Birthday gift of a lifetime

Today, October 2, 2012, I turn 81. Yesterday I selected a birthday gift for myself that I have never had before. I bought the first bedroom suite which is new and personal to me in my entire life: a three-piece Cherry finish bed frame with trundle for storage, a five-drawer chest and nightstand.  

When I was a boy, I slept in an iron bed with a brother who was a couple of years younger. There was a dresser for clothes but they didn’t match. I suspect each piece was handed down from somewhere else in family, most likely grandparents. When I became a teen-ager I moved to a single iron bed (another hand-me-down) in the room and my two younger brothers shared the bigger bed. These were the great depression years followed by WWII, and my single-parent mother did her best.

I went in the Air Force shortly after high school and slept on a variety of bunks, cots and beds. After almost three years, I started to live off-base and shared furnished apartments in Washington with another Air Force investigator.

When I married Mary in 1954, we also lived initially in furnished apartments in Washington, D.C., and later in Charleston. In 1955, rentals in Charleston were hard to come by and mostly consisted of apartments carved into big homes where these were full of furniture from generations past. In Charleston, no one throws anything away until it disintegrates.

When the children started to come along we set up in houses and were given some basic furniture from relatives, mostly Mary’s family. My paternal grandmother gave us a great wooden table we used in the kitchen for years and later re-did and continued to use. Some furniture we bought second-hand. I don’t recall three or four pieces of bedroom furniture that were part of the same set. It didn’t bother us. We were young, making our way and had a roof over our heads and a comfortable bed. (Mattresses were the most important thing and were always ours.)

After a couple of years in a starter house we bought a larger house in 1964 that would be our home for the next 44 years. We began with a kitchen table and chairs where we took our meals and concentrated on furnishing the living room. Then we worked on the dining room, although we reserved its use for holidays and special occasions, like when family or out of town friends came for Sunday dinner. There were five children and multiple bedrooms to outfit in one way or another, piece by piece, but ultimately we started to talk about “doing over” our bedroom. Before we could bite the bullet Mary’s mother passed away in 1976.  A couple of years earlier she had purchased a five-piece bedroom suite and we inherited it. It was quality furniture, looked great, served us well and saved us money.

By 2005, the bed frame from the inherited suite was on its last legs and we replaced it with a Scandinavian style bed and foam mattress. Now, we had a new bed and three older pieces, which blended fairly well. A not uncommon state of affairs among middle class families in South Carolina.  

In 2007, Mary was in an assisted living facility and I closed out our house six months later.  I gave away, sold and threw out all kinds of furniture. I kept the bed and two inherited pieces. I moved these into a one bedroom apartment on the same campus with Mary. About a year ago I replaced the inherited nightstand.

And then Friday night, September 28, 2012, I turned on the lights in my bedroom, looked and laughed: a chest of drawers going back almost 40 years, a bed and a nightstand that were close but not really a matched pair. Three separate pieces whose only connection was holding my body, some of my clothes and my accessories. It looked like the bedroom, which also holds a comfortable wing-back chair and floor lamp, had been furnished from separate garage sales. This goes beyond even Southern acceptance, I said.

Delivery is Thursday.

To correct the record

Last week I wrote about the National Do Not Call list for cell phones. I relied on a usually most reliable source for my information. Today I learned there is no separate National Do Not Call list for cell-phones.  There is just one National Do Not Call list. You may list your cell-phone on this list. Sorry for the confusion.
A lengthy explanation of all this is available at the Federal Communications Commission web site.

Do Not Call Registry

Your cell phone number is going to be turned loose this month and telemarketing companies will be able to call you (at your expense) and make a hard sell pitch.A note in the most recent issue of AFOSISA Global Alliance, gives this Federal government web site where you can list your phone numbers, including cell numbers, on a "do not call" list. I went there this morning and listed my land line and cell number. I found it straight forward and easy to use. There will be a couple of e-mails you have to respond to; these are to assure someone is not playing games with your phone numbers and desires.

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The Myth of the Gunfighter

Remember when you sat in the movie theatre on a Saturday afternoon and watched two men walk slowly down the dusty street toward each other. Merchants shuttered doors. Women whisked children off the street. The bad guy was unshaven, snarling and he wore a black hat. The good guy was tall, handsome and looked magnificent in his white Stetson. The music came up in the background and you stopped putting popcorn in your mouth as the bad man's hand moved toward the pistol on his hip.

Great stuff from Hollywood (and pulp novels), but far from factual, Joseph G. Rosa tells us. Gunfighters of the old West were more imagination than fact. Of course, the code of the entertainment world is, "When the legend is greater than reality," print the legend.
  
Joseph G. Rosa is a historian of the Wild West, author, and the chief biographer of Wild Bill Hickok as well as several other figures of this period.

Mr. Rosa makes his case for setting the record straight in his new book:

Age of the Gunfighter: Men and Weapons on the Frontier, 1840-1900. by Joseph G. Rosa. University of Oklahoma Press. Paperback

 

The first Medicare Card

Do you know who got the first Medicare card? Harry Truman. In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson moved the Medicare bill signing from Washington, D.C., to Independence, MO. so former President Truman could be on hand for the signing and receive the first card. This was a tribute to Mr. Truman's efforts 20 years earlier to create a national health insurance plan. (The President's Club, Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy. New York, Simon & Schuster, 2012.)
 

ABA awards hghest honor to Morris Dees

Morris Dees receives American Bar Association’s highest honor

Morris Dees, co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, was recognized Tuesday for a legal career dedicated to seeking justice and equality for all when the American Bar Association presented him with the ABA Medal – the organization’s highest award.
Dees, honored during the association’s annual meeting in Chicago, received a standing ovation from the ABA’s House of Delegates, the association’s policymaking body of more than 500 members.
“I am honored and humbled to receive this award from the American Bar Association,” Dees said afterward. “But this award isn’t just about me. It’s also a tribute to the talented SPLC employees dedicated to ensuring that what began as a small civil rights law firm I helped found four decades ago will always be there for the disenfranchised.”
The ABA Medal, which recognizes “exceptionally distinguished service by a lawyer or lawyers to the cause of American jurisprudence,” is given only when the ABA Board of Governors determines a nominee “has provided exceptional and distinguished service to the law and the legal profession,” according to the ABA.

SPLC Founder Morris Dees accepts his award from the ABA.

“The presentation of the ABA Medal to Morris Seligman Dees Jr. represents our profound admiration for his personal courage and incomparable leadership as one of the greatest civil rights lawyers of our time,” said outgoing ABA President Wm. T. (Bill) Robinson III. He said Dees is “an outstanding example of a lawyer who, case by case, is moving our country toward tolerance and equality.”
Previous ABA Medal recipients include Supreme Court Justices Oliver Wendell Holmes, Felix Frankfurter, Thurgood Marshall, William J. Brennan Jr. and Sandra Day O’Connor. Other recipients include Watergate Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski; Judge Patricia Wald, a member of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia; and human rights activist the Rev. Robert Drinan.

No applause at horse shows

Ever wonder why there is little to no applause during horse shows, and what there is is often subdued? 
Several years ago I went to a horse show in Vienna, Austria, where the famous Lipizzaner Stallions  were performing. During this fabulous performance I was a standee in the second balcony looking down on horses and riders. When the performance was over the audience remained respectful as the riders and horses gracefully retreated to the stalls. Without warning I was seized with a loud burst of repetitive sneezing and several really loud ah-choos rocked the hall. I made so much noise the horses bolted, reared up and almost threw riders. The audience on the first level instantly turned their gaze my way; I thought my fellow standees on the balcony would throw me into the arena. I tried to apologize silently with an embarrassed face but that did not go over well with anyone. Although I could not understand all the comments I got the message to exit quickly and quietly. After the horses had cleared the arena, loud applause showed appreciation for, I am sure, the performance, and not my sneezing. 

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Government workers

Many of the men and women who put Curiosity on Mars on Sunday are federal government workers who often are criticized. Hope some of the critics will pause to admire and praise this magnificent accomplishment. And to think most of the equipment and parts of Curiosity came from the lowest bidders...
Well done!

Women's breasts

A new book is out dealing with women's breasts. (Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History, by Florence Williams).
A delightful review of this new book may be found here. About six hundred years ago, according to the review, Henri de Mondeville wrote to the King of France, "The reasons why the breasts of women are on the chest, whereas other animals more often have them elsewhere, are of three kinds. First, the chest is a noble, notable and chaste place and thus they can be decently shown. Secondly, warmed by the heart, they return their warmth to it so that this organ strengthens itself. The third reason applies only to big breasts which, by covering the chest, warm, cover and strengthen the stomach".
Also, according to the review, men viewed large breasts as a sign of a desirable woman for breeding. It is not recorded how women over the ages have looked upon that premise as a basis for mating. Also when women started having breast implants they had the last laugh on the men. As George Carlin used to say, "Women are crazy. Men are stupid. And men are stupid because women are crazy."

  

 

 

A dear friend - Dot Ruotolo

I was saddened this morning to read in the local paper of the passing of a dear friend, Dorothy J. Ruotolo, at age 84. Our relationship goes back several decades. In the early sixties my wife and I were attending Mass on a beautiful Sunday morning. Mary was not then a Catholic. She was struggling with the Catholic missal and keeping up with the service when a lady in the pew behind us reached over and pointed in the missal to where the service was and helped Mary stay connected. Later, she told us she had similar problems earlier in her life. Very quickly we learned Dot was also a teacher in the Catholic school and would be the one to introduce our boys to the first grade. We formed a friendship on that Sunday morning and it continued for years. At one point when her son joined the Air Force, I talked to Dot about my eight years in that service and helped to ease her mind that her son had made a great choice. He would go on to a fine career and be honorably retired. Dot also had a daughter who worked at the Naval Supply Systems Command Center where I was the security director. She was a fine young lady and excellent employee. Dot spent many years teaching in Catholic schools and was a friend to thousands of families in North Charleston, Hanahan and Goose Creek. She will be missed by all, including her many students who got a great start on their education in her first grade. She was preceded in death by her husband Michael, a fine gentleman.

Franke Flyer

The FRANKE FLYER arrived in the Trailside lobby on the day after the annual national holiday completely without fanfare.  It just showed up. A copy was hung on the bulletin board (like stockings by the Christmas fire) and extras were laid on the table to be taken at will by any resident.

This is another example of how residents in Franke at Seaside want to know what is happening to whom, where and when. Why being optional. It brings to mind the effort our former neighbor Ned Hogan put forth to get a bulletin board in Trailside (and ultimately in the three apartment houses.) Ned started putting notices on the walls of the elevator, scotch taping such items as came to his attention and needed (in his opinion) to be distributed. There was of course, the usual objection (someone always objects to something) but resistance gave way and this lead to a bulletin board on an easel in the lobby for a couple of weeks. It became a major hit in the Trailside lobby so much so that it was hung on the wall and remains there, although Ned has moved on to his new home somewhere in Texas.

I thought a similar bulletin board in the Burges Center near the in-house community mail rack (not USPS controlled)  would be a good idea. But the one that went up has a lock on it and is used only for “official” notices. My original thought was how can a cottage dweller tell others what is on his or her mind? What if a cottage dweller wants to sell a sofa, buy a used sauce pan, or donate a computer? How would they get the word out? Print flyers and distribute them to every slot in the community mail boxes. Not very cost effective. Would a resident’s bulletin board be tacky?

Sometimes we have to relax and live a little. Instead of fretting about what something might turn into, why not let it happen and see where it goes. If it gets out of control it can be corrected. In all too many ways we are besieged with information and someone’s idea of what is news. All around us there are daily and weekly newspapers, weekly and monthly magazines, newsletters, books, radio and TV, the internet, gossip, and plain old verbal mischief (aka:BS). The information age is upon us ad infinitum. All of this is information coming down on us. It is not information going up or among us. It does not satisfy the un-yielding urge, the passion if you will, to communicate among each other.  

Long live the FRANKE FLYER. May it flourish and one day takes its rightful place alongside the printing press, the computer and the wagging tongue.

  

The purpose of a vacation

Did you ever go on vacation and catch a cold and then spend three precious days medicating with hot tea, aspirin and a lay-down while the rest of the family cavorted on the beach and at the fun park? I had a similar moment on my recent trip to Maine. While driving on I-95 at around 80 mph - with other cars passing me as though I was standing still, I took to biting and chewing an apple and damn near bit the side of my tongue off. I mean the teeth on my left side did a job on my tongue. If I had not been driving, I would have found an ice cube and put it on my tongue.
After a couple of days of living with a tender tongue I went to a drug store where a friendly pharmacist sold me some child's allergy medicine and a bottle of antacid liquid. "Mix them together, one for one, and swish it around in your mouth." I did that for a day or two but on the trip back to South Carolina my tongue still hurt and I stopped at the University of Connecticut medical center to get a doctor's opinion. He told me to buy a mouth wash and swish it around. So much for the second opinion.
So what is the point of all this? When you were on vacation and got sick, you sucked it up and at the end of the vacation period you went back to work. That's the way it was and is. But NOT FOR SPANISH WORKERS.
The European Court of Justice recently ruled that a Spanish employee who got sick while on vacation was entitled to another vacation period to cover the days when he was under the weather. The purpose of a vacation, ruled the Court, "is to enable the worker to rest and enjoy a period of relaxation and leisure," something the worker cannot do if he/she is under the weather.

 
 

Trailside Anniversary - 5 Years On

Yesterday the residents of Trailside Apartments celebrated the 5th Anniversary of the opening of the second apartment house at Franke at Seaside,Mt. Pleasant, S.C. Two residents actually moved in on May 29, 2007, but the real intake began in June.

These are some snapshots taken at random of the wonderful residents. Most of these are unposed pictures and presented to show people enjoying themselves, each other and the happy occasion. (The pictures may be enlarged by clicking on the Slideshow link in the left corner of the site.)


We paid our respects to those former residents who have gone on but who were once part of our family. We acknowledged those who have arrived recently to bring new life and new ideas to the residence. 

Many of the families and the individuals living alone made and brought covered dishes. No one eats better than when a number of women put their hands to the skillet and turn on the stove. A bit of wine and adult beverages were enjoyed by most. Deserts were plentiful and delicious.  


Whether it is an apartment house in a busy metropolis or a quiet place like Franke at Seaside it is the residents who make a house a home. It is the spirit of camaraderie, of working together and simply being a good neighbor that makes the Trailside Building such a special place.

We give thanks to the women and men who organized the party (it is always the women, God bless 'em, who take the lead) and we look forward to the 10th Anniversary of Trailside. And we hope all the current residents will be on hand for that joyous day.
 

Reunion of Anna's Children - 2012

I want to share some pictures taken on the trip to Maine. Suffice to say I had a good time when I got there, but the devil was in the getting. I will never drive from Charleston to Maine again. It has changed 1000 percent from years ago when we used to make the trip and Mary kept a jar in the car for the boys to pee in so we wouldn't have to stop. Now stopping was a way of life. The traffic starting about 25 miles South of Washington is insufferable and I do not know what keeps New York people mentally sound. From now on I will forgive anyone who has lived there and has a "New York attitude." 

My siblings, Walter, Barbara and Carol, all looked fine and are in good health. Walter and Carol had their "Charlie drama" stories, which they can laugh at now but were not a laughing matter when they were lived. My only regret is that I could not have been of more assistance to them last year in Charlie's final days, but Mary was my first concern for a long time. I believe they understood then and now.

The Haven by the Sea in Maine was the same fine place we have been before. John and Susan are outstanding hosts. While we were there an association of B&B owners sent a check team in under cover and it was not until the next day they revealed themselves. Walter had saved the day the evening before when he showed the check man how to turn on the fireplace. He said John had told him how to do it. This was a very good sign as to John's efforts on part of his guests. The Inn received a rating of 198 out of 200 points. Two points were lost because of plastic glasses in the bathrooms. These are individually wrapped. John uses them because all the bathroom floors are stone and a broken glass would pay havoc with guests feet. He took the loss of 2 points with a grain of salt.

I enjoyed the trip and got to give my 2005 BMW a good workout. It performed most satisfactorily. This was the first time since I bought it last fall that I took it on the road any distance and wanted to see how it would perform. It rode silently and smoothly. A couple of times the speedometer was hitting 100 mph. I slowed down. The car just crept up on me without any exertion. Anyway, after a couple of those experiences I tried to keep it around 65-80. Many times others past me. I like the laws in Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and all the New England States. They prohibit trucks buses and trailers in the far left lane and this makes driving safer and smoother for auto drivers. All things considered, it was a good trip and it felt good to see my sisters and brother again. We are going to try and stay in touch a bit more in the future. All in all, a good reunion of Anna's Children. 

Family reunion

I am excited to be traveling to Wells Beach, Maine, this coming weekend to visit with my two sisters and brother. It has been a few years since we have been together. We will stay at Haven by the sea on Church Street. This is a delightful bed and breakfast where we have stayed before and is always a joy. Along the way I will visit with two sons in their homes. Will see you all when I return.

Essay: Yesterday's news today

The Post & Courier – Less news, higher price

The monthly price for daily home delivery of The Post & Courier (Charleston, S.C.) is rising to $20 from $17.50 effective May 1, 2012.

At the same time the paper has fewer pages per day than a year ago or even two years ago. It is going to cost more to have less news delivered. Example: the kid’s page in the tabloid section published on Thursdays is gone. The paper does not carry reviews of local theater and other performing arts. National and international news have been cut back gradually and it is difficult to remember when we use to get more.

According to the paper, some of the $2.50 price hike will go to the carriers, but we don’t know how much. It is a good bet most of it will go to burnish the bottom line and keep the owners eating regularly.

Circulation of the paper is about 82,300, according to Mondo Times (worldwide news media directory.) The on-line Wall Street 24/7, reported readership rates for print newspapers are falling across the board, and the country’s younger generation has abandoned the medium the most. 

As of 2010, only 7% of 18- to 24-year-olds reported having read a print newspaper the day before, according to the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

About two years ago a young man startled me with some off the wall views on a then current event. I asked him where he got his information. “The Jon Stewart” shows, he replied. 

The May 2012 Harper's Index reported $23.9 billion in ad revenue for the U.S. newspaper industry in 2011, while Google earned $36.5 billion. 

Newspapers are not the only part of the news media losing customers and revenue. The daily network television news broadcasts, local and national, are suffering the same fate.

The late George Carlin said the news media was “a sort of bulletin board and public relations firm for the ruling class – the people who run things.” He was not a big fan of television news outlets.

“On the ‘Five O’Clock News,’ they tell you about the ‘Six O’Clock News’; at six O’Clock, they tell you about eleven; at eleven, they plug the morning news; the morning man promos the noontime lady, and, sure enough a little after noon, here comes that empty-headed (expletive deleted) from the ‘Five O’Clock News’ to tell you what he’s going to do …on the Five O’clock News.”

Maybe the 18-24 year olds know something the rest of us don’t. Meanwhile, it is going to cost more to have the comics and obituaries delivered to your door each day. Tune in The Jon Stewart shows for the rest of the news.

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We miss you Mom

My mother died ten years today (March 30)  in Lowell, MA. Anna Mary (Wynn) Archibald was born December 16, 1909.

She had five children and cared for and loved us throughout her life - even in spite of some things she may not have approved of. We loved her back - in spite of some little things that didn't please us as we were growing up.  As we grew in that love, life's little irritations faded away and became too few to mention. 

May the Lord continue to enjoy your company Mom. We miss you!

Anna's Kids, Top circa 1940-41

Barbara, Walter, Francis,

Charlie and Carol

Bottom April 2, 2002

Walter, Francis, Barbara, Charlie, Carol

In memory of Trayvon Martin

I wear a hoodie on occasion but this is no reason to shoot me and it was no reason to fear or shoot a 17-year old African-American youth in Sanford, Fla. on February 26. The Grand Jury and/or the Justice Department need to get to the bottom of this. 

The art of talking...

"What makes a good conversationalist has changed little over the years. The basics remain the same as when Cicero became the first scholar to write down some rules, which were summarised in 2006 by The Economist: 'Speak clearly; speak easily but not too much, especially when others want their turn; do not interrupt; be courteous; deal seriously with serious matters and gracefully with lighter ones; never criticise people behind their backs; stick to subjects of general interest; do not talk about yourself; and, above all, never lose your temper.' But Cicero was lucky: he never went on a first date with someone more interested in their iPhone than his company." (Excerpted from "How to have a conversation," John McDermott, Financial Times -online, March 9, 2012.)

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A good friend has passed on...

Vivian G. Boyd, 96, of Hanahan, SC, has passed on. She was a good friend, always joyful, optimistic and showing concern for others. We often visited with her at church on Sunday and always left with a smile on our face. My late wife, Mary, and I were privileged to attend her 90th birthday party held in the Divine Redeemer Church hall and share a few laughs with her. She will be missed by family and her legions of friends. 

You're nuts!

In 1917, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders listed 22 psychiatric diagnoses. This is the bible of the mental health profession and strives to catalog every form of mental illness known to man and woman. A new edition due out next year will list 350 diagnoses. Despite the vast accumulation of knowledge and insight gained over the last 95 years there is one constant: If you talk to God, you're praying. If God talks to you, you're nuts.

 

What is happening in our world?

An article in the March issue of SmartMoney, a publication of the Dow-Jones & Company, Inc., (publishers of The Wall Street Journal,) detailed how in some families job hunting has become a total family affair. Parents of college-grad children are writing resumes for them, tracking them a couple of times a week on LinkedIn, going on job interviews, making follow-up calls (because junior is too busy watching Jersey Shore?). One new hire’s mother reportedly called to say her kid was working too many hours and she wasn’t happy.

In some cases where the parents are no more successful in helping the kid land a job than the kid is on his/her own, parents hire “job coaches.”

Some of this is undoubtedly desperation on the part of meddling, doting or desperate (or all three) parents: they want the kids out of the house and on someone else’s payroll. Twenty-two or twenty-three years of raising, feeding, nursing, clothing, hauling them to little league and ballet classes, and educating them is enough. They want to see some payback for the hundred and fifty grand they coughed up for some private college.

Nevertheless, it was an eye-opener to read some of the lengths to which involved parents go in the 21^st century to help junior or missy get a job. And think nothing of it. How was it I and others of my age missed out on this golden opportunity to meddle in our children’s lives well into their adulthood? It is difficult to believe this sort of obsessive parenting is only a logical evolution of life in America. Two hundred years ago artisans took their sons into the family business or trade and taught them how to earn a livelihood. In my adult experience, fathers and/or mothers – at the most, called old friends and former college classmates to ask for a job interview for their offspring. My parents did not do this for me, but I never held it against those that did. Within my own family, a suggestion, a nod in the right direction, or a discrete inquiry was to my mind enough.

About thirty years ago I suggested to my oldest son where he might apply for a job. I gave him a book written by a man recounting his experiences in that line of work. He read the book, applied for a job and a career was born. Another son regretted he had declined a job. He had second thoughts but was embarrassed to ask if the job was still available. I told him to call."If the job is still open, there is no embarrassment. If they tell you are too late, hang up. It’s over.” He made the call, and got the job at an increased opening salary.

Another son wanted to change careers and I asked a friend to give him an interview. He landed a job and today is a highly valued employee. A firm where I had done a piece of business opened a new location. I told them my daughter who was in the same industry wanted to relocate. “Tell her to send a resume.” She did and relocated.

My last child wanted to go to graduate school to enhance her opportunities. For a couple of years she and her son boarded in our family home two days a week and my wife absolutely loved caring for the grandson while our daughter went to school. Today she is doing well.

At the most I made two suggestions, had two short conversations, and enjoyed the pleasure of watching my grandson grow.

Accompanying kids on job interviews? Tracking them on LinkedIn? What has happened to our world? If this madness continues parents will be going daily to the job while the over-educated kids stay home and play the latest version of Nintendo?

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Electric shock for Limbaugh

Hardly anyone in the United States isn't aware of Rush Limbaugh's insult of a Georgetown law student for her testimony about insurance coverage for birth control pills. His ugly version is twisted 180 degrees opposite what the student testified about. Here is some information excerpted from The Loyal Opposition blog, The New York Times,  March 2, 2012: 

"Do the Right Thing

"By ANDREW ROSENTHAL

"Intolerance and character assassination are so ubiquitous in political discourse that it’s important to take note when someone calls out bad behavior, withstands it, or bothers to apologize for it.
*****
"The next person who deserves a bit of positive attention is Sandra Fluke, a Georgetown University law student.
"At a Congressional hearing in mid-February on the Obama administration’s new contraception rules, Ms. Fluke testified that birth control can cost women up to $3,000 over the course of law school. She also told the House Oversight Committee about a friend who was prescribed birth control pills as part of her cancer treatment (a common occurrence) but had to buy them herself because Georgetown’s health insurance did not cover it (also a common occurrence).
"She was eminently reasonable. But, this week, Rush Limbaugh attacked her repeatedly on his radio show. He twisted what Ms. Fluke said beyond recognition and claimed she was trying to get taxpayers to subsidize her sex life, which is entirely irrelevant to this conversation. Mr. Limbaugh called her a “slut” who wanted to be paid to have sex.
"(After he heard about Mr. Limbaugh’s comments, Mr. Obama called Ms. Fluke to thank her for backing his policies despite the onslaught, and to see how she was doing. I think he deserves praise, but he’s not one of the three because the effort cost him no political capital.)"

Earlier this week I expressed the idea of starting a fund to take Rush Limbaugh out for an afternoon of electric shock. Learning more details of how he twisted Ms. Fluke's testimony leads me to think a full day might be in order.

The beat goes on

Four years ago today I moved into an apartment at Franke at Seaside, Mt. Pleasant, SC. It was my first "PCS" (permanent change of station to those who never served in the military) in 44 years. My wife, Mary, preceded me to Franke by about seven months and lived in Assisted Living. The days went by faster than any other period I can recall. (It seems strange but the older we get the faster the days roll by.) Slowly but progressively I met my neighbors and made new friends from all parts of the country and all walks of life. The joy this brought was marred by the deterioration in Mary's health and her death in December 2010. Many in the Active Lifestyle Community have had similar down moments, but life goes on. For Mary and I the permanent physical separation came after 56 years of being together. During those years - in good times and bad - we shared a Kiplingesque expression and attitude that serves me well today: soldier on!

New friends (especially one very, very special friend) are a precious joy in my life. When I was a young boy, just entering my teens, living in Lowell, MA, I attended St. Patrick's Church. We had a change in pastor's in the mid forties. When the new priest gave his first sermon he dwelt on the theme and uttered the phrase, "my lot has been cast in friendly places." Since moving to Franke at Seaside, I often recalled that sermon and fully appreciate the heartfelt sentiment it expressed. And I am happy at this time in my life to say, "my lot has been cast in friendly places."

 

Mrs. Colbert and her son

Report: Colbert Stops Show for Mom

Oh where, oh where could Stephen be?! That was the question being hurled around by fans of comedian Stephen Colbert’s The Colbert Report after the show abruptly halted production this week “due to unforeseen circumstances.” The New York Post cited a source Friday that said the show was put on hold as Colbert tended to his ailing 91-year-old mother, who lives in Charleston, S.C. “They are a very private family,” the source told the paper of the Colberts. Stephen is the youngest of 11 children. Colbert told audiences on Monday that he had just returned from a week in South Carolina before the show was snipped later in the week. The show is said to return as early as next week, according to the source. (Source:The Daily Beast and The New York Post.)

Lost a friend - Ed Holcomb

A single red rose in a vase in the lobby of the main building at Franke at Seaside yesterday told us another resident had died. This was Ed Holcomb, who was somewhere in his 90s.

 

A couple of weeks ago over dinner in the dining room at Franke, the residential community where we both live,  Ed asked me to help him set up a wireless system in his apartment so he could use his Nook to download books he wanted to read. In a phone call a day or so later I recommended he buy a wireless router and we would hook it up. We talked again last week and he said he was ready to do the job. I went to his apartment where we chatted as he showed me the office he had created in a second bedroom. It held his books and desk and computer. It was a comfortable room and he said it gave him a lot of pleasure. We looked at the cable connection sitting on the floor and the wire running around the baseboard of two walls and speculated how it might be raised up and moved even closer to the computer. After a few minutes I asked him for the router and  he seemed surprised. Then he realized he was to have purchased one. He went to a day-planner and found the note to himself and said he had completely skipped over it.

We laughed a bit and talked a little more. He apologized for his mistake and I told him to forget it. I said it was a pleasure seeing his place and talking. We made plans to get together again in a couple of days.

Ed told me about his weekly calls via Skype with a son who is working in New Zealand. He was proud of this accomplishment using some of the latest free technology. Details of Ed's death and arrangements have not been publicized. I am sure contact is being made with the son to include his wishes.

The community has lost a good member. We will remember him fondly.

  

The Maltese Falcon

Came across this blog about one of my all-time favorite films: The Maltese Falcon. The last sentence says all that need be said: Nobody will ever make a better Sam Spade than Humphrey Bogart. 

01.27.12 

Guest blogger Angela Petteys 
(Note: Links not operative)

When you have more than one screen adaptation of a novel, usually one is more faithful to the book than the other. However, in the case of Dashiell Hammett's  The Maltese Falcon, it has two pretty accurate translations. The first version, released in 1931, stars Ricardo Cortez as detective Sam Spade, Bebe Daniels, and Thelma Todd, and it does a pretty good job of sticking to the source material. However, director John Huston's 1941 film, with Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, and Sydney Greenstreet, is an even more accurate representation. It doesn’t stick to the novel exactly, but most of the dialogue is taken verbatim and the key story elements are kept intact. (Editor's Note: There was also a very loose 1936 adaptation, with Warren William and Bette Davis, entitled Satan Met a Lady.)
Most of the differences are pretty subtle and probably were changed for the sake of pacing. For example, in the 1941 movie Sam finds out about the arrival of the boat La Paloma after he wakes up in Kasper (“The Fat Man”) Gutman’s hotel room and starts looking around the room. It’s a much more drawn out process in the book. In the book, Sam finds out Brigid O’Shaughnessy didn’t go to his secretary Effie’s apartment like she was supposed to. Instead, she had the cab stop to get a newspaper, then she asked to be brought to the ferry building. So Sam gets a copy of the paper in question to look for clues, but doesn’t figure it out until he starts snooping around Joel Cairo’s room and notices that the newspaper section with ship arrivals was of particular interest to him. Although there’s nothing wrong with the way that part plays out as written by Hammett, if it were filmed that way, it would have slowed the picture down. Another difference is that the character of Gutman’s daughter is completely absent from the Bogart movie (as well as from the Ricardo Cortez version, for that matter), but she wasn’t exactly a vital character in the book.
A lot of the other changes were definitely made because of Hollywood’s production codes. What’s interesting about that content is that neither the 1931 nor the 1941 version gets it exactly right. The 1931 film tends to be a bit more scandalous than the book was, but it does include things that were in the book that couldn’t be included in the 1941 remake. There’s no way director Huston could have gotten away with the scene where Spade strip searches O’Shaughnessy after noticing that $1,000 of the $10,000 Gutman promised him was missing, but it was in the 1931 version. The 1941 movie also really had to downplay the fact that Cairo and Wilmer were both supposed to be gay, whereas the earlier adaptation made that fact much clearer. In the book, when O’Shaughnessy finds out that Sam has been talking to Cairo--who is prepared to pay more money than she can-- she offers to sleep with him and proceeds to spend the night at Sam’s apartment. When it comes to that part in the 1941 version, Brigid can’t offer herself to Spade or spend the night, so Sam just kisses her instead. As for Spade’s affair with Iva Archer, his partner Miles’s widow, the 1941 movie actually depicts what went on more accurately than the 1931 version. The first film made that affair more salacious than the book described. First of all, the book made Iva Archer out to be a little past her prime, which Thelma Todd most certainly was not. There also weren’t any scenes involving Iva showing up at Sam’s apartment and finding Brigid wearing her kimono, nor were there any of Miles listening on the extension while Sam and Iva set up a tryst.
I really enjoyed reading The Maltese Falcon, and I think anyone who likes either movie version would, too. Like I said, what you see in the two screen adaptations is pretty much what you get in the novel. And since it’s not a terribly long book, either, I definitely recommend reading it. As for which movie I prefer, I think it goes without saying that the Humphrey Bogart version wins hands down. The Ricardo Cortez version is good, but it doesn’t have the flawless cast and direction that the later one did. I always loved the cast of the 1941 film, but while I was reading the book and got to read exactly how each character was described, I feel like that version had some of the most perfect casting of all time. Nobody will ever make a better Sam Spade than Humphrey Bogart.
Angela runs the blog The Hollywood Revue and is a classic film enthusiast from Detroit. To keep up with the latest from The Hollywood Revue, please join her on Facebook.

Selecting a candidate

I am sorry we won't have a chance to vote for Vermin Supreme in South Carolina's Republican primary on Saturday, nor later in the year. He was on the ballot apparently only in New Hampshire. He campaigned on such issues as "mandatory tooth-brushing, zombie preparedness, and federal funding of time travel research so he can 'kill Hitler with my bare hands.'" He also was going "to give free ponies to all Americans." Considering all the inane political rhetoric we are exposed to in this primary season, Vermin's platform has some appeal. Oh, by the way, did I mention he is a Democrat? 

Wikipedia to go black; death of a comedian

"Wikipedia, the popular community-edited online encyclopedia, will black out its English-language site for 24 hours to seek support against proposed US anti-piracy legislation that Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said threatens the future of the internet.
"The service will be the highest profile name to join a growing campaign starting at midnight Eastern Time on Wednesday that will see it black out its page so that visitors will only see information about the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA).
"The information will urge Wikipedia readers in the US to contact their local congressman to vote against the bills. Other smaller sites leading the campaign include Reddit.com and Cheezeburger.
" 'This is a quite clumsily drafted legislation which is dangerous for an open internet,' said Wales in an interview." (Source: Aljazeera.com website, 1/17/2012)

In a nutshell this is the issue: If a website publishes intellectual property, be a movie or a song or something similar, without permission, the website would be forced off the air, even if the publication was incidental and unintended. If you did a search on Google, for example, and it turned up this second website that contained the unauthorized material, Google could be closed down. The present procedure is to send notice to the offending website and have them remove the property in question. If they fail to do so other legal remedies are available to the rightful owners. Hollywood and other backers of the proposed legislation say the SOPA and PIPA legislation is essential to protecting their investments against intellectual piracy, which is a problem centered mainly outside the United States.  Critics say the legislation goes too far and, as Wales put it, "threatens the future of the internet."

*****

In a new book Thirty-Nine Years of Short-Term Memory Loss: The Early Days of SNL from Someone Who Was There, by Tom Davis the author recounts how entertainers and  artists of all types tried desperately to get on the Johnny Carson show. In the 70s, an appearance on Carson was the key to success and good fortune. It opened doors everywhere for a performer. One comedian, Davis recounts, had a tryout and used his best material and gave it everything he had. He was rejected by the talent director and staff. Ten days later he jumped off the roof of a hotel and landed in the parking lot of the Comedy Club in Hollywood. He had note in his pocket with his name on it and three words: "I was a comedian." (Source: delanceyplace.com, website, 1/17/2012)


(Complete blog is here.)

The Good (?) Old Days

"A performer called 'The Human Fish' ate a banana, played a trombone, and read a newspaper while submerged in a tank of water." This is one example of the vaudeville entertainment that traveled around the country from about 1880 to 1930. This and other tidbits of that bygone era are highlighted for our attention in a recent book: American Rose: A Nation Laid Bare: The Life and Times of Gypsy Rose Lee by Karen Abbott (Random House.)

For almost five decades vaudevillians traveled the United States and Canada and sang, juggled, told jokes, acted out skits, swallowed swords and belched fire to thrill and entertain. They hung on in the face of silent movies, sometimes appearing on stage before a movie. When talkies came in it was the beginning of the end of "The Human Fish" and other weird acts: an old dowager, Lady Alice, kept audiences gaping as she performed with rats. One of them sat on her head blowing a kazoo while others paraded across her arms. Lady Alice's long kept secret: a trail of Cream of Wheat slathered on her neck and shoulders. 

Movies won out until the late 1940's when television was in its infancy and for a few years the vaudevillians were back. The respite was (mercifully) brief and they did not survive. 

I am indebted to delanceyplace.com for some of this information. 

(Complete blog here.)

Marsh Walk

(Click photo to enlarge)
I sat on the concrete bench provided and looked across the marsh bathing in the sun that flitted in and out behind wisps of clouds. The quiet beauty of the scene made the walk worthwhile and the memory would stay with me on the return walk to Franke at Seaside.
The Mt. Pleasant Waterworks has created the Marsh Walk just beyond the dog run behind their headquarters and plant on Rifle Range Road. It took about 40 minutes to walk to the scene but with the temperature about 65 degrees it was pleasant. (You can drive to this same area and park only a couple of minutes from the walking path.)
Along the path are numerous large oak trees. How long they have been there is anyone’s guess. Some hang over the trail and combine to block out the sun. Perhaps later in the day when the sun is higher in the sky it may break through the overhanging growth. Part of the walk is asphalted for convenience but it ends a hundred yards or so from the marsh. When I visited last year we could walk out into the marsh, but now there are small signs “ No humans beyond this point.” This is understandable and does not detract from the joy of the trip. At this point on the walk the view is gorgeous and celebrates the magic of the Creator. Sitting there for a few moments in silent contemplation renews the soul. I recommend this, at least once a year!
(The complete blog is here,)

Why do we laugh?

A man and a woman who have never met before find themselves sharing a sleeping car on an overnight train. After some initial embarrassment, they both go to sleep in their bunks . . . .But in the middle of the night, the woman leans over and says to the man: “I’m sorry, but I’m a little cold. Could I trouble you to get me another blanket?”

“I’ve got a better idea,” the man replies with a glint in his eye. “Just for tonight, let’s pretend we’re married.”

“OK, why not,” giggles the woman.

“Great,” the man says. “Get your own damn blanket!”

(Credit: Co-author Matthew Hurley of “Inside Jokes: Using Humor to Reverse-Engineer the Mind”)

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