SECOND CHAIR

No one wants to play second fiddle. With everyone playing melody, however well they may do so individually, they can only produce discord because each will differ a bit in their concept of the tune. Their efforts will never produce harmony.

To allow oneself to be placed a second chair to play second fiddle is, to many, a mark of shame – an insult. It is judged to make on seem inferior and it is “un-American”.

We, as a nation, have been placed in first chair. We play the melody. We “call the tune”you might say, and unless we find others who are willing to play second violin we are without harmony and proper contrast and embellishment or harmonic agreement.

Even thought we might not like to admit it, many of us were born to play second fiddle. It is not a badge of dishonor but, rather a special mark of merit. You may not realize it, but not everyone can play second fiddle well. It demands an exceptional sense of cooperative involvement some people simply cannot learn to handle

You don't have to be an expert in music to realize there is a tremendous difference between a lone person singing a solo when other voices - bass, tenor, baritone – are added. Your favorite quartet group simple cannot exist without cooperative action and genuine understanding of the essential nature of each contribution to the musical whole.

It holds true in many other aspects of modern living, too.

It is highly unlikely that the one hundred and seven nations, less or more, which make up the United Nation group will all be ready,willing or able to fill second chair positions with competence. And, all are not qualified to aspire to seat in the String Section. Some will be better suited to be in the Brass Section, Woodwinds, or Tympani. Percussion players are needed just as vitally as are second chair violinists because, while the added group of string bring harmony, the tympani persons pace the piece being played.

Only in working together, so that all talents are orchestrated and used wisely, can we even hope to bring forth a worthy production.

A.L.M. January 29, 2003 [c370wds]

 
OLD TOWNS

How you ever felt that cities and town are like people in that they “age”? I don't, of course, mean they simple grow older – that's a part of living, but town and cities, like some people, do not mature with charm and grace and with an attitude which becomes an asset rather than an impairment.

I visited a city this past week where I was a frequent sojourner many years ago, and having not seen it in many years,I found it had changed in many ways. Such changes are evident everywhere, but there was unifying quality about such changes which excited me and made me think this town was more vital than I had come to suppose.

To begin with it is a secondary city, in that it happens to be connected to a larger city which has grown to it and all around its relatively small area. That is not a pleasant place for a town to be. One is sure to feel overwhelmed by colossus next door, and to play second fiddle in most affair of common concern.

We are experiencing that condition more or that sort of growth,too as cities grow to mammoth proportions compared to what used to be thought of as their own domain. It is not uncommon for one city to swallow up half a dozen small towns and villages, many of real character and individual worth on their own.

One distinction allowed the lesser portion is that it has not changed by simply spreading out. The changes have been internal. While the so-called “downtown” area has not been made into a model community by any means, it does appear to be more vibrant, functional and useful than does the center of the larger city.

In art terms it is called patina, I believe.

Works of art are often said to have gathered a patina or shadowy overlay which makes the entire item more worthy than ever because it has endured and served well. I see the larger city's community arena is now located within the the smaller, absorbed portion. So are the city's leading professional offices.You will come to realize that it is not at all impossible for the tail to start wagging the dog.

It will be interesting to follow the career of these conjoined communities. A few years from now, I dare say, it will be found that the actual governing leadership will come from the small town base within the larger city. The ultimate spoils do not always go to the so-called victors.

Watch it happening in your own locality where one city is growing to encompass others.

A.L.M. January 29, 2003 [c451wds]

 

WORST CASE

So many people these days seem to find a certain satisfaction in citing the worst possible conditions which might evolve if everything goes as wrong as the seem to think it must.

You know the type. You, no doubt, met a your share of them in that strange time just a few years ago ago when the world faced the beginning of new century. Do your recall the near panic which occurred with many people at that time? Many seemed certain that only doom awaited each and every one of us .. all of us ... in strangely different and exotic ways. Computers, especially, were to suffer ignoble defeat and disaster. Everything that could possibly happen in a phase of war and strife, plus, abject poverty, famine and disease were sure to take place beginning in those few minutes right after midnight. I know people who stocked upon on foods, water medications and ammunition in newly constructed basement shelters to outlive the vague threats of doom sure to rush upon us as the old century died.

Where are these strange people now?

Many of then are still with us and their dedicated efforts are being expended daily in concocting the worst possible scenario detailing all the vilest misery and dismemberment of our nation in the immediate future. If you ask what they think of the situation in, let's say Iraq, or North Korea or any other hot spot of the moment - even those which are just warm - you will find they have it all mapped out in fine detail as to who will suffer the most and some will even tell you how and why. They are preparing for it all just as they did for the arrival of the year 2000!

The very individuals upon who the troublemakers of the world do not know what is about to happen. They see it all in a different light and much depends on what others do in the crisp, nervous meantime. No one ... none of us, for sure ...has such a firm grip on the true facts as has this viral worst-case prophet who remains a part of our body politic.

I meet with the situation daily as do most of you. “What do you think is going to happen in Iraq?”

I don't know. Many of the leaders of those nations involved do not know. And certainly the “Year 2000 Doom Sayer”, now a war an strife specialist, in is unlikely to be an instant-authority on all such concerns.

Be careful what you allow yourself to think, and say and even hear about the direst potential of the moment. No one can even begin to describe what it might be. I they could, and did so, no one would believe them anyway. These people who think they know for sure what is ahead for all of us, don't know the meaning of real of human suffering horror and loss. Their pictures of the worst are adult “child's play - pretending - and little more.

A.L.M . JANUARY 27, 2003 [c516wds]

 
DEDICATION

Whatever became of the quality we once called “dedication” which used to be thought of a being an integral part of employment?

Do you remember when many people were really proud of the firm for which they worked? For men, or members of his family, to brag a bit, now and then, concerning the close ties they genuinely felt with his employer was not a rarity. It is an attitude which is no longer to be found in day's market place.

It seems to me to that a firm sense of loyalty and trust would be essential for both parties. I was a good sound when we heard a man or, or a woman, praise the actions of the firm for which they worked. It was an assurance that he or she worked at that particular place because they had deliberately chosen to do so.

Now, when I talk with employees, I find far too many individuals who actually deride to firm which employs them. There seems to be a strange element of suspicion, mistrust and doubt. At times,I feel some have revived the ancient relationship of master to slave.

There has been a point of confusion somewhere along the work line - most likely at several points - when ownership of the firm has become flawed by mixing too closely with mis-management. If management was transitory by nature it intervened between the firm and those people who actually run the mechanism which keeps the money flowing. A management portion of any firm which is constantly in a state of internal ferment and change, is hardly the one to build confidence and loyalty among workers who they think of as being beneath them in their in their self-created industrial or commercial hierarchy If middle management resembles a bouncing ball it is always seeking a lower level in which to re-assure itself or seek to find another path. Some seem eager as a stream of water to reach the the lowest possible level.

Part of the dissatisfaction some workers feel concerning their employers, no doubt, evolved from the rather tense times when unionization swept the country under the guise of being a magic cure-all for any and every condition which might seem to be repugnant to any individual. The work place was split into harshly-edged factions, as a result, and an obvious gulf was worsened and deepened between the two factions. Ignoble practices were exploited by both sides,I feel to the ultimate benefit of none. “Evil” and “greed” became commonly accepted terms, and were included, unfortunately, in future evaluations.

There was a time, too, when there was a wider choice to be had by workers seeking employment, but many of those jobs no longer exist. Manufacturing, in the wide sense of the word, has long since departed these shores. Many jobs are no longer on the employment lists. Entrance level employment is at a minimum and service area placement, often unstable, has become the alternative.

Furthermore, the nature of placement has moved more and more into two fundamental groups all are “executives” or “workers”.

To the worker the executive becomes “the firm.” For whatever reason it seems to be true today that men and women have lost respect they once had for competent management. It it high time we stop educating all youth to be “executives,” if they make it, or to be content to be “workers” if not.

.A.L.M. January 26, 2003 [c576wds]

 

REVERSE JUSTICE

Recently, a man in the Winchester, Virginia area telephoned his wife at work to tell her their dog had bitten him and that he was going to kill the pet.

The method he chose was,it seems,to beat the dog to death which proved to be a poor choice, and he never got a chance to change. Not too confident,it seems he took his double-barreled shotgun along when he went into the main room of his trailer home to finish off his version of Man's best Friend turned sour.

To those who saw his body hours later, it seemed that he had hit the dog several times, one blow with such force that the heavy, plastic stock of the gun broke right at the point where the safety mechanism was located. He was holding it by the barrel end. A full shotgun charge when through his lower left abdomen and that was the end of his part of the fight.

Examinations indicated that the fight was over for the dog as well,. There were mo indications that the dog continued the battle once his opponent had fallen. The SPCA took the thirty-pound Shar-pei in for routine tests such as that for rabies and to treat his wounds The autopsy said the man died from the gunshot wound not from any dog attack.

The curious thing about this tragic situation is that wherever I have mentioned it or heard people talking about it, the sentiment seemed to be decidedly one-sided... and in favor of the dog. “Hm! Served him right!...“Good! Last dog he'll beat on for awhile.”

A man was killed and it will be called an accident. He had shown poor judgment in many ways and most people seem to have little sympathy for him. He was beating a dog, too which ,to many Americans is simply something people do not do on a whim or as a pleasurable thing.

There are other factors to the story which are not being talked about which deserve some special attention. One account I read cited dog authorites as saying the Shar-lei breed was one not readily adaptable to family living and certainly not to limited trailer or mobile home living quarters. The breed has been the source of stubborn, highly self-protective dog for hunting and for dog fighting. Experienced dog owners advice against Shar-lei as a pet under anything.

It may be that an incident such as this serve to caution many potential dog owners to choose with care and to be absolutely sure that you can adequately provide for the dog's comfort, ease, overall well-being and special tendencies. Some must also learn that a dog is not piece of furniture to be kicked around or discarded if the styles change or if you tire of seem them around A dog become a member of the family to which it is attached It's a two-way relationship as well.

A.L.M.. January 25, 2003 [c495wds]

 
SPILLS

You may be missing a lot of valuable information if you do not read murder mysteries.
'
For instance, until last week, I did not know what a “spill vase” ”is” or “”was.” Imagine not knowing that!

Just think of going through the rest of my years without knowing what a “spill vase” might have been or is? I cringe a bit when I think of such a shameful situation but I do wish to listen and to learn.

I came to count this knowledge as a new wrinkle in my brain with the guidance of one Agatha Christie who wrote a novel called “The Affair at Styles” some years ago which I have just got around to reading.

Periot - her wondeful little Belgian detective character - in his usual confusing logical logic makes quite a point of tearing up a document that is essential to the plot. I find out later that he has hidden the shreds in a Spill Vase in the living room of the manor house where the murder took place.

Clumsy as I am, I can make any vase become a vase that spills.

The dictionary defines a vase as being a container made to hold flowers and water.” In all fairness to the Noah who fashioned the dictionary , he does not append any limitations with control of the word "vase". It is conceivable, then, that such a vase might contain other items as well, or instead of. Right?

Having determined what a vase is - what, then, is a "spill?

I turned to the big, desk dictionary and well down list I found it. A spill is the same as a wooden splinter, or twisted bits of paper kept near a fireplace for use to light pipes or candles. Oh, those disciples of Noah are a knowledgeble breed, aren't they?

Now that I have found that out what he meant, I was back on track with Mr. Periot and could see where I thought he was leading me, which turned out to be somewhere else than where I had in mind.

But I learned what a spill vase is. Now, where else could I have acquired such a piece of information, I ask you? Now, alI have to do is find a fresh murder in a manor house and have need to hide a document. A spill vase would be the perfect place.

It would be safe there. So few people would know where to look.

A.L.M. January 24, 2003 [c423wds]

 
CAMELS IN TEXAS?


Yes, for about ten years there was a rather large herd of camels resident in Texas. It is not just a tall-tale talkative Texans tell.

The idea of adapting the camel to transportation needs of the nation expanding into the southwest was set forth by a man born in Kentucky horse breeding country. Interest in building a railroad across that vast expanse of rough terrain to the prosperous gold fields of California was hampered by political complications and enmities. Nothing was being done, and, he, as the United States Secretary of War ordered Major H. C. Wayne to the Middle East to study and to purchase a herd of camels or dromedaries as they were called in those days.

The plan was to use the “beasts of the desert” to transport vital military supplies the Secretary of War was having trouble supplying to the west coast and the scattered posts along the way.

The Secretary was not a man given to whims. He had a hot temper according to those who had know him at West Point Military Academy, or during his term he served as U .S. Senator - 1847-1861. He was said to have been a man of strong convictions which, some thought, bordered at times on self-righteousness. We know him in a totally different context as Jefferson Davis, President-to-be of the Confederate States of America.

Wright bought thirty-three camels as an initial shipment. They came on a ship called the “Supply” along with several Greek and Turkish drivers. On May 14, 1865 the people of Indianola, Texas, saw the beginning of the U.S. Army's Camel Corps. In San Antonio the camels demonstrated how they could have two bales of Texas cotton affixed to their backs while kneeling and, then stand up with no special effort, and haul the bales elsewhere. They proved to be very impressive in many such tests comparing them to mules.

Texas was not, at that time, exactly over run with experienced dromedary drivers, so it was necessary to train men to manage the beasts. The camel proved to have many positive qualities. It could travel long distances, bearing heavy loads with little need for water and minimum requirements for forage. It could exhibit degrees of exceptional stamina but negative points also became apparent which doomed the project to failure.

A major one, oddly enough proved to be a physical problem. The soft padded feet of the camel were not at all suited to the rocky terrain over which they were expected travel. Sore feet and legs were obvious. The camel is not exactly the most joyful beast of the field to start with and even though someone may well have come up with a “camel-shoe” in time. The second important negative was that men did not take to being camel drivers at all. It is not a pleasant task and most men who trained at it were found to prefer mules. Camels and their drivers mutually detested each other it.

Another negative reason was that the nation itself was rushing quickly into a costly Civil War which would rend the country apart and threaten its very existence.

The Secretary of War had other things on his mind. The camels, at Fort Verda ,Texas, south of Keensville, became part of the Confederate army for a time, but at the end of the war became federal property. The railway builders had awakened to the needs of the west the camels were sold at auction in 1866. A few escaped and took to the western wilds where they were occasionally seen until well into the latter years of the 19th Century.

A.L.M. January 21, 2003 [c615wds]

 
WHERE R U?

One of the perks which comes my way regularly is my realization - again and again - concerning the diversity to be found among those of you who read TOPIC either now and then, or daily. Thank you for being visitors, too as well as hits.

There is a special thrill in seeing a new country pop up on the graphs, now and then. At the moment it lingers at the seven nation level, and each one is a gem in itself for me. I know how I found them, because I chose to place myself right here, but I wonder how in the world they managed to find me.

That reader in Lithuiania, for instance. Did he or she just go to google.com and ask for McCaskey Topic, or the other way around. Fine. But they had to have heard of it before, I assume. I have found that some of the essays I have done since May of 2002 have been picked up and are now included in information files concerning specific topics we discussed.. So, individuals looking for information on set subject, may chance upon this blog.

Or, I have found it a real blessing at the time I got started that some other bloggers gave me a friendly hand up by including TOPIC as a link to their own writings. Heath .for example in New England for link associations as well a giving me some helpful advice and assistance. There is a certain comradeship quality, I find, among bloggers despite our our vast differences in style and material..

This is curious blend of blogging I do, anyway. It is admittedly “old-fashioned” in that it is rather calm and sedate and, for the most part, entertaining with being faddist or shocking. It is different from the type of writing we find so popular today. I found the format very useful many years ago, both in newspaper writing and on radio, in particular,.The five minute things I did on radio for so long ago, were intended to be topical discussions taped and run either early morning or late evening – in cases at both times. The purpose of it all was to give a quick glance at an idea or informational novelty which the hearer would then use though out his or her workday as a jumping-off place for conversations with fellow workers.

I have seen and heard the idea work. When conversations start with such lead-ins as “I heard something on the radio this morning that hit me....” or, “Did you hear that guy on the radio last night talking about....” Some of them have been triggered by “Topic” and people have been been enriched with conversational values they like and seek.

TOPIC is way down the list of favorite blogs, I know. But I am pleased with its steady growth with your interest and help. There is a Comment or Reply box on the main Topic page. All that is required is that “a human hand insert the @ and your comments are on their e-mail way to me.

For the records, let me know where you are, and how you came to be a part of. my world.. I will say “thank you” in whatever language applies.


A.L.M. January 24, 2003 [c553wds]

 
IT'S TRUE

Yes.

Many of us must plead guilty.

The charge: compelling our children to grow up too fast.

How do you plead? And,how important can such a choice be?

I think I am aware of the many excuses we can,
as adult individuals, use to justify our actions and attitudes. I've used a few of them myself.

Much of what we do, or avoid doing, seems to be founded upon a kind of adult peer pressure. That's somethings we find easy to apply to children's actions, but many adults – and you know a few of them yourself - are constantly being led around by what they see other adults doing. That becomes what might be dubbed the EDI Syndrome - “Everybody does it!” By some form of warped logic that makes it permissible.

At the risk of being branded as a thoughtless busybody, I venture to suggest a few ways in which we might achieve a measure of balance in our thinking.

I find it difficult to go along with any parents who are eager to form their little girl so she will grown up to be glamorous and seductive. They have her ears pierced, fit her earlobes with sets of gaudy earrings and bracelets for her wrists and ankles at every Birthday, Holiday, Store Sale or Guilt Trip they encounter. Most of this is for pre-school ages,after which it becomes a competitive thing. I do not favor teaching a little girl that painting her fingernails and toenails every color of the rainbow , nor do I think it wise for parents to dress her as living Barbie Doll. I cannot see them allowing her to choose what and when she will eat or forbidding her to have certain items in the almost-sacred name of “weight control.”

Little boys often have the same parental problems in modified forms. Dad buys the kid a gun before he can toddle. Sports activities loom large in the plans the father has for his son. He desperately strives to re-live the active life style he likes to believe he had at one time. I don't go for free reign of TV and Computer selection by either boys or girls,either.

I realize this places me well back into the pre-Woodstock era. I'm marked as a fuddy-duddy concerning the free life. And there was a time when that bothered me a bit; when I thought I was alone with such quaint feelings.

I am not alone, I have found.

More and more parents are coming to the realization that they are doing non-repairable harm to their youngsters by attempting to force their formation is such outward ways. The inner self is the parent's main responsibility. You know the proverb about bending a twig the way you want it to grow and a host of other such wise sayings. You are not expected to add the foliage and the colorful blooms as soon as the bulb sprouts.

A.L.M. January 22, 2003 [c497wds]

 
REPLY TO LETTER OF INQUIRY

You asked about the old Weyers Cave (Va) school building.

You were right in assuming that it was built bit-by-bit. The initial portion - the red brick, many-windowed structure facing the Keezletown Road on the north side was built the year I was born - 1916. And it has been growing and dying ever since.

I suppose I have a certain affinity with the old school even though I am not from this area, and never attended school there. We came into existence at about the same time and have witnessed many of the same eras even though we had always been apart. Many people I have come to know in later years, did go to school there - some for all the school they ever had ...first grade through the High School years.

It quickly became a community center and all sorts of gatherings were centered there. One of them, before my time in the area, has appealed to me as being a wonderful thing for a small, rural town in Virginia to have had.

Do you recall what the National Chautaquan movement was all about? In its waning days, these annual safaris by the learned seemed to visit smaller towns. They found they were welcome in Weyers Cave, Va. It became a regular site for the educational smorgasbord each year. The activities centered in and around the school building. The facilities of the school were used and large tents were erected in the area and at nearby sites around the town, for special educational productions which were really folksy lectures for the most part. I have talked with a number of residents who, for instance, told me this was their first real meeting with William Shakespeare. The visiting troupe always had a one-man Shakespearian works which used local talent to present scenes from various Shakesperian plays. The Chauauqua actors, artists and lecturers stayed with local families for the week-long visits.

The nationwide “FFA” - Future Farmers Of America started in a classroom on the first floor of this historic building. There is an historical sign a few miles south of town which attests to that historic fact.

` The add-on gym-auditorium building to the rear of the main structure was appended in the post-Depression '30's and , the Weyers Cave Ruritan Club, which met monthly in the old cafeteria-auditorium which they had helped quarry out of the basement of the old building brought about many such improvements with help from other hard-working local residents.

There was a livery stable in back of the school where the present day athletic field is located. Some students and teachers often come to school by horseback or in buggies and the riders left their mounts at the stable for day care. School buses came along in time.

The school prospered and grew to be a major influence in the area. I think it would be difficult to find a village school which had the dedicated support of local resident and civic groups anywhere. It became too large and the High School portion was moved to a new consolidated facility at Fort Defiance, Va. Within a few years the Elementary school too was moved.

The building is used today by a religious supply house which “Equip the Saints”.It has the unique purpose of funneling office supplies, furniture, computer and other such supplies to needy missionary locations around the world. There is a new church, too - just starting across the hall from the room in which the Future Farmers America first met.

Each room of the building has a history of its own it seems. It would take days to cover even a portion of the educational ventures of the youngsters who have been students within these remarkable but now “old-fashioned” walls.

I made reference to the school earlier as both “growing and dying” at the same time. Many changes have been made. I, for one, witnessed it continual growing beyond it's physical dimensions. Today it looms large in the lives of many individuals who were educated to vibrant living there.

A.L.M. January 21, 2003 (6-6-96GB) [c686wds]

 
CLUTTER

Few of us have escaped being trapped by clutter at one time or another. And it has probably been that way for generations, so the same techniques which worked years ago continue to work today if given a fair chance.

A main step is, of course is for each of us to be ready, willing and able to throw some things away, to discard them permanently and to make room for new items which will come along and demand special places for a time.

To combat clutter you have to provide room. You need adequate space depending on your life style.

Mark Twain investigated King Arthur's court at Camelot, and concluded that he needed a Round Table about the size of the average circus performance ring to seat and serve as many knights who were not at that time out and abou ”a'grailin'” or, busy bashing monsters. Talk about clutter! Camelot's matri d'hotel certainly had some real headaches. Think of that many iron-suited warriors eating roast beef a la carcass. It was hand-to-hand combat,too -no forks, only hunting knives and fingers. Mark Twain also noticed that there were at least, three dogs per man in the hall to keep the bones and spare parts from cluttering up the Camelot floors.

It can be that we are clutterers because of our habits and according to circumstances, and always keep a good sense of humor about cleaning up your clutter. To often we let it all become a burden we must bear. You probably know ,or have known homemakers who have undertaken house-wide Spring Cleaning campaigns not unlike the nation undertaking a full-scale war.

They tell me it is all easily solved to start with if one can be neat, live frugally, keep detail records of
every thing consistently, and deliberately keep sentiment out of daily living.

What a miserable lot that would seem to me to be!

I think I'd rather accept - and live with – a bit of clutter myself. Of course, I should also be able to do something about change when a friend speaks up and says: “If you will find a shovel for me, I'll help you dust this place!”

A.L.M. Januay 20. 2003 [c374wds]

 
MAKING THINGS

I often wonder. Do we still actively manufacture anything at all in the United States?

If you have asked yourself the same question several times in recent years as it has become more and more evident that very few of the things we buy are "Made in U.S.A." We all seem to know this is a transition which has been taking place, and yet, no one, it appears, has moved in any signficant manner to either stop it...or to, at least, slow it down a bit.

Somehow it seems totally wrong that we should permit,and even encourage such a transition when our economy has been suffering serious problems.I remember when I had close friends who worked in plants where items were actually made,finished products for the general market. No more. Other, than some small artisan-type operations, I can't think of very many people I know now who make products that will be sold sold locally. Food products, perhaps, and related short-term items, maybe. Drugs, chemicals, beverages and other such lines,but they are shortening year by year.

I have two pair of my favorite brand of shoes. It is a well-known name brand among shoes and I have the interesting informtion to poass alog n to others: "My shoes are not made in China!" So many styles of foowear for Americans pf all ages are now comig n to us from China that many assume they all do.Not so. My shoes are not made in China. They are made in India and have been for several years. Check your wardrobe. If you are in the same situation in whiuh I find myself to be, you have several sport shirts made in Guatamala, South Korea, Tiawan, Hong Kong, or from nations you never knew existed. You are wearing from Malaysia in a plaid design a Scot Highlander would wear with pride. Your heavy, quilted jacket is made in Bangladesh.

At the breakfast table you will stay closer to home because of the perishable nature of foods, but aseptic treatment processes are moving in on us speedily so the shelves displayed be doubled as far as food supplies are concered and foreign markets will be able to compete as longer periods of shelf life making previously perishable food products obtainable over a extended times.

Retailers here in the United States,for a time, seriously tired to re-build some of the American capability for manufacturing, but, one-by-one, they have all more-or-less given in to reality and now make no pretense of offering "Made in U.S.A " products. We have,in effect, priced ourslves out of our own markets largely trough higher labor costs.

We are buyers,now rather than sellers. We depend more and more on others to supply our commom, everyday requirments and this is going to have its long-range affect on many aspects of our lives the deeper we become involved.

A. L. M. January 19, 2003 [c 510wds]

 
HOW MANY?

Percentages can serve well as guide lines, although it may be unwise to accept them as definite numbers.

Right now,we are concerned with the number of Arab Americans in our culture. It is related to the fact that we are being subjected to undue stress from an element of that group and we are using some strange figures on which to base our actions.

Much depends, of course, on who's figure we deem to be accurate. I doubt seriously if most Americans would take the count which might be gleaned from studies of our own census information, considering the accusations which remain so current concerning the true number of citizens in the nation.

If, for the sake of having somewhere from which to start, we accept the figures currently being made available by the Arab American Institute, in Washington,D.C. Provides some interesting figures concerning the religious backgrounds of the Arabic peoples in the United States.

Our present way of thinking is to simplify it all by assuming that all Arabic people in America are Muslims.Not so. Only twenty-three per-cent of the Arabic people in America are listed as being Muslim.

The largest religious group among Arabs in the United States is, by far, those of the Catholic faith. That figure is set at forty-two percent of the total. One must be careful, however, to point out that such a figure includes not only those of Roman Catholic background, but also those of two factions of considerable numbers among Arabic peoples world-wide. Some are of the Melkite division while others are Marmonites, depending on their backgrounds of either of Lebanonese or Syrian social and religious mores. They are not, of necessity, to be considered as a Catholic unit, but together, they constitute the largest religious influence among Arabic peoples in the United States.

There is also another twenty-three per cent group - those who belong to the Eastern or Orthodox faith which is of Greek tradition. They are about equal in number, then, to the total Muslims population. Also to be considered is a group of Protestants totally about twelve per cent.

It would seem wise to keep these figures in mind when we are trying to decide what we really think about the the present situations existing between the United States and certain Arabic states, groups and factions.

Many, no doubt, of those are here through choice and a with a sincere wish to live in freedom. Let's be very careful about those at whom we wave “big sticks”.

A.L.M. January 18, 2003 [c530wds]

 
LIBRARY BASICS


As a Christmas gift this past year, I received a gift of three-thousand books!

Fortunately, they are all contained on one CD disc. Otherwise, I would never have found room for them since I have long been a book addict and have a plentiful stock on shelves, in cabinets and in random piles here and there as it is. Three thousand more bound volumes would have more than done it for this house. The fact is, since we are getting older, we are faced with the sensible need to get re-located in smaller living quarters. The main, if unstated openly, question for me has been, and is,"what will we do with all our books?"

The Library of Congress, which celebrated it's 200th Birthday just last year, was started with only 6,487 books. We know the date and the number of volumes because Thomas Jefferson's personal collection was moved from his home "Monticello" in Albermarle County, Virginia to D.C as the basis for the new national library - the old collection having be burned by the British during the War of l812.

In glancing down the list of the titles of the three thousand books I have just acquired,I could not help but reflect upon the fact that, since they are all public domain publications, many of them are the identical works included in the Jefferson collection of l814. His library included Greek, Roman, Latin, French, and Greek works... one in Russian. I have heard. It includes general works such as those of Shakespeare, Pope, and others. The works of major poets are included as well as numerous technical and scientific. Or course, the CD brings us hundreds of novels and many types of writing unknown in Jefferson's time but it is founded on the same basic works Jefferson considered so vital in forming what has been called "America's oldest cultural institution."

President Thomas Jefferson appointed the first two librarians of the Library of Congress when it was set up in 1802. It was located in the Capital building itself. Some accounts speak of Jefferson as having "donated" his books to the new library, others mention a modest payment eventually made to him, but it was an act of great importance in our history. It has grown to be one of the world's finest collections of books, publications of all kinds,plus historical papers, the massive Matthew Brady collection of Civil War Photographs as well as musical compositions by Bach,Beethoven, Brahms and moderns, of course, such as Leonard Burnstein and others.It has three perfect copies of the famed Gutenberg Bible and a priceless collection of Stradivarius violins.

My lonely, little CD pales as we talk about the great library the fundamental collection of books Thomas Jefferson's for the national national library. It started with just over 6,000 book - twice the number I now hold in one hand on the CD - and I stand in wonder at the miracle of it all!


A.L.M. January 16, 2003 [c501wds]

 
ICE MAN! COMETH!

Off again - on again!

As long as I can remember we have been talking, planning and dreaming about going to the planet Mars.

One of the big factors holding us back was said to have been the apparent lack of water. If water were present, the red planet had enticing potential as a sort of second Earth. Now, as the year 2003 is racheting along, the mystery has been more or less "solved."

The water is there but it now known to be found only in the form of ice and largely underground. So, there is work still to be done before any expeditions can be shipped out with setlement can ship out for Mars with settlement ideas in mind.

There was a time, some years ago, when our community depended to the specilal abiltiies of a man, a specialist, who loomed large in our lives - the ice man. In those days before refrigeration systems we depended on that man to keep us supplied with large chunks of cyrstal-clear frozen water. The iceman had his sole product available in various sizes ranging from ten or fifteen pounds up to one-hunded pound block. We used smaller churcks every other day, but he had some customer with larger ice-boxes and he lugged in hundred pound chucks at those places. It took some doing, too. He used large, black-iron callipers called ice tongs and usually he put a leather sheet across his shoulder before he hoisted the ice to that perch for transport into the house.The ice was placed in a insulated section of the cabinet known as our "Ice Box:. There was a pencil-sized hole in the bpttom of the the box which allowed the water from the melting ice to flow through a tube to a pan undeneath the icebox. That pan, by the way, had to be emptied at regular intervals, too.

The iceman was an important person in that era. We depended on him to keep our food supplies safe.

Specialists in ice managemnt are again in demand.

The latest spectrascope studies indicate that the ice on Mars will need to be "worked" or processed. It is frozen in layers with sediment. Water is evident as far as 60 degrees latitude. As anticipated, it is most prevalent at the planet's poles. The South Pole of Mars, like our own, appears to be a tremendous continent covered with ice. Our present equipment does not allow us to "see" beneath more than a yard or so beneath the surface, so it is not know how deep such layers might be.

It is up to the ingeniuity and skill of a new generation of ice men and women to determine what all of this can mean to humans here on Earth. Systems need to be developed which will bore into the icy crust of Mars, melt the treaures hidden there and distribute them in some manner yet to be devised to change a dead planet into a living one.

The novelty of the venture makes it a compelling one. We're well started on the journey and, no doubt , we will make mistakes and misjudgments along the way. We used to laugh at the ice man of yesteryear and say that his horse knew their daily work route better than he did including which houses needed ice and how much. They were said to be able to read the printed cards cards we used to display in windows showing what size block of oce we needed.

The new challenge is evident. Get your tongs tuned, Ice-men and Ice-women, and let's work toward making this dream a worthy reality.

A.L.M. January 14, 2003 [c580wds]

 
APLET

On rare occasions you may have a need for aplets.

They are small, insignificant things.. .tiny,is the word,I suppose, and a part of a much greater whole. They usually come in pairs but are used one at a time. Made of metal, plastic or alloys the most commonly used type of aplet is found in every home and used,at one time or another, by all of us. If you spell it with double "p" you get into "Java" jive.

But, enough of this quiz routine.

The aplet is that small piece of either plastic or metal which you find crimped to each end of your shoelace. It is designed to enable you to hit the shoelace holes in your shoes more accurately and easier when you lace them. The word is seldom used and unknown to most people unless they are given to working crossword puzzles. You can get along without it, both the thing itself, and the word for it, but, as every parent soon learns, you may need it when your child needs his or her shoe laces tied. It remains one of the mysteries of tot-footwear conditions how a youngster can unlace a shoe so consistently in such a short span of time. In an emergency, if the aplet is missing a little spit on the end of the fabric portion of the lace, suitably shaped by finger pressures, makes a suitable - if unsanitary - substitute.

We use the idea in other ways, too. A homemaker or decorator who has made a set of fine curtains needs to fit them on a curtain rod. The end of the rod is often less than smooth and the curtain material will snag when the rod is inserted into the loop intended for it. A four-inch square of paper - a newspaper will do - fitted over the end of the metal rod, serves as a ready aplet allowing the fabric to ride smoothly over the metal edges of the rod... taking the paper right along with it. No snags and an the job is finished in record-setting time you can brag about.

We need other types of "aplets" from time-to-time,as well.

Getting a good education is an aplet in a very real sense. It enables you to avoid much of the frustration, confusion, and costs of getting started to earn a living.

You can quickly see how much these tiny self-starters are useful throughout life. All of us need all the help we can get, so check out some which seem to fit your life style.

A.L.M. January 14,2003 [c435wds]

 
LEECHES

We kept hearing about wonderul advances in medical knowldge, then back comes the leech!

The initial thought was often:"Good! The.the old methods had some values after all!.Good! The old ways had some values we should not just toss out!"

But then, when I saw what the medical leech can looked like, I started backing off and started seeking ways to make some reservations.

Most of us expect to see a tiny critter not too far from the little weevil-like things which used to get in loose flour and corn meal when we were kids, or the maggots you see on a ham where the cure did not "take". But two leeches of today, my friend, literally make a hand full and they have been grown to a size eighteen-inches long.

So, put a hold on those scheduled leech connection visits for a time. I am not quite ready to believe ,for instance, that the bite of the leech is "painless" as it is said to be. It's going to take me a while, I think, to get acquainted with these suckers! Getting used do having them crawling aound is not an easy thing to do!

I'll get over the squeemishness, I think, but for now, if they have to attach a leech or two, they had best do it first and tell me about have done it later - much later.

The so-called medical leech is raised at professional leech labs all aound the world and one such farm in Swansea,Wales turns out about 15-thousand of the sippers per year. It call the "Biofarm", which seems logical enough because to raise herds of those blood-sucking worms with the built-in "yuk" factor is best done under laboratory conditons.

I'd say such operations might be hidden from sight by scholing ourselves to look the other way. I've never actually met a survivor of leech treatments, nor do I see it becoming a favorite home remedy any time soon, either.

Our modern medics started using the old-fashioned leech back in 1937, mainly to treat stroke patients. Then, the technique faded away again only to be revived suddenly in l960. And, this time the lowly leech seems to be gaining steadily and doing well. The bite of the leech,I am told, is not painful because the secretions in the saliva of the leech – five such substances with thereptic value - includes one that deadens any pain involved when the executed by the "bite-or" when nipping the "bite-ee"

After that, you're on your own. Include me out for the time being.

A.L.M.. January 14, 2003 .[c437wds]

"

 
JANUS

Am I correct in saying that “Janus” was a Roman god who could look both ways at the same time?

I remember seeing drawings of that noble, double-faced head years ago my blue and faded Latin grammar textbook The illustrations were deadly. They were all black-and-white drawings used to seperate the numerous charts and tables, nothing at all like the colorful Latin studies books seen today in some schools. That one drawing of the double-look deity, in particular, has served me well as I envision what goes on the mixed and muddled head of many of today’s two-faced politicians.

Some of the worst offenders among them are considered to be almost godly by their supporters both those in front and those in front-front. There is no back of a Janus head, so two groups can be satisfied totally with whatever the lips of the front they are viewing might tell them.

I can imagine what a time old Janus must have had with all the others in his class down at the Pantheon. He dropped at intervals just to pester them a bit and keep them zealous and jealouse if his accomplishments throught being able to see, uniquely, both ways at the same time. He could always see who was ahead of him as well as thoise at his back.

Of course, Janus had his own temple, mind you. He didn't get by the main offices there any more than he had to in order to keep them guessing and not enough to get any of them teed off with him for any of his unusual antics. Now, this Temple of Janus had one extremely unusual feature about it. Unlike the other temples, it was not open from sun-up to sun-down, nine-o-five, or week-days only. The Temple of Janus was open only during wartime. When the empire was a war the Temple of Janus had its doors open. When the “Pax Romano” legions were out there blessing the earth both far and wide, it would seem the priests of Janus felt might find it possible to open, maybe just the side door, for a few hours daily to get a bit of charity work done....orphans, widows - that sort of thing; peppery pizzas for the poor people, perhaps. The cadre Janus could have, I dare say, opened their Temple doors at any time they chose to do so and be legal about doing so, because they were also the authority which determined if and when, how and where, but seldom why the Empire was at war.

Prime examples of two-way talk are not too difficult to find today.

More political people have waffled on pro-choice, pro-life, pro or antiu-this that and theother until the terms themsleves have become intermingled anmd meaningless to manyof us. And, you, no doubt, remember how, during the Guf War - The Desert Storm phase - the enemy was lobbing "Scuds" into Isarel regularly and along came our "Puritan" anti-missle missles and knocked the "Scuds" out of commish in the air. We felt much better and it was only after it was all over that we were told the retaliatory weapon was anything but what it was made to seem to have been. The "Puritan" was, we now hear, at best, very inaccurate and "missed" the target most of the time. Someone lied and rather convincingly, too - with pictures - as well as two-faced talk.

With both faces are talking, what is said need not be true. One does not have to agree with the other. It is obvious that one may be true and the other false. The Janus jaws are busy these days, too. Much depends upon which coutenance is facing us at any set time. One must be aware that, in the word of a devotee of "The Great Spirit" that either mouth of a two-faced leader, or both, could be fitted with a forked tongue.

A.L.M. January 12, 2003 [c636wds]

 

MORE LAKE BAIKAL

Yesterday, at about this same time and place, we were discussing Lake Baikal's relative merits as to being the largest lake on Earth. There can be little doubt about it being the biggest in many ways.

I hesitated near the end of yesterday's piece, realizing that if I got started on another interesting feature of Lake Baikal, I might run on-on-on for pages! I decided to turn the Baikal faucet off for a time, and to save that talk for today with a little more space to point out some interesting facts and fancy.

The world's largest lake, located in central Asia in that part of Russia we have long called Siberia, just below the Mongolian border, is estimated to have come into being some 25-million years ago. For some year now, it has been getting ready for a change, and being an unusual feature in itself what is planned would, of necessity, be “big.”

Lake Baikal's tremendous fund of water - all the 6.200 feet depth of it covering an area four hundred by eight miles, is said to be on top of a fissure line in the earth's crust. Imagine what a bang it would make, if and when, the present hot springs at the bottom of the lake allow enough molten lava to ooze through to bring about an imbalance of present overlapping strata. The new weight may well cause cause existing plates to slide apart. If, and when, such at thing, occurs it is not difficult to think of the continent we call Asia being split apart and a new ocean formed between and East and West Asia. Some curious things are occurring a mile or so down on the bottom of Lake Baikal today with molten lava seeping through to form new lake floor and to cause uneven pressures to worsen.

Whatever Baikal does is big, so such a cataclysmic upheaval would most certainly have a series of costly changes affecting all climes and locations around the Earth. Such a major disturbance would , most likely, upset existing values. What may take place in Lake Baikal could have a marked affect on the rest of the world.. Unprecedented movement of sea water in waves high enough to inundate existing center of culture; are possible; high velocity winds, ash deposits, temperature changes and humidity and gaseous conditions unfavorable to human existence.

There is no way to “get ready” for such an event. The best we can do is to be aware of the possibility and to eschew worry.. It can be seen as a profound lesson telling us that we are, as we always have been, and continue to be subject to a higher power, a supreme Wisdom, Logos, Reason, or God.

Wherever might happen, we will all have front-row seats
.
A.L.M. January 11, 2003 [c478wds]

 
TWO HIDDEN TREASURES

What one waterfall towers higher than any other?

If you choose Niagara, you are far from the mark. Niagara is a mere bump on the landscape when compared to Gledbach Falls in Switzerland, Coquenan, in Venezuela and Angel Falls, also in Venezuela, puts them all to shame. Angel Falls is actually fifteen times higher than Niagara.

Name any other of a score of high waterfalls on Earth and they are all a splash in a puddle when compared to the greatest one.

The Denmark Strait Cataract stands four times higher than than Angel Falls' at 3,212 feet. Water pours over the precipice at Denmark Strait Cataract at a rate of 1.3 billion gallons of water per second. It,then, falls 2.2 miles. Very few ,if any, select the site for a Honeymoon Trip as they do Niagara. In fact, few have even hear of it. It lies beneath the surface of the North Atlantic Ocean between Denmark and Greenland.

I remained hidden until researchers began to find their current measuring devices ripped apart and torn from their lines. They found that cold water flowing from the polar regions flowed southward and literally “fell” over the edge of a giant underwater cliff. Cold water sinks in warm water and when it hit the bottom after 2.2 miles it spread out violently over a vast area. It does much to regulate currents for our oceans.

Other such undersea waterfalls are found at the point where the Mediterranian Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean; off Antarctica off the southern tip of South America and in the Iceland area. Together they play an important role in deciding temperature and current velocities.

Another water question: What is the world's largest lake?

It is not any one of our “Great Lakes”.

It is Lake Baikal which you will find looking deceptively small, in that vast Asiatic chunk of land just below the Mongolian border which is the part of Russia we used to think of as Siberia. I worked with a man years ago who was born at Lake Baikal and he spoke with evident pride concerning the area and its wonders. It is thought to be about 25 milion years old. It is over four hundred miles long and about eighty miles wide on the average It is 6,200 feet deep and contains one-fifth of the total water supply of Earth. It would take all of the rivers of the planet Earth flowing for a full year to fill it up. That's more water than is held by all our Great Lakes combined.

A.L.M. January 11, 2003 [c437wds]

 
TRUE WEALTH

It is the wealth a man shares that are his true worth - his riches.

This is the “bread” from which true nourishment is obtained for his mental, physical and sensory well-being.

This is also the “love” he natively holds deep within his very soul which can find expression in so few other ways.

This is element of “exchange” which make him an interactive entity with all others of his kind for mutual betterment.

For individuals and nations to collect and endlessly accumuate quantities of coinage, of knowledge, territory, gadgetry - of any such holdings, and keep such posession at all times to themslves is to be working toward the construction of their own hollow tomb where they will be placed by people who will no longer remember them with joy and wqhohave no rerson, whatever, to regret their having been taken away.

It is so very easy for us to harp on the history Man which shows only his special excellence as related to others whom he may have deemed to be of a lesser position. Man's evolvment has been a slow process. He has learned much about himself and his associates, and, I think, if you look closely at his major steps forward they have been time-after-time, dependent on his ability and willingness to co-operate with others and to share his acquired knowedge, his sensual abilities, and his wealth.

It isn't difficult forus to see this in other nations and in other individuals. It is not so easy to discern the same qualities, or the lack of them, in our own individual lives.

To go the full lenth of his interesting and demanding journey can be difficult as well as reqarding. Learning self-management seems to be the secret and sustianing material if you want tobuild such a structure withinour lifestyle. Be sure, for instance, that you know where you are going. A great many people - far too many- have no idea what their goals might be. Any attemts to get there are futile and largely a wasteful spinning of undirected wheels.

Keep such goals reasonable is also a good starting point. Molehills can prove to be as challenging to the beginner as hills and mountins do to experinced people who set out seriously to cope with life's problems. Some scoffers hold that we must redistribute wealth to improve the world's economic and social balance. Far more important is to concenrate on the need for the common wealth to be shared rather than reallocated in some arbitrary manner.

A.L.M. January 10, 2003 C-430wds]

 
CURTAIN CALL

I have had a shower without the luxury of having curtains all around. I am not in favor of everyone going to that economical style unless one has suitably heated water precisely and plentifully supplied to the expertly-holed overhead bucket and no wind blowing. Such make-shift showers are cold at all times. I remember such inundations only as a military misery.

We have plastic shower curtains where we live at the present time. We have them because they were here when we bought the place ten or twelve years ago. I doubt if they would have been our choice had we been able to be selective when we moved in. Each is made up long sheets of plastic, perhaps, and quarter of an inch think, set upright in six-inch widths and made so they fold together at either end like an accordion's bellows.

The rascals can pinch, too, if given the chance to do so and one learns to get in and out with attentive movements and caution. They can be noisy, too, which is another reason they have been been marked for replacement for years. They ratchet along like a stick being dragged across a picket fence. They have proved to be very durable, however, , and the only fault with them, I think, is that one of the little plastic knobs which are used to drag it to the end has given up it's roots and departed to dowel heaven as of several years ago.

So, there has been no sense of urgency about getting rid of them. I do know, for a fact, however, that material has been purchased from which fabric shower curtains will be fashioned. One set will be blue, to match the ceramics of the tub-shower, the other green, to comply with the décor demanded by it's walk-in shower enclosure. That's the way we tell them apart when we have grandchildren in.

All that re-do, however, might take some time.We have curious situation in our household in regard to new fabrics. They arrive ,usually from a special sale of some sort, and once they get stashed away with other sewing supplies and materials.”Thereby hangeth the rub!” a tailoring-mind bard might say, because the latest acquisition may be hidden under a still newer one an older one which has been moved about a bit to make room.

I'm certain the pleated, plastic partitions will go, in time, but the new curtains are being held up in the Design Department somewhere, waiting, perhaps, for the juncture of the proper zodiac signs. In the meantime, we are stuck with the stickers because they do jam and the bottom edge now and then, or at the top - or both at the same time.

They are “Old-Fahioned-Mod", I'd say, if there is such a designation.

Come to think of it! Who was it who got shot in the shower years ago on ”Dynasty”? Our curtains are just right in case somebody wants to re-do that closing episode of a long-ago TV season.

A.L.M. January 9, 2003 [c515wds]

 
NEW WORDS

We all like to discover and start using new words.

I recall a time when people working in the entertainment world used which was, to mean, at least, a new way to let it be known they were going “on vacation” or planned to “take a few days off” and we, at home, always envied them such trips and chances to “get away from it all.”

I don't remember where I first read the term or heard it, but I think it was in the “Coming and Going” section of “Advertising Age” a trade paper I read with regularity at the time. I found that personalities were, instead of vacationing “going on hiatus”. Pretty soon I started hearing it in radio. If people where planning to be away for a time, they were “taking a hiatus” or going on one. I used to right along in the press releases I wrote for the firm at the time.

Then, suddenly “hiatus” was gone. It was beaten to death by overuse.

New words can cause trouble, too.

Our city had just completed an election and this, too, happened years ago.

We woke up on morning to find we had a new Mayor. He was a proverbial “new broom” and shortly after election he headed up a city wide campaign to get citizens to clean up their property to make our community “a better place to live in” - as the new Mayor put it.

To kick the campaign off he asked for time on the air and we granted it willingly as a public service. He arrived only a moment ahead of the scheduled air time He was seated at a table at once in a small “news” studio. He had a prepared script in hand. We went to the Main Control Room which was on the other side of a large gx;lass window in front of him. The announcer was going to introduce the Mayor from the console.

After the turning of knobs called "pots"; the switching of on-and-off microphone toggles the Mayor greeting one and all with a fine, cheeerful “Good Morning” and in classic "Cheerful-Charlie" tones. He invited them to join with him in starting the Clean Up campaign. He was cheerful, he was talkative, and we felt it was going to go very well, indeed, far better than we had expected. He turned, then,.to the readinog his speech.

“We can all be proud of the many beautiful streets we have in our fine city,” he began ,”But, I but I have noticed one thing about them – maybe you have seen it, too they are filled with “deb -riss.”

The good mayor hit that new word with fervor and pride, too. He did so with his very best arm-swinging gesture of declamation. He emblazoined "DEB-ress" on the air waves in all of it's distinctive newness! We cringed. We gearzed he would use it again...maybe even more than that! He did. I know he hit it dozen or more times and we took the usual method of trying to get him to change. A note was a printed in large block-letters and held against the window which he faced. It read: "DEBRIS = DEH-BREE" Knowing that he might not lookup to see the warning, we hand-carried a copy of the note around to the studio and the placed it in front of him. HE glanced at thenote,s miled and thanks he curior and us for reminding him to mention the prime need which was to get rid of the deb-riss which was cluttering our streets!

We agonized through the remaining portion of the deluge.

Having said your new word once, refrain, if you can, from using it for a while. And, by all means, learn how to how to pronounce it before you do either.

He made a good enough Mayor, too, by the way. He was a real, fine back-slapper. His "New Broom City Wide Clean-Up" campaign was also a success.

A.L.M. January 8, 2003 [c671wds]

 
GENRE TV

Years ago, probably in the late '40's or early 50's, we in TV and radio when through a brief phase of a term designating news stories of a certain type as being “Actualities”.

The term was used mainly by radio school students and their teachers. It covered any out-of-of studio activity, and was used primarily by those whotlughtof themslves as being the "creative" side of radio. Engineer-types continued to call them ”remotes” for they were simply news stories done from the site of the event. The term “Actualities” seemed to lend and academic dimension to the not-unusual job a broadcaster was expected to do on occasion . In some ways, by using the term it lent a feeling of intense reality to the doing thereof. The new name did not catch on and faded quickly into the ozone.

It was, for a short time, an “in” word.

We are now in a phase of television programming which reminds me of that term and of the people who favored it. "Reality" is the theme now and, if possible, the word ”virtual” must be used in conjunction with it. It came to the forefront when we borrowed the idea from the British and CBS did the thing called “Survivor”. The have been a score of imitators and copiers using a variety of names which have strayed pretty far afield of the concept of realism per se.

The false note in it all has been the fact that much of the realism was faked from day-One. Such far-out shows run through all of the scary routines quickly and new and more alluring excesses are required to keep them alive. One-by-one each show of this type has degenerated to steadily passing through being tiresome, disgusting, repulsive, and shocking. Few subjects have been avoided entirely and viewers were asked to believe it IS happening before their eyes and squeeky-clean honest all the way. They have been a continuing insult to the intelligence of the viewers and that has allready been judged to be about as low as it can get anyway by critics and survey makers.

I am among those who have not keep track of what the average home viewer's “age” is supposed to be at the moment, but I am assuming it has remained in the general area of twelve as it was said to be many years ago. Twelve - and falling. When we think about it, of course, we – most of us - are well above such such an average. The surveys, we feel, are all skewed because of the number of kids watching.

Don't take that too seriously, however. There are a host of TV watchers out there, who have never noticed how convenient it was to Gilligan and his friends to get marooned on an isolated island with a complete TV production crew, props studio and food for all and in direct communication with anywhere to keep the episodes coming in for years. They are the same people who are waiting for the networks and the Federal authorities to reveal that the “Six Million Dollar Man” was real but they had to keep it a secret that he had been built with all those tubes and circuits inside, so other nations could not find out we were so far ahead.

We, more elite in intellect, do not seem to understand how anyone could take these virtual reality shows, to be anything other than are. I can appreciate that much, but the producers also expect people to expect to believe them for what the pretend to be.

A.L.M. January 7, 2003 [c571wds]

 
GARB

Clothing... the proper choice thereof... can make or break a man.

That seems to be true when you glance back at history. Think of a famous man or woman and you see them in a certain, characteristic garb.

The day before yesterday, and, no doubt next week, when you think of Yasher Arafat-head of the P.L.O. you will picture him wearing on of his fancy hats which have become his trademark even though thousands of other short, stubby, Arabic men wear the same type of hirsute hider on their head. Imagine Arafat without his headgear. Let's say and alien wind blew up suddenly and swissssshhh!...there he stood without his snood! Would you even recognizer him be his pate bald and shiny or curly-haired, or sleekly oiled down? No doubt about it, the hat makes the man in his case.

Do you find it difficult to picture Harry S. Truman dressed in anything other than a finely tailored, double-breasted suit? I do, maybe some casual clothing in a relaxed ,informal setting such as backyard barbecue with Bess and the neighbor from next door.He will have a hat handy, too.

Think back a bit more. Ben Franklin can only be envisioned wearing small-lensed, bi-focal eyeglasses and tight, knee-length breeches. His shirt will have fluffy collar and cuffs, too.

In France...Old Nappy is always seen in uniform. In his pre-St. Helena career as well as in the pre-Elba re-run, Bonaparte had more fancy dress uniforms than Imelda Marcus, of late Philippines fame, had shoes.. He had his portrait done with every change of underwear and, being new, and perhaps, overly starched by the royal laundress, it itched a bit and he is shown with his fingers inside the chest area - scratching. Some historians say he had a stomach ulcer and a bit of pressure in the bread-basket area brought him a moment of relief which enabled him to smile for the portrait taker or maker, as the case may have been.

George W. Bush looks natural in a work jacket or in sports shirt and slacks. Al Gore looked uncomfortable and even awkward when unsuited and in casual wear. Look over the increasing corps of candidates now forming in all sections of the country side. Pick and choose which clothing style you think would prove to be most suitable in an Oval Office or Air Force One settings.

Try to determine now which little, insignificant quirk of appearance will most likely be picked up by political cartoonists in the next twenty months or so which will become a parade mark for your favorite candidate.

A.L.M. January 6, 2003 [c442wds]

 
PALINDROMES
I had no idea there were so many of them!

I have always thought of these linguistic puzzle-like oddities as something about as easy to find as real four-leaf clover specimens. I remembered only a few and among them was “Able Was I Ere I Saw Elba” which probably drove Old Nappy to the brink more than once.

Imagine my surprise when I turned the problem over to Internet and found bales and bundles of them in seven different languages. Eskey Blackwood gave me several pages of them, ranging from short ones such as: “Evil Olive,” “Step On No Pets,”
“Oh, No! Don Ho!” and “Dammit, I'm mad!” as well some longer ones which stretch
all the way across a page.

There was a tagged one half way down the list – an appended note which said “Click here for some amusing variations.” I think I've seen few of those and the next time I chance upon the page I might click on that item to see if it is “printable” or not. I suspect that's what the “amusing variation” might be. Before I do, I'll work on it a while. The items read: “A man, a plan, a canal – Panama!”

I have already found there is little reason for me to try to memorize these word puzzles. My memory isn't at all that it used to be. For instance, I wrote “seven” languages, didn't I? Now I find there are eight languages involved, but I have enough to keep me more than busy with just English listings alone.

I went on to yet another list of “well-known” palindromes and this one brought forth several pages of fine print listings. It includes most of the previous selections, of course, plus many more. I find myself wondering if our language can possibly, be read backward and become a second language we didn't realize we had so reasdily available.

I'm particularly glad I hit upon this collection of lines which can be read both ways - forward and backward with meaning. That's just the sort of thing I really need now that we are just twenty-some months away from national elections. It may just happen to be this is the key we have needed for so long which will enable us to know what politicians actually say when they say what they say. It does not, necessarily, have to mean what you thought it was supposed to mean. It may be that the office aspirant has mastered the art of palindroming and can speak “with forked tongue” as tribesmen used to say by which they may well have meant “both ways” or “double talk.” Try spelling “with forked tongue” backward in your favorite native tongue or dialect and let me know if it means anything sensible.

A.L.M. January 5, 2003 [c474wds]

 
UP, UP AND AWAY!

Do you detect a change in the interest and attitudes of those concerned with rebuilding he “Ground Zero” area in New York?
There was, not too many months ago, a rather loud and clear condemnation by voice from many people who seemed to care very much about what becomes of the site. No more skyscrapers!

For the most part, they seemed to have viewed any restoration of the area undertaken to be, not only a building, or buildings of viable commercial possibilities, but also as a visible memorial to the memory of the thousands of people who died there on September 11, 2001. I remember,too, that many of those people suggesting ways to memorialize those lives did not favor building another “tallest building in the world” skyscraper.

I suppose most of that vote against more tall buildings came from a romantic group rather than those with practical knowledge of what city property is worth and how it can best be used by society. All of the recent plans for replacing the Towers seem to be staying with the tall building text. One by one, the Memorial garden concept has been set aside and has become smaller and smaller. One plan makes them into rooftop plots and terraces.

I can appreciate and understand where each side is “coming from” and I think I have some idea of where they are going, as well. On the whole I applaud the interest being taken in the project. I disagreed strongly with those who insisted that the entire area be transformed into a tree-packed, bush-bud-and-bouquet laden memorial park. That's coming too close to trying to apply “Back to Wilderness” programs to the nation's leading urban site.

I can also understand the element of fear which comes to mind when people envision new attacks on any skyscraper which might be built. They see it as an open invitation of additional terrorist attacks. It will take some time for us to work through these hesitations. I think we shall, eventually, see another structure or structures there designed in keeping with the skyline of New York City and .perhaps it will, tower higher than man has ever built before.

A vital part Americanism was hurt many years ago when we found we could no longer lay claim to having the highest office building in the world. Perhaps you you saw the present title-holder on the New Year' Eve in the early shows from Indonesia – lit up in fantastic glory! Many who did simply ignored any spoken claim to it being the world's tallest. Most Americans have not yet admitted that we no longer have the world's tallest building.

The urge is still there. We want it. And much of he thinking and planning of a structure for the Ground Zero site is founded on such a desire to excel, once again, as a nation.

The theme of the future will be up, up and away with fears of failure.

It is in the mind of many that anything less than the best and tallest would stand for our fear of Terrorists, rather than for our memory of lives lost on that tragic date in 2001.

We did not stop building ships because our enemies sank our best.

A.L.M. January 4, 2003 [c554wds]

 
ON SALE!

Right after Christmas is the time of the year when he the term “on sale” has real meaning. The decorative candles you bought before the holiday are actually to be had at one-half the price you paid before. at the very same store where to shopped before. Smart shoppers, if they have funds left, can really do will this week-after in preparing for next year's Christmas buying spree.

And don't feel too sorry for the over-stocked store owner, either. Rest assured he still made a profit on the item, though smaller than before.

Sales haunt the lives of millions of men and women all year long and some are real while others are merchandising mirages.

In the many years I wrote advertising copy for radio I remember one furniture company which had a set policy of running a different sale - by name - each and every week of the year. Sometimes they overlapped, but it made no real difference and price went along pretty much on the same level through them all. Now and then they would throw in a new one - some quirk with words or a news event of the moment – and that eased the monotony.

There are very few husbands extant today, I dare say, who have not - at one time or another - heard their wives proclaim they bought an item “because it was on sale”. Husbands have long ago tried to reason with such money-saving enthusiasm by saying that every thing in the store was “on sale”. That's how the store owner made a business of it . He bought items a one price and put them “on sale” at another. Simply as that. Most husbands have learned, quickly, not to try that sensible argument a second time. It never works. Never has. Never will.

I also remember one used-car dealer who like to do his own commercials on the air and he could create sales items almost magically. I've watched him do it. He was the relaxed in his use of the English language. Among other things about the language he had never accepted was the spoken letter ”x”. It was a “s” to him regardless of it's shape and size. He presented “specials” and mid-way in selling its merits, he realized a particular car had features which made it an exceptional or extra value... so it became and “estra special”. It then became and “estra-estra special” in his rising enthusiasm . People rushed to get the car for fear he would buy it himself and remove from the display! They spoke of getting extra value and he had a few “estra” dollars he could call his own. It had very little to do with price or product or values and so many year-round sales thrive on that quality - of being in touch with the fad, folklore or slang usage of the day. People can do strange things in moments of wild enthusiasm . Can. And do.

The worst week of the year of for advertising copywriters is that lonely period between Christmas and New Year. For that span of twixt-and- tween times - clients/advertisers/accounts don't know what they want to advertise and salesmen - pardon me..” Account Executives” - think of the week as paid vacation time. Copy instructions for the week often consisted of short notes on the copy information form saying: “'Work up something cute for them this week!”,or: “Pull some old, general stuff from their files” , or “Make something up.” and many were content to keep saying Happy Holiday and Happy New Year again and again.

All except the furniture store and the car dealer. The one discovered Santa had erred and over-ordered love seats and sofas and had left his excess stock at one of their warehouses with instructions to “give it away”, if necessary. The car dealer had an “estra” special offer ready for ice and snow time!

Oddly enough, both of those firms are still in business and doing well.

A.L.M. January 3, 2003 [c679wds]

 
SELF-QUIZ

From time-to-time I ask myself a serious question just to see what I might say.

Try it. You may be amazed at the ready answers you get, and suprised by a few of them, having been unaware of the fact that you had even considered such possiblities.

Many year ago a GI-friend of mine was designated to man a machine gun location at the far end of the main airport runway where we were stationed. We had a manpower shortage at that phase during the World War II and we pulled duty alone rather than in pairs. His place was exceptionally lonely. Enemy bombers flew high overhead intent on targets hundreds of miles inland from our coastal location, so we seldom had raids of any kind. Someone asked him: "What do you do just to stay awake all night?" I remember his reply: "Is ask myself questions and , boy, do I get some stupid answers!"

It makes good sense, however, for us to consult our inner selves before we simply rely on others to decide what we think and do. To rely entirely on outside guidance can prove costly. After all, who knows more about what is in your head and heart - your dreams, aspirations and ideals - than yourself?

Ask yourself questions and listen to what you say.

For instance, at this moment, how do you feel about aircraft safety? Is it safe to fly commercially once again? Are your ready to do so?

You know about delays at the airport, and about all the stress and complaints from customers about inspections procedures, but your inner mind will clue you in on the fiact that it was only this week, January 3, 2003, that total luggage screening was put into effect at all airports in the United States - not September 11, 2001. Not only does my inner self tell me about such "quick responses", but it also reminds me that I don't, as a rule, fly anyway so the entire question is more-or-less moot for me save for any concerns I may have for others who do fly through necessity.

Ask yourself how you feel abouy the Canadian border?

How about these five, or "eight" or, maybe even "nineteen"..(there's that nasty number again!) "aliens" who, in some mysterious manner, "crossed" the Canadian border and entered the United States on Christmas Eve and haven't been seen since?

How, pray tell, me, did this quintet of "Arabic featured" men, Octet, or , or whatever "nineteen" would be ...get across the border untapped. We know they names, have their photographs, know their life history, and know the passports they used are fakes. Our F.B.I. and others are looking for them ,we are told, not to arrest them, but simply to "talk with them."

I'd like for them to be looking for whomever allowed the five to cross the border. Somebody, or some legal loophole gadgetry, held up a "Welcome"sign inviting them to come in.

A.L.M. January 3, 2003 [c505wds]

 
NEW NONSENSE WORD

Start with the old-fashioned term "blather" which once meant an unnecessary, unneeded and unwanted sequence of words strung together to exercise the ear of hearers without supplying any edification whatsoever.

Then, pick up a "swatch" - another word from the time when a tailor or seamstress selected a piece of fine material to let you sample what your new suit or dress might look like when done.

Now, place the swatch just after the blather and give vocal expression to what you see there: "Blatherswatch!"

The term applies aptly to the current format of news panels and discussion goups on TV. So often it seems that the speakers are allowed to set to set forth a bit of blather concerning the general nature of the topic to be discussed. This is done carefully to leave doors, tangent lines of thought, other paths and new definitions open just a bit. He or she will, then, insert little swatches of useful information - just enough to titilate and tease but not enough to oppose anyone entirely. I often find it difficult to match the proper swatch to the correct batch of blather.

Far too many of the news shows done with groups have become little more than shouting matches. All persons present talk at the same time once they have been unchained by the Ring Master. Politeness, fair play and mutual considertion went out the window a decade or so ago. These verbal free-for-alls, which might also be called emcee killers, may well be among those forces driving viewers to attempt to seek out something – any thing, for that matter, in cable land or elsewhere that might be better fare. You may remember most of these news shows as being of half-hour duration. They actually were to run the full hour but with so many talking at the same time, they run short by at least half of the alloted time. Such resulting cleared areas are promptly filled with commericals or promotionals.

Blatherswatch is big and growing steadily. It lacks certain elements of quality, I'm sure, but it is with us and it does, in some ways, come closer, perhaps, to the real thing - the politician on the campaign trail years ago, at the rear end of a Pullman car harranging the people! Or, today, it might be a learned correspondent just back from his or her "tour of duty" of a week or more to one of our real or potential war-torn areas. They, too, have learned the art of blathering while dropping in small swatches of worthy information, just enough to spice up the mix and make viewers think something worthy might follow, if they stick with it.

The mutating, modifying, media is a frothy part of our modern day life.

A.L.M. January 2, 2003 [c474wds]

 

RHYTHM SECTION

As I remember it, meal times were often fun times for our family. It may have been because we were pleased to be together around the table. There were four of us for a long them; then, seven as the family was augmented plus a phase when relatives moved in.

We were never allowed to “play with our food” in the sense that some children seem to enjoy at snack times today. Food was precious, especially as the economic situation grew worse. Yet, meal times remained a time of pleasant association.

Since we were a musical family from the earliest times I can remember, I can understand why, for instance, we boys and girl's called celery, raw carrots and such side dishes “the rhythm section”.

Celery was the main noise maker at table. Soda Crackers actually cracked, however, just as Ginger Snap cookies snapped audiablly.

All of this came to mind just this morning when I was reading, of all things, a cook book. The chief who wrote the piece, extolled the merits and the demerits of various types of celery, with only slight reference to its “crunchy” sounds when being chewed... especially by children who used to see who could sound off the loudest, I recall.

The Chef/Scribe reminded me of certain celery facts I had forgotten entirely. Not too many years ago, he pointed out, when we went to the local grocer's seeking celery we looked through the display and tried to choose the longest, whitest stalks available - which also seemed crisp and firm and unblemished, of course. It was marketed in those days as being “golden”, but, today, when we shop we seek out green stalks and forget that all celery used to be sold as white or golden.

The difference is that, now that celery is available twelve months of the year, we draw from both California which remains the prime source, but there are also successful celery producers in Florida, New York, Michigan and other states, as well. Generally speaking, late spring is the poorest time for celery shoppers. That's when the giant California crop starts to go to seed and the tender hearts of the celery tend to solidify and, as the chef said it, starts to “eat woody” which, to me, suggests “noisier”, as well.

The green celery, which is now in favor among food shoppers, is called Pascal. Yellow and white types, sold as “golden”, are also available. Green Pascal is the favorite, exactly opposite of what it was fifty years ago .It was not uncommon for us, in years gone by, to catch long string of fiber between our teeth. I don't know if dental floss had been invented at the time, but we used the strings for that purpose and kidded each other about it being about time somebody's big mouth was being sewn shut.

Select crisp, firml packed bunches and avoid those which feel limp to the touch. If you have to settle for a limp stalk, it can be soaked in ice water for a time and be revived to some degree. We always clipped and saved the celery leaves to dry and pulverize as celery salt. That's still a good thing to do and can be used to make a god soup or roats even better. Store celery in covered containers in the refrigerator, or it's usefulness can be extended by wrapping cuts of it in aluminum foil for refrigerator storage.

It may not be called the rhythm section, but kids can still make chewing a stalk of celery a loud and laughable experience. One four your old girl we know likes to slice celery rib crosswise,per a quarter-of- an-inch thick, and set them up as a display of little green “rainbows.” In that form, they are best when touched with a bit of salt and consumed , end-to-end one at a time.

A.L.M. December 31, 2002 [c-657wds]

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