Saturday, October 05, 2002
GURKHAS REVISITED
We have all found the Gurkhas to be common in literature concerning East Indian affairs. I have always associated them with being members of the British army in India in Colonel times., as depicted in so many of Rudyard Kipling's fine stores of that era.
Actually, they have been, and are, much more than that, I have learned.
A neighbor of mine, Bob Kugler, who served in the China-Burma-India theater during World War II , gets a little magazine at regular intervals titled: “Ex-SCI Review” which he passes along to me to read.
I find, in reading that publication, that the Gurkhas are indeed soldiers but they are all that I thought they were, and more. The British first recruited them, that's true, to serve in the Indian Army, but they are now the armed forces of their native Nepal..
Generally small in stature, Gurkhas have always been good at using their small size to deceive enemies. It is backed by a good fighting spirit. They prove to be good soldiers and make up for any small stature with special qualities of stamina and cleverness.
They are a proud group, too – these Ghurkas. Depending on what Quartermaster supply has available, they like to wear neat uniforms, leggings and the seem to present an old-fashioned look about them which can also be deceiving. Much
that they used to wear, however, often resembled cowboy headgear for foraging and turbans for dress wear. That, of course, is all gone but the modern armed forces of which they are a part, .probably gloss over the romantic uniqueness of the group. I know less than nothing of today's armed force in Nepal. I would imagine, however, that the old men-of- war image remains pretty much intact.
The Ghurkas, we are told, was “all business” as a soldier and he was especially adept at guerrilla fighting. He was a master of techniques used in such fighting and could e sent out with a bag of rice and his traditional,curved-bladed knife to do whatever had to be done.
Japanese troops feared the Ghurkas. Their preferred way of killing was by total decapitation of the human head from the body, which they did silently and quickly with their deadly “knives”'.
Extant photographs of the Ghurkas seem to be rare. We see soldiers in mixed uniforms of yesteryear. The women of the Ghurka group are larger in stature and they tend to dress in bright colors ,red especially and have a “sportive one” as they tended to wear too much jewelry on their fingers, as nose rings as bracelets for both arms and legs as well as elaborate necklaces.. Beside them, the males look drab.
At this moment, when the armies of Pakistan and India are facing each other along the borders in the north, I have a feeling more than one Pakistani soldier is wondering if all of the Ghurkas went back to Nepal or stayed with the army of India
They served well as British mercenaries in Colonial days and are remembered as turbaned terrors by those who met them.
A.L.M. October 4, 2002 [c 525wds] .
Friday, October 04, 2002
RENOVATIONS
For sometime, now – it's been weeks -actually months that we have been “camping in” at our house.
We decided earlier this summer to make a few changes in the home where we have lived for ten years.
It all started off lightly. We were going to re-arrange the kitchen and dining room areas and put new vinyl flooring there and in the two bathrooms. The carpeting needed replacement in the living room,hall and two bedrooms,as well. The plan was to do what we could afford to get done at the time.
The mistakes we made were small,I suppose, but they came to be more than just bothersome. Events which followed may serve you well as a “How Not To...” text.
We decided to get some estimates. That,in itself, was a wise thing to do,but it went awry. After a few phone calls and visits it became apparent that all the carpenters and painters - as well as contractors in the area were busy building new houses and could not take on “renovation” jobs.
We did, however,get a few bids. One was sky high and totally out of reach,and one of the other was tempting but the idea was for the workers to moonlight,in a sense,and do the job in what they called “four week-ends”. That would mean a whole month of a torn up household! We were impressed with work he had done elsewhere, but we said “no” because of the “four weeks-ends” clause.
We were still confident we would find someone to do the job,and in looking ahead we found that much of the cost might be eliminated if we, and family members, could remove the old carpeting and padding, take up some of the linoleum floor covering dislodging glued-down wooden tile sections from the floor of the dining room kitchen areas. We kept telling ourselves how much we were saving by doing the prep work ourselves.
Some cuts were made. The idea of all new kitchen cabinets had crept into the plan from somewhere but that was eliminated in favor of simply painting the existing ones a fresh, clear white to brighten the area. So, the flooring was ripped up and hauled away; off came all cabinets doors, and the hardware put aside carefully for refinishing. Then, “to get ready for the painters” everything was removed from the cabinets, drawers, bins and from china presses in the dining room. Furniture, too! Out!
Everything packable was put in cardboard boxes as if we were moving to the comparative calm of somewhere in the Mid-East. The marked boxes were then consigned to one of three locations: the attic, our former two-car garage, or downstairs to the large rec room and utility area. The pool table became an overflowing mound of stuff and things and the old computer desk came to look like a yard-sale display table several layers thick.
Surprise! One painter showed up. He did most of the walls of the smaller bathroom and had to leave for a planned vacation trip. Later two painters showed up for two days. The second visit was largely to do a second coat and touch ups. They had previously contracted a church painting job and had to go to that job,which was agreeable with us. The irony of it all was that it was the Fellowship Hall of our own church which they were to paint.
It become evident, by that time,that we were not going to get the professional help we needed. Members of the family children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, great granddaughters, sons-in-laws - a former one and and one to be - some friends and, perhaps, a stranger or two did the painting, and cabinet restoration.
The brighter side! We had excellent pro help on the carpet and vinyl floor installation. It was marred by extended delays when they received two damaged shipments in a row from their supplier - rolls of vinyl broken in the center. They treated us very well, indeed!
The house is taking shape once more and we have often thought how nice it could have been if we had accepted that early bid of with only “four week ends” of camping in.
Camping out is fine! Yes.
Camping in? No!
A.L.M. October 3, 2002 [c717wds]
Thursday, October 03, 2002
RUT RADIO
I soon tire of the same old fare being thrown my way by radio.
I wonder,at times,how people in the programing end of the radio business, as it exists today, think that upon playing a record of,let’s say, Irish Dance music, they are obligated for some strange reason, to follow with more of the same.
One reason it is being done,is because it is he easy way out.
With two turntables at your disposal you can get by with just two CD's or two larger discs to fill out the half-hour or longer time period if you like. The theory might be that if some listeners liked the first one -and no one called to say they didn’t like it – they ought to be good for few more of the same.
The same question of mine applies to “blues” tunes, Latin-American, Hawaiian, Uzbekistan’s latest rock favorites, or cool songs from Antarctica. Too much of any one thing is, as a rule, deadly. It can drive our radio listeners back o TV if you are not careful. We should try to offer listeners more variety. That gives them more reasons than ever
to like or dislike what we do.
Far too man radio people fall into this common rut.
People like variety in their entertainment. What’s the most common comment you hear about TV today? Right – that’s it’s all so much he same! Radio can offer variety faster and easier than television.
There was notable program in quirk in network radio yeas ago which had a world of bad repercussions. Maybe you remember when one of major radio networks of the era shook things up more than just a little but by letting it be know that they intended to program the week – each night featuring nothing but one type of show.
Tuesday evening was “Comedy”,I remember and I think Friday night was “Mystery” or that may have been Thursday, I don’t remember. Monday and Wednesday also had special overloads of their own!
The results are usually dismal.
The first comedian on Tuesday nights did very well, but he was a headliner and would have done well anyway.
The second funny man did not come across as sharp as he usually was, and the Third one, usually an also-ran anyway,had a real problem on his hands with people who had laughed for several hours and simply did not have much fun-loving urge left inside of their quake-shaken bodies.
Far too many radio stations are currently overloading entire hour to three-hour segments with the same type of music. They often seem to exude an aura as having been divinely designated to minister unto the supposed need of a narrow segment of hearers who have a special interest in promoting that phase of music.
Rut radio of today has need of persons who dare to be different.
A.L.M. September 29, 2002 [c486wds]
Wednesday, October 02, 2002
Last Words
We will never know what the last words of Albert Einstein were because the nurse attending him in his last moments did not speak or understand German.
I find it interesting that the one man who had probably delved more into the making of this world of ours than any other, spoke his final thoughts he was heard to do so,but not understood.
Imagine what ponderous thoughts might have been stated in those last words! Or, think ,as well,on how trivial they might have been. We will never know which they were nd we can think of ourselves as having lost a part of the famous and uniquely talented man's overall contribution too our society. If he made a momentous statement of some nature,then we have missed a valuable word of assistance which may have improved our lot. On the other hand,it may have been that he spoke in a less scholarly line of thought, then we have missed the subtle,intensely human side of the man we probably hurt in some way by taking him too seriously all of the time.
With hindsight, of course,it is easy enough for us to wonder why those in charge of the case did no specify that a nurse fluent in German would be present to properly assist the man in whatever he expressed his desires to be. Or,an interpreter could have been present.
Often, men of Einstein's caliber and reputation have made summary statements of their work or ideas as death came near. Some seemed see a bridge into a finer realm while others do not glimpse such a nirvana. Some have said things which are difficult to fathom and those are usually dismissed as products of a confused mind in those final moments. No doubt there have been some such quoted texts which are pure fabrications of people in the vicinity who heard what they thought the dying person may have said.
It may be that we take such death-bed utterances far too seriously,and in doing so, often bend the memory of the person to suit our own thinking and thus, I fear ,we lose a part of their real nature.
Albert Einstein, in addition to being a learned professor type,also exhibited a very humorous portion of his life and times, as well My favorite story is one that is told about his professorial duties at,I believe, Princeton. Was it not?
After a long day of teaching, Einstein is said to have left his classroom;stopped a shop where he purchased a large ice cream cone. He licked that cone of ice cream almost the entire way home. That alone would not have been unusual,I suppose,but he did all that while balancing on a single rail of the railroad tracks which led in the same direction as the street towards his lodgings. He teetered on the single rail in a tight-rope routine; his long coat fluttering; his shock of billowing white hair tossed about by the sunny breeze!
Einstein is best viewed, not solely from the dour atomic bomb-devotee theme, but as a human being. He experienced his share of family troubles about which we are seldom told. He lived a rather average life in troubled political times. Perhaps he did lean a bit toward the eccentric side for most of us, but when we ascribe too much seriousness to him the soft,humorous side of his nature we do him an injustice.
Of course,it makes little difference what he might have said in his last moments among us. If I were you ,I wouldn't worry too much about it.
But, I am not you. I am me. And, I will continue to wonder what he said.
My guess is that it was something of a wryly humorous nature and somewhat of “our-world” rather than a universe-shaking pronouncement. The roly-poly image of the great man sticks with me easier than the stern academic visage.
A.L.M. September 27, 2002
Tuesday, October 01, 2002
DO-DADS,THING-A-MAH-JIGS, AND WHAT-CHA-MAH-CALL-ITS!
The English language is a wonderfully expressive mechanism!
It has unbounded allocations of space for all possible lanes of learning to flow into it's welcoming warmth and fullness and bring with them, oft times, some uniquely devised expressions which are used to better understand subtle differences among culture son this planet Earth. English seems to welcome new words,whereas, so many other language attempt to repel the expressions pundits feel might dilute or destroy the imagined purity of their own spoken and written tongue.
Even “nonsense” language in English has special meaning for specific people of various ages. The current :rock” and “rap” age lingo terms often meaningless to those of us not yet initiated into the mysteries of modern music.
We grew up with a generous fund of such exotic words.
What,for example, was,or is, a “do-dad?” Or, how about a “thing-a-ma-bob(or,jig?”
And, there's one which seem to have come out of World War II language mutations – a “gizmo”.
If you have been busy at one task and then caused to do,another it may well be that you cannot remember,for the moment, the exact name of the tool you needed, so you might say “Hey! Hand me that what “wha-cha-mah-call-it” from the work bench! No, not that one! The other “do-dad” there!”The remarkable thing is that you will handed the proper tool - a “monkey wrench” or a “spanner” you intended to ask for - themselves, you see, at one time,lowly slang words.
Some such terms take on other meanings, as they mature. “Do-Dad” is used today in the medical field. It applies to a young father who experiences pains and change in his nature along with those of his pregnant wife. It' been happening for years,doctors agree,but he have finally decided that word to designate such a husband who echoes his wife's sufferings in such a personal manner is “doing” things,hence he is called a ”do-Dad.” as oppose, I assume to a non-do one,
So, don't expect today' slang usages to disappear. The may take on new, more sensible meanings as time goes by, but they will hold fast as part of our linguistic heritage used to express desires, emotions and and frustrations.
And,be patient. Try not to be too upset when the other person does not hand you the tool you asked for.
How is he or she to know you really wanted the other do-hickey?
A.L.M. October 1, 2002 [c413wds]
Monday, September 30, 2002
THIS IS ME
People very often ask me what I write,and just as often, it seems,they append their own idea: “a diary?” I suppose it actually started off being that – a daily diary - noting if it was raining or if the sun was shining – that sort of important data. It quickly became a journal, however, dealing with many things and with commentary of my life as I lived it then.
I remember writing about each and every movie we saw, and there were hundreds of them because that was our main spare-time activity. To see a movie, plus some commercials on the screen the plus a comedy, a news reel, a short subject feature, the featured movie itself, and perhaps a chapter in the then running serial western - all for the sum of of twenty-five cents. Where else could we have found such a value? Of course,it must be remembered that twenty-five cents was what we got for cutting and raking a lawn, and what some grown men got to weeding corn all day on a farm. I wrote about other subjects, as well, including the news of the day sense of being a writer all my life.
I can't say when when that occurred, but somewhere in my early teens I knew that was what I wanted to do and I had very little idea about how to go about doing it. I discovered “Writer's Digest” in Ohio, “The Writer”, from Boston and one called “Author & Journalist”, which was, I think, published in Denver for a short time. Writer's Digest was one which dealt more with the commercial side or writing, while The Writer tended toward the literary side. There were others from time to time, but they,as rule did not last long and proved to be see-your-name-in-print v vanity things. I had already seen my name in print and some small payments had come my way, so I leaned rather heavily toward the Digest and their fine Annual edition -the Yearbook – which listed the nation' top paying markets ...through the mediums ...the smalls and right down to the nothings. I think I tried most of them at one time or another.
Ego plays an important role in the making of a writer. I am appalled when I look back and find some of the pitiful material I channeled to some magazines and newspapers,but that is the way one grows and gradually the awareness of your true worth become evident – often as somewhat of a shock, too. Writers,like actors, have to maintain a feeling which tells them how good they are at regular intervals, otherwise they slip and fall backward into ordinary living ...and poor, self- centered writing.
I've never regretted my choice. It took some odd turns and I ended up with the major portion of my writing being done in the form of commercial advertising copy. However, along with that, there were writing adventures in PR work, articles, sales presentations, incentive trip scripts, a musical comedy, some songs, columns and some poetry. All of this background has given me some good feelings now in my “sunset” days ...as they call them.
“Sunset? Far from it! Stand back! I'm just getting started!
A.L.M. Sept.29,2002 [c549wds]
ONE DOLLAR
The lowly “dollar” stores are doing very well these days,I find.
Some are regional in nature, but you probably have three or four in your area which are nation-wide in their operations.
They usually have the word “dollar” in their name and this strikes me as being an echo from the “Five-and-Ten-Cents Stores” of days long-gone. The insinuation is that all items are priced at one dollar each,but that,you find,is not exactly the case -although many items are so tagged.
I find,in talking with housewives and homemakers, that more of them than ever before are shopping at these “economy” locations. Even while the “Big Box” stores out in the Mall on the edge of town are suffering recession doldrums , several of them seriously, the small dollar stores are prospering.
Some shoppers are going to the smaller store for physical reasons. They are no longer willing to go shopping “Safari Style”with long treks to and from the far reaches of a parking lot to the far end of the Mall. They find it much better to park in front of th smaller store and,often,just a few steps from the entrance.
With careful attention to purchasing the smaller stores can and do compete with the Big Box retailers because they operate in lower rent districts and have less overhead expense.
As a member of Congress, Rep. Burr Harrison, once said years ago:“We“ he said, speaking of Americans in general,”have what might be called an almost criminal devotion to bigness! If it's big,it's good!” The small:”dollar” stores are attesting to the wisdom of that statement when they actively compete with the large discount stores which seem to be dominating the markets.
We hear the terms “bankruptcy” and Chapter Eleven” in relation to the affairs of some Big Box retailers, but the smaller stores go right on being profitable in their small way.
The smaller stores e, it seems, meeting a need expressed by shoppers as they begin to pick and choose ...looking for, and finding, real bargains, at their local “dollar” stores. There are some dis-advantages,as well. Just because you found large boxes of your favorite dry cereal at your dollar store last week as a good price, does not mean you can get the same item there a week from now. Stocks are small and they vary. This is a result of the careful purchasing which must be be done if they are to compete and prosper. Items must move in and out quickly.
A.L.M. September 30, 2002 [c423ds]
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