Friday, June 20, 2003
MY REAR VIEW MIRROR
February 19.1936
Everything, of course was radio, news reels and newspapers when I wrote a page or so for this file in 1936.
"I have always enjoyed listening to the varied opinions and sometimes strange interpolations of the various radio new commentators. Enjoyment and education can be combined in those fifteen minute sessions, and the best among them for me is Lowell Thomas. Others I listen to quite regularly are Boake Carter and H.V. Kaltenborne. For sports related news Ted Husing is the one I like best and when it comes to globe-trotting and adventure Floyd Gibbons is the leader beyond any doubt. He might turn up anywhere on the dial from anywhere in the world and it wouldn't be a surprise.”
“I prefer Lowell Thomas to the Philadelphia newscaster. I think, because his style of delivery is less editorial and critical. is less editorial and critical. Thomas fulfills the concept of being a news reporter for me. He does not try to tell me what he thinks it might mean. He is opposed to using color when black and white will give the picture accurately. I, still, however, respect the opinions Carter voices before I make up my own mind about how the news affect me.”
At this point in the 1936 essay, having outlined the general feeling concerning my two favorites favorites, I wondered what it took to become a good radio reporter, news reader, or commentator.I used them as guides ,examples for study for study and possible emulation.
“What type of training and experiences led to their successful careers? Lowell Thomas, to me , is a writer, lecturer, and foreign correspondent who, for many years, traveled to develop a wide view of the the world as it actually is. He can see national policies of many nations and relate it all to our lives confidently and with accuracy. Mr. Carter also, has a newspaper background. I find his experience was in the court room and the police environment. His associations led him to be aware of things which might be be wrong in our society rather than what is right with the world. Carter, to me, is a home country speaker speaker and news person , while Thomas seems to incorporate a view with those of the entire world.”
Each was worthy of hearing and heeding.
So, since 1936 things have changed quite a bit on the radio scene. Radio is entirely different It has had its “fifteen minutes” of fame and is now on the wane in many ways. Some would say: “gone.” The radio voice is less influential than it used to be. Local announcers do the “chore” of news when necessary - maybe for three or four minutes on-the-hour - depending on what the competition might be running a that time.
Today for our Thomas and Carter sound-likes we turn to TV and we pick and choose our favorite by a whole set of new criteria.
A.L.M. June 19, 2003 from MS- DT107, Feb 11,1936 [c517wds]
Thursday, June 19, 2003
DIFFERENT PATHS
We should all be thankful for the changes we experience in life.
No punishment can be worse, in my mind, than solitary confinement where one must be with himself alone at all times with no changes whatsoever. What punishment could possibly be worse?
Make it a point to vary the phases of your life when you can do so and it will prove to be one of the most rewarding things you can do.
It is so very easy for us to get into a rut and live the same old routines day after day, until nothing is challenging to us; nothing is fresh or growing and it is all something we have long since lost interest in maintaining.
Not only will you see your own pathway in a different and brighter place, but those around you will be led by your example and the entire way of life will improve for everyone with whom you come in contact - both new and old friends and associates. And, you will make new friendships,as well.
Just about every day I hear someone complaining about the fact that the world is changing constantly and doing so too fast for any one to keep up with all the new trends. That's quite true. And, if we don't make some effort to ride along with a few of those changes we will, most certainly, be left far, far behind!
People, as well as machines, become obsolete if not used and improved along the way. A computer, for instance, now in use as a pretty much up-to-date unit, will be obsolete within three years. I have added more memory to this one recently in a rather futile attempt to keep up but it will be gone before I know it. It cannot take any more hard disk space,either, which fits it for the discard bins at any time now. The analogy is plain. We need to renovate and exercise our minds regularly or prepare to be set aside by society.
Why be a social drop-out? There is far too much at stake for any of us to let old age creep up on us without preparing for the downside days so that old age is a blessing and not a cross to be borne.
I get disturbed when I hear any person say they: "have nothing to do." That cannot be possible if they are alive at all and willing to share their lives with others! They can do that by being truly interested in what other people are doing, saying and reading. My trouble is that the hours of the day are never long enough for me to get all things done I want to do! And - I get equally upset when I hear myself or others express that rather smug view, as well.It has un unpleasant bragging overtone in it.That doesn't set me apart from others but it does allow me to realize at the end of each day that I have accomplished far more than if I had simply sat all day and stared at a television screen in thoughtless abandon.
Your path in life is varied.I think it is supposed to be that way. Learn to value every turn, stumble or tangent along the way.
A.L.M. June 18 2003 [c508wds]
Wednesday, June 18, 2003
DID YOU EVER!
Members of our family use several expressions which I find turn up on TV from time-to- time but I can't think of anyone else who uses them. One is: "Well, I never! And the other: "Did you ever! Both are said that way, too...with the "!" rather than "?"
I think they are "localisms" more than "Southern" by nature. They are used to express surprise or astonishment, at times, or simply a pert expression of questioning or doubt.
I wrote lyrics to a song based on both of them the other night. I jotted the words down the clip board which I keep on the night table beside my bed and , if I can figure out my notes, I'll dig the item out of the writing-to-do stack and try to work them up.
The sayings are: Number One - "Well, I never....!" (And the elipse is always there as if there might prove to be more to it if one could find words to express it. Perhaps it could be extended to say: ."...I never, in all my life, heard of such a thing!"
Number Two usually follows after the first one has been said, but not always. It is: "Well, did you ever!" It often follows close upon the first one - - - the "well" is sometimes dropped, as if the expression is a restatement, underlining or italizing of the original statement.
We might be watching a TV show, as we were doing the other evening when someone won a small fortune on "Do Your Want To Be a Millionaire?" When the amount was stated, someone in our family enthused: "Well, did you ever!" and restated it at once as "Well, I never!" The tone indicated happiness about the whole thing and was not , in the least, critical.
At the moment I can't recall what sort of twist I incorporated in the song lyrics, but I have a feeling it could become a family fun favorite. I seldom remember the tune to which such sleep songs were being sung, but this one was lively and moved right along which it suitable should, of course.
Each locality has its own little expressions, it seems. I have known people who could spot strangers and tell where they were from, simply by hearing em talk.
One of the enduring beauties of our language is that it accepts and makes use of subtle changes and localized grammar-isms.
What is your contribution?
A.L.M. June 17, 2003 [c423wds]
Tuesday, June 17, 2003
AND THE BEAT GOES ON.....
(Pop Quiz Appended)
Back in 1937 many of us were just beginning to be become aware of the active presence of a disturbing personality among the rather staid rulers of Europe. Year by year, often in semi-legal ways , an emerging individual achieved advantages for his German Socialist party certain treatments which gave him standing among politicians. By 1939, much of the world had come to believe it was too late to do much of anything about his steady rise to control and about his Nazi concepts and extremes. To many, it was a moment of realization that much of what we had cherished had been put at risk by our lack of interest in world wide political problems.
An interesting feature of the time for me, was a real-life “rags to riches” story in the old Horatio Alger manner, A poverty stricken, misfit of a boy changed into a national leader to make his fortune. It was not until years later, when we realized that a dictator was at odds with our thinking and threatening our land and the possessions of our friends. Only then did some people realize that their very way of life was endangered.
We now have - in 2003 - a total of about a dozen active dictators depending on what you think Saddam Hussein best be termed as being at the moment. Can we, by any form of logic, conclude that the potential problems we face from dictators - is, has or will - be ended with Saddam gone?
I don't know that anyone has studied the related circumstances of birth, location, and rise to power, of such people as Napoleon, Edie Amin, Bastista, Castro and other such dictatorships - large and small - to see if there is some standard colorations among them. By this time there must be scholars who have sifted and studied the ashes of portions of our civilization past to recognize dictatorships under construction. I should think there are some who have compiled lists . We see them seeded and reseeded inur in ou social garden.
Most of our current stock of dictators are aging individuals. Among the older one: Jong, 61. Fahd is 80, Abdullah,79, Shwe, 70, Nguerma, 60, Niyazub 62. Gadhafi at 60, Taylor at 55 and Lukashencko at 40 are the younger set among dictators.
Isn't that an odd list?
The average American citizen will not know them.
Self Test. If you are fairly well up on such topics you should be able to parrot off the name of the country in which each holds power. Try it.
If you know their first names - you may go to the head of the class. You'll like it there. Not crowded at all.
A.L.M. June 16, 2003 [c 487wds]
Monday, June 16, 2003
CORDLESS CARE
I wonder how many four-page instruction booklets concerning proper care of cordless phones go unread.
Most new phones have such a booklet with them, often in variety of languages , but I've never actually seen anyone reading one. Everybody, young and old alike, seems to feel they know all about telephones and that the peregrine phase of phonic development is not all that different from all the others in eras gone by in which they have been using and misusing it since Alex G. Bell devised it years ago. “Nuthin' to it! Anybody kin use a cordless phone!”
Simple information contained in these folders will tell you things you already claim to know, such as a warning not to use them during a severe thunderstorm. There is a slight chance you may be fried by a lighting strike.
Do not use a cordless phone anywhere there might be a gas leak or presence. Don't install a base near such an area. Don't not use your cell phone if it becomes wet in a shower of rain, or a bathroom shower, near water, or when you are wet even though the phone is dry. This includes bathroom and kitchen sprayer attachment, a wet basement, next to a swimming pool, bathtub ,or laundry tub. Do not use liquid foams or sprays for cleaning. If the cell phone becomes in contact with any such liquids jels or semi-solids, it should be cleaned and throughly dried.
Other warnings tell you to avoid opening your cell phone to see “why it ain't workin' right”. Doing so could expose you, or others, to high frequency and other such risks.
Each advance in communications method brings its own little list of potential ill effects - new problems along with the advantages. The cordless phone is one of them, and the cell phone, in its more exotic forms, is not the world's safest form of communication either.
I cringe inwardly when I see people pumping gas with a dozen others filling and spilling gasoline all around them, their phones in constant use inches from the nozzle. Some of them and be closer to heaven than they think they want to be some day.
A.L.M.. June 15, 2003 [c357wds]
Sunday, June 15, 2003
PLANS
The importance of wise planning is not being emphasized enough. I don't do it with any degree of consistency myself, and I find that few of those about me do so, either.
Much that we do each day as we go about our living seems to be decided by forces outside of our control. Time, for instance, the relative ease with which a particular thing can be done, the weather outside or the humidity inside ...that sort of thing.
At night, I have found myself, when I am unable to get back to sleep to be able to get drowsy by "planning" precisely what I intend to do the next morning. It can, you see, strike us as deadly and dull.
It can become routine,too, and not exactly inspiring. The things I plan are usually physical in nature -such as working a specific area of the garden or of the yard. Very seldom do conditions allow me to get the actual work done the next day, but it, in itself, is good "therapy", I suppose. It does tell me, deep down, that I have to admit I could do so much better in so many things if I did, indeed, plan ahead and work toward specific goals. I awaken with a sense of having accomplished some planning in my mind, but it very seldom carries over into practical physical change.
When it does, however, the results are excellent. If, by chance, I do recall my plans during the night, I actually get specific work done because of it. I keep a small clipboard with paper and pencil at my bedside and jot down reminders of "things to do" for the next day. When I can read my notes, it helps. If I cannot decipher my night notes, however, all is lost.
We are all aware, I'm sure, of the wisdom of "taking time to smell the roses." Life should not be "all work and no play." For that very reason, I find that much of my "planning" is really "dreaming". It is good to dream because it is planning with potential; a promise of betterment in Tomorrow's activities and, in a way, we are, in doing so, setting up goals for attainment - however high or grand.
Much of my planning is, I think, based on my interpretation of a word-of-wisdom my Mother used to use with us in a effort to teach us basics of housekeeping. "Always leave every room just a little bit better than you found it.!" If every member of a family follows that simply, easy rule it cancels the need for "Spring Cleaning", for "Getting-Ready for Company"or "Here Comes The Preacher!"and a host of other such household emergencies solve themselves.
The handy maxim applies quite aptly to other aspects of our living, as well. If we use every hourly room so that it makes our lives better than they were when we started, we're making progress without even trying.
A.L.M. June 13, 2003 [c524wds]
|
