tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6422195985534806172024-03-17T23:02:44.713-04:00Rooftop ReviewsReviews 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?Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03780497300710503640noreply@blogger.comBlogger2318125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-642219598553480617.post-73923125772109736572024-03-14T07:58:00.005-04:002024-03-15T08:25:15.167-04:00The Physical Relationship of Pi to the Area of a Circle<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_bWiD9edzICxr2cfF3du4aAibIfJ6K48xSvEXGzULgtrsBzCAS3FzgVKUkDbHSd8bPQU2sysJEQVedr6T6jzNvAx_FOsEK2c5YMLuKpEBD_DC1u641IuPqsDAoR0VeNYOCafxmbDZ694ynl69jecAR42m7QGRTirnPRURzM77IkTjoDvPMUu86n-r_BUV/s1600/Rooftop%20Pi.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1222" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_bWiD9edzICxr2cfF3du4aAibIfJ6K48xSvEXGzULgtrsBzCAS3FzgVKUkDbHSd8bPQU2sysJEQVedr6T6jzNvAx_FOsEK2c5YMLuKpEBD_DC1u641IuPqsDAoR0VeNYOCafxmbDZ694ynl69jecAR42m7QGRTirnPRURzM77IkTjoDvPMUu86n-r_BUV/w305-h400/Rooftop%20Pi.jpg" width="305" /></a></div><br />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.<p></p>
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. <br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.....<br />
<br />
Happy Pi Day to all. 🙂<div><br /></div><div>P.S. Last night I made a startling discovery. My diagram, hand drawn just as it appears here, is on a web site showing the various "official" visual explanations of Pi. All advanced and carefully laid out. </div><div><br /></div><div>The difference between mine and the others is astonishing. While all the others require some advanced knowledge of mathematics, mine is the only one which can be understood by a 6th grader. </div><div><br /></div><div>That it is included with the others, is like an honor for me. That is exactly what I was trying to create. You can view the whole layout, with all the other diagrams, by using the following link. Just look for the yellow handrawn one. </div><div><br /></div><div>https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=483c85010fc377d1&sxsrf=ACQVn08yn_NpVuWevqVdtLXi6CuBIwJ4Lw:1710468678145&q=images+of+the+physical+relationship+of+pi+to+the+area+of+a+circle&tbm=isch&source=lnms&prmd=ihvsnbmtz&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi49davmPWEAxWxKFkFHSTbDMQQ0pQJegQICxAB&biw=1600&bih=699&dpr=1.2</div><div><br /></div>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03780497300710503640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-642219598553480617.post-46285444627298768562024-03-10T09:21:00.002-04:002024-03-10T09:21:22.563-04:00Two Tough Guys - Bogart and Gabin<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKAiBKtJOv-CTU6ZFXRLBESz6uR2BgSNNbWFrQwSBX11iyz5KJIgyp8dX_Gz2P-J3ac6ZRoz8KXTk42VQqc-KZzrUoAVv5j2qZk2VrtsgChrlFYGZbRcYzophdAlO-cQB3eS1VTpPnjrbqIZYaEVBNimf1zav7ucQRzmh7nwOQNwqgSPeN7HJl-7dqr0GG/s467/Humphrey_Bogart_1940.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="330" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKAiBKtJOv-CTU6ZFXRLBESz6uR2BgSNNbWFrQwSBX11iyz5KJIgyp8dX_Gz2P-J3ac6ZRoz8KXTk42VQqc-KZzrUoAVv5j2qZk2VrtsgChrlFYGZbRcYzophdAlO-cQB3eS1VTpPnjrbqIZYaEVBNimf1zav7ucQRzmh7nwOQNwqgSPeN7HJl-7dqr0GG/w283-h400/Humphrey_Bogart_1940.jpg" width="283" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One of my favorite Humphrey Bogart stories is of the time in 1942, when Bogart matched the antics of an unnamed French Resistance fighter, who may or may not have been the French actor Jean Gabin, often referred to as "the French Bogart." His most famous film was 1937's "Pepe le Moko", in which he plays a French jewel thief hiding in the labyrinth of the Casbah in Algiers. The film was remade in the United States as "Algiers" in 1938 starring Charles Boyer. It was also Hedy Lamarr's first film.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvYbJru7VcdPSoKXX1oC6Auzy1qx6U6oYY5uedFL8gv0GhW77oEay3e0WFpWJZ278GfYSZe6SAFPpmTGQhU7Gzc-s45_MJZ-cZmYRvthzuOmvStpyKB9TGd6Dqf-phKbCHct3uQrq7dsEmC4ZGgfuzgcNDcHmqE45NQDwNR3csI4TZPeN6wUAN__TY4ezz/s442/Jean_Gabin_1939.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="442" data-original-width="330" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvYbJru7VcdPSoKXX1oC6Auzy1qx6U6oYY5uedFL8gv0GhW77oEay3e0WFpWJZ278GfYSZe6SAFPpmTGQhU7Gzc-s45_MJZ-cZmYRvthzuOmvStpyKB9TGd6Dqf-phKbCHct3uQrq7dsEmC4ZGgfuzgcNDcHmqE45NQDwNR3csI4TZPeN6wUAN__TY4ezz/w299-h400/Jean_Gabin_1939.jpg" width="299" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Gabin joined General de Gaulle's Free French Forces and earned the Medaille Militaire and a Croix de Guerre for fighting with the Allies in North Africa. He was also part of the French force which fought to liberate Paris. In between he was in Hollywood making "Moontide" with Ida Lupino, Claude Raines and Thomas Mitchell in 1942, the time during which this story takes place.<br />
<br />
The event took place at a Hollywood dinner party with Bogart, when the Frenchman approached Bogart and challenged him to "Do smething tough."<br />
<br />
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."<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
"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!"<br />
<br />
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.<br /></div><p></p>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03780497300710503640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-642219598553480617.post-11928660130990818522024-03-06T07:42:00.001-05:002024-03-15T07:57:11.055-04:00My First Car - 1973<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj37cIlgSxZQC0rPOoUWCACZy_rUWesP6tu_jeRlo23fMccnpDNuDPe5ISBIlvmx0cBPa-8Ag9WlahM-5QaKGlIrsnmmcfmlNUUG0j-K2ldAFoNZHM8H0D4I5yGbiYdrb-jVFcIVeSqdfuYzhyrmiMdEcl-vbiM_T7NMQHwklSC-BCm5YrrADNRBh8GLUXq/s699/20240312_040224.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="401" data-original-width="699" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj37cIlgSxZQC0rPOoUWCACZy_rUWesP6tu_jeRlo23fMccnpDNuDPe5ISBIlvmx0cBPa-8Ag9WlahM-5QaKGlIrsnmmcfmlNUUG0j-K2ldAFoNZHM8H0D4I5yGbiYdrb-jVFcIVeSqdfuYzhyrmiMdEcl-vbiM_T7NMQHwklSC-BCm5YrrADNRBh8GLUXq/w400-h230/20240312_040224.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This was my first car. The photos are from on line, which is why the interior shot is blue. It was the late summer of 1973. It was a 1964 Ford Galaxy 500 with the dual tailpipes. Paid $75 for it. I was living just outside Cleveland on the shore of Lake Erie in Timberlake, a town of 300 people. In the evenings I would sit in the car and listen to 770 AM WABC out of New York.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGrIEwUW4Wh_WmZ6MtVDLDt4GRTddK9zzgc1DfA4fFdOb_e6k0EgAgBaC7Gpof2TuxIRnidaL8OrCSn0jzCwl1Pp75GgdagEhz14YJrOObtzqamt50_-w6bw1IhhMaIe-CjlWUOKQYph3epP-Stm8liq51oEr1n8R7Sz2sIOT5wFvNUGGy_gJa4xgfA1b3/s717/20240312_040322.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="717" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGrIEwUW4Wh_WmZ6MtVDLDt4GRTddK9zzgc1DfA4fFdOb_e6k0EgAgBaC7Gpof2TuxIRnidaL8OrCSn0jzCwl1Pp75GgdagEhz14YJrOObtzqamt50_-w6bw1IhhMaIe-CjlWUOKQYph3epP-Stm8liq51oEr1n8R7Sz2sIOT5wFvNUGGy_gJa4xgfA1b3/w400-h297/20240312_040322.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It was a big boat and battleship grey. I had no license and no insurance was required. The speed limit on Rt 80 was 90 on some stretches until the National Speed Limit of 55 kicked in. Gas went from 35 cents a gallon to 65 cents at the Arco station. I got about 12 miles per gallon.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfpA_hrFPSGQ-9tvxePnWwPAU2hEGNlauMz4KwnR_24wJu2m6Y-B320DQQ6Q-aGQFWuSxWsdQjemvlJDQiZhMXpaB9Fo24LZHQ5XpO1jdx4rSsWBHT2AjLOTAp1p2wkK2xS_Wu1_s6MtXCQUL8BmyUlK2v5hmiWHtQmBDtJwxrn28aILJk8R7B2IC1lKU8/s3507/Robert%20Ohio%20Plate%2073.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1825" data-original-width="3507" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfpA_hrFPSGQ-9tvxePnWwPAU2hEGNlauMz4KwnR_24wJu2m6Y-B320DQQ6Q-aGQFWuSxWsdQjemvlJDQiZhMXpaB9Fo24LZHQ5XpO1jdx4rSsWBHT2AjLOTAp1p2wkK2xS_Wu1_s6MtXCQUL8BmyUlK2v5hmiWHtQmBDtJwxrn28aILJk8R7B2IC1lKU8/w400-h209/Robert%20Ohio%20Plate%2073.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I still have the plate, though the car was abandoned on the side of Rt 80 when the engine seized up on the first few miles back to Brooklyn. I was 19 years old.</div><br /> <p></p>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03780497300710503640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-642219598553480617.post-68831735242294921222024-03-02T08:25:00.002-05:002024-03-02T08:25:24.577-05:00"Hill Country Girl" - Will Kimbrough (2010)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jMiniQqyV2c" width="320" youtube-src-id="jMiniQqyV2c"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Corn flower blue were her eyes and her hair<br />
Spinning gold in the hot summer wind.<br />
Soft were the words which she used when she told me<br />
She wanted to still be my friend.<br />
<br />
I said don't misunderstand me<br />
She said I don't as she turned<br />
Into the haze of the twilight and walked<br />
down the road without shame or concern.<br />
<br />
Her name was Martha and her mama died<br />
the year before, she'd been sick for awhile.<br />
I helped her Daddy that summer with work <br />
on the farm, she was shy with her smile.<br />
<br />
One night we talked until sun up<br />
The next night we kissed until the dawn<br />
These days I dream of my Martha<br />
'til daylight comes hard now that Martha is gone.<br />
<br />
Her daddy was quiet like men get to be <br />
But his eyes said he knew everything.<br />
One afternoon he put his arm round my shoulder <br />
And said don't get hurt son you're still green.<br />
<br />
That night I asked her to marry, <br />
she laughed out loud until she wept <br />
She said you saved my heart with your kindness and comfort <br />
and care but I will not be kept <br />
<br />
Some say she ruined me forever<br />
Left me heartbroke and stubborn with pride.<br />
Some say she made me the loner I am<br />
I say her memory keeps me alive.<br />
<br />
Now I keep up with her as she moves through the world <br />
With a grace I admire from afar.<br />
From Austin to Nashville to LA and back<br />
to the farm in her dirty old car.<br />
<br />
Her eyes are still my horizon<br />
and her smile still a fine rope of pearls.<br />
I can't help it I guess though it's made me a mess<br />
I'm in love with the hill country girl.<br />
<br />
And though she don't love me yet I will never regret<br />
All my love for the hill country girl.<br />
<br /></div><br /><p></p>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03780497300710503640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-642219598553480617.post-76505545840312721082024-02-29T16:02:00.001-05:002024-03-02T08:26:27.627-05:00The Weeping Star<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfyPvBp6F6nfbLcbMFSwzGgo4-Ydk0q_Wk-5DZilI5oEMBplqtQKD55ApbhyphenhyphenOjwsEuNPEZ41_Ffh3F7ynlhaY_YWscv2Vq9uLsK7a3Tk19BV9rjiCSJCl5MRIMEBR5kXZDYromWY8Esexh4dkNpBnf5gtxT0lL7Ia_ZfZRbldxIiKHzsOpfUdlN1SJQ_-Q/s950/20240301_155836.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="929" data-original-width="950" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfyPvBp6F6nfbLcbMFSwzGgo4-Ydk0q_Wk-5DZilI5oEMBplqtQKD55ApbhyphenhyphenOjwsEuNPEZ41_Ffh3F7ynlhaY_YWscv2Vq9uLsK7a3Tk19BV9rjiCSJCl5MRIMEBR5kXZDYromWY8Esexh4dkNpBnf5gtxT0lL7Ia_ZfZRbldxIiKHzsOpfUdlN1SJQ_-Q/s320/20240301_155836.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <p></p><p style="text-align: center;">See the lonely weeping star,<br />
he's sad because it rains.<br />
He'll have to wait another night<br />
until he shines again.....<br />
<br />
My Faith is very simple,<br />
and isn't very loud.<br />
It's knowing that there's always,<br />
Stars above the clouds.....<br />
<br />
Sleep well........❣<br /><br /></p>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03780497300710503640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-642219598553480617.post-55882322393519522812024-02-06T00:00:00.001-05:002024-02-06T14:25:27.604-05:00Two Dollar Bills and John Hanson<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7queuHJ2U-ZCMnNSAbzvqbgICSujMEM6KLxQ4u5Hdm_fSrTuQ6AmlxAGbMzDy-M-Z_J0jrmskROSLsi5DlogVRlw5ArkZD4Y2DPyzoqdkQziM8648DPHDn2YBZkw2qWoAB9cKhEV8im3HLGkgoBw6eT6ScCbZXyHBQ6m8luO0FUaE9jTHEIzoMW0rvC1k/s1338/20240126_231235.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="571" data-original-width="1338" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7queuHJ2U-ZCMnNSAbzvqbgICSujMEM6KLxQ4u5Hdm_fSrTuQ6AmlxAGbMzDy-M-Z_J0jrmskROSLsi5DlogVRlw5ArkZD4Y2DPyzoqdkQziM8648DPHDn2YBZkw2qWoAB9cKhEV8im3HLGkgoBw6eT6ScCbZXyHBQ6m8luO0FUaE9jTHEIzoMW0rvC1k/w400-h171/20240126_231235.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEW74wgTBk3Xtdu1xdqCcQyN5QGpX3QGfos09I1oxb8DwnHbjsa3Aj8lAL80nrj-Jlj8xD8-vJzw7uL_sayCpjiDEEH__c0lPHt6XV5QhAwVmM0FExOmPbhYAHAcq-QK3PEoWNYH7grJuJNv3J12_SHVhquKaQApiCQXoWAgrcN0Uz9LGJaR44YZJ5eBJb/s951/20240126_232305.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="385" data-original-width="951" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEW74wgTBk3Xtdu1xdqCcQyN5QGpX3QGfos09I1oxb8DwnHbjsa3Aj8lAL80nrj-Jlj8xD8-vJzw7uL_sayCpjiDEEH__c0lPHt6XV5QhAwVmM0FExOmPbhYAHAcq-QK3PEoWNYH7grJuJNv3J12_SHVhquKaQApiCQXoWAgrcN0Uz9LGJaR44YZJ5eBJb/w400-h163/20240126_232305.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div>I remember when these were very common in the 1950's. They had a red seal on the front because they were testing a new kind of paper. There were also others with the normal blue seal. They were Silver Certificates and could be exchanged for the old silver coins. <div><br /></div><div>Now everything is a Federal Reserve Note and there are no real silver coins. Today's paper money cannot be exchanged for any precious metal. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4uTNPuJXPCmE7aOPzaE62ggsmC8Tip97HejDNSuT7kvQGJV9dwLotngTIajAEbsMdIZN36FX2LpDnp6v3c6ZqZihIpcKOMKjJsPQC6drX7-whOPDEPkKYc3uHOlYn9ysK16DJwIAI40aZB5RrGCpICc1AiXNoGpFIKJg-dJmjV2qyhqMdauf2lJHba27I/s1704/20240126_231312.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="684" data-original-width="1704" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4uTNPuJXPCmE7aOPzaE62ggsmC8Tip97HejDNSuT7kvQGJV9dwLotngTIajAEbsMdIZN36FX2LpDnp6v3c6ZqZihIpcKOMKjJsPQC6drX7-whOPDEPkKYc3uHOlYn9ysK16DJwIAI40aZB5RrGCpICc1AiXNoGpFIKJg-dJmjV2qyhqMdauf2lJHba27I/w400-h160/20240126_231312.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p></div>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03780497300710503640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-642219598553480617.post-87167492960187827572024-02-02T14:25:00.006-05:002024-02-06T16:22:48.072-05:00"Inherit the Wind" - Final Scene <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ED3tfRW8mG8" width="320" youtube-src-id="ED3tfRW8mG8"></iframe></div><p>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. </p><p></p><p>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. </p><p>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. </p><p>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. </p><p> D: I cannot imagine a world without Matthew Harrison Brady. What did he die of? Did they say?</p>
H: He died of a busted belly.<br />
<br />
D: There was much greatness in this man.<br />
<br />
H: Can I quote you in the obituary? <br />
<br />
D: Write anything you damn, write anything you please.<br />
<br />
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?<br />
<br />
D: (Quietly) “He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise in heart."<br />
<br />
H: Well, we’re growing an odd crop of agnostics this year!<br />
<br />
D: You know, Hornbeck, I'm getting damn sick of you.<br />
<br />
H: Why?<br />
<br />
D: Because you never pushed a noun against a verb except to blow up something.<br />
<br />
H: You know, that's a typical lawyer's trick - accusing the accuser.<br />
<br />
D: What am I accused of?<br />
<br />
H: Contempt of conscience, sentimentality in the first degree.<br />
<br />
D: Why? Because I refuse to erase a man’s lifetime? <br />
<br />
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?<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
H: You hypocrite! You fraud! The Atheist who believes in God... You’re just as religious as he was! <br />
<br />
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?<br />
<br />
H: What happened here has no meaning...<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
H: You pity me?<br />
<br />
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.<br /><br /><div>H: You're wrong, Henry. You'll be there. You're the type. Who else would defend my right to be lonely?<br /><br /></div>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03780497300710503640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-642219598553480617.post-87929138767833210072024-01-31T08:56:00.002-05:002024-01-31T08:59:49.869-05:00"My Ding a Ling" (Dave Bartholomew and Chuck Berry) <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OgyF2Mv360Q" width="320" youtube-src-id="OgyF2Mv360Q"></iframe></div><p>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.<br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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.</p><p>Here is Chuck's 11 minute live improvisation from the concert in 1972. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hMddte6yD2w" width="320" youtube-src-id="hMddte6yD2w"></iframe></div><p></p>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03780497300710503640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-642219598553480617.post-14028007843318955632024-01-16T18:19:00.001-05:002024-01-16T18:19:30.254-05:00"My Own Peculiar Way" - Willie Nelson (1998))<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ul7Ld9DXNuQ" width="320" youtube-src-id="ul7Ld9DXNuQ"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p>
I awoke briefly at 4:30 AM this morning thinking of the line "I love you in my own peculiar way." It's from the Willie Nelson song of the same name and appeared on his first studio album in 1962. It was re-recorded in 1969 on his 9th album named "My Own Peculiar Way" in 1969, with Jerry Reed and Charlie McCoy on guitars. That album was also the first on which he used his signature Martin N-20 guitar. <br />
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. <br />
<br />
"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."<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
The musicians featured in this video are as follows;<br />
<br />
Willie Nelson – Vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar.<br />
<br />
Bobbie Nelson – (Willie's sister) Wurlitzer electric piano, organ.<br />
<br />
Emmylou Harris – Background vocals.<br />
<br />
Daniel Lanois – Producer, Gibson les paul, bass guitar.<br />
<br />
Tony Mangurian – Drums, percussion.<br />
<br />
Victor Indrizzo – drums, percussion.<br />
<br />
It would be a comfort just to know you never doubt me <br />
Even though I give you cause most every day <br />
Sometimes I think that you'd be better off without me <br />
Although I love you in my own peculiar way <br />
<br />
And don't doubt my love if sometimes my mind should wander <br />
To a suddenly remembered yesterday <br />
'Cause my mind could never stay too long away from you <br />
I'll always love you in my own peculiar way <br />
<br />
And though I may not always be the way you'd have me be <br />
And though my faults may grow in number day by day <br />
And though I'll never say that I've ever been untrue <br />
I'll always love you in my own peculiar way <br />
<br />
And though I may not always be the way you'd have me be <br />
And though my faults may grow in number day by day <br />
Let no one ever say that I've ever been untrue <br />
I'll always love you in my own peculiar way <br />
I'll always love you in my own peculiar way<br />
<br />Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03780497300710503640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-642219598553480617.post-66342678395766940292024-01-13T08:08:00.000-05:002024-01-13T08:08:04.519-05:00The Cokes at Vanatuan <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh__AOZ9LybuqfNwt_h3m_E4NQHvxvz4EgW69uoOZRbickxwV9qc-jPi5Bqpl8i26-Ebll37O4QcAJ-6sWpY-hhzMe9IznmcLtpbueir6V8zVGwz5re7pDbJMNdpCqsQ_Q-foSor0JHp0CIvrKcTkC3GynmilPj_EuXR7VJV_RRfyY8HnhkRDja5t0B3YGk/s784/20240113_080116.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="784" data-original-width="581" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh__AOZ9LybuqfNwt_h3m_E4NQHvxvz4EgW69uoOZRbickxwV9qc-jPi5Bqpl8i26-Ebll37O4QcAJ-6sWpY-hhzMe9IznmcLtpbueir6V8zVGwz5re7pDbJMNdpCqsQ_Q-foSor0JHp0CIvrKcTkC3GynmilPj_EuXR7VJV_RRfyY8HnhkRDja5t0B3YGk/w296-h400/20240113_080116.jpg" width="296" /></a></div><p>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. <br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
https://youtu.be/RZ9B7owHxMQ</p><p></p>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03780497300710503640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-642219598553480617.post-5616650711061454252024-01-01T00:00:00.023-05:002024-01-14T08:42:47.966-05:00"Auld Lang Syne" - Dougie MacLean<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sMFnqj6aFwY" width="320" youtube-src-id="sMFnqj6aFwY"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Should auld acquaintance be forgot,<br />
and never brought to mind?<br />
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,<br />
and auld lang syne?<br />
<br />
For auld lang syne, my jo,<br />
for auld lang syne,<br />
we’ll tak’ a cup o’ kindness yet,<br />
for auld lang syne.<br />
<br />
And surely ye’ll be your pint-stoup!<br />
and surely I’ll be mine!<br />
And we’ll tak’ a cup o’ kindness yet,<br />
for auld lang syne.<br /><br />
We twa hae run about the braes,<br />
and pou’d the gowans fine;<br />
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary fit,<br />
sin’ auld lang syne.<br />
<br />
We twa hae paidl’d in the burn,<br />
frae morning sun till dine;<br />
But seas between us braid hae roar’d<br />
sin’ auld lang syne.<br />
<br />
And there’s a hand,<br />
my trusty fiere!<br />
and gie’s a hand o’ thine!<br />
And we’ll tak’ a right gude-willie waught,<br />
for auld lang syne.<br /></div><p></p>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03780497300710503640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-642219598553480617.post-92101470451444289462023-12-27T19:15:00.000-05:002023-12-27T19:15:06.451-05:00"The Burning of the World" by Scott W. Berg (2023)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhnoDrdarbbAx2aVIBkd36og101awpo6O6GNtW59lOH4gC-_vMIcfmpvgc8kWDpFxro9eazg76SRAIhXx5zlAdzF0cTYIYZbQWiA0w1oh1MpjadpkPhCOvlDjgKsAYVCBLFPaOfLkGb1Gj6opWW2HoIcszNv1hZxFUGbzqWQ85bEVNoyVu9F9BRV2Z-sHY/s762/20231227_180334.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="762" data-original-width="521" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhnoDrdarbbAx2aVIBkd36og101awpo6O6GNtW59lOH4gC-_vMIcfmpvgc8kWDpFxro9eazg76SRAIhXx5zlAdzF0cTYIYZbQWiA0w1oh1MpjadpkPhCOvlDjgKsAYVCBLFPaOfLkGb1Gj6opWW2HoIcszNv1hZxFUGbzqWQ85bEVNoyVu9F9BRV2Z-sHY/w274-h400/20231227_180334.jpg" width="274" /></a></div><br /> So much has been written about the Chicago Fire that one would think the topic to be exhausted. Not so. In the hands of Scott Berg the event is explored in a new and ingenious way. There was no Mrs. O'Leary milking her cow. There was a Mrs. Leary, but the fire began at 9 PM, hours after the cow had been milked. There was no lantern for the cow to kick over.<p></p><p>The night before there had been a large fire known as the "Red Flash" fire to the North of where the Leary's lived on DeCoven Street between Jefferson and Clinton. An unseasonably warm October had made the city of mostly wood frame houses a veritable tinderbox, just waiting to be touched off. Most of the Fire Brigades were on stand down from the fire the night before.</p><p>What really caused a single dwelling fire to burn so quickly out of control was a combination of an error on the part of the city's fire watch, perched atop the City Hall. Combined with a high South westerly wind which blew flaming embers from DeCoven Street further and further from the point of origin, the fire was quickly out of control. It would burn for 2 days, beginning at 9 PM on the night of October 8th, 1871. </p><p>The book is filled with all the heroics of every disasterous fire, even as the Chicago River, coming off Lake Michigan, boiled. But the real genius of this book is in what happened after the fire. In the age of the telegraph the news spread quickly. And in the age of train travel, fire companies from every state around came by train, each loaded with firefighters and their equipment. </p><p>Within another 48 hours financial aid came pouring in. The "Friends", Quakers from Cincinnati, donated $100,000, providing enough pre cooked soup to feed the city for years if necessary. From this point on the book becomes a tale of what happened next. The political jockeying for the soul of the city was underway. It would wage for over a year, through a winter and an election. </p><p>That election gave way to a Temperance movement and a struggle over "blue laws" to close saloons on Sunday's. No matter that beer and liquor had nothing to do with the fire, the Temperance League saw an opening, and the battle was set.</p><p>The big players in this drama were Joseph Medill, the owner of the Chicago Tribune, who became the next Mayor. There was even a new political party formed; the Union-Fireproof Party. The commercial rebuilding began with Marshall Field, owner of the legendary department store. The results were a division between those who wanted to rebuild only in brick rather than wood; setting off an economic clash between the working class, who favored wood as more affordable, and the more well to do, who wanted new fire limits in which buildings would only be of brick. . </p><p>All in all this is an exciting new look at the story of the Great Chicago Fire. That it comes from the pen of Scott Berg should come as no surprise.</p>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03780497300710503640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-642219598553480617.post-42802319690822622832023-12-25T23:43:00.002-05:002023-12-26T00:20:59.947-05:00A Night in Spain 1979.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGqmfZVFFDenTKTnABL_mbQGOxw0SEUjMF3SfmCU3oiGaEYVqgGC3tcdJeSf2vOFhsZfErc7_7WsRiwbd2rVq5-UwHJVyjbw_moGC3SQyvoj4ymAqx-rR01ZtQ2dJsSu-QXgWdmqCMN4ln01QPlE3QYqJAFVI1-7VtqKbzi1zXZ9vnz5vtoi7O3TlTLvLL/s320/Milwaukee%20Robert%20Dennis%20and%20Ron%201978.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="252" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGqmfZVFFDenTKTnABL_mbQGOxw0SEUjMF3SfmCU3oiGaEYVqgGC3tcdJeSf2vOFhsZfErc7_7WsRiwbd2rVq5-UwHJVyjbw_moGC3SQyvoj4ymAqx-rR01ZtQ2dJsSu-QXgWdmqCMN4ln01QPlE3QYqJAFVI1-7VtqKbzi1zXZ9vnz5vtoi7O3TlTLvLL/w315-h400/Milwaukee%20Robert%20Dennis%20and%20Ron%201978.jpg" width="315" /></a></div><br /> Housebound almost 5 years now. An occasional trip to the restaurant, but not too often. You'd think I'd be bored. Not really. You see, there is a story to everything you see on my walls. Right down to the little stuff tucked in the frames. <p></p><p>Take, for instance, this photo. A strip of 4 for 20 Francs, taken in France in early 1979. It is one of only 2 photos I have of me, Dennis in the middle, and Ron Tabb together. That the photo was taken in France I remember distinctly, because I had "zee moustache!" 😀 But this story, several weeks later, took place in Spain.</p><p>It was a cold, rainy Spring night, and we got caught in a downpour. The last boat back to the ship had gone. All the local inns were closed. Soaking wet we found an unlocked car. One of those which ran off a propane tank in the rear. You'd stop and exchange tanks, paying only for the gas. Like a grill. Had to get down to our skivvies because were were soaked! Langlands wouldn't and got real sick, high fever....</p><p>Imagine the surprise when the owner came down at the crack of dawn and found the car filled with two half naked guys and one with teeth chattering! 🤣😂🤣😂</p><p>I remember him screaming Spanish at us so fast we were hysterical! Drunk as skunks! Not to mention the smell from the smoke! Benefit of our Rating we had no Captain's Mast. </p><p>Dennis has faded away somewhere, chosing to stay away from the past, and be absented from the present.</p><p>Ron Tabb tragically passed away about 30 years ago. He couldn't have been more than 40. Married to a girl named Candy, they had 2 kids and lived somewhere near Norman, Oklahoma. I used to laugh at that. I'd be, "Norman? Never heard of it!"</p><p>You can't buy memories, or freinds, like those.........</p>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03780497300710503640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-642219598553480617.post-48051856793910342582023-12-24T08:58:00.020-05:002023-12-24T08:58:00.146-05:00"The Night Before Christmas"- Read by Louis Armstrong (1971)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0biHasmQvs4" width="320" youtube-src-id="0biHasmQvs4"></iframe></div><br /> Louis Armstrong loved kids. In the summertime he would come out of his modest home in Queens, near old Shea Stadium, and buy the neighborhood kids ice cream. At other times he would have "block parties". His own impoverished childhood was probably the impetus for this.<p></p>
He was the reason I began coin collecting. His official bio at the time gave his birthday as July 4th, 1900. So, my first coin was a 1900 Indian Head Penny. I bought it at the Hobby House on Coney Island Avenue for 75 cents. I was 11 years old and used to fantasize that this coin may have passed through his hands at sometime. I still have it. (His birth date has since been disputed and is currently listed as August 4th, 1901) <br />
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On February 26th of 1971, the year he passed away, he was home in Queens, in the same house which is now his museum, and recorded "Twas the Night Before Christmas" on his reel to reel tape recorder. Whether he meant it to be released is not really known. He had thousands of these kind of tapes on his personal collection. You can hear some of them at the museum. Each one has a hand drawn cover which he did in pencil, ink and crayon.<br />
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On March 1st he began his last commercial appearance, playing for a few weeks at the Waldorf Astoria. 2 days after the last show he had the first of two heart attacks and by July 6th he passed away in the hospital, 1 floor away from his manager, Joe Glaser, who also passed away shortly after. The two had been together since 1935. <br />
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That Christmas his recording of the poem was distributed by the cigarette manufacturer Lorillard, which pressed it onto a million 45-rpm records as a free giveaway for anyone who bought a carton of cigarettes. Some candy store owners sold the records for about 75 cents to neighborhood kids. I was one of them. I had it for decades but lost track of it over the years. Luckily you can still hear it, and download it, from you tube. <br />
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Merry Christmas from Louis Armstrong. ❤<br />Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03780497300710503640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-642219598553480617.post-69324456096392573252023-12-17T05:09:00.008-05:002023-12-22T21:21:01.306-05:00Seeing Santa Claus - 1957<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRrwZSxRCWpspw8VFs7OPSw3xQ9lkKP1iJz04IwyPH0PxkFiRcvIkK84BJAnUtE8GBzzUP62S23JJf9Gup1T72lzBKw6feI4lR2-Wy96onTpy9S1ZpL6KUHobeBHKmHXLH2IHD1yK0PXxFOZK81j9Yk3u-um0WVf79JqEkUQEp-x3FjR4VhAnoOmWb5aco/s842/20211228_122009.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="590" data-original-width="842" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRrwZSxRCWpspw8VFs7OPSw3xQ9lkKP1iJz04IwyPH0PxkFiRcvIkK84BJAnUtE8GBzzUP62S23JJf9Gup1T72lzBKw6feI4lR2-Wy96onTpy9S1ZpL6KUHobeBHKmHXLH2IHD1yK0PXxFOZK81j9Yk3u-um0WVf79JqEkUQEp-x3FjR4VhAnoOmWb5aco/w400-h280/20211228_122009.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>I first posted this photo last year. It was taken at A&S on Fulton Avenue in Brooklyn. I was just 2 months past my 3rd birthday, yet I remember this vividly. And not from the photo, which I had not seen for almost 60 years when I was 9. And that was over exposed and very fuzzy. I still have the Brownie camera with which it was taken. Dad never let Mom take the 35mm out by herself. She would definitely have lost it somewhere. It was only 2 years ago when I found the photo and used the simple app on my tablet to make it more viewable. Prior to that I wasn't quite sure what I was looking at! </p><p>I remember that whole year very well for 3 reasons. The first reason was that this was the year my Dad had pneumonia, and he was never ill. Ever. Also, with the luck of the Irish, he was ill during President Eisenhower's 2nd recession, both of which seemed to coincide with his 2 heart attacks. That was in the summer when I was just a few months short of turning 3. </p><p>The 2nd reason was because this was the year when Mom "lost" the car in the parking lot at Riis Park. She had no clue as to where she'd left it, and that was a huge parking lot. Still is. And this necessitated a long ride in a tow truck by the Police to find it, riding up and down the rows of cars before Mom spotted the 1955 turqoise and black Plymouth 4 door behemoth. </p><p>And then, when we got back home to 3619 Bedford Ave, on the corner of Kings Highway, she hit a fire hydrant! She never drove again, though she kept her license current so she could cash checks. It was not a good day for Mom, but to a kid just shy of 3 years old, this day was a real adventure!</p><p>The 3rd reason I remember the year so well is because it was also the year I learned to fly a kite! That was on Armistice Day, November 11th, which back then was a Federal Holiday. I still remember the Disabled Vets of the First World War selling the green and red Poppie pins for 2 cents at the entrance to the elevated Subway station on Kings Highway. They got around by using their gloved hands to propel themselves on "dollies" which served as their missing legs. </p><p>My own Grandfather was already dead, a belated victim of that same war. He passed away with the steel plate in his head where the artillery had taken away part of his skull. He was a New York City Policeman who used alcohol to ease the daily pain for 25 years, which brought on the heart attack which took his life at age 43. </p><p>So, this memory is crystal clear. It was a weekday, and we took the Subway to Fulton Avenue, which involved changing trains, probably at the Prospect Park station. </p><p>By the time December rolled around I was pretty much aware of everything that was going on. And so remembering Santa is a cinch. I asked for a fire truck and a tank, which actually shot plastic cannonballs. I used it to shatter just about every Christmas ornament on our Christmas tree. I also got a Cowboy belt with 2 cap pistols and a Cowboy hat. Peace on Earth! 🤣 </p><p>There were other gifts, such as clothing, but that didn't really register with a 3 year old. As a matter of fact I remember feeling "cheated", as those things were necessities, so I would have gotten them anyway. And that is the story behind my memory of this photo. Still not sure who took the photo though, because that is my Mom on the extreme right.</p>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03780497300710503640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-642219598553480617.post-37105417301833971512023-12-14T08:32:00.001-05:002023-12-14T08:32:19.293-05:00Christmas Comes But Once a Year - Max and Dave Fleischer (1936)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qpzsVfzAb2w" width="320" youtube-src-id="qpzsVfzAb2w"></iframe></div><br />Once again I am going to post a cartoon from Christmas past in the days leading up to the holiday. I always loved this old classic. I’m posting it again because it’s a great example of the quality of the animation in the 1930's. And, Max and Dave Fleischer were two of the best.<p></p>
They often worked separately on various projects, though their best works are probably the collaborations they produced with the Popeye cartoons and Betty Boop series. They also made a boatload of feature cartoons like this one, which is a wonderful little story about an orphanage on Christmas morning. If you have seen this before, I hope that you enjoy it once more. <br /><div><br /></div>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03780497300710503640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-642219598553480617.post-57019259586587309732023-12-06T09:11:00.064-05:002024-01-13T08:23:38.487-05:00"Kilroy Was Here" - A Christmas Story<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPeXNHhUaeYkYK_KOZ5Tx6ipvP44Kt6TT1bLGjyvSwRdbQJum37SbQ0jT37Ea5v0qT4gMnnhqGWoikeJ3oEi3r1u7zEsNAAn1CfRUFS4xOGzbNI6W-JS7yoSJUENIadnJlncdGVbMGpa_A96rx41OIRcCieb9Ofa7a0ujvHGAOAvv9n-ycF4nojmqRsjdC/s285/FB_IMG_1702563063728.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="177" data-original-width="285" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPeXNHhUaeYkYK_KOZ5Tx6ipvP44Kt6TT1bLGjyvSwRdbQJum37SbQ0jT37Ea5v0qT4gMnnhqGWoikeJ3oEi3r1u7zEsNAAn1CfRUFS4xOGzbNI6W-JS7yoSJUENIadnJlncdGVbMGpa_A96rx41OIRcCieb9Ofa7a0ujvHGAOAvv9n-ycF4nojmqRsjdC/w400-h248/FB_IMG_1702563063728.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">"Kilroy Was Here" has been part of the American vocabulary ever since World War Two. And the story behind it is not often told. In a way, it involves Christmas, so I thought I would post it here and tell the story of the phrase and also how it connects to Christmas. </div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">During the Second World War, when the United States was turning out ships and planes at a rapid rate, "checkers" were required to make the rounds of the shipyards and factories, inspecting the work. When they were done they placed a mark, with chalk, on the item to show that it had passed inspection. The appropriate riveter/welder would then get credit for the work, and hence, paid accordingly.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Soldiers began to see these marks, along with the words "Kilroy Was Here", wherever they went during the war. Wherever they went, they assumed they were the first, only to be greeted by the words that had become a slogan. There were now several Kilroy’s from coast to coast. But only one was the original.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">There is even a story about the Potsdam Conference in 1945 which concerns “Kilroy.” A modern outhouse had been built for the exclusive use of Truman, Stalin, and Churchill. The first person to use it was Stalin. When he finished and came out he asked his aide, "Who is this Kilroy?"</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">At any rate, fast forward a bit to the end of 1946. The Second World War was over and the shipyards were shuttered. An unemployed shipyard worker named James Kilroy was facing a bleak Christmas, with no toys for the kids. That's when he first heard of the search for the real Kilroy!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The 2nd photo, below, is from the Boston American, dated December 23, 1946 and shows the Kilroy family with a trolley car in their front yard. They had won the trolley in a radio contest put forth by The Transit Company of America, offering the trolley as a prize to the individual who could prove that they were the "real" Kilroy. Of the forty odd men who made that claim, only James Kilroy was able to produce officials from the shipyard, and even some of his fellow riveters, to prove his claim. Having won the prize, he now had to get it home! And there was a blizzard coming! So, the real story involves how it almost didn't make it on time.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">But, with the help of the Transit Company of America, and a local railroad spur, along with a truck and a crane, the trolley was delivered on time, where it served many years as a playhouse for James Kilroy's children. It was a Christmas they would never forget. And that, as Paul Harvey would say, is the rest of the story.</div></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHIEtaw1M5kTgdQXXL5eU7j01_h7YCFKw5fDC5wGvrT3rgr_kvhiyLa3Ka-FxjJgzgsGfMwGe3GcmCrXycStBC6ZmvyGr6qWWGdYSQhoM-9NwGqCH-vX2mTIuAACtKz1NlVasY0M-1Qikuf8Phj2U-3PYfQHnbRM7nzLVWf7vE_pASoPax1UZvXIdhY7OK/s320/FB_IMG_1702563071331.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="238" data-original-width="320" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHIEtaw1M5kTgdQXXL5eU7j01_h7YCFKw5fDC5wGvrT3rgr_kvhiyLa3Ka-FxjJgzgsGfMwGe3GcmCrXycStBC6ZmvyGr6qWWGdYSQhoM-9NwGqCH-vX2mTIuAACtKz1NlVasY0M-1Qikuf8Phj2U-3PYfQHnbRM7nzLVWf7vE_pASoPax1UZvXIdhY7OK/w400-h297/FB_IMG_1702563071331.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03780497300710503640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-642219598553480617.post-23345921065053712562023-12-01T08:57:00.015-05:002023-12-01T09:54:38.389-05:00"Tenth Avenue Angel" with Angela Lansbury and Margaret O'Brien (1948)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheDDDVP_sIbzK36Qg8rsfJd5VLi_Dz4nSGMXu8UMQSook7KBVspigL2GZ5nDckJANuNxx3KBxMHeaJ5TUfDY0CEuVMvNd_-FYTfWwrLE02MpJ9gh-aFTTYgUmxhlLk_-SR55UX0cBKxlOtqPQsXabdHRCYiYHx1sNw_gpccfHF7Pe6WyeaKCqk9YLoMnUM/s377/Tenth_Avenue_Angel.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="377" data-original-width="264" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheDDDVP_sIbzK36Qg8rsfJd5VLi_Dz4nSGMXu8UMQSook7KBVspigL2GZ5nDckJANuNxx3KBxMHeaJ5TUfDY0CEuVMvNd_-FYTfWwrLE02MpJ9gh-aFTTYgUmxhlLk_-SR55UX0cBKxlOtqPQsXabdHRCYiYHx1sNw_gpccfHF7Pe6WyeaKCqk9YLoMnUM/w280-h400/Tenth_Avenue_Angel.jpg" width="280" /></a></div><p></p><p>Looking for a great Christmas film? You just found one. It begins in the late summer of 1936 in New York City and winds up on Christmas Eve at midnight. Something went wrong with the upload, so use this link instead.....https://youtu.be/SruIpM523RM?si=W3tJLcFnKumowZFK</p><p>Eight-year-old Flavia (Margaret O'Brien) lives in a New York tenement during the Great Depression with her mother Helen (Phyllis Thaxter), and father Joe (Warner Anderson), who's nearly broke and needs a job. Her aunt Susan (Angela Lansbury) lives with them, too. Flavia's thrilled because her aunt's sweetheart, Steve (George Murphy), is returning from a one-year absence. The little girl is unaware that Steve has been in jail for racketeering. She has been told he was a sailor on a long voyage</p><p>Flavia lives in a world built around fantasies and white lies told to her by her mother and Aunt. For instance, when she sees a mouse and is afraid, her mother tells her a story that if you catch a mouse and make a wish, it will turn into money. </p><p>In the midst of the Depression everybody's desperate for money. Flavia's mother Helen is pregnant and faces physical complications. Steve is unable to get his old job back, driving a taxi. His gangster friends offer him a quick job stealing a truck, but Steve's conscience gets the better of him at the last minute and he backs out.</p><p>This leads Flavia to catch a mouse, which she hides in a cigar box in an alley near Mac (the blind newspaper man's) stand. She wants the money to buy Steve a taxi cab of his own. Christmas Eve is now fast approaching. </p><p>Two neighborhood youths rob "Blind" Mac (Rhys Williams) and, by coincidence, hide the money in the girl's box after finding it and throwing out the mouse. Flavia then returns and finds that the mouse really has turned into money! She is overjoyed; until the adults accuse her of stealing it from Blind Mac. Her mother has to tell her the truth about the story and Flavia realizes that so many things she has been told are "lies". This leads her to a crisis of faith. </p><p>Her mother is having a rough time in the last stages of her pregnancy and, in an effort to give Flavia back her faith that all will be well, tells her another "story" about how on Christmas Eve all cows kneel at midnight in homage to Jesus' birth, just as in the scene of the Manger. Flavia is desperate to believe this, but assumes it to be just another "lie". </p><p>Still, in desperation for her Mom, she tries to find a kneeling cow in New York City on Christmas Eve. It is now approaching midnight; and the last few minutes of the film. She heads to the railroad by the meat market to find one out the "truth" before it's too late. Her whole world now depends on finding out if cows really do kneel, or if this is just another "lie." </p><p>This is a delightful, and well written drama about a young girl's search to have her faith restored. Along the way she discovers that life is really made up of a balance between truth and faith. And when the church bells ring at midnight; all is revealed.</p>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03780497300710503640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-642219598553480617.post-68006518729735867482023-10-30T08:18:00.007-04:002023-10-30T08:35:35.642-04:00"X Troop" by Leah Garrett (2021)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSk_JO1d_Q10ACs_5LCURxNZ3usUGFzYxRdrtWBj4P9MHaupzVpPW_uNAC76SPEejBamjAYS8wEldX70QrKLTjEsIm_NHR7Oczy5uOz5xaFiGlhRyauNnMvIerhRUwRXRjd68mOSejrAcWZh4vGlfX4rf-QNKGjcpYEWAV6uOAj92DQKEv1e-vCDFjs1T5/s445/51bkIsIVkFL._SY445_SX342_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="303" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSk_JO1d_Q10ACs_5LCURxNZ3usUGFzYxRdrtWBj4P9MHaupzVpPW_uNAC76SPEejBamjAYS8wEldX70QrKLTjEsIm_NHR7Oczy5uOz5xaFiGlhRyauNnMvIerhRUwRXRjd68mOSejrAcWZh4vGlfX4rf-QNKGjcpYEWAV6uOAj92DQKEv1e-vCDFjs1T5/w273-h400/51bkIsIVkFL._SY445_SX342_.jpg" width="273" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is a book which should be read by all who wish to study the Second World War more completely. It is at once a story of sadness and the subjugation of the Jewish people, and then becomes the story of a group of young Jewish men from Germany and Eastern Europe who are fortunate enough to escape the Nazis, albeit with no clear future before them.<br />
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From there it becomes the story of a group of men who have lost everything. Their homes, their futures, their families and even their names. They are strangers in a strange land; Britain. There they find themselves refugees, moved around from one refugee camp to another. Some are even shipped to Austrailia along with German POW's, who, as combatants have more rights via the Geneva Convention than the victims they sought to annihilate. <br />
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The POW's have the required living space and food specified by law. The refugees are packed, like cattle, into the hold of the ship, fed only scraps of food and only allowed on deck 15 minutes per day. They are harassed by the POW's as well as the Britush crew members. Their meager belongings are confiscated and, when not stolen, are thrown over the side, into the sea, lost seemingly forever, just as with their identities.<br />
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Once in Australia they are kept in Concentration camps, little better off than the labor camps they sought to escape in Europe. After a time there they are returned to England and things become a bit better. Some are placed in the country side and grow food which the British need to feed their troops. But some, not many, have a different fate before them. These are the men who become Commando fighters, serving as "X Troop".<br />
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The book is replete with characters, who, if not real, would be unbelievable in a novel. Take for instance "Fighting Jack Churchill" aka "Mad Jack", no relation to Sir Winston, who fought in the war with a longbow, a hilted Scottish broadsword, and a bagpipe. He would help train, and lead, these mostly intellectual half starved refugees into a fighting force no writer could invent.<br />
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It took more than two years, much of the time spent in Wales and Scotland, climbing sheer rockfaced mountains, running 53 miles with full packs before swimming back to base in freezing waters to mold them. And they met every obstacle fueled by hatred and revenge for the Nazis, not knowing if their families back home were still alive. <br />
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Forced to virtually abandon their own religion, they had to learn to speak English with no trace of an accent. Then, to perfect this, they were quartered in private homes with families who hardly recognized them as refugees.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Interwoven in all this is also the story of the Rothschilds, particularly Miriam, who was self educated by virtue of her grandfather and father. She spent 16 hour days at Bletchley Park, cracking the German's Enigma Code. And along the way she fell in love with Captain George Lane, one of the refugees and a member of X Troop.</div>
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They married in secret, and she was carrying his child when he was captured in France. It was there he faced the greatest danger. He was interrogated by Feld Marshal Rommel, in the country mansion which was his secret headquarters. They even shared a cup of tea as Rommel tried to figure out when and where the invasion of France would take place. <br />
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From there, rather than being executed, as he expected, Captain Lane was sent to a prison camp in an abandoned castle. There was no food, but there was an extensive library, from which he was able to identify Rommel's headquarters. And with the aid of a secret radio transmitter constructed by the prisoners he was able to get that information back to Britain, resulting in a bombing raid which would have killed Rommel had he not committed suicide after being implicated in a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler in October 1944.<br />
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In this same transmission he was also able to alert Miriam that he was still alive.<br />
Reunited after his escape, the two remained married until 1957 when they seperated. They had two sons and four daughters. Rothschild was a leading world authority on fleas, butterflies, and pyrazines and chemical communication, all self educated. But that story is another book altogether. <br />
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Even today, in Wales, there is a monument, erected to these extraordinary men, whom the town fully embraced as their own. When not on duty they were feted at town dances, and some romances and unlikely marriages resulted from this. <br />
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These men were trained in counterintelligence and advanced combat, the result being a highly trained suicide squad. They would literally stop at nothing to defeat the Nazis. <br />
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The author avails herself of declassified records, and interviews with the last surviving members, to follow this extraordinary group to the beaches of Normandy, battlefields of Italy and Holland, and finally to Terezin concentration camp, where some came face to face with the skeletal, living remains of their own parents. <br />
<br />
And after all the battles, the deprivations, the re-inventions of themselves, they faced an even bigger battle after the war was over. These men, without whom D-Day could have gone on as scheduled, are forced to fight Parliment to become citizens of the country they so honorably served. Of all the challenges they faced, and all the odds against them, this was perhaps the most despicable of all.<p></p>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03780497300710503640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-642219598553480617.post-83622956989000456392023-10-27T19:53:00.003-04:002023-10-27T20:26:34.212-04:00"China" (1943) with William Bendix, Alan Ladd and Loretta Young<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EvWVkZd2RsY" width="320" youtube-src-id="EvWVkZd2RsY"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">William Bendix is a favorite old black and white actor of mine. Known largely for playing tough guy roles, as well as in other fims, he is legendary. Two of my favorites are "A Dark Corner", opposite Lucille Ball and Clifton Webb. Or in this film, "China", with Alan Ladd, where the two adopt a young Chinese girl orphaned by the Japanese.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In this film Alan Ladd is often credited as being the template later used for the character of Indiana Jones, complete with leather jacket and hat. In addition to his costume, Alan Ladd plays a character named David Jones, further cementing the connection. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">With William Bendix at his side, the two confront obstacle after obstacle as mercenaries in war torn China on the eve of Pearl Harbor. Also of note are that Sen Yung, Richard Loo and Soo Yong are just some of the actual Asian actors who played roles in this film. And not as stereotypical typecast characters, but as dedicated heroic guerillas fighting the Japanese.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">You will also remember Bendix as the tough guy from Brooklyn in just about every World War Two classic war film. Always out front, and always the most likely to be killed while defending a buddy.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
A pal of James Cagney he played the bartender in Cagney's early self produced adaptation of the play "Time of Our Lives", which also starred James Barton, Ward Bond and Broderick Crawford. In that film all of the actors played off type roles. <br />
<br />
Produced by Cagney's brother Bill and starring his kid sister Jean, it lost the $250,000 which was spent to make it. Cagney, an avid theater lover and good "hoofer", put his money into this one simply because he thought the play, by William Saroyan, hadn't been given a fair shake by the critics.<br />
<br />
Bendix was also known for his early TV sitcom "Life of Riley", on which he reprised the character he played for several years before it's successful transition to TV. The series was so well loved by all age groups that the character of Riley was even turned into comic bar star in 1958.<br />
<br />
He even played "Babe" in the film, "The Babe Ruth" Story". And, he also played baseball for real, in a way. He'd been a bat Boy as a teenager for the Yankees as a teenager in the 1920's He wasxfired for not getting Ruth all the hotdogs he was wanted before that days game began and worked as a grocer in the1930's.<br />
<br />
One of his other well known roles was in "The Glass Key", which featured Brian Donlevy, Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake in the leads. He drew real notice in Alfred Hitchcock's "Lifeboat", in which he played "Gus", a wounded and dying American sailor.<br />
<br />
But my all time favorite Bendix role is in the film, "Macao" as an undercover NYC police detective opposite Robert Mitchum, who plays a broke and wandering ex Naval Officer who cannot go back to America due to having killed someone. With Jane Russell as the female lead, doing her own singing live, on the soundstage, that film rocks.<br />
<br />
He is also in his element in the film, "Crashout", as the head of a prison break by 6 men. No long intro leading up to it, the film starts immediately with no flashbacks, and moves all the way to it's inevitale conclusion.<br />
<br />
Crisply preserved, many of his films are available at my favorite price of free, on You Tube. I love bringing these film out by voice command on my tablet, and then "casting" them to my TV, in my case, a 49" Roku. Modest but great for they type of films i enjoy most. Black and white.<br /></div>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03780497300710503640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-642219598553480617.post-81721377055934788992023-10-22T22:07:00.002-04:002023-10-22T22:10:40.209-04:00"Pudd'nhead Wilson" by Mark Twain <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiFHT-zQ4QFlxMoKxmsQo-p6HY83rMBsYFX1swB_OQW_o41xX-3NP_Jc6EFpbOB9df3SMNrUhZlp8iy-SwTLMjHE2_ntoIZ1Cl_FSJSWGNOT992Ax5aEAgF_5XvzUcQ0oYpR-JlFLTaIqEBrrByxSuM8dMwuo4hXqbTB1JjpBfvD580UgZxgz2midCeArh/s445/51Rs-5VSLZL._SY445_SX342_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="296" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiFHT-zQ4QFlxMoKxmsQo-p6HY83rMBsYFX1swB_OQW_o41xX-3NP_Jc6EFpbOB9df3SMNrUhZlp8iy-SwTLMjHE2_ntoIZ1Cl_FSJSWGNOT992Ax5aEAgF_5XvzUcQ0oYpR-JlFLTaIqEBrrByxSuM8dMwuo4hXqbTB1JjpBfvD580UgZxgz2midCeArh/w266-h400/51Rs-5VSLZL._SY445_SX342_.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">For some reason this is the one book by Mark Twain I never had a desire to read. And now that I have I can say honestly that it is probably his best work. It is, at once, a mystery and a satire. And yet it raises very pertinent questions.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Are we the products of our background and upbringing? Or are we really the by-products of what society makes of us?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">This is a very nuanced tale, encompassing a bit of history as well as a grand adventure which takes place in the fictional town of Dawson's Landing on the banks of the Mississippi River in the years before the Civil War. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Truly, this book proves, literally, that what is black and what is white is not always as it seems. And also, that people are not whom they may appear to be.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03780497300710503640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-642219598553480617.post-56436758528186429802023-10-17T08:58:00.002-04:002023-10-17T08:58:30.963-04:00Buddy L. - Toy Trucks <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_FXiRj3FbiQdHoa-bQLTvW9DCCZI2GW7aXyHqKtLgcK3UgdxFGbUxUYPn78SHGEK2D4W3MDNfEvDc7kauqFlnoWgYMw5ey5tfju_2FopPRWh42BNo0PwOZohG5Y67oAeZbVH2SxBtUr3Xdp9xHYzwqzEJfZm-P6Si9c5oUbYnEHVLpWrRZZ9Ng6FXQuoH/s1735/20231017_073515.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="1735" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_FXiRj3FbiQdHoa-bQLTvW9DCCZI2GW7aXyHqKtLgcK3UgdxFGbUxUYPn78SHGEK2D4W3MDNfEvDc7kauqFlnoWgYMw5ey5tfju_2FopPRWh42BNo0PwOZohG5Y67oAeZbVH2SxBtUr3Xdp9xHYzwqzEJfZm-P6Si9c5oUbYnEHVLpWrRZZ9Ng6FXQuoH/w400-h240/20231017_073515.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Sue brought home this pressed steel toy "scale" modeled truck yesterday. She git it for free and intended to give it to her grand nephew as a gift. I pointed out that the edges were sharp, and the steel was heavy, both posing a hazard to her nephew. Really though, I wanted the truck for myself. <p></p><p>These rugged little toys are collector's items and even this stripped down version is worth $75 on e-bay. With all the original parts intact it goes for about $200. Now I love the kid, but he'd be much happier with a $12.95 battery powered modern toy which does wheelies, etc. than this antique from the late 1940's which you have to push by hand and make noises by yourself. </p><p>The history of these trucks is pretty interesting. "Buddy L", was an American toy brand founded in 1920 as the Buddy L Toy Company in East Moline, Illinois, by Fred Lundahl. He simply wanted to make a toy truck for his son. So he used scrap steel from the car bumpers he had been making with the Moline Pressed Steel Company which he began in 1910. </p><p>They originally manufactured automobile fenders and other auto body parts for cars and trucks. They primarily supplied parts for the McCormick-Deering line of farm implements and the International Harvester Company.</p><p>But Fred quickly saw there was a market for these made to scale toys. So he began to design and produce an assortment of all-steel miniature trucks modeled after an International Harvester truck, all made from 18- and 20-gauge steel from company scrap.</p><p>Buddy L made other toys, such as cars, dump trucks, delivery vans, fire engines, construction equipment, and even trains. The Fire Engine goes for up to $800 in good condition! He marketed these as "Toys for Boys." Many were even large enough for a child to sit on and propel with their feet. Others were simply pull toys. </p><p>A pioneer in the steel-toy field, he persuaded Marshall Field's and F. A. O. Schwarz to carry the line. He did well until the Great Depression, when he sold the company for cash.</p><p>After several transitions from heavy steel to plastic, and several different owners, the company suffered a recall in August 2000 for overheated batteries. And by November 2000, the owners, Empire of Carolina filed for bankruptcy. In July 2001, Empire Industries was sold to Alpha International, Inc., of Cedar Rapids, Iowa which was renamed Gearbox Toys and is now owned by J. Lloyd International.</p><p>But there will never be heavy steel trucks such as the originals again. They are now collector's items. Glad I snatched this one up. With noble intentions, of course! 😀</p>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03780497300710503640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-642219598553480617.post-71273139002112290002023-10-06T04:18:00.030-04:002023-10-27T17:43:27.960-04:00Ramblewood Road <p></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzdSt2hWabW9NUZJx9sQeNWjn9_8B_dSjh_44QasXRIeKqOO4p-ukL33l8DF1S-Xno7wnaIJUymyEHAUGr9py8z2rhxy4Y1UYG_HwgIFxCa4pBKs82cpCJJt_1kx-5BfAfDXIEXq2eX2QG3XdXMkH_1cx0fSNoeHMefKZJU67_OXa2oyVuRS39Mv49RmMy/s1318/20231010_052242.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="840" data-original-width="1318" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzdSt2hWabW9NUZJx9sQeNWjn9_8B_dSjh_44QasXRIeKqOO4p-ukL33l8DF1S-Xno7wnaIJUymyEHAUGr9py8z2rhxy4Y1UYG_HwgIFxCa4pBKs82cpCJJt_1kx-5BfAfDXIEXq2eX2QG3XdXMkH_1cx0fSNoeHMefKZJU67_OXa2oyVuRS39Mv49RmMy/w320-h204/20231010_052242.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Of all the things my eyes have seen<br />
in waking moments, fresh from dreams,<br />
there is a memory still cuts keen<br />
as sun cuts at the dawning.<br />
<br />
I'd look at her there curled in sleep <br />
afraid to move, I'd almost weep<br />
at beauty that could cut so deep,<br />
I'd wait to see her yawning.<br />
<br />
Pondering how it came to be<br />
that such beauty lay with me.<br />
I'd watch her breathe and wait to see <br />
her eyes light up the morning.<br />
<br />
Wondering how, we'd come together<br />
her first sigh, light as a feather,<br />
became a crash like thunderous weather<br />
her storm was as a warning.<br />
<br />
Her sighs, her cries, her very eyes<br />
were bright, as were the morning skies.<br />
Her beauty almost made me cry<br />
as I felt her body warming.<br />
<br />
A touch, a kiss, afraid to miss<br />
the smallest move which brought such bliss.<br />
She opened like a blossom kissed<br />
with dew from summer's storming.<br />
<br />
These memories come from long ago<br />
and speak of love I'd not yet known.<br />
Remembering now how much I'd grown<br />
I find myself in mourning. <br />
<br />
<br />
For Leslie Ann Billmire<br />
Hereford High School<br />
Baltimore Maryland<br />
1940-1989<br />
<br />
If anyone has a photo of Leslie I would love to have a copy to post with this poem. <br />
You can reach me at robertrswwilliams@yahoo.com </div></span></div></blockquote><p></p>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03780497300710503640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-642219598553480617.post-15988274986169397232023-09-14T18:27:00.002-04:002023-09-14T20:27:52.323-04:00"Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann (2017)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfN-VqU4KwqR1pTZhj6sNxP9Q1V_5-lrIIxFIBBL0yv1zuIDQogXIYaR_8nSfjW1J-fFppPL_wtNmbQ22k-xgR5hZht9vISP-1UpEuCj7HbsH6XRVZLozAs1dUH5XtQkmrtj5cZxV7Z0sU2TW_40fZzb7C2Z1yn6EMqazM1fayPIEky3MtyKhvaACRZ6hr/s444/20230914_181540.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="273" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfN-VqU4KwqR1pTZhj6sNxP9Q1V_5-lrIIxFIBBL0yv1zuIDQogXIYaR_8nSfjW1J-fFppPL_wtNmbQ22k-xgR5hZht9vISP-1UpEuCj7HbsH6XRVZLozAs1dUH5XtQkmrtj5cZxV7Z0sU2TW_40fZzb7C2Z1yn6EMqazM1fayPIEky3MtyKhvaACRZ6hr/w246-h400/20230914_181540.jpg" width="246" /></a></div><br />This book tells the story of one of the most notorious cases of the 20th century. Unfortunately it was buried by the egotism of J. Edgar Hoover who hogged the limelight and deprived the true story of Texas Ranger Tom White, who, first as a Texas Ranger, and then as an Agent of what was shortly to become the FBI, led an almost 5 year investigation into the multiple murders of several dozen Osage Indians in Oklahoma during the 1920's.<p></p>
Oil had been discovered on the Osage Reservation, making millionaires of the the tribe's members. But it didn't take long for the white man to devise a way of scamming them of at least part of their wealth. <br />
<br />
By reasoning that Indians didn't understand money, or how to handle it, they concocted laws which made it mandatory for each Indian to have a white trustee. Soon white men and women descended upon the Reservation and started marrying the Osage. After that the Judges began to award trusteeships to whites in exchange for securing their votes at election time.<br />
<br />
Suddenly, in 1921, there were murders, poisonings and all manners of schemes afoot to gain hold of the "headrights" to the Osage parcels of land. Each parcel was 160 acres and oil companies came to bid under what became known as the "Million Dollar Elm" for leases to these "headrights". <br />
<br />
The book begins in May 1921, with the disappearance of an Osage woman named Mollie Burkhart. When found she had been shot in the head and dumped in a ravine. Local authorities couldn't/wouldn't solve the case. Soon more deaths followed, all with the same lack of prosecution. It seemed that no white jury would convict a white man of murdering an Indian.<br />
<br />
When the investigation was finally handed over to the Texas Rangers things looked as if there would be convictions. But, due to the influence of one man, William Hale, nothing changed at all. Hale controlled everything that happened; on and off the Reservation.<br />
<br />
This is also the story of the time when the Bureau of Investigation was under the leadership of William Burns. He was just as bad as the State when it came to results. But by 1925 the Bureau became the FBI and J.Edgar Hoover took over. At the same time Texas Ranger Tom White became an FBI agent and Hoover assigned him to the case.<br />
<br />
For another 3 years there were investigations and trials, and even more murders. But no convictions. Finally, through Jurisdictional wrangling, the case wound up in Federal Court. State verdicts were overturned as witnesses recanted and juries were proven to have been bribed. <br />
<br />
Too complicated for a simple review, take my advice and read this book before the movie is released. Martin Scorsese is directing the film version which will be starring Robert DeNiro and Leonardo DiCaprio as the two leaders of the criminals responsible for the murders. Some of these murders even involved their own family members. <br />
<br />
In the 1930's Lucky Strike tried a radio show based on the case but struck out. Later on, Agent and former Texas Ranger Tom White tried his hand at a book which became a fictional screenplay. Again, it didn't make it. By that time the FBI had moved on and J. Edgar Hoover became a national hero due to the John Dillinger case and the birth of the "G-Man." Unwilling to share the truth of this shameful story of exploitation, and dilute his own place in the spotlight, there was no way he was going to share any glory with the real hero of the earlier case, former Texas Ranger Tom White.<br />
<br />
The book is all encompassing, covering the history of the Osage, the discovery of oil and the history of the oil barons it created. No movie will ever be able to fully tell the story as well as David Gram does in the book. He lived with it and researched it for 6 years before it was released in 2017. I'll say it again; read the book first. It will enrich you. Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03780497300710503640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-642219598553480617.post-17970290933271675182023-09-11T09:24:00.003-04:002023-09-11T12:10:17.206-04:00Spain, Hitler and Nuetrality <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqwk44T4LUzowghHrt6RWmueAsJ6Rh5UggvqOb98MPPzLbLSk937UB-hoVf3Bdh_x0Q6NG1_7X3scudgmigEYjIGpj8EkOw7-wlPa8Rg2JxBESAtZxbP5Y6WkaTJtn4wMj5UMoAm09ufvRoLL2fzEHzQyTm7xkfkawlJ43vDrC0DxLcGd8Zixe4l1_pidw/s1567/20230911_091426.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="899" data-original-width="1567" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqwk44T4LUzowghHrt6RWmueAsJ6Rh5UggvqOb98MPPzLbLSk937UB-hoVf3Bdh_x0Q6NG1_7X3scudgmigEYjIGpj8EkOw7-wlPa8Rg2JxBESAtZxbP5Y6WkaTJtn4wMj5UMoAm09ufvRoLL2fzEHzQyTm7xkfkawlJ43vDrC0DxLcGd8Zixe4l1_pidw/w400-h230/20230911_091426.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hitler and Mussolini had helped Spain fight the Communists in the 1930's Spanish Civil War. But, as the Axis Powers could not convince Spain to join them, by 1940, the Spanish relied on US oil and grain to meet her needs. Also the British controlled Gibraltar and access to the Mediterranean. In effect, Spain, a Facist nation, was surrounded physically, and economically, by the Allied Powers.<br />
<br />
While the Germans and Italians had supported Fascist Spain in the 1930's Civil War, the US officially remained nuetral while allowing Americans to form the Lincoln Brigade to fight on the Communist side against Franco and the Axis Powers. This later came back to haunt the American volunteers in the McCarthy era, when they were considered to be Communist sympathizers. <br />
<br />
Twice, between 1940 and 1944 Franco met with Hitler. In 1940 he formed the Blue Brigade to help Hitler, but that Brigade was only to be used to fight Russia on the Eastern Front, not against any other Allied nation. The Spanish could hardy refuse, because they owed the Germans $212 million from the Spanish Civil War, and simply didn't have the funds to pay it back.<br />
<br />
The US then scaled back their support, guaranteeing only a 10 week supply as long as Franco was helping Hitler on the Eastern Front. When America and Britain won North Africa in 1942 Franco switched back to complete neutrality, and our full economic support returned. <br />
<br />
In return, Franco agreed to keep a fortified border in the Pyrenees and Iberian Mountains to deter the Nazis from entering Spain, which was now bounded on all 4 sides, by the Atlantic to the West, the mountains to the East and Britain and the U.S. to the North and South at Gibraltar, the gateway to the Atantic as well as the entrance to the Mediterranean. <br />
<br />
In 1944 when Franco was approached again by Hitler, the US again imposed an embargo and cut aid. By that time the Axis powers could not provide Spain with the needed goods and so those talks went nowhere, forcing the Spanish to stay neutral. <br />
<br />
Spain was not the only neutral country in the Second World War. The Chinese supplied Germany with tungsten for steel, and in turn, Germany provided China with money and arms to fight the Japanese, at the same time as the the US was conducting the Flying Tiger ops against Japan. Essentially China profited from both sides. It was the only time that the US and Germany were on the same side during the War. <br />
<br />
The Portuguese provided Hitler with the tungsten steel needed. They also provided tungsten to the Germans from their colony of Brazil in South America. The rest of South America followed Mexico against the Nazis after Germany sank 2 Mexican oil tankers. Brazil and Argentina were the only exceptions. After the war Argentina was the country to which the Nazis fled to avoid prosecution for War Crimes.<br />
<br />
It was a diplomatic mess, which also kept Ireland from entering the war against Germany, even while sending workers to Britain to work in the war plants for much needed employment. Hatred of Britain due to the Bloody Sunday incidents before and between both WW1 and WW2 also played a major role in this decision by Ireland to take this stand.<br />
<br />
The Swedish, who could not rely on Britain to protect them from Russia or Germany, led to their nuetrality even as they provided Germany a safe haven for her finances. At the same time, they played this exact financial and humanitarian role for the US. and its Allies with the Geneva Convention. In addition, Germany, by now fighting Russia, provided the Swedish with protection from that end.<br />
<br />
All of these factors make the 2nd World War a complex study. In literature and film, all of these facts are portayed in books such as Hemingway's "For Whom the Bells Toll", and films such as "Casablanca", and even the post war classic "Gilda." All of which first piqued my interest in the subject of nuetrality.<br />
<br />
General Sherman said "War is Hell", but it sure creates some great literature.....<br /><p></p><div><br /></div>Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03780497300710503640noreply@blogger.com0