Reviews of books that have held my interest. And things that happen along the way. I have made it simpler to leave a comment. Just hit the comment selection and choose anonymous at the bottom- Or at my yahoo; robertrswwilliams@yahoo.com And let's not forget my friends at the Public Libraries!Most of my selections come from the Libraries listed on my sidebar. They are a great resource and a wonderful use of our tax dollars. Have you hugged a Librarian today?
Monday, April 8, 2024
"The Grandfather Clock" by Henry Clay Work (1876)
Thursday, April 4, 2024
Reaching Out
on the hand that might touch you.
Reaching out to dance a dance
there's one reaching for you, too.
Good and bad, there's a hand
can stop you in your tracks.
But pull away, you'll never know
that hand was reaching back.
Thursday, March 14, 2024
The Physical Relationship of Pi to the Area of a Circle
Today is Pi Day. I know I've posted this before, but as a former Navigator and Full Charge Estimator of Earthworks and Utilities, I am proud of this piece of work. I did this many years ago and framed it. I simply wanted to understand why Pi is Pi. And no one could tell me. So, I drew it out to understand it. I also wanted an easier way to compute the area of circles. To this day I simply use the factor of .785 to arrive at the total area of any circle. I divided the area into 100 squares and counted the squares inside of the circle, using a 6" round piece of pipe for an example. Then I counted the squares outside of the circle.
I then used .5 ft. X .5 ft. (to represent the 6" pipe) X .785 (the total of squares inside the circle). Not a great discovery, but it satisfied my curiosity and sped up my calculations. Having failed Math all through High School, I have always been amazed at having taught myself Trigonometry and Advanced Algebra. At sea, using a Sextant, I needed those skills. The same applied to Surveying and Estimating.
But nothing has ever given me the satisfaction of this piece of paper, which is framed and hangs on my wall, next to my Third Mates License and the Engineering Certifications in two different states, with no college degree. You see, it wasn't that I couldn't learn math. It was that the people attempting to teach me simply didn't know how to reach me. And that, as Paul Harvey used to say, is the Rest of the Story.....
Happy Pi Day to all. 🙂
Sunday, March 10, 2024
Two Tough Guys - Bogart and Gabin
The event took place at a Hollywood dinner party with Bogart, when the Frenchman approached Bogart and challenged him to "Do smething tough."
Bogart responded with, "You've got the wrong guy." The Frenchman retorted with, "I can eat glass." He then proceeded to eat his wine glass. Bogart applauded. The Frenchman then added, "I can also eat razor blades." Reaching into his pocket he produced two of them and put them in his mouth. After that he told Bogart, "If you cannot do that, let us match drinks."
Bogart, now on more familiar ground, proceeded to mix a concoction of brandy, Creme de Menthe, Scotch, Gin, Bourbon, Vermouth and Champagne. The two matched one another drink for drink.
At the conclusion of this contest the Frenchman said, "Well, I still do not think you are so tough. You cannot eat the glass." Bogart's response was a slurred, "Oh, I can so." He then proceeded to eat his own wine glass, beginning at the top and working his way down to the stem. Blood gushed from his mouth.
"Well", said the Frenchman, "I guess you are all right at that! We are both very tough men. Come, let us go and insult the women together. That takes real courage!"
I have run across this story several times, most notably in Joe Hyam's "Bogie: The Biography of Humphrey Bogart." That book was authorized by Lauren Bacall. Another book which relates the tale is "Tough Without a Gun" by Stefan Kanfer. Both are well written and contain good Source Notes.
Wednesday, March 6, 2024
My First Car - 1973
Saturday, March 2, 2024
"Hill Country Girl" - Will Kimbrough (2010)
Spinning gold in the hot summer wind.
Soft were the words which she used when she told me
She wanted to still be my friend.
I said don't misunderstand me
She said I don't as she turned
Into the haze of the twilight and walked
down the road without shame or concern.
Her name was Martha and her mama died
the year before, she'd been sick for awhile.
I helped her Daddy that summer with work
on the farm, she was shy with her smile.
One night we talked until sun up
The next night we kissed until the dawn
These days I dream of my Martha
'til daylight comes hard now that Martha is gone.
Her daddy was quiet like men get to be
But his eyes said he knew everything.
One afternoon he put his arm round my shoulder
And said don't get hurt son you're still green.
That night I asked her to marry,
she laughed out loud until she wept
She said you saved my heart with your kindness and comfort
and care but I will not be kept
Some say she ruined me forever
Left me heartbroke and stubborn with pride.
Some say she made me the loner I am
I say her memory keeps me alive.
Now I keep up with her as she moves through the world
With a grace I admire from afar.
From Austin to Nashville to LA and back
to the farm in her dirty old car.
Her eyes are still my horizon
and her smile still a fine rope of pearls.
I can't help it I guess though it's made me a mess
I'm in love with the hill country girl.
And though she don't love me yet I will never regret
All my love for the hill country girl.
Thursday, February 29, 2024
The Weeping Star
See the lonely weeping star,
he's sad because it rains.
He'll have to wait another night
until he shines again.....
My Faith is very simple,
and isn't very loud.
It's knowing that there's always,
Stars above the clouds.....
Sleep well........❣
Tuesday, February 6, 2024
Two Dollar Bills and John Hanson
If you have ever looked at the back of the new ones closely you will notice a black man seated with the other delegates. That is John Hanson of Charles County, Md. in John Trumball's painting of the Signing of the Declaration of independence in 1776.
Before the Constitution was ratified he was one of several Presidents who served on a rotating basis. Not elected by the people, they were chosen by the other delegates. Some people confuse him with a black Senator of the same name who served after the Civil War and wanted to return the freed blacks to Liberia, the same as Lincoln had briefly proposed before his death.
John Hanson was born April 14, 1721 (Old Style calendar of 1732 was April 3rd) – and he passes away on November 15, 1783. He was an American Founding Father, merchant, and politician from Maryland during the Revolutionary Era. In 1779 Hanson was elected as a delegate to the Continental Congress after serving in a variety of roles for the Patriot cause.
He signed the Articles of Confederation in 1781 after Maryland joined the other states in ratifying them. In November 1781, he was elected as the first President of the Confederation Congress; sometimes referred to as "President of the United States in Congress Assembled". For this reason, some of Hanson's biographers have argued that he was actually the first holder of the Office of President of the United States.
Friday, February 2, 2024
"Inherit the Wind" - Final Scene
To me this is the greatest scene in the film. Even more meaningful than the scene about Evolution; which is the whole theme of this film to begin with. And for good reason.
This scene speaks to the duality of conscious. The integrity that is the ability to see more than one side, even though you may have already chosen yours. The ability to repect another human being, no matter how bitterly your disagreement may be.
In this excange, when the two learn of William Jennings Bryan's death, these two, who have been allies in their cause, finally come to terms with the difference in their individual motivations.
Here is the dialogue for the scene above. It is one of the most intense on-screen exchanges I have ever seen. The D stands for Henry Drummond, the fictitious name for Clarence Darrow, the Attorney for the Defense. The H stands for E.K. Hornbeck, the fictional H.L. Mencken, reporter for the Baltimore Sun.
D: I cannot imagine a world without Matthew Harrison Brady. What did he die of? Did they say?
H: He died of a busted belly.D: There was much greatness in this man.
H: Can I quote you in the obituary?
D: Write anything you damn, write anything you please.
H: How do you write an obituary for a man who’s been dead thirty years?Say? What did he say to the minister? It fits! He delivered his own obituary! They must have one here some place. Here it is: his book! Proverbs, wasn’t it?
D: (Quietly) “He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise in heart."
H: Well, we’re growing an odd crop of agnostics this year!
D: You know, Hornbeck, I'm getting damn sick of you.
H: Why?
D: Because you never pushed a noun against a verb except to blow up something.
H: You know, that's a typical lawyer's trick - accusing the accuser.
D: What am I accused of?
H: Contempt of conscience, sentimentality in the first degree.
D: Why? Because I refuse to erase a man’s lifetime?
H: You know what I thought of him, and I know what you thought. Let us leave the lamentations to the illiterate! Why should we weep for him? He cried enough for himself! The national tear-duct from Weeping Water, Nebraska, who flooded the whole nation like a one-man Mississippi! You know what he was: A Barnum- Bible-beating bunko artist! What is this? Be-Kind-To-Bigots Week?
D: A giant once lived in that body. But Matt Brady got lost. Because he was looking for God too high up and too far away.
H: You hypocrite! You fraud! The Atheist who believes in God... You’re just as religious as he was!
D: Everything is grist for your mill, isn't it? Well go on grind it up; Brady's past, Cates future.....My God, don't you understand the meaning of what happened here today?
H: What happened here has no meaning...
D: You have no meaning! You're like a ghost pointing an empty sleeve and smirking at everything people feel or want or struggle for! I pity you.
H: You pity me?
D: Isn't there anything? What touches you, what warms you? Every man has a dream. What do you dream about? What... what do you need? You don't need anything, do you? People, love, an idea; just to cling to? You poor slob! You're all alone. When you go to your grave, there won't be anybody to pull the grass up over your head. Nobody to mourn you. Nobody to give a damn. You're all alone.
Wednesday, January 31, 2024
"My Ding a Ling" (Dave Bartholomew and Chuck Berry)
Been listening to Chuck Berry, and reading a very good biography about him. Very well researched. But Chuck's auto biography is much more fun.
Funny story about him and Pink Floyd. In 1972 the promoter on the English tour at the Lanchester Arts Festival in Coventry told Berry he could only play one more song because the fans outside were waiting for the next show, which was Pink Floyd. Chuck said okay, and then took 11 minutes to create his version of the song "My Ding a Ling" on stage. Dave Bartholomew had a minor hit with his own version of the song in 1952.
When Chuck's version hit #1 Bartholomew tried to sue him. Berry told him, "When you pull YOUR pants down; that's YOUR Ding a Ling. When I pull MY pants down, that's "MY Ding a Ling." Bartholomew dropped the suit.
The song actually goes back to 1878 and was written by a songwriter/publisher in Philadelphia named Joseph Eastburn Winner/ aka R.A. Winner. He used to keep his office window open. It was above Bartholomew's father's barber shop. He would listen to the sounds coming from the street for inspiration. The kids were singing a very mild version of a song, based on the melody to "Little Brown Jug", the old drinking song. So it was really one of those street rhymes which all kids learn.
They are similar, but Bartholomew did not write it. It may say so on the label of the 1952 recording, but that doesn't make it true. At any rate, titles are not subject to copyright. I believe he first recorded it in 1945, but cannot find it at the moment.
Here is Chuck's 11 minute live improvisation from the concert in 1972.
Tuesday, January 16, 2024
"My Own Peculiar Way" - Willie Nelson (1998))
Some people wonder about that guitar. The best explanation is in his autobiography where he describes how that guitar came to be, and why it has that extra hole in it.
"I switched over to a big Baldwin hooked up to an aluminum amp. When the neck broke, I traded it in for a Martin made of rosewood, an acoustic model with the richest, most soulful tone I’d ever heard. I had my man Shot Jackson, a guitar genius in Nashville, customize the Martin by integrating the guts and pickup from the Baldwin. It worked. I had the sound I was looking for. I heard it as a human sound, a sound close to my own voice. Didn’t take long for me to pick a hole in it. That’s ‘cause classical guitars aren’t meant to be picked. But that hole...seemed to deepen its soulful tone."
This video is from the album "Teatro", which was recorded in September of 1998 in the old movie theater in Oxnard, California. That album was his 45th. This is my favorite version of the song.
The musicians featured in this video are as follows;
Willie Nelson – Vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar.
Bobbie Nelson – (Willie's sister) Wurlitzer electric piano, organ.
Emmylou Harris – Background vocals.
Daniel Lanois – Producer, Gibson les paul, bass guitar.
Tony Mangurian – Drums, percussion.
Victor Indrizzo – drums, percussion.
It would be a comfort just to know you never doubt me
Even though I give you cause most every day
Sometimes I think that you'd be better off without me
Although I love you in my own peculiar way
And don't doubt my love if sometimes my mind should wander
To a suddenly remembered yesterday
'Cause my mind could never stay too long away from you
I'll always love you in my own peculiar way
And though I may not always be the way you'd have me be
And though my faults may grow in number day by day
And though I'll never say that I've ever been untrue
I'll always love you in my own peculiar way
And though I may not always be the way you'd have me be
And though my faults may grow in number day by day
Let no one ever say that I've ever been untrue
I'll always love you in my own peculiar way
I'll always love you in my own peculiar way
Saturday, January 13, 2024
The Cokes at Vanatuan
At the end of World War Two the United States left the Vanatuan islands off Australia, after occupying most of them as a base during World War II. In doing so we were forced to leave behind roads, buildings and runways.
The base at Espiritu De Santos was established as a supply base, naval harbor and airfield after the attack on Pearl Harbor. For the remainder of the war it was used as a launch site to attack the Japanese fleet. Parts of Vanuatu were still under British and French colonization.
But, in leaving, we were also were going to leave behind millions of dollars of goods in the form of tanks, jeeps, heavy equipment etc. We offered to sell it to the French and English at the rate of 6 cents on the dollar. They refused, believing that the Americans would simply abandon the items and then they could be gotten for free. But, that's not how it worked out.
Instead, the United States spent 2 days and nights dumping everything they could into the sea. And when they were done with that, they drove the tanks, jeeps and heavy equipment off the piers at "Million Dollar Point". Today it is a popular destination for scuba divers to marvel at this veritable underwater museum of World WarTwo hardware. Mixed in with all of this are tons of cases of Coca Cola bottles. Even these were dumped into the ocean off "Million Dollar Point." But remember, they had orders to do so.
Meantime, halfway around the world, at Adaban in the Arabian desert, American War Correspondent Howard Fast wrote the far different story about the fate of the Coca Cola bottles filling the C-46 he was flying aboard when leaving the Middle East.
In his 5 page short story, aptly titled "Coca Cola," Howard Fast tells us about the plane not being able to gain enough altitude, instead barely skimming the tops of sand dunes as they flew towards their destination. Time and again he asked, and then demanded that the pilot dump these tens of thousands of empty Coke bottles in order to gain altitude.
The pilot informed him that since they were private property he had no authority to do so. Now, had they been jeeps or tanks; no problem. But since he had no authorization to do so, they would continue the journey at the dangerously low altitude, simply hoping for the best. And, miraculously, they made it.
The whole episide reminds me of the scene in "Dr. Stranglove" when Peter Sellers needs 20 cents to avert a nuclear war by phoning the White House. His only hope is to have Keenan Wynn shoot the lock off the Coca Cola machine. The folliwing clip is a pretty realistic potrayal of the military mind set involved in such an endeavor.
https://youtu.be/RZ9B7owHxMQ
Monday, January 1, 2024
"Auld Lang Syne" - Dougie MacLean
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my jo,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll tak’ a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
And surely ye’ll be your pint-stoup!
and surely I’ll be mine!
And we’ll tak’ a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
We twa hae run about the braes,
and pou’d the gowans fine;
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary fit,
sin’ auld lang syne.
We twa hae paidl’d in the burn,
frae morning sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
sin’ auld lang syne.
And there’s a hand,
my trusty fiere!
and gie’s a hand o’ thine!
And we’ll tak’ a right gude-willie waught,
for auld lang syne.