Archive for November, 2009

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Mark Twain Born This Day 174 Years Ago

Monday, November 30th, 2009

I recall reading a fair amount of literature by Mark Twain, books, short stories, and such. It seems that most every English teacher I ever encountered thought it de rigueur to include at least a little something — either about him or by him in their curricula.

I must admit, there was a phase in my life when I could totally relate to his writing — the entire ‘Mississippi Riverboat’ persona he emanated from his soul. Later though, not so much.

I enjoyed the book about the Siamese Twins and The Prince and the Pauper. I’ll never know exactly how many times I read Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. However, the bulk of the rest I read simply fulfilling obligations.

Some of his titles which passed by my face at various levels of concentration included:

  • The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
  • Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
  • The Prince and the Pauper
  • A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court
  • Those Extraordinary Twins
  • The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
  • Old Times on the Mississippi
  • Life on the Mississippi
  • The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson

In retrospect I think less of myself for missing the point that reading is an intellectual expansion process and failing to do a lot more of it LONG before I should have.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens
November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910

Mark Twain was the nom de plume of Mr. Clemens, American author, humorist, observer of life, and raconteur.

He was very worldly for a man of his times and was friends with artists, politicians, royalty, industrialists, and others less known as well.

He enjoyed a level of literary popularity which spanned eras and his work has become the stuff of stage, screen, and innumerable critiques … and book reports!

His was a life he crafted for himself with an inkwell, pen, and paper to which his mind imparted his spin on life and all that he came to see and know.

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Dick Cheney in 2012 ?

Sunday, November 29th, 2009

I read with interest a witty, glib and relevant piece by Jon Meacham on Newsweek.com* regarding the possibility of Dick Cheney running for President in 2012.

He indicates that Mr. Cheney would be a good choice because he is a man of conviction with a forthright record which may be readily evaluated and the results of an election pitting him against another field of candidates would have little in the way of ambiguity regarding the will of the people.

Specifically noting the possibility for a run against Barack Obama, Mr. Meacham says that the rhetorical content would offer the people a “bracing referendum on competing visions” … very true, very relevant and most likely the liberal nightmare to which he alludes.

He references that obscure political ground called “the middle” and how voters tend to pursue that median and when the body politic drifts too far to the right or left we give it a tug back toward that ideological middle ground.

Given the fact that Mr. Cheney’s emergence into the political fray was somewhat of a surprise and seeing how he projects this stalwart position based on a level of national security we’re obviously lacking based on observations of the ‘first state dinner’ and it’s spotlight on party crashers flitting by the secret service; there’s something appealing to a resurgence in protecting our interests with the iron fist he would wield.

My only real concerns — other than my perceptions of Halliburton and Blackwater and their business modalities at taxpayer expense are his age and general health status. The healthcare provisions we give to our politicians in Washington are not available to the taxpaying citizen.

Do we want to expend this lack of equity on a president who would require constant work ‘under the hood’ … and more importantly, what are the portends of his propensity for ‘black ops’ and his business techniques — as well as the philosophies of (and methods employed within) his military, political, and intelligence pursuits ?

*Jon Meacham is editor of NEWSWEEK and author of American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House and American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation .
© 2009 Newsweek

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MTV Airs Final Episode of Beavis and Butthead this day in 1997

Saturday, November 28th, 2009

When I was a grown man I watched Beavis and Butt-head on MTV. The animated television series starred two characters who were heavy metal loving teenagers. Beavis and Butt-head were obnoxious, misogynistic, rude, crude, and socially unacceptable.

I would hoot and holler at some of their antics … all the while affirming the inappropriateness of this programming for children of any age. It was a different matter for a grown man to be exposed to their ridiculous often hazardous antics which never had any consequences.

School children tended to identify and emulate some of their mannerisms. It’s similar to things which happen with South Park. I watch it but retain an adult’s orientation to it all and would never engage in pursuit of social interaction of the type portrayed on the show.

I understand the concepts of social awareness and consequences for actions. It’s a cartoon. I don’t have a cartoon view of the world.

Despite this recognition I have taken a fair amount of heat over my enjoyment of both programs … and even lost a girlfriend once who felt I was simply immature because I thought the program was humorous.

Luckily there have been plenty more from where she arrived in my life and I maintain Mike Judge is a comedic genius. You just have to understand the perspective of the humor and not view it as a lifestyle.

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Iran Seizes Nobel Peace Prize from Winner, Shirin Ebadi … Would Allah Approve?

Saturday, November 28th, 2009

In yet another example of the oppressive Islamic State formerly known as Persia, Iranian thugs have taken the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to activist Judge Shirin Ebadi.

This blatant thievery has been characterized as the “first time a Nobel Peace Prize has been confiscated by national authorities.”

“The worst government is the most moral. One composed of cynics is often very tolerant and humane. But when fanatics are on top there is no limit to oppression.”

Henry Louis Mencken

Sources in Norway report that her medal and diploma have been removed from her safety deposit box in a bank … and the confiscation has been decried by numerous individuals as the rogue state activity that it is.

There is apparently no bottom feeder level to which the regime in control of Islamic Republic of Iran will stoop.

Ebadi’s husband has received similar and much worse physical abuse. He was arrested in Tehran and beaten severely. His bank account has been frozen.

She was awarded the peace prize for her focus on human rights, particularly regarding the treatment of and struggle to improve the status of women and children.

The other Nobel prizes are awarded by committees based in Sweden while the peace prize recipient is determined by a five member panel which is appointed by the parliament of Norway.

The Nobel committee said “As a lawyer, judge, lecturer, writer and activist, she has spoken out clearly and strongly in her country, Iran, and far beyond its borders” during their award announcement.

“The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.”

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

What can be expected from a country which incarcerates and murders it’s citizens at the whims of a pack of greedy thugs in pursuit of personal gain? Surely this type of activity cannot be a tenet of Islam.

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Bruce Lee was born today in 1940

Friday, November 27th, 2009

I was a high school student in 1972 when my friend Markie Joe took me to a theater in downtown Columbia, South Carolina one Saturday afternoon and introduced me to the single most dynamic human being I had ever seen up to that moment in time.

We were watching a film originally called ‘The Big Boss’ but marketed in the United States under the title ‘Fists of Fury’ and it starred a martial artist whose skill was above and beyond anything I had ever seen before in my life. All of a sudden, I wanted to be Bruce Lee.

 

Bruce Lee
November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973

Born Lee Jun fan (Li Zhenfan) in San Francisco November 27, 1940 Bruce Lee became a legendary martial artist and screen star.

He was a champion dancer, ping pong player, and television and movie star in the so-called ‘chop suey’ martial arts genre of the early 70s.

I must have seen thousands of these films over the years. His were a cut above all of those shot in those days — and some of them, like ‘Five Fingers of Death’ were truly excellent in their own rights.

 

Unlike many of his peers, his choreography was superb and his physical strength and fighting skills unlike anything ever seen before.

He was given a prescription herbalist pill called Equagesic by actress Betty Ting-Pei when he complained of a headache while discussing a script with her and producer Raymond Chow.

He died while taking a nap in an attempt to ease his headache. The media hype traversed things from ‘bad feng shui’ through various Dim Mak ‘touch of death’ and kung fu killing techniques such as ‘the iron fist’ or ‘vibrating palm’ in retribution for revealing too many martial arts secrets to Westerners.

His funeral in Hong Kong was attended by 20,000 persons many of whom weeped. Since his passing there have been other excellent martial artists on the big screen …

However, Bruce Lee — master of the devastating ‘one inch punch’ and his personal style, Jeet Kune do were the first real fighting forms to enthrall enthusiasts like me anywhere. His passing, a mere month after I graduated from high school was a very sad moment in my life.

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Black Friday at Walmart …

Friday, November 27th, 2009
black-friday-at-walmart

Well … I get the bulk of my essentials at the Walmart two blocks down the road. Being an urban beast and living in the city limits has caused me to seek various paths of least resistance and that was one of those choices which has evolved over time.

Once upon a time I was often finding myself annoyed with the great masses of customers and only two checkout lines open — but that seems to have improved over time and I try not to hold anything against anyone because I am usually not one to bear a grudge.

Very early today I skeetzed on down there and what to my wondering eyes should appear …

Nope it wasn’t a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer.

It was a parking lot packed to the absolute brim at 4:30 a.m. with me wanting to do one of my famous ‘quick in and out’ dealies. There were city police cars with blue lights flashing and an ambulance parked in front of my usual and customary entrance … on the grocery side, of course.

Needless to say, rather than take the left turn into the parking lot I went home empty handed.

What’s the moral of the story ?

Get your essentials before Black Friday. Shoppers can be crazy !

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Today in 1926 The restoration of Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia begins …

Friday, November 27th, 2009

Living in Virginia Beach, Virginia when I was a youngster afforded us a lot in the way of nearby excursions and entertainment.

I went to an elementary school which remained open in the summer and had activities and games to keep us occupied and out of trouble.

There was always the beach — even when it was too cold to go swimming I had a good time walking the shoreline and collecting shells.

There used to be an amusement park called ‘Ocean View’. I was fortunate to be there in it’s ‘heyday’ and all the rides and amusements were relatively new. I was sorry to read of it’s decline and final closing — the roller coaster there fell victim to a explosion sequence in a movie that I watched once.

Favorite moments from my childhood include school trips to Jamestown and Williamsburg — colonial settlements which were refurbished and populated with costumed actors portraying actual period citizens.

We even did murals of the sights in Miss Key’s second grade classroom in poster paints on brown paper. The one I worked on was of the Duke of Gloucester Street, the principal street in colonial Williamsburg.

The trip was by bus and it was exciting to actually go somewhere during school hours. In my young frame of reference I viewed myself as this ‘world traveler’ packing my father’s Kodak camera which dangled from the strap around my neck and touring with my classmates.

We visited the blacksmith, saw the Coffeehouse, workshops, and trade shops. There were reenactments of period events and everyone had colonial dress except the tourists. We saw the Magazine and the arms and munitions stored there. We looked over various farm animals and agricultural exhibits.

The Governor’s Palace and all the homes and public buildings were beautiful and complete with gardens. Behind the Governor’s mansion was a large maze constructed of hedges in which I became somewhat ‘bewildered’ and exited quite a bit later than most of my peers.

I hope someday to return and reminisce over some of those wistful memories of days gone by and that happier time my father told me I was experiencing. I only wish that my child’s orientation to life and the world had believed the truth and wisdom he tried to share in his words.

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