, I have loved the peach shakes at Chick-fil-A, but I haven't had one in quite a long time.

from husband Bill, July 17, 2026

I don't have any tattoos. However, I now have many incision scars from nine surgeries with the last four years or so: one in my chest; one in my back: three in my left leg; and an epic three-foot-long, winding, red scar in my inner right leg. It looks like a line of many connected division symbols (÷÷÷÷÷), combining the incision scar with the scars left behind by the many metal staples. Two of the three scars on my inner left leg are the same, but shorter.

For decades, I wanted to get a tattoo of a simple fish on the bottom of my right foot. That way, when I crossed my legs at the beach, it could be seen. Why a fish? My zodiac sign is Pisces, and the corresponding (weakest) body part for this sign is the foot. Many fairly recent surgeries on my feet due to bone and skin infections due to diabetes caused me to abandon this whim.

I have also considered a tattoo related to my religion ("Hare Krishna;" written in the Sanskrit language) or an Austrian flag or the flag of Vorarlberg, the westernmost Austrian province, where many of my Austrian cousins live now or grew up there.

from husband Bill, July 17, 2026

My sense of direction is quite poor. In the 1990s, whenever I got a bit lost while going on job interviews in New York City, I would stop walking, decide which direction I thought was the right way, and then walk in the opposite direction. This method worked out quite well for me.

As per Wikipedia: Douglas Corrigan (born Clyde Groce Corrigan; January 22, 1907 – December 9, 1995) was an American aviator, nicknamed "Wrong Way" in 1938. After a transcontinental flight in July from Long Beach, California, to New York City, he then flew from Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn to Ireland, although his flight plan was filed to return to Long Beach.

from husband Bill, July 17, 2026

I don't particularly like gambling. When I do engage, it's slot machines and scratch-offs. I do like roulette, but that is the casino game with the worst odds. Craps has the best odds, but I have never played craps.

from husband Bill, July 17, 2026

AI Day Video

from husband Bill, July 16, 2026

I created and uploaded a short video onto my YouTube channel to celebrate National AI (Artificial Intelligence) Day. (length: 2 minutes, 6 seconds)

National AI Day (July 16, 2026)

https://youtu.be/7whpXThmocg?is=1On1pKebh7Q3FTd3

Today Is ...

from husband Bill, July 16, 2026

I like cherries. Every Christmas for decades, my dad would give me a box of Cella's chocolate-covered cordial cherries. (They HAD to be Cella's.) After he passed away in February 1997, I continued this heartfelt tradition by purchasing a box of them and giving it to myself from my dad (as Santa) every Christmas. (They HAVE to be Cella's.)

I will eat fresh cherries later.

from husband Bill, July 16, 2026

I do like corn fritters, but they certainly have not been and are not a staple of my diet. I am more acquainted with apple fritters.

from husband Bill, July 16, 2026

Today Is ...

from husband Bill, July 15, 2025

I love tapioca pudding, which I have been eating with chocolate syrup, preferably Bosco, since I was a kid in the 1960s. My paternal grandmother would often make it from scratch. She called it "fish eyes."

from husband Bill, July 15, 2026

I eat hot dogs on a bun with only ketchup. I will eat sliced hot dogs mixed with baked beans.

from husband Bill, July 15, 2026

I do love horses, especially when betting on the standardbreds, which I haven't done in quite a while. That was mostly in the early 1980s and beyond with a dear friend.

from husband Bill, July 15, 2026

I prefer gummi bears.

from husband Bill, July 15, 2026