Robert A. Stallings

Sitxy-Year-Old Sunday School Diploma Found

2012-01-29T11:42:00.000-08:00

Jane White, proprietor of Mudflats Bar & Grill in Galena, Ohio, found this Sunday school diploma in an upstairs room above the bar. We have no idea how it got there as neither Carole nor I have ever been to Mudflats. Our current guess is that someone bought the diploma, probably for the old wooden frame with its original glass, at the auction my brother held before we sold my mother's house in Westerville, Ohio, in 2003. The diploma was awarded to me in 1949 when I was five years old by the Lewisville (Ohio) Methodist Church. I attended Sunday school there when we visited my grandparents who lived in Lewisville. Initially, I thought the diploma had no special meaning for me, but after receiving it by mail from Ms. White I was surprised and pleased to discover that one of the signers was my grandfather, F. R. Billman (second signature) who was a deacon at the church Now the challenge is finding an appropriate place to hang it. A big "Thank you" to Ms. White for locating and contacting me and for so carefully packaging the wooden frame with its old pane of glass to ensure that it arrived undamaged.

Early Morning Ride

2012-01-29T11:01:00.000-08:00

Went out on an early morning ride on my hybrid. First time out in several months. Up to Glendora past the flea marketers setting up in the Citrus College football stadium parking lot. Seemed like fewer tents being set up than what I remember from last summer. On through Glendora, then back south. Out about 45 minutes. Not in good cycling shape. Oh, well. Back to running tomorrow morning.

Von KleinSmid Center Tower at Night

2011-01-20T21:12:00.000-08:00

The 167-foot Von KleinSmid Center (VKC) Tower contains a carillon and supports this globe-shaped finial. The globe was added in 1966 based on a proposal by Tony Lazzaro, USC's Associate Business Manager and Director of Campus Development at the time, who had seen a similar metal orb on one of the buildings at the 1964 World's Fair.

The carillon is electronically operated using special cassettes and a computer console located inside the VKC Library (at the base of the tower). Sounds are amplified by a magnetic mallet that strikes the instrument's alloy bars and are released through speakers at the top of the tower. The carillon was made by the Maas-Rowe Company of Escondido, CA. It was installed in the tower shortly after the building's dedication in 1967 as a gift from the Trojan League, a support group of USC alumnae.

(Photographed 19 January 2011.)

Lenin, Trotsky, . . . Hentschke???

2011-01-11T09:20:00.000-08:00

Two Recently Retired Colleagues Honored

2010-12-17T16:25:00.000-08:00

Richard Sundeen (left) and Chester Newland were honored December 14, 2010, by the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development for their multiple decades of service. Congratulations, Rich and Chet!

Robert P. Biller, Celebration of a Life

2010-12-05T11:07:00.000-08:00

Wonderful celebration of Bob Biller's life late Tuesday afternoon, November 30, 2010, in Town and Gown on USC's University Park Campus. Thanks to all who spoke so eloquently and so passionately about Bob. Not surprisingly, there was a larger than anticipated turnout. Several of us took seats in what initially was the back row. By the time the presentations began, we were sitting in the middle of the audience. As my colleague and friend Yan Tang remarked, no one else at USC could have produced such a large and diverse set of celebrants as Bob.

Early Morning Ride on Route 66

2010-09-19T17:34:00.000-07:00

Rode the Giant hybrid north to Glendora (road bike has yet another flat), east along Foothill Boulevard, then down to Route 66. With the Route 66 Rendezvous (road rally, car show, etc.) in San Bernardino this weekend (www.route-66.org), it seemed like the thing to do. Rode west on Route 66 for a few miles, then headed for home. Hardly any traffic on this portion of the famous highway this morning at 5:00 a.m. Round trip (12.95 miles) in 1:06, 11.8 m.p.h. average speed, 18.7 m.p.h. max. (The hybrid is annoying slower than the road bike.)

The Long Shadow of Robert P. Biller

2010-09-15T09:10:00.000-07:00

Bob Biller's colleagues and friends—they are one and the same—are still coming to terms with his passing on August 29, 2010. At two different meetings recently, those of the Board of Directors of the USC Retired Faculty Association (RFA) [Friday, September 10, 2010] and the USC Emeriti Center's Executive Committee [Monday, September 13, 2010], discussions of how to honor Bob spilled over from scheduled places on the agendas, springing up spontaneously and repeatedly at other points during the meetings. Each new conversation was about how to properly honor a person who loomed so large, literally and figuratively, in both organizations. As Jack Sanders, Secretary of the RFA, remarked privately: it seemed that Bob would always be with us. Apparently he is.

Sunday Morning Ride

2010-09-12T06:39:00.000-07:00

Rode the Bridgestone road bike this morning to Glendora and back, taking a rather circuitous route home in order to stay in the saddle for at least one hour. Actually managed to do the 13.1 miles in 1:01 with an average speed of 12.8 m.p.h., 20.3 m.p.h. max. Notables: the always eerie sounds of muffled voices and tents being erected in the pre-dawn darkness of the Citrus College football stadium parking lot in preparation for the weekly flea market; and a surprise encounter with some four-legged animal, whether coyote or large dog, just outside the football stadium (fortunately, the animal was as leery of me as I was of it). Otherwise, another safe if slighty chilly early morning ride.

Introduction

2010-04-29T10:57:00.000-07:00

I decided that five blogs were not enough. I convinced myself that I needed another. Actually, I began to feel that the other five blogs that I post to from time to time had each evolved in their separate directions with their own themes. When I wanted to post something that was at variance with the existing content on these blogs, I hesitated. Hopefully, this new blog will be a place where I write short pieces about things that interest me in a more or less serious way without having to squeeze them into one of the others. Time will tell. Check back soon to see how this evolves.