Topic: Family and Friends, Trips to Newport, RI
The family tree – 18ft wide using the smallest legible font25-Jul-2009 11:47SONY DSC-H1, 4.0, 6.0mm, 0.003125 sec, ISO 64
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Everyone sitting down for lunch25-Jul-2009 12:58SONY DSC-H1, 4.0, 6.0mm, 0.0080 sec, ISO 64
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The Toppa family elders25-Jul-2009 15:24SONY DSC-H1, 3.2, 6.0mm, 0.01666666 sec, ISO 64
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Most of the Toppas from my generation25-Jul-2009 15:35SONY DSC-H1, 4.0, 6.0mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 64
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Terry Toppa (my father) – 1956, 17 years old
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My grandfather, Steven Toppa, bottom right25-Jul-2009 12:40SONY DSC-H1, 3.5, 6.0mm, 0.01666666 sec, ISO 64
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More pictures in the Toppa Family Reunion album.
About 300 people came to the Toppa family reunion on Saturday. They were mostly “Newport” Toppas (descended from my great-grandfather), along with a smattering of “Middletown” Toppas (descended from his brother, my great-great uncle). The Toppa brothers came to the US in the early 1900s from Lettomanoppello, Italy. My father told me a story his father told him, that there was also a 3rd brother who went to New Jersey and killed someone there, so he went back to Italy before he got caught. I also found a mention of a sister in some documents that I have, but I don’t know where she went. Their name was actually Toppi, and it’s recorded correctly in their records from Ellis Island. But after they came to Newport the name changed to Toppa. According to another story my father heard, my great-grandfather’s last name was misspelled as Toppa on his first paycheck (he was a mason, and helped build Thames St and other roads in Newport). Rather than risk making trouble with the boss, he didn’t say anything about it, and the name stuck (that doesn’t explain his brother making the same name change though). Apparently we have distant Toppi relatives in Maine and New Jersey. My great-grandfather had 8 children and his brother had 11, getting the generational powers of multiplication off to a good start. My guess is that there are two or three times as many relatives as came to the reunion, as not all the Newport Toppas came, and only a few Middletown Toppas were there.
The reunion was held at Kempenaar’s Clambake Club – the same venue that was used for the last reunion in 1970. They provided good food and drink, a tire swing and toys for the kids, horseshoes and volleyball. I brought an 18ft wide print out of the family tree (using the smallest legible font I could) and a Many Meanings of Toppa (PDF) display. Someone put together a great video of family pictures going back 100 years, several people pinned up old pictures for everyone to see, and the Maher’s Brothers (also Toppas) band played for us. There were several relatives I never met before who did a lot of work on the family tree at geni.com, so it was fun to meet them in person and hear their stories. My favorite was a story about my great-great uncle. Apparently he was a bootlegger during Prohibition. He had an elaborately hidden room in his shop with three 2-story high stills inside. His family also had a bakery they used as a front, so they could buy yeast and hops without raising suspicions with law enforcement.
I guess I found it inspiring, because I did something I’ve never done before – I had a beer (actually two) with lunch. It was my first time drinking at noon. Plenty of others joined me, although I don’t think it was such a new experience for them… The reunion lastest about 5 hours, and a good time was had by all.
Topic: 2009: Prague, Kai & Eidan: 2009
 The view east from our apartment on Reznicka street
The view east from our apartment on Reznicka street28-Jul-2009 17:33SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.0125 sec, ISO 100
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 The view west from our apartment on Reznicka street
The view west from our apartment on Reznicka street28-Jul-2009 17:34SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.0080 sec, ISO 100
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I arrived sleepy but safe in Prague yesterday. My flight to Zurich was delayed 4 hours, which meant I would have missed by connection and been stuck in Zurich for a long time. So I switched to a Frankfurt flight (after waiting in line for an hour and half at US Air’s customer service counter, manned by an Army of One), and got to Prague only a couple hours later than originally planned. I sat near a medical student who was a Prague native on both flights, and she was kind enough to let me follow her around in the airports, since she was familiar with them. With crying babies on the trans-Atlantic overnight flight, I didn’t get any sleep, but I did enjoy reading the Murakami novel The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. Almost every page has at least one very clever turn of phrase – for example, after the main character’s wife returns from a long day of work “…Kumiko was sitting in the living room with the lights out. Hunched down in the dark with her gray shirt on, she looked like a piece of luggage that had been left in the wrong place.”
I made it to the apartment about 2 in the afternoon yesterday. Most of the day is already just a blur to me, as I went about 36 hours with no sleep, but I do remember the boys were stuck to me like glue the whole time. Maria took me out for a tour of the neighborhood. We’re just a few blocks from Wenceslas Square. I also remember that the ice cream here is very tasty. Today is a rainy day, and Maria is working this morning. So far I’ve memorized “yes”, “no”, “please”, “thank you”, and “excuse me” in Czech, which are probably the 5 most important phrases when traveling anywhere. They were sufficient to get me through a grocery store run with the boys this morning.
If the weather clears up, this afternoon we’ll take the boys to a playground that has miniature cars they can drive. Then tonight we have a baby sitter lined up so Maria and I can go out to dinner, and tomorrow we’re leaving for Budapest with the students for a couple days. After that we’ll have about one more week in Prague before we head to Germany.
Topic: Family and Friends
Toppa Blvd in Newport, RI – Photo by Nicole Toppa13-Jul-2009 00:40NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D40, 10.0, 55.0mm, 0.0025 sec, ISO 200
A special promotional edition of Toppo chocolates, using the name Toppa instead08-Jan-2007 03:24Canon Canon PowerShot S230, 2.8, 5.40625mm, 0.125 sec,
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Toppas cereal is available in Germany and certain other European countries
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Toppa Mono is a book about a Japanese yakuza
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La Toppa – a polka by G.Silvestrini – http://www.pinosilvestrini.it
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Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is a popular Japanese anime
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La Toppa Trattoria, San Donato25-Jun-2006 11:07SONY CYBERSHOT, 2.8, 8.0mm, 0.00175438 sec, ISO 100
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My sister’s license plate24-Jul-2009 15:53Canon Canon PowerShot SD80, 4.0, 9.107mm, 0.00625 sec,
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Today I’m leaving for Newport, to attend the Toppa family reunion this weekend. Thanks to everyone who added information to the family tree at geni.com. We have 251 people in the tree now – I believe that’s about one-third of the entire family. By that I mean all the descendants of brothers Augustino and Joseph Toppa, who settled in Newport and Middletown in the early 1900s. I’ve learned that our actual surname was “Toppi” and that it was changed when they came to the US. Apparently we may have Toppi relatives in Maine and New Jersey.
I’ve printed out the tree (24 pages wide in small print). I’ll set it up at the reunion, and people who aren’t already in it can write themselves in. Then I’ll update the online tree afterwards.
A couple of years ago I wrote a post about some different meanings for Toppa: “Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann” is a popular Japanese anime (Toppa means “breakthrough” or “piercing” in Japanese – the Kanji for Toppa is 突破), there’s a “Trattoria La Toppa” in Italy, there’a a polka “La Toppa”, and in Italian “prendere una toppa” means “to get drunk.” Also, the Japanese chocolate snacks called "Toppo" were briefly renamed "Toppa" while we were living in Japan in 2007.
Since then I’ve discovered some more meanings for Toppa:
- It’s a cereal available in Germany and certain other European countries, similar to frosted mini-wheats in the US.
- There’s a book entitled Toppa Mono about a Japanese yakuza (gangster).
The word suggests “bulldozing one’s way through,” so a toppamono is someone with a devil-may-care attitude who pushes ahead regardless… Toppa means being single-minded and bullheaded once you’ve decided your course of action, and as such it has both a positive and negative side. It’s negative if the person is too single-minded to recognize that his actions are having an adverse effect. But it’s positive if he holds his own and stays the course. At any event, toppa describes a man who charges forward without actually knowing where he is going. Given family considerations and social conventions [in Japan], it’s very hard to be toppa. But a small number stubbornly succeed, and while their reckless behavior is regarded with disdain, it also earns them a certain respect.
- UrbanDictionary.com defines Toppa as “A dirty cop dippin his hands in the drug game.”
- Lower Toppa and Upper Toppa are districts in Pakistan (sometimes spelled Topa).
- Toppa Tings is a reggae song.
Update 6/25: in the past 36 hours another 50 people have been added to the tree, so we’re over 300 now. I printed it out yesterday afternoon – at the smallest legible font it’s about 18ft. wide. My dad and I mounted it on two 10 ft x 1 ft pieces of drywall for display at the reunion today.
I also made a “Many Meanings of Toppa” display, which you can download as a PDF.
I found a picture of Trattoria La Toppa online, and I had to get a picture of my sister’s license plate (added to the pictures on the right).
Topic: Family and Friends
The sunrise on my street this morning.
Sunrise on my street – sometimes getting up at 5AM for work isn’t such a bad thing20-Jul-2009 05:42SONY DSC-T1, 3.5, 6.7mm, 0.05 sec, ISO 100
Topic: 2009: Prague, Kai & Eidan: 2009
This post is by Maria, describing their trip last week to the Czech town of Jablonec.
 Video – Kai makes a glass bead
Video – Kai makes a glass bead17-Jul-2009 02:51
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 Video – Tai tries his hand at glass making – halfway through you can see him operating the bellows with his feet
Video – Tai tries his hand at glass making – halfway through you can see him operating the bellows with his feet17-Jul-2009 02:58
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Today, the students and the boys and I took a trip to Northern Bohemia to a town called Jablonec. It is the traditional center of glass and jewelry making in the Czech lands. Glass jewelry (beads, e.g.) was an industry hit on by the German-speaking Sudetenlanders faced with little arable land and not much in the way of natural resources except vast hardwood forests that provided the fuel needed for the glass furnaces. After World War II, the Germans were expelled, sometimes brutally, from Sudetenland, leaving behind many of the traditional methods for glass beading and metallurgy. A man named Libos Stryncl, whose family has been in the glass pressing trade for generations, has maintained in his home a museum of traditional methods. He provided us with a fascinating and fun look at the family-based industry. These days, the largest companies like Jablonex and Preciosa no longer outsource the work as a cottage trade. Stryncl is trying hard to preserve the traditions.
Arriving at Jablonec16-Jul-2009 19:33SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.00625 sec, ISO 100
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Mr Stryncl’s glass-making cottage16-Jul-2009 22:19SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.0050 sec, ISO 100
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The grounds near the cottage16-Jul-2009 22:20SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.00625 sec, ISO 100
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16-Jul-2009 22:49SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.0040 sec, ISO 100
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Libos Stryncl – last of a dying breed16-Jul-2009 22:45SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.01666666 sec, ISO 1000
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Kai marveling at a freshly crafted bead16-Jul-2009 22:47SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 640
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Kai tries his hand at bead making16-Jul-2009 22:50SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.0125 sec, ISO 1000
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Glass rods ready to be shaped in beads, jewelry, and other decorative items16-Jul-2009 22:55SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.05 sec, ISO 1000
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Molds for the glass beads16-Jul-2009 22:46SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 320
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One of Mr. Stryncl’s glass creations16-Jul-2009 22:32SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 100
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Another of Mr. Stryncl’s creations16-Jul-2009 22:34SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 100
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Eidan at the glass making cottage16-Jul-2009 22:50SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 250
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Kai admiring another of Mr. Stryncl’s creations16-Jul-2009 22:52SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 500
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Glass portraits16-Jul-2009 22:55SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 160
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Topic: Home Improvement
With Maria and the boys in Prague this month, I’ve done nothing but work on the kitchen, aside from my job. But I’ve actually really enjoyed it so I’m not complaining. I was hoping to “finish” before leaving to join them in Prague, but I’m leaving in a few days, so I’m going to have to settle for “functional.” Over the course of last week I painted and did electrical work. On Saturday I installed some cabinets and put up the microwave with help from a friend. On Sunday I finished installing the cabinets, cut the countertops to fit, and installed them (my neighbor helped me carry them, as the big pieces are very heavy). Getting everything level, plumb, and square with the cabinets and countertops was a challenge, as the floor has a substantial slope (more than 1″ over 6 feet, in two directions) and none of my walls are straight. Then today after work, I installed the sink and dishwasher and did some yard work. I also noticed I have a small gas leak in the line for my stove, so I shut it off and I have a plumber coming to take care of that tomorrow (since natural gas can explode, that’s one thing I tend to seek professional help with).
I’m thrilled to just have running water in the kitchen again (no more washing dishes in the bathroom!) and to finally have the refrigerator no longer constantly in my way, right in the middle of the kitchen (it has such low-profile wheels I couldn’t roll it anywhere off the tile floor).
Here are some more pictures. Maria picked the color and I really like it. The contrast with the wood grain of the cabinets and the living room color works really well (but it loses something in the pictures).
Purple kitchen!15-Jul-2009 15:40SONY DSC-T1, 3.5, 6.7mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 160
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The finished archway15-Jul-2009 15:41SONY DSC-T1, 3.5, 6.7mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 160
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There used to be a base cabinet here, with no tile under it. I removed the tiles that were cut to go around it, and then marked the locations for the new tiles17-Jul-2009 08:44SONY DSC-T1, 3.5, 6.7mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 160
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New tiles, ready for grout17-Jul-2009 11:39SONY DSC-T1, 3.5, 6.7mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 120
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The cabinets, plumb and level, which was a challenge with our sloped floor and bowed walls19-Jul-2009 16:05SONY DSC-T1, 3.5, 6.7mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 160
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The new butcherblock countertops, ready to be cut19-Jul-2009 16:06SONY DSC-T1, 3.5, 6.7mm, 0.0080 sec, ISO 100
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I cut the countertops to fit the cabinet configuration, with a bar counter on the dining room side20-Jul-2009 15:07SONY DSC-T1, 3.5, 6.7mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 160
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The fridge, finally where it belongs after being right in the middle of the kitchen for 3 weeks20-Jul-2009 15:07SONY DSC-T1, 3.5, 6.7mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 160
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A friend of mine helped me put up the wall cabinets and microwave. I cut holes and ran wires for task lighting and speakers in the ceiling.20-Jul-2009 15:08SONY DSC-T1, 3.5, 6.7mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 160
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Topic: Shashin
I’m considering adding a new syntax for Shashin’s shortcodes, and I’d like to hear from Shashin users about it. The current format is compact but not easy to remember. For example:
[srandom=3|7|9,288,2,6,n,left]
It’s also not compatible with the newer shortcode syntax that WordPress currently supports and recommends. I’m thinking of switching to the recommended syntax. So the equivalent shortcode for the above example would be something like:
[shashin type="random" albums="3,7,9" size="288" cols="2" count="6" caption="n" position="left"]
The reason I didn’t use this syntax originally is because it’s a lot more typing. So to make the typing easier, I would also add editor buttons, for both the Visual and the HTML editors. There’s a standardized way to add buttons to the Visual Editor already, and my Koumpounophobia plugin makes it easy to add buttons to the HTML Editor (having buttons for Shashin was my inspiration for creating Koumpounophobia).
New versions of Shashin would have an option to support the old syntax, so you wouldn’t have to rewrite tags in old posts.
So, if I added the new syntax and editor buttons, would you use them, or would you prefer to keep using the old syntax? Please leave a comment and let me know.
Topic: 2009: Prague, Kai & Eidan: 2009
Maria emailed another set of pictures to me. She keeps taking pictures of the boys – I don’t know why 
She’s having a hard time getting them out of the apartment – their favorite activity these days seems to wrestling at home with each other – but once she gets them out they have a good time.
Kai near the “Pissing Men” statues by David Cerny28-Jun-2009 22:45SONY DSC-W55, 3.2, 8.2mm, 0.0020 sec, ISO 100
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Eidan on Reznicka Street29-Jun-2009 22:22SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.0050 sec, ISO 100
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Stained glass window inside the St. Vitus Cathedral27-Jun-2009 22:36SONY DSC-W55, 4.0, 12.4mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 200
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Statue at the front gate of Prague Castle27-Jun-2009 22:20SONY DSC-W55, 5.2, 18.9mm, 0.0040 sec, ISO 100
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Michiko and Kai at the silver mine tour05-Jul-2009 00:35SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.04 sec, ISO 320
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Monument to the victims of communism who survived28-Jun-2009 19:48SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.003125 sec, ISO 200
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Kai and Eidan in Prague28-Jun-2009 20:58SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.1 sec, ISO 320
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A giant metronome sculpture at the site of an old Stalin statue in Letna Park09-Jul-2009 18:39SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.0010 sec, ISO 100
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The Charles Bridge04-Aug-2009 18:56SONY DSC-W55, 11.0, 14.3mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 100
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A marionette production of Don Giovanni (it wasn’t very good)10-Jul-2009 03:30SONY DSC-W55, 4.0, 12.4mm, 0.02 sec, ISO 1000
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The ice cream in Prague is fabulous11-Jul-2009 18:03SONY DSC-W55, 3.2, 7.2mm, 0.00625 sec, ISO 100
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“Giant Babies” is a David Cerny sculpture mounted on the TV Tower in Zizkov. Cerny had some controversy over an installation piece he was commissioned to do when Czechia ascended to the EU presidency. Seems he offended a few countries…12-Jul-2009 00:23SONY DSC-W55, 5.2, 18.9mm, 0.0020 sec, ISO 100
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Kai waiting for a tram on Vodivocka Street12-Jul-2009 17:45SONY DSC-W55, 7.1, 6.3mm, 0.0080 sec, ISO 100
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Gardens in Vysehrad Fortress12-Jul-2009 18:31SONY DSC-W55, 8.0, 8.2mm, 0.0080 sec, ISO 100
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Eidan at the Vysehrad Castle playground12-Jul-2009 18:40SONY DSC-W55, 2.8, 6.3mm, 0.0025 sec, ISO 100
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