So long, 2020 .... it has been good to know you

This is the Christmas ornamentation which has adorned my dining room table throughout the holiday season. It is, to me, sort of an elegance reflected through simplicity. As Emily Dickinson wrote: "How happy is the little stone .... In casual simplicity ...."

Happy New Year ....

Given the negatives of 2020 when compared to the positives, on the surface the headline here might seem a bit out of place.

Allow me to explain.

Someone once said words to this effect. "Any year you have seen from start to finish is a good year in my book."

Well, I agree, it is. The year has been a good one in my book, too.

Incidentally, my gift to you is having blocked comments, so you are able to arrive and to depart without a second thought.

Four videos are offered today for you to pick and choose among -- or, if you wish, to ignore. Read whatever symbolism you will into that.

The first is Bon Jovi performing "New Year's Day." It is no secret I like the band and its music, and I like Jon-boy even better because his mama and his poppa met when they both were in the Marine Corps. I did use this video to greet the New Year once before, and probably will again. My body is landlocked in the middle of the North American continent, but the visuals reveal where my mind and spirit wish to be ....

The second is Diana Ross and the Supremes performing "I Hear a Symphony." There is a story about a man being asked back in the 1960s which girl group he liked most. His reply was: "The only girl group, the Supremes." Asked the same question in 2020, his reply was: "Still the only girl group, the Supremes." Some might argue that point .... I will not.

The third is Gabriella Quevedo performing a Kiss piece, "I Was Made for Lovin' You." The only other Kiss song I like is "Forever." It undoubtedly is the melody of both and probably is the concept of longevity expressed in the lyrics which appeal to me. I chose this version because Gabriella knows her way around a guitar.

Rounding out the selections is David Bowie and his crew performing "All The Young Dudes" 20 years ago at Glastonbury. I did see and was dazzled by his Glass Spider show way back when, and have never seen another anytime/anywhere/or with anyone to match it. No further explanation will be offered ....

As we move from 2020 to 2021, enjoy this final day of this strange and unique year .... I hope and trust the coming year will be and will have been a "good year" for you and for those you love when we bid it fare thee well 12 months from now ....

I have no idea why this is here

                              Allen Ginsberg and friend .... 

            Two strays contemplating the mysteries of life ....

Thoughts .... as 2020 fades into history

Allen Ginsburg was many things to many people. His name should be familiar to most, if not to all. While he was a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he became friends with William Burroughs and Jack Kerouac. Of the three, Kerouac's name most likely is the most familiar. Kerouac wrote, "On the Road," among other things. The three evolved into the core of the so-called Beat Generation of the 1950s. Ginsburg has been dead since April 1997. He obviously is alive when this photograph is taken, so it obviously was taken before that date. It also is a black & white shot, which might demonstrate it once appeared in a publication. It also is a photograph of a photograph, which would seem to indicate it is my photograph.

I am not going to say when or where or under what circumstances this photograph was taken other than point out Ginsberg is sitting on the floor in a hallway waiting for something or someone, and that the dog is not his .... other than those things, the story behind the photograph will remain among the unanswered questions in this maze of life. I will say straight up I am not an admirer of the man, Ginsberg, but think he was a complicated and an interesting individual, and the poetry he wrote is worth reading.

For the curious and more daring among you, I would suggest reading, "Howl," written in 1955-56 in San Francisco and considered a literary classic in the sense that it broke through cultural barriers and challenged the American establishment. The operative word here is "suggest," not recommend. "Howl" is a rambling social commentary which often centers on the fringes of society -- poets, artists, radicals, homosexuals and the mentally ill -- to convey deep frustration, joy and energy.

There is a possible subliminal reason for having a post today. If that were the case, it would be to mention a lengthy article about former Saint Paul newsman and present-day writer Kermit Pattison and his first book, "Fossil Men: The Quest for the Oldest Skeleton and the Origins of Humankind." The article is by Mary Ann Grossmann. She is retired from the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, but still keeps her hand in by coordinating and interviewing and reporting book news. Reading her lengthy, detailed article is something I do recommend.

My December 12 post was about Pattison and his book and the subject of his book is "Ardi," a 4.4 million-year-old Ardipithecus ramidus in the process of evolving from Hominid into Hominin. "Her" fossil remains were found in Ethiopia's Afar rift valley and excavated between 1994 and 1997. It took Pattison eight years researching and writing to produce the book.

To paraphrase and partially quote a Grossman statement from Pattison,  he had to learn and understand all the sciences involved (at least eleven of them, by my count) and then "'disengage and write in a way that an intelligent lay person could read and comprehend. I had to span two worlds; making it a faithful look at science through a lens accessible to everyday readers.'"

I do have a copy of the book and, theoretically, I will read it cover-to-cover and write another post about it in more detail and, undoubtedly, with more opinion.

Included here are four videos, one with Ginsberg talking about Bobby Dylan and the other with Ginsberg and Dylan at Kerouac's grave in Lowell, Massachusetts .... and, two regarding Ardi, one with general information and one featuring author Pattison.

Carry on, if and as you so wish, baby ....

https://www.twincities.com/2020/12/27/st-paul-authors-fossil-men-is-a-tale-of-discovery-thats-anything-but-old-and-dry/

First star I see tonight ....

It should be needless to say, but I will say it anyway: This is not the view from my yard. In reality, I have no clue about when or where this photograph was taken. I found it drifting on the sea of blogs and it is reminiscent (to me) of Lake Superior on a winter day -- which I miss -- and I associate the rising sun and the ice with the Winter Solstice -- which occurs today.

An English language

nursery rhyme

Star light, star bright,

First star I see tonight;

I wish I may, I wish I might,

Have the wish I wish tonight.

Happy Solstice & Merry Christmas

The Winter Solstice often is called the December Solstice and has the fewest daylight hours of any day in the year and is the calendar start of winter in the northern hemisphere. For me, this event was at 4:02 a.m. today Central Standard Time (CST). By the way, being a Minnnneeeesnowtan, FramWinter runs from November 1 through March 31 -- reality vs. calendars, you see ....

If you happen to be immortal or verifiably a reincarnated individual and been around in 1623, you may have witnessed a phenomenon which occurs so infrequently that rarely is not an adequate word to describe the event. That was the last time the two largest planets in our solar system -- Jupiter and Saturn -- were in as close proximity to one another as they will be this night -- December 21, 2020. The only problem was that stargazing conditions at the time meant the astronomical planetary conjunction back then likely was not seen by earthlings. The last time such a close pairing was observable to the naked eye was in 1226.

Some might also note that we are a few days from Christmas, the currently selected date for the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. The double planet view is known by some astronomers as the "Christmas Star" because of a belief that the biblical tale of the Star of Bethlehem could have been a planetary conjunction. Although around two thousand years ago, Venus and Jupiter were closest, not Jupiter and Saturn, as is the case for the "Christmas Star" of 2020. 

The conjunction of the two giant planets of our solar system make them appear to be one, although in reality they are hundreds of millions of miles apart. The planets actually have been moving closer together and been increasingly visible for some time low on the southwestern horizon and will be for several more days as they slowly drift apart again. The only time to catch them is during twilight because they set around 6:30 p.m. CST. 

Moving right along, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) has been staging performances here during the Christmas season for a number of years. I finally got around to seeing one two years ago and, again, in 2019. I had hoped to make it a triple-play, but the Coronavirus cut short that plan. There was a live streaming show a few days ago, but I passed on it. The TSO holiday extravaganza is terrific and I love it. To give you a taste, here is a video of the TSO performing "Christmas Canon Rock" with Chloe Lowery in Saint Paul on the 28th day of December last year. 

In the second video, students from Saint Olaf College of Northfield, Minnesota, perform Night of Silence / Silent Night while on a tour in Norway. The piece also features the Nidarosdomens jentekor, which translates to the Nidaros Cathedral's girls' choir. Finally, the third video offers an elaborate production of The Twelve Days of Christmas by The King's Singers and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

So, one more time: Happy Solstice and Merry Christmas and remember to look for the "Christmas Star"  when it arrives around twilight ....

Born too early for you to love me

What you see here, ladies and gentlemen, are an artist's conception of Ardi -- a young lady of Ardipithecus ramidus persuasion -- and skeletal displays of modern man and said Ardipithecus ramidus. If you are curious, read on .... if not, have a nice day ....

Two songs are included today: "Alone," a cover of a long-ago melody by the Wilson girls, Ann and Nancy, and a couple of guys who formed the band, Heart, performed by Floor Jansen of Nightwish. Note the amulet and the shirt and the rings Mrs. Hannes Van Dahl is wearing. The other video has two songs from the band, Boston, "A Man I'll Never Be" and "Amanda." The recording is pretty sketchy and rather ghost-like in appearance, which is appropriate because the singer, Brad Delp, chose to end his life at age 52. The piano man in the first piece and the main guitar man in the second is Tom Scholz, music and sound engineering genius.

Et tu, Ardipithecus ramidus

There are times when it seems the number of Hominids and their successors who once walked the Earth are more frequent than the number of breakfast food cereals to be found in the typical "supermarket" of today. Hominids were present as early as several million years ago, and various ancestors of Homo sapiens (which are us, in case you are not aware) appeared at least as early as 700,000 years ago.

 So much about life is guess work. Ever wonder, for instance, how many of us -- "we human critters" -- have populated this blue rock drifting in an ever-expanding universe? The number, according to an estimate by the Population Reference Bureau, is somewhere in the neighborhood of 108 billion. That number is based on the assumption that modern man appeared roughly 50,000 years ago.

Now, whatever you do, do not quote me because these numbers bounce all over the map, to put it in a colloquial manner. I also have seen the number for the appearance of modern man range from around 200,000 years ago outward to 315,000 years, as based on the oldest Homo sapiens fossils found to date. Such estimates, for sure, affect the numerical "guess work" for the total number who have lived. Frankly, I have no idea where the 50,000-year number came from and have no curiosity to research it.

No matter what numbers are used, they apply only to modern Homo sapiens and do not include any of the billions of "ancestral beings" who came before us.

Figuring out who belongs in what category and which came when is tricky business, to say the least. Take Lucy, for instance, as she is described in the Wikipedia:  "Lucy is the common name of AL 288-1, several hundred pieces of fossilized bone representing 40 percent of the skeleton of a female of the hominin species Australopithecus afarensis .... dated to about 3.2 million years ago ...." She was "unearthed" in 1971 in Ethiopia.

My interest in "this stuff" piqued when I read a few reviews of a new book about Ardi, another Hominid evolving into Hominin -- "Fossil Men: The Quest for the Oldest Skeleton and the Origins of Humankind," by Kermit Pattison.

Again, "liberating" material from Wikipedia: "An even more complete skeleton of a related Hominid,  Ardipithecus, was found in the same Awash Valley in Ethiopia in 1992. Ardi, like Lucy, was a hominid-becoming-hominin species, but, dated at 4.4 million years ago, it had evolved much earlier than the afarensis species." Like Lucy, Ardi is a she.

Pattison is a journalist and writer who lives in Saint Paul. His work has appeared in a number of publications, and he has extensive experience traveling to "dig sites," including twice to Ethiopia.

Ardi was "discovered" by a team led by Tim White, who is considered one of the premiere and most controversial paleontologists on the loose today. He was among those who found Lucy two decades earlier. The discovery of Lucy, incidentally, reportedly was celebrated at a camp party during which a tape recording of The Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" was played again and again and again. The celebrants decided to give the skeleton the same nickname.

The origin of Ardi's nickname is somewhat less romantic: (Ardi)pithecus ramidus.

I have a soft cover edition of the book and have been browsing it while reading scattered segments as they attract me. At some point (theoretically), I will sit down and read it all from start to finish and (maybe/maybe/maybe) offer my own take on it. Some of the material here (obviously), comes from the reviews I have read.

That said, "Pattison deftly weaves strands of science, sociology and political science into a compelling tale that stretches over decades. His discussions of scientific theories and phenomena are sophisticated enough for the expert yet clear and understandable to the novice."

Well, ok, for now, if you say so ....

Pattison includes viewpoints of skeptics in his book. Rather than indicating a direct link to modern humans because of familiar features of some purported human ancestors, including Ardipithecus ramidus, he states this might be explained by convergent evolution .... which is to say the 4.4-million-year-old  Ardi group might have split off from the main stems of the ancient ape family tree before the last common ancestor linking humans and chimps, which is thought to have lived between eight million and four million years ago.

The opposition argument is that the path that led to humans was likely less "ladder-like" and rather "more bushy," full of evolutionary dead ends which branched out and died off before the human stem had taken hold. Such a model also suggests that finds such as Ardipithecus should not be thought of as human until and unless more evidence is uncovered.

My own thought of the moment: I wonder if humankind will ever know where "we" came from and the pathway "we" traveled, much less be able to comprehend it. Anyway, if "this stuff" interests you, now you are aware of it and I will feel free to drift off again in search of Neverland.

I will close with the final paragraph from a review by Stephanie Hanes in The Christian Science Monitor:

"By the end, the book leaves readers with a new sense of wonder at the origins of humankind. It certainly disrupts the outdated, simplistic view of humans evolving from apes, turning those diagrams of gorillas to knuckle-walkers to upright Homo sapiens into vintage imagery from a less scientifically sophisticated past."

So be it ….

Where have all the players gone, long time ago

The Guthrie Theater opened in Minneapolis on May 7, 1963, with a production of William Shakespeare's  tragedy / revenge tragedy "Hamlet." That does not quite fall under the category of ancient history, but, for some, it falls close enough. I have seen more than a few performances there, first in the old building and more recently in the new structure. If you go there today, this is what you see: Empty seats and an empty stage. The photograph is not mine, incidentally, although I recently did a walk-through. It is not only saloons and restaurants which are feeling the impact of the pandemic now sweeping the earth, centers for the arts also have had to cancel plays and exhibits and concerts and other activities, and had to close doors for indefinite intervals. No doubt about it, we live in fascinating times -- and, for some, terrifying times ....

How many reviews are enough?

Part 2 of 2

"The newspapers! Sir, they are the most villainous -- licentious -- abominable -- infernal -- Not that I ever read them -- no -- I make it a rule never to look into a newspaper."   -- Richard Brinsley Sheridan

"Critics are men who watch a battle from a high place then come down and shoot the survivors."  -- Ernest Miller Hemingway

"I pay no attention whatever to anybody's praise or blame. I simply follow my own feelings."  -- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

People who have been coming here for a while probably know I worked at a newspaper or two or three in the past and also that I received a pay check from the Department of Corrections in South Dakota once upon a time.

I assume most know from their own experiences that if four or five individuals witness an event it is not only possible, but likely, there will be four or five variations to exactly what happened. People often believe their own versions no matter what the "facts" indicate happened.

At one newspaper, one of my "sidelines" was putting together a weekly arts and entertainment "section" (two or three or four pages) weekly, depending upon what was happening and how much print space was available in a news sense. When time and opportunity and space were available in a staff sense, I occasionally would assign two or three reporters to review the same book or to attend the same concert or the same stage play or the same film and run their reviews side-by-side.

I thrived during these exercises, especially when it involved two or three reporters "debating" the merits (or the lack of them) of an event. (I am using the word "event" in the context of a book / concert / play / film review here.) Criticism, if you check out the word, means pointing out both the positive and the negative of an event.

Christmas music is among my favored and I have begun the season this year by listening to it very early. Realizing also that different individuals have differing tastes in music, I have pulled out two versions of, "Oh, Holy Night," and am including them here today. For any who care to partake in the "experiment," they are there waiting for you to listen to them and to offer an opinion in the form of a comment. Remember, critics should point out both the good and the bad, if they find any of either.

If you are feeling shy about writing a comment regarding these two singers and their presentations of this song in a critical manner, I will mention I never have worked with a reporter/reviewer who had any vocal or acting experience other than during their "school days," much less been a "trained singer" or an "acting studio" graduate. So, feel free to watch / to listen / to write. My reviewers essentially all were reporters, mostly with limited newspaper experience and only a few ever had done a review of any sort in their life before then in or out of journalism. The one thing they all had in common was a willingness -- even an eagerness among a few -- to give it a try.

The first rendition of, "Oh, Holy Night," is presented by musicians from Hillsong Worship, a religious organization in Sydney, Australia. Taya Gaukrodger Smith, originally from a country town in northern Australia and active in the Sydney music community, is the soloist.

The Raskasta Joulua event has the same song, "Oi Jouluyö," performed in Finnish in sort of a rock style and party atmosphere by a very pregnant Floor Jansen, currently vocalist with the symphonic rock band, Nightwish, and who occasionally performs in a freelance manner, as she is doing in this instance ....

                                                                                                                                                                         

Santa Claus either needs a new calendar or ....

Whether Saint Nickolas (aka Santa Claus) became confused about the dates or his gift-giving burden is becoming so tremendously huge and out of control that he needs to leave a month early to ensure all the good little boys and little girls and puppy dogs receive a gift under their trees is a matter of dispute. Buddy W. Fram could care less about the reason .... he simply is happy and thrilled to have a new bed for afternoon naps.

A review is a review is a review .... or is it?

Part 1 of 2

"Realism is a bad word. In a sense everything is realistic. I see no line between the imaginary and the real." -- Federico Fellini, movie maker ....

"Anybody can look at a pretty girl and see a pretty girl. An artist can look at a pretty girl and see the old woman she will become. A better artist can look at an old woman and see the pretty girl that she used to be. But a great artist .... can look at an old woman, portray her exactly as she is .... and force the viewer to see the pretty girl she used to be .... " -- Robert A. Heinlein, writer ....

As a graduate-student-college-boy, I took a class on foreign films -- "foreign flicks" -- as we called them, which included some by Federico Fellini which often have been described as a blend of fantasy and reality. In this class, we would watch a film one day, write a review / criticism / critique of it to be turned in at the next class, which centered on a discussion of the movie we had seen, and then, during a third classroom day, discuss / argue / debate our written evaluations.

I thoroughly enjoyed the class, and the two elements which absolutely amazed me were how often we agreed on elements of the film and how often and widely ranging our disagreements were. There, you see my logic for multiple reviewers of books and performances -- which will be clarified in Part 2 of this piece.

My memory about these things was stirred by having recently watched, "La Strada,"  a 1954 Italian film directed by Fellini. It translates into "The Road."  This is one Fellini flick I had not seen before. I will not comment on it other than to mention I think the movie is a minor masterpiece, in the least,  (although I hesitate to name a major film masterpiece) and the casting could not have been better done.

The central characters are Gelsomina, a young woman played by Giulietta Masina, Fellini's wife; Zampanò, a brutish, angry man portrayed by Anthony Quinn; and Il Matto, a high wire performer and clown played by Richard Basehart.

I never have cared for Quinn simply because he is brutish in appearance and often portrays such creatures in movie roles -- but, he is a fine actor and between his appearance and his talent is perfect for this character.

Likewise with Basehart, in an opposite sense. His appearance is rather wimpish in my eyes, but often he is inappropriately cast as "hero-type" characters. Il Matto literally and figuratively is "The Fool," which is why I believe he fits this part well.

Giulietta Masina, I think, is a bit too old for her part, but the child-like nature of the character and Masina's extraordinary ability to create expressions perfect for the scenes make her the centerpiece of the production. Her talent has been compared to that of Charlie Chaplin.

Might someone else see and interpret this film in different ways? Yes .... absolutely. Even more reason for multiple reviewers. Let us end this now before I find myself trying to analyze the film characters and the actors playing them, or begin to indulge in the history of Italian film making.

There are two videos here – one the soundtrack from the film, "La Strada," composed by Giovanni Rota Rinaldi, an Italian composer, pianist and conductor working under the name of Nino Rota. He was a close friend of Fellini. My own thought is that the music sounds better in context with the film, rather than as a stand-alone piece.

Present also is a tribute piece to Kenneth William David "Ken" Hensley, a guitar and a keyboard man and, most notably, a composer. He died at age 75 on November 4. Hensley joined the hard rock band, Uriah Heep, around Christmas 1969 and wrote or co-wrote many of the group's early songs. He composed "Sunrise" and co-wrote "July Morning" with lead singer, David Garrick, who used the stage name David Byron. I mention those two compositions specifically because they are two of my unconditional favorites .... eloquent thoughts set to music ....

Happy Thanksgiving .... barring the unforeseen, Part 2 will arrive eventually ....

Eu não quero te tocar muito, bebe

A Winter evening .... as seen from my Minnesota driveway ....

Here we go again ....

Every autumn, I begin to think about leaving the sea of blogs. Although I first found my way here in August 2008, it was not until January 2009 that I began posting one .... two actually, but the first was gone before January ended. Being a rather organized individual who likes to do things in a logical, sequential manner, in the autumn I think that my January anniversary date would be an appropriate time to disappear.

Invariably, I begin to look through old posts with their words and photographs and music and never quite work my way far enough along to utter the words -- it is over. The swirling snow photograph is part of the reason. This is the third post in which it has appeared since it was taken on February 20, 2014. There is nothing particularly remarkable about it, but to me it roars Minnesota and is a perfect illustration of what some people love about the place and what others hate about it. The photograph does have a rather ghostly and surreal quality to it, I think. Anyway, I like it and here it is again.

Also included are four pieces of music:

Yahoo is a Brazilian band formed in 1988 which performs and records both in English and in Portuguese. This particular piece, titled "Mordida de Amor" and sung in Portuguese, probably sounds familiar. It is a cover of "Love Bites," a very memorable song from Def Leppard. The Yahoo lineup includes Zé Henrique (bass guitar and lead vocals), Serginho Knust (guitar, acoustic guitar and vocals), Val Martins (keyboard and vocals) and Marcelão (drums and vocals).

Vixen is an American hard rock band formed right here in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1980 by then high school student Jan Kuehnemund. Its most successful period was from 1987 to 1992, with Kuehnemund (lead guitar), Janet Gardner (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Share Ross (bass guitar) and Roxy Petrucci (drums). Kuehnemund died of cancer at age 51 in 2013. Here is the band performing "Edge of a Broken Heart." Kuehnemund is the young lady with a mountain of blonde hair seen mostly on the right side of the stage.

A few days ago on another blog, I wrote: "My favorite variations of it (the 'Boléro') are with Jorge Donn dancing, alone or with others, and choreography by Maurice Béjart. It is a song meant for dance, I think, and not purely as an instrumental piece .... although in any form it instantly captures you and pulls you deeply into it and along with it."  Since then, I have watched French ballet dancer Sylvie Guillem dance to the music.  I think she does it with more aplomb and grace than Donn. Here is Guillem's  final performance of Béjart's Boléro as it appeared live on television on 31 December 2015 as the clock counted down to midnight in Yokohama, Japan. I also watched for one more time British ice dancers Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean win their Olympic gold medal skating to it in 1984. Their performance is timeless.

"O come, O come, Emmanuel" is sung here in Latin as "Veni, Veni, Emmanuel" by New Zealand singer and songwriter Hayley Westenra, who sings in a number of languages. Perhaps, this song will awaken the holiday spirit within you. The hymn has been around for a while and has its origin in monastic life and lore in the 8th or 9th century. Can you grasp how many times "Veni" has been sung since then?

Now then .... after an offering of a number of written words and a photograph of a snowy night appearing for the third time and four pieces of varied music, the question still remains: To blog or not to blog ....

Then & now .... Marine Corps

This USMC photograph shows Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller in the center-right foreground cutting a multi-layered birthday cake somewhere in Korea on November 10, 1950, while a multitude of Marines gather around awaiting a "piece of the action." Puller was the most decorated Marine in American history. He is one of two men to have been awarded five Navy Crosses, the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps second-highest decoration for valor in combat. His other awards included a Distinguished Service Cross, a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, a Legion of Merit, a Purple Heart and a few more. Puller retired as a lieutenant general from the Marine Corps in 1955 after 37 years of service. He died at age 73 in 1971. The other Marines in the photograph shall remain anonymous.

The first video is here to instill the fact that every Marine is first and foremost a rifleman. The corporal reciting the "Rifleman's Creed" is holding a Springfield model of 1903 rifle and the creed was written in late 1941 or early 1942, which dates this film to that time frame. The second to offer a glimpse into the Marine Corps of today. The last to help you remember tomorrow -- November 11 --  is Armistice Day / Veterans Day / Remembrance Day. By whatever name you identify with it, I hope you take a few moments to reflect on it and to think of a way you can contribute to make your neighborhood / your town / your state / your country a better place for those who call it home.

Happy Birthday, USMC .... 245 & counting

The United States Marine Corps was "born" on November 10, 1775, when the Second Continental Congress established the Continental Marines consisting of the First and Second Battalions under the command of a colonel. A recruitment drive was held at Tun Tavern and brewery in Philadelphia. Rumor has it not a single drop of liquor in any form could be found at the establishment when the doors were finally closed that night.

Although the anniversary always has been November 10, it was not until 1921 when observation of that date became official. It is my assumption that fact has escaped the attention of most, both inside and outside the Corps.

Prior to 1921, Marines celebrated the birth of the USMC on July 11 with little fanfare. Major Edwin N. McClellan, in charge of the historical section, sent a memorandum to Commandant John A. Lejeune on October 21, 1921,  suggesting the original birthday of November 10 be declared a Marine Corps holiday. Lejeune did just that in Marine Corps Order 47 issued on November 1, 1921. It read in part:

"On November 10, 1775, a Corps of Marines was created by a resolution of Continental Congress. Since that date many thousand men have borne the name 'Marine'. In memory of them it is fitting that we who are Marines should commemorate the birthday of our corps by calling to mind the glories of its long and illustrious history."

The first formal "Birthday Ball" was staged in 1925, though no records exist that indicate the proceedings of that event.  Birthday celebrations since have taken varied forms, with most including dances and guest speakers. Some accounts include mock battles, musical performances, pageants and athletic events.

This, the 245th anniversary of the founding of the Marine Corps, is unique in that a plague is on the loose and gatherings range from limited to prohibited. Still, there is no doubt cakes will be cut and speeches given and stories told of times and experiences now living in memories. Traditions will go on as long as memories exist ....

To all Marines, those among the dead, those who still live, those yet to be born: Semper Fidelis, to the end of time ....

                                         

                                             

We do not know what we do not know ....

What we have here is an unidentified man sort of leaning against a big, old Cottonwood tree, which some argue is more than 100 years old. Since I have not been around nearly that long, I cannot vouch for the claim one way or another. There evidently is a way of learning the age of a tree without cutting it down to count the rings. Someday, maybe, I will be at the right place at the right time to check out the method. To celebrate our tree, we have two video offerings: "Trees," a Joyce Kilmer poem, and a taste of Old Norse mythology called Yggdrasil and Odin.

Flights of fancy & other nonsense ....

This is my mother's pet tree. I suppose I could say it is mine, as well -- although I never realized it at the time. This area once was part of a lakeshore yard in my hometown. My mother grew up in a house which once was only a few paces away, and I spent the first few months of my life there -- although I never realized it at the time.

The tree is a Cottonwood, and first was noted and recorded around the  turn of the 19^th Century into the 20^th. Old codgers claimed to have observed the tree about the time the region was being settled in the 1870s, but since many Cottonwood trees existed in the area not much credence was placed in their "recollections."

Sometime before my first birthday, the house was sold and another purchased for our family conveniently located at the edge of the downtown area. Another family moved into the "lake house." I was inside it a few times when I was a boy, but I did not know of my own history as a resident of the house until I was somewhere around thirty.

I envied my mother for having grown up adjacent to this tree and for having her own private, lakeside, sand beach. I had more-or-less "adopted" the lake when I was a young boy and later could only imagine the times I would have had living on it. Of course, I suppose either the tree or the lake might have killed me, too. We do not know what we do not know ....

When the parents of the family which had replaced my own in the house died, the city purchased the lot from their children and the parcel next to it, tore down the houses and turned the property into a public park and beach. Of course, boylike creature that I am, I remain jealous and envious and feel all the other things I should not about this situation.

Whenever I return to the hometown, which is very seldom, I stop by the old tree and touch it and ask if it remembers me from when I was an infant. So far, the old tree has remained silent. When you live more than a century, I suppose you have encountered too many people to remember them all .... especially long-ago babies who now have become sort of handsome / intelligent / wise / modest / daring young men ....

Ever wonder about the first & the last ....

If the photograph looks familiar, it is because I used it once before .... long/long ago on June 23, 2015, with a post entitled, "My voice is as the wind amidst ghosts." You get three guesses what I meant by those words. The "moon" is here again because it is sort of tied in with the post today, as you will discover if you continue reading. There also are four videos, two about "genteel" music and two about "heavy-duty" rock, which also have roles to play in this performance:

Louis-Hector Berlioz: "Requiem," Robert Shaw conducting a rehearsal  / J.S. Bach: "Dona Nobis Pacem" from Mass in b minor, BWV 232, Robert Shaw conducting / AC\DC: "You Shook Me All Night Long," cover by Sershen & Zaritskaya, featuring Kim and Shturmak / (AC\DC: "You Shook Me All Night Long," cover by Sershen & Zaritskaya, drunk drummer playthrough

Music is "very damn near a religion"

Ever think about -- wonder about -- the first time and the last time?

 Whoa ....

This probably is not what entered your mind as you read the opening sentence, but it is related in sort of a sideways manner.  Specifically, I was wondering about the first book you ever read and which might be the last you ever read .... or a song -- what was the first song you ever heard that you recall and which will be the last you ever will hear? Do things such as these make a difference? Are they at all relevant to your life?

Robert Lawson Shaw believed these things are very important in terms of music and once said these words in respect to concert songs: "You never know who is going to be hearing that piece for the first time, and you never know who is going to be hearing that piece for the last time."

He believed that alone makes the piece and the performance very important -- relevant beyond words.

This was not Robert Archibald Shaw, the English actor, novelist and playwright speaking, an individual I admire for his performances on stage and film. That Shaw probably is best remembered as the assassin in, "From Russia with Love," and the obsessed fisherman in, "Jaws."

Rather, this is Shaw, the "music man." He probably is best remembered as the director of the Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.  He is also noted for being a "perfectionist" with his performances and his recordings, and for his absolute support for racial integration in his choruses. He died in 1999 from a stroke while attending a performance of Samuel Beckett's one-act play, "Endgame," at Yale University.

Music was more than luxury or entertainment for Shaw. It was communication, spirit itself, a moral force .... "very damn near a religion." His rehearsal techniques, isolating rhythm, pitch or enunciation, were calculated for maximum effect and efficiency. He might reseat singers, mixing voices to achieve a homogeneous overall sound, or shift voices to another line if it suited his concept of the way resonance was best projected.

Shaw believed a song could transform individuals many ways and change their lives, which was why he was a "perfectionist" and sought synthesis between the practical and the emotional when preparing for concerts. Once a choir became fully accountable for the structure of a piece, the "true magic" of emotion and interpretation could emerge, he said.

Hmmmm ....

The other song features Daria Zaritskaya and Sergey Sershen from Kiev. Information about the band is scarce, but I assume all its members are from the same area, including the drunk drummer -- who sure can handle the sticks and skins and is one hell of a great chair dancer.

The contrast between the songs and the individuals performing them is ostensibly stark. From my perspective, it almost is a certainty it would be fascinating to individually interview a few from each group. It also almost is a certainty there are more similarities than one might expect.

The time for the "moon flight" has arrived: I have a habit for which there is no real explanation. Each month, if and when I see the full moon, I look at it long and hard wondering if this will be the last I ever see it. This month -- October 2020 -- we are fortunate. It is a "blue moon" month, with one full on the 1^st and another on the 31^st.

I hope circumstances will be right for me to see the one upcoming ....

So, one more reminder: Think a bit in terms of the first and the last and, if nothing else, it will give you greater appreciation for the life you have ....

"Softer than a summer night"

I like the style and works of French impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir and I like the face of Margot. It seems Renoir liked her, too, because he painted her a number of times. I found a few more of those works and picked one for post No. 2 of this episode. By the way, I broke this into two pieces simply because it is long/long/long, which often discourages people from reading a particular item. This way, I figured long/lo would only be one-half as discouraging. I also selected three more pieces of music to include here today. They are Luigi Boccherini -- Nuria Rial performing "Virgo virginum praeclara" / Jay & the Americans -- "This Magic Moment" / Ricky Nelson -- "Never Be Anyone Else But You."

Yep, magic .... Part 2 of 2

Definitions of magic straight from Merriam-Webster: The use of means believed to have supernatural power over natural forces and an extraordinary power or influence seemingly from a supernatural source. There undoubtedly are more, but we will leave it at those for now.

My own priorities in magic have centered around two. One has been in relation to time travel, which is very romantic in one sense, but sort of impractical in terms of quantum physics. There is a theory that it might be possible to locate a wormhole and use it as a bridge to travel through time. According to general relativity, this concept might actually work, but when it comes to our understanding of the Universe, general relativity probably does not have the final word.

Actually, physics is not "my thing," and I prefer the simpler idea that time is like a river and we each are in our own canoe drifting along in it .... and, if this is true, should it not be possible to paddle to the shoreline, get out of the canoe and walk forward or back along the riverbank? Sort of like physics for idiots, I suppose ....

Time to divert into a story of sorts. I am pretty much of a right person at the right place at the right time individual .... and conversely, the wrong at the wrong at the wrong.

 This magic moment

 So different and so new

 Was like any other

 Until I kissed you

And then it happened

 It took me by surprise

 I knew that you felt it too

 By the look in your eyes

Sweeter than wine

Softer than a summer night

Those were some of the lyrics from the song, "This Magic Moment." I have kissed a young lady or two or three, a few with significant passion, but only once did a kiss seem magically perfect. A group of  "we budding journalists" went to a saloon one evening after work and, a few hours later, only two of us remained. The young lady was sitting on one side of a booth and I was on the other side. We were leaning inward, forearms on the table, looking at each other, talking (about what, I cannot recall) when we both slowly moved nearer and nearer until we were kissing.

If there is such a thing as an impeccable kiss, this was it. Our lips seemed to fit perfectly, as though they had been molded each to match the other's. We kissed like that a few more times. I thought I might melt. I will not describe the evening further than to say each kiss seemed as "magical" as the first and that a few minutes later, we both left and went our separate ways.

In one sense, that is the end of the story, but, from another aspect, it is not.

I was married (for the second time) with two young children at home / totally career-oriented / determined to make my marriage work. The young lady was single / very attractive / an excellent reporter / just over a relationship.

We were alone together, by her design, a few times after that. We talked and talked and talked and got to know each other very well in terms of history and personality -- but, there never was anything more to it. Never even another kiss, although it was obvious we both remembered the first few and wanted to experience them again.

At some point along the way, I had begun to wonder if she possibly was the "right/ideal" person for me, but our encounter for me was the wrong place at the wrong time. I moved to a new job in a new town a few months later .... then on to still other places.  Our lives continued to intersect occasionally, always by a visit or a telephone call from her. 

She eventually left journalism and became a high school English teacher. It one point, I discovered she was teaching in a school three blocks as the blue jay flies from my residence. How do you interpret that other than destiny? By then, though, we had not had contact for a few years and I put her out of my mind.

People sometimes say they have found a "soul mate." You occasionally meet someone who claims to have a mate who sets them aflame. Among the things I wonder about (curiosity again) is how many are being honest when they say these things or how many have told themselves those things so many times they actually have come to believe them and affection has replaced love. Love is born in an instant, I believe, although it might take years to recognize it.  Affection grows during the passage of time. I wonder where the line is between the two -- or if there is a line .... 

I do not believe there are words adequate to describe "the kiss." Have you ever encountered a particular word in a language for which there is no equivalent word in any other language? I suppose I could try to invent a word for this experience, but every word needs a definition and this would be where I encounter an impenetrable wall. All I know is that I never have experienced anything like it before or since .... hence, it shall remain undefined in any language.

My conclusion for this event and other experiences?  I believe there can be "magic" by any definition between individuals and, although I have not experienced any other forms (of which I am aware), I have no reason to believe it cannot exist .... which is light years away from actually believing in it or disbelieving in it in other forms ....

"If you believe in magic, come along with me"

"The Reader" (Young Woman Reading a Book) is an 1875-76 oil on canvas by French impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The model was Margot, who is described as having curly auburn hair, sparse eyebrows, a wide nose, plump cheeks, often seen with her voluptuous lips curled in a scornful smile, and a noisy and a vulgar way of speaking with her suburban, Parisian accent. She is a dancing girl and was painted often by Renoir -- always transfigured by his art. In 1881, she died of typhoid fever .... Renoir paid for her burial. The musical selections today are The Yardbirds -- "Train Kept 'a Rollin'" (a clip from the 1966 film "Blowup" featuring two guitar legends in their early days) / Claude Debussy: An orchestra variation of "The Girl with the Flaxen Hair" / J.S. Bach -- Nuria Rial & L'Arpeggiata -- "La dama d'Aragó" (Cantata BWV 89).

A tale of the times .... more-or-less

(Part 1 of 2)

Double double toil and trouble;

Fire burn and caldron bubble.

Fillet of a fenny snake,

In the caldron boil and bake;

Eye of newt and toe of frog,

Wool of bat and tongue of dog,

Adder’s fork and blind-worm’s sting,

Lizard’s leg and howlet’s wing,

For a charm of powerful trouble,

Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

Double double toil and trouble;

Fire burn and caldron bubble.

Cool it with a baboon’s blood,

Then the charm is firm and good

Those lines and a few more were among some I memorized as a 15-year-old in a high school English class. They come from the play, "Macbeth," written in trochaic tetrameter by William Shakespeare.  This was my first exposure to "Willie Boy," an encounter which has taken place many times during the years since.

The words are spoken by three witches and probably are among the most quoted and misquoted lines composed by friend Shakespeare. I have a tendency to think "bubble bubble," rather than "double double."

Although I am not a religious individual, I like to think of myself as a spiritual one and believe I was "blest" to have had two absolutely dedicated and superb English teachers during five of my six high school years. One was a spinster who had lifelong medical problems and died young, and the other was a married lady whose husband had a deserved reputation for pursuing anyone who wore a skirt, as the old cliché noted. My speculation is that they found solace in literature for the cards life had dealt them and felt an obligation to pass their love for it on to their students.

Moving along with a hop, a skip and a jump:

This is not a post about Shakespeare or my reading habits and not even about the "magic day" of October: Hallows' Even or Hallows' Evening or Allhalloween or, as it is known today, Halloween.

Relax, we shall pass by the history and traditions of Halloween, a liturgical event for remembering the dead. Such data is abundant for those curious enough to look.

Rather, this is a two-part post about magic. Yep, magic .... well, sort of, anyway ....

(End Part 1 .... to be continued ....)