29 August, 2010:
End of the summer - most of us educators are back at work,
long before the traditional "Labor-Day-end-of summer"..Mary's recent electronic missive (click here) gave the story in brief of our travels -
- in July to San Francisco (by air) and in August, by car to Washington D.C. Although my digital camera was lost in the Hilton of Fort Wayne (AKA Fort Fun), with the loss of many pics, we did save the ones from
San Francisco, and those of the last 3 days of the DC trip. So here you can see some of the fun... 9 May, 2010:
Mary & I just back from San Francisco - Nico and family now own the house at the corner of Newton and Morse - they will move in in late May,
after new roof and kitchen are ready - it will be a wonderful home - I updated their address and a few other phones and addresses on the family list and spreadsheet -
let me know about others...
Nico sent on the celebratory "bombastic quote of the day" from Simone:(after drinking a large glass of water at dinner)
Ahh, I'm so hydrated today. Nico: Yeah, I guess you are. Simone: I had SO much of that orange juice this morning too and you only got a little bit.
So I'm probably way more hydrated than you, right daddy? --- She could teach BP a thing or two about hydrates in the Gulf of Mexico... Happy mother's day Sarah, and the other mothers of the family(ies).
1 April, 2010
Nico, Sarah, Simone and Xxx's new house in San Francisco (They will own it! - No joke!) They move in on May 1st 98 Newton St., San Francisco, CA 94112
14 February, 2010:
I just updated the table in "Family Data" (suggested by my Valentine): I included (at the top of the page) access to the names, etc in a downloadable excel spreadsheet (actually it includes names, etc of some more distant relatives also);
Please check your own listing of name/address/phones/emails - let me know if it should be further updated..thank you. 2 February, 2010:
Another artist in the family!! Have you checked out Jennie Frisch's newly released album? You can find it at
the Chickpeas website (designed by brother-in-law Nico Berry) - download any songs for $0.99 each... 30 January, 2010:
Do you think Barack Obama's policies are NOT working? More comments in our Modern Truths section.
The latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures how the direction of the BUSH GDP was down, down, further into the red, while the Obama GDP is up, up, further into the blue
Now THAT is a dramatic turnaround, whatever color your vote might be!
Let the party of NO, just Know the truth. 24 January, 2010:
A wonderful reaction from pragmatist Obama to the Massachusetts senatorial election: "Fight! fight! fight!"; as the exit polls showed, most of those middle-left voters
want to see political action to develop "change we can believe in": Barack's sitting in the center, landing nowhere, ignoring his base, etc, just does not cut it.
His reconstituting his White House campaign committee to prepare for the elections is a start, and renewing his focus on the all-important issue of the economy becomes decisive;
two great articles in today's New York Times give (a) the present needs,
and (b) the way to move forward - Go Barack Go! - let the tea parties take over the Republican opposition,
and the center left take over the Democrats, and we can have a real election of choice...
12 January, 2010:Some pics and journal from our European trip 6 January, 2010:We got back! - despite snow everywhere (40 cm in Sweden, and 40 cm here in South Bend, sprinkles elsewhere), and despite
those airport lines (wish we could get on a plane without going to an airport!): pics coming soon, plus Mary's racy journal of the racing about...
Here are two of Daniel's masterpieces from Slindon (Phil and JC's house front and back, the old rectory, with Catholic church next door)[click to enlarge]: 12 December, 2009:Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all - We're off to Europe on Thursday (17th December) and won't be back until next year (Jan 4):
Click here for our Christmas card, message and pics [or the pdf-file (includes some of the pics)].
28 November, 2009
Here is an article about Anita's parents, their jewelry store and all their good deeds in Las Vegas, New Mexico:
a short bio that appeared in their local newspaper about "Hometown Heroes":
it begins:
Tito and Mary Chavez are celebrating a quarter century at their business, Tito's Gallery, on Bridge Street,
where they sell jewelry.
"This week we had an order from the United Kingdom"; Mary said. "The best part about our gallery is the people we get to meet,
and all the friends we make by being here"
[Click on pic to enlarge,
and here for the rest of the article]
25 November, 2009: A fascinating parallel between the House of Lords' obstructions to Ramsay MacDonald's programs in England 80 years ago,
and the Republicans' obstructions to President Obama's programs - pointed out by Paul Krugman in the New York Times today.
8 November, 2009
I thought this picture celebrating niece Judi Beverley's trip to Nashville,
Tennessee with her Nottingham choir was worth seeing...
Sebastien and family drove down from Louisville to see her, and provide some family support.
See Judi's Facebook for more pics of Nashville and the Berrys of Brooklyn.
[Click on pic to enlarge]
20 October, 2009
Check out the George Rickey(1907-2002) sculptures on the streets of South Bend:
George was born here (1 block from our house),
but became well known elsewhere for his kinetic sculptures (wind plus Calder).
Our group put together this website, rickeysculptures.net, mostly to help teachers use ideas of motion in their classrooms.
11 October, 2009: Ho - hum! - Another Hyde Park neighbo(u)r won another Nobel prize - does it make one feel so inadequate?
No, of course not! it makes us proud - of our neighbo(u)rhood, of our country, and of the thoughtfulness of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee.
The idea of "thoughtfulness" is surely a key to Barack's approach to world affairs,
together with respect for all cultures, and a search for mutual understanding.
Both before and after his election, he has shown how the USA and all nations can/should work together following the attributes above in searching for solutions to the world's problems of
climate, hunger, peace and security. His critics do not seem to appreciate such a momentous change in internationalism, perhaps because of the change (YES, WE CAN!) we are seeing in the USA at home.
Just one more point (one could continue...): his political opponents are almost unanimous in their self-serving, Obama-denouncing (and USA-denouncing) comments.
Michael Steele, chairman of the National Republican Committee says "What has President Obama actually accomplished?".
I can confidently respond: The peaceful destruction of the USA Republican Party! - isn't that worth more than a Nobel prize?
Mark Barabak in today's Chicago Tribune points out the seeds of negativism:
their lack of serious thought assures their lack of germination.
6 October, 2009
The 2016 Olympics are going to Rio! Chicago Tribune ideas of "What Might Have Been..."
Here are some brief possibilities (click on pic at right for an enlarged view)
Mary Schmich of the Chicago Tribune - her 16 points
27 September, 2009: Eighteen pages of Letters of Emerson Hynes,
written in the early years of his marriage to Arleen, preserved first by Auntie Glad and then by Peter Hynes,
and scanned into digital form by Olivia Primanis (the letters are in approximately chronological order);
pages 1-6,
pages 7-12,
pages 13-18. 17 September, 2009: Mary's Labor Day message, and Liz McCloskey's recounting of Arleen's first day at St. Elizabeth's Hospital (now the home of Homeland Security)
[Editor's note: following requests to make it easier to find our memories of Arleen, it is now placed at the beginning of the menu page.]
30 August, 2009 (These two ideas struck a chord)
I agree with physicist's son Eric Zorn, (Chicago Tribune, August 30, 2009): "What peeved me was that the law allows virtually
any heterosexual couple to get hitched in haste for virtually any fool reason they want,
but in most states, including Illinois, the law still forbids loving,
committed gay couples from getting married on the grounds that legalizing such unions
would threaten the definition and sanctity of traditional marriage.
That's an outrage about which I will never hold my peace."
And right-> is a Luckovich cartoon on our Senate and the Public Option (click on it to enlarge)
3 August, 2009: Here are some preliminary photos of young people visiting... More to follow once we can breathe again:
In the meantime, parents of young children (and others)
might enjoy this recent NY Times article on "How to lick a Slug"
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26 July, 2009:I thought this science tidbit worth noting:
At the 40th International Physics Olympiad held in Merida, Mexico this
month China was first in the overall medal count, with Honduo Shi of China
winning five gold medals. It was the first time in the 40 year history of
the Physics Olympiad that the top score has gone to a female. [From Bob Park's weekly science newsletter What's New]
18 July, 2009: Just a "clearing the house" weekend for Gordon and Mary as we prepare for the deluge next week...
A wonderful flood of grand-daughters expected - lucky that Gaga and Gogo feel so young - perhaps not by the end of the month! (at least Gogo will be a year older)
We will be ready with a brand-new wrap-around porch at the back of the Harper house....And this is called our vacation!! 11 July, 2009: here are 2 more math items you might enjoy:
(a)Hexabears revisited
- some pics of real world hexagons; (b)
Not just Reuleaux triangles
- this is about Reuleaux Polygons.
7 June, 2009: If you still need arithmetic support, check out
this magical reference passed along by GEB!
17 May, 2009
Barack Obama joins us at Notre Dame... Liam Cofell-Dwyer's photos (a 14 year old pro!)
(you can also click on my 3 samples at the right) and Mary's story (I added my "two-bits")
26 April, 2009
and yet more pics of those cousins together
in sunny California and other recent pics at Nico's updated Simone site
(you can also click on the 3 samples at the right)
21 April, 2009: Check out the pictures of
Geb & Nico Berry families with Nicky Yeager in Sonoma County 14 April, 2009: Geb and the girls in Brooklyn - the double-birthday celebrations April 5 & 6
- pic1 - pic2 1 April, 2009: Perhaps it is time for me to retire - it was so nice to hear Barack Obama in London today say
"You've done a great job Gordon"! OOPS! I suppose it is April 1st!
....And Barack gave the Queen an I-Pod - one could say that it becomes the "Royal WE-Pod"! 30 March, 2009: An appropriate comment on Bush economic policies:
"These days America is looking like the Bernie Madoff of economies: for many years it was held in respect,
even awe, but it turns out to have been a fraud all along."
[Click here for the complete New York Times article by Paul Krugman]
10 March, 2009:Part 1: Thank you Jamie! I just had to add your comment:
"... As a gloriously related point, this is precisely why I wish CPAC, the conservative gathering of such rousing intellectual figures as
Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, John Bolton and random 13 year olds, would happen every month." (Jamie Yeager - 10 March 2009) Part 2: On one side of the card is written: (1) THE SENTENCE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS CARD IS TRUE
On the other side of the card is written: (2) THE SENTENCE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS CARD IS FALSE
This "double no-no" paradox was first proposed by George Godfrey Berry (to Bertrand Russell in 1905)!
Stay tuned for more insights into this remarkable fellow - the oldest brother of my grandfather... 9 March, 2009: Check out
Mary's STORY BUS, how the Erikson Institute brings literacy to the Chicago schools! 27 Feb, 2009:A President's speech which was clear, thoughtful, open and a delight to listen to - I think we really do deserve it
after 8 years suffering through the fear paranoia of "Clueless" and "Darth Vader".
As some further relief, here are three enjoyable physics videos:
"Friction versus the tanks"; "Knocking the hide off a baseball";
"From Quarks to the edge of the Universe" (it starts at Meigs Field, Chicago, and includes our house);
No quiz at the end!... 1 Feb, 2009:More science...Check out the cute girl in pink (Simone) in one of her first public movies
- all about the dangers of toxic air in schools...[check the index] 28 Jan, 2009:As Fang Lizhi, Dr. Xu's fellow dissident whose writings helped spark the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations
and who now teaches at the University of Arizona, said in 1985,
"Physics is more than a basis for technology; it is a cornerstone of modern thought."
I urge you to read the rest of this excellent NY Times essay on the meaning of science and the potential "Obama effects"
20 Jan, 2009:What a day for dreams of the future... We have confidence: "Our challenges will be met"! "Yes, WE CAN"
A leader and government we can be proud of
A leader and government we can believe in
A leader and government that thinks (before acting)
A leader and government that considers the views of knowledgable people
A leader and government that works for the people of America and for the benefit of the people of the whole world NOT a dream - IT IS ALL REAL - Our neighbors from Hyde Park Chicagowill do us all proud...[see also the "weekly pic"]
7 Jan, 2009: New Hynes-Berry calendar for 2009 (in the family data section - new password needed) 3 Jan, 2009:Did you hear Derek Walcott (Nobel prizewinner, and brother-in-law of Olivia) read his poem "Forty Acres"
in honor of the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States? [On NPR tonight, after Garrison Keillor]
It is a wonderful poem reminding us (in part) of the unfulfilled Abraham Lincoln promise to give freed slaves '40 acres and a mule'.
Read it here.
12 Sept, 2008 Mary and I were in England for a week, especially for the partnership of John and Phil at Chichester. Click on pic for our report and more pics..
27 Aug, 2008: I have registered to run for the South Bend Community Schools board (as an at-large candidate) in the November 4th election.
Since there are 15 people (including 2 incumbents) vying for the 2 positions, this will be an uphill effort..
Check out: http://gogosbschoolboard.net/vote.htm 20 Aug, 2008: Mireille and Savannah joined us in Chicago & South Bend:
Here are some pics... 20 Aug, 2008: Some pictures of Kylah and John's Vietnamese wedding in Arlington (taken by a friend)
Here 19 Aug, 2008: Supervacuum man saves the universe again!
See this vacuum ad from the latest "Physics Today" journal:
14 July, 2008: Philip Berry and John Clark announce that they will officially tie the knot, (after 33 years together) and become "legal" partners on September 5th - our congratulations to them!!
13 July, 2008 Sebastien's family visit South Bend and Chicago, the week of July 4th: Tyra and Ava have fun, while Sebastien and Gordon work at 917
to put in a new pond, and (later) Gordon renews the back porch ballustrade... Click here for more pics..
4 June, 2008: A new ERA can begin now.. A quote from Roger Simon in Politico: "Barack Obama would like to remind you of something: He won and she didn't.
It's about him now and not her. He has made history, and she is history"
17 May, 2008:
Australia, and New Zealand
and HAKA Dancing ..... Pictures of Mary and Gordon crossing the dateline and going upside-down... 20 April, 2008:
We are sad to announce two recent sudden deaths in the family:
Craig Barnes 20 Aug 1959 - 3 March 2008
Son of Judy Ackerman and Bob Barnes
Memorial service - Blue Earth - 22 June
12 February, 2008: Happy Birthday Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln - both born on 12 February 1809!!
....and congratulations to cousin Michael Berry - 80 years old on February 3rd - now living in Wakefield, England - 9 January, 2008: (Mary's birthday) A letter from Congressman Wexler: Identifying the failures of the SURGE in IRAQ.
Click here for our Christmas card - Merry Christmas 2007;
And have a great 2008!!
Thanksgiving/Christmas eating making you Overweight? Try this! ...and keep going all winter long...
1 December, 2007: Here is an illustrated story about Katherine. 26 September, 2007: my new e-mail address is hgb@att.net - thanks, Gordon. 5 September, 2007:Some happy news - the engagement of Anita (Chavez) and Daniel (Berry)
The inimitable Daniel has met his match with a wonderful young lady, Anita from New Mexico, (and other parts around the world).
May they continue travelling happily together for ever!!...
Clouds will not get in their way, as described in the poetical and pictorial contributions below this click. New note: The wedding is set for Saturday, 24th May 2008, at the Albuquerque Hot-air Balloon Museum - we'll be having a hot time to raise lots of balloons...
We are sad to announce the untimely passing of Lucy Berry's husband. Francisco Leone 28 February 1964 - 9 July 2007 - RIP
Lucy (older daughter of Godfrey Berry) and Pancho had 4 children - Panchito (19), Sergio (17), Dominica (12) and Thomas (8)
They have lived in Guayaquil, Ecuador for most of their lives.
Here is a picture of Godfrey, Ligia and their 8 grandchildren taken at Thomas' first communion this June:
Back row: Juan, Panchito, Jose, Jorge, Godfrey, Sergio Front row: Dominica, Ligia, Tommy, Cristina
A major update took place 01:02:03 04/05/06 2 minutes & 3 seconds past one, on the morning of April 5th, 2006
July 25th, 2007:
By popular request.. (at least from John Clark), here are some pictures of the South Bend house that we have renovated and put up for sale.
In the process, we sliced off some land to make an additional garden behind our garage in the back garden -
we call it the back-back garden. The house (119 Laporte) is right behind our own South Bend House - those of you who have visited will remember it as an odd pink-painted place on the other side of a high "privacy fence".
Pictures and further details can be found in - menu item 4
See our 2007 pics: snowy February and birthday celebrations; trips to Washington DC (March & April) and to Brooklyn (May)
- menu item 2
The 4 Harper-front-garden-boys (arrived June 1st, 2005)
Boys of the Fall
Boys in the December snow
The underlying graphic used to be Mary's fabricial (or fabrical) version of Grant Wood's "American Gothic"
Since not all friends and family have similar political views, aside from a couple of messages immediately below,
We have moved other political links and commentaries to the section labelled
"Some modern truths" .
You can go there directly for new political items which tend to support ideas for the diminution of power of the present U.S. fascists.
(Time Magazine Man-of-the-year 1938 was Adolph Hitler - guess who they chose for the year 2004?) A note from Britain's Guardian newspaper: When George Bush demands "Syrian troops leave
Lebanon because you cannot hold free and fair elections under foreign military occupation", it
might be tempting to think he is indulging in self-parody. But experience suggests this administration is never so dangerous as when it sounds most absurd."
This passage was pointed out by The Slangist -Jamie Yeager - The complete version is
"No escape from the WAR". This and other recent political comments are also found below
In Chicago we have laid an egg of democracy - hopefully it will hatch very soon...
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Recent news and commentary
Family Pics 
Pictures of grand-daughters (and other family members)....
Christopher's renovation of our Chicago kitchen floor
119 Laporte house
Nico's Web page 
Midnight Forum, Dino/Daniel's Washington D.C. inspirations
Family trees, with thousands of relatives.. 
Mary's poem for Izzy
12:
Sarah & Nico's Wedding 
Physics at Notre Dame , Try it! ----
Or, see Gordon's Physics page
physics pics.., you might like them! 
NISMEC The Northern Indiana Science, Mathematics and Engineering Center
Maps of England, etc An amazing site, with maps of anywhere in the world
- also, in the UK you can zoom in close and see both map and aerial picture...
Here are 5 examples: 
Conker competitions , in France and England 
Roland Kulla , a Chicago artist and friend
Dave Cofell, an artist and musician from Collegeville
