Happy 4th of July!!
Have a Happy and SAFE 4th of July!!
Entries Tagged as 'General'
When did America become independent from Britain?
July 4, 1776 - NOT. This is a neat video which points out that we didn’t even declare our independence on July 4, 1776. This is just a little bit of history. It is painless. Enjoy and be save on the 4th of July weekend.
Dolley Madison
Dolley Madison, the former Dolley Payne, was maybe the first First Lady to be public figure on her own account.
She was smart enough to land James Madison and he was smart enough to listen to her counsel.
With her charm and her laughing blue eyes, fair skin, and black curls, the young widow attracted distinguished attention. Before long Dolley was reporting to her best friend that “the great little Madison has asked…to see me this evening.”……Dolley’s social graces made her famous. Her political acumen, prized by her husband, is less renowned, though her gracious tact smoothed many a quarrel. Hostile statesmen, difficult envoys from Spain or Tunisia, warrior chiefs from the west, flustered youngsters–she always welcomed everyone. Forced to flee from the White House by a British army during the War of 1812, she returned to find the mansion in ruins. Undaunted by temporary quarters, she entertained as skillfully as ever.”
Tip Like A True Patriot
If you go out to eat on the Fourth of July, or use any service that usually involves tipping, it is the right and patriotic thing to do to tip the service provider at a ‘time-and-a-half’ rate. This is the pay rate you would expect if you were to work on a holiday. If you are not paid this rate for work on a holiday, please don’t take that out on somebody else.
Celebrate Independence Day by doing right by your fellow American.
Also, do right by any immigrants you encounter.
The Grave Of Paul Revere
Here is a picture I took last week of Paul Revere’s grave. You can find this grave in the Granary Burying Ground which is part of Boston’s Freedom Trail. Revere lived 1734-1818. Here is information on Revere’s life. I had hoped the ghost of Paul Revere would rise to give my wife and I a tour of Boston.
No such luck.
Parting with an organ can’t be good
Melissa Harris Lacewell is a scholar and friend. I haven’t seen or heard from her in while. She has been out on sick leave. She has penned her first article since since her surgery. Her article is a tribute to her uterus. It is both funny and thoughtful.
———
After a four-year battle with uterine fibroids, I am finally surrendering. Last Monday, I checked into N.Y. Presbyterian Hospital and underwent a hysterectomy. I am 34 years old.
I fought back with hormones and holistic treatments. I have had second and third opinions in Chicago, Philadelphia and New York. I’ve seen black doctors and white, male and female. I have had every test, read every book and gotten advice from everyone I know. In the end, I made the difficult decision to bid farewell to my uterus.
It is a tough goodbye. I really like my uterus. I don’t have personal relationships with all of my internal organs, but this one was special. She protected and carried my lovely daughter for nine months. She was with me every step of the way in a 12-hour, natural delivery. My uterus and I did not take so much as a Tylenol while birthing that seven-pound baby. We are very proud of ourselves.
My path to this surgery has had some pretty bizarre moments. There was deafening fear the first time my doctor said “oncologist.” The room went silent, and I missed the next five minutes of what my GYN said to me. I had to ask her to repeat everything when my hearing returned.
There were ludicrous situations like my three-hour appearance on CNN American Morning. I was losing so much blood that I sat on set and sent a text to my best friend: “If u dont c me after commercial call 911. I might pass out in ladies room.” [Read more →]
Boston’s Douglass Square–1936
Here is Douglass Square in Boston from 1936.
This was drawn by artist Allan Crite.
Here is more on Mr. Crite. He lived 1910-2007.
Not As Special As We Think
A recent article in New Scientist magazine says human beings are not as unique as they imagine.
Above is a photo of sheep living in Austria. Here is a story about the minds of sheep.
The article says animals have newly discovered and surprising abilities in ways people once thought as specific to humans.
For example, killer whales have been found to have distinct ways of communicating and hunting depending on if they live in a stable pod or are more transient. This speaks to culture among non-human species.
Some chimps use tools. Many people have seen the pictures of chimps using sticks to fish termites out of the termite mound. This is an example of tool use by animals.
Elephants grieve for dead herd members. Many animals have been noted for apparently emotional reactions. Humans are not the only species that experience emotion.
Beyond culture, tool use and emotion, some animals may possess distinctive personalities, morality, and the ability to understand the mind and intent of another.
Humans are clearly unique.
We are just not as special as we figure.
Who is as special as they figure?
Here is a BBC article on the subject of the minds of animals.
Below are lyrics from the Talking Heads song Animals.
They say they don’t need money
They’re living on nuts and berries
They say animals don’t worry
You know animals are hairy?
They think they know what’s best
They’re making a fool of us
They ought to be more careful
They’re setting a bad example
They have untroubled lives
They think everything’s nice
They like to laugh at people
They’re setting a bad example
Blimp Photo/Blimp Story
Above is the Outback Steakhouse blimp.
This blimp was at Cincinnati’s Lunken Airport last November.
This allows me to tell my Cincinnati blimp story.
Maybe 15 years ago, when I was working for a Cincinnati City Councilmember, a citizen called up to complain about the Goodyear Blimp.
The Goodyear blimp was in town for a Monday Night Football game.
The caller said the blimp was hovering outside her window and that the people inside the blimp were watching her undress.
I can’t recall what I told her. I suppose I told her something because those were the type of phone calls that could go on for a long time. I could be with on the phone with her to this day if I let it go on.
Dealing with the public is always an education. In the end though you have to allow it to make you more human and gentle towards others.
Wiped out
really can’t post anything meaningful. Should be better tomorrow.
Remembering Robert Kennedy
I’m kind of surprised that Texas Liberal didn’t post on this ready. He is the resident history buff. Robert Kennedy died 40 years ago today. This is a nice summary of some the chaos that was the late 1960’s!!!
Brian Williams mentions that some of this footage hasn’t been aired since 1968. Some of our past has been too painful to re-live. I know that I really haven’t seen that much coverage of Robert Kennedy over the years.
Painting Of Auto Plant
This painting, done by Charles Sheeler in 1931, is called Classic Landscape. It portrays the massive Ford River Rouge plant in Michigan.
Here is how the painting is discussed in American Art And Architecture by Michael Lewis:
“….at the end of 1927…Ford unveiled the new Model A…to riotous crowds. Ford carefully planned its advertising campaign, engaging Charles Sheeler to photograph the complex at River Rouge where it was manufactured. His role was purely that of a commerical artist but the immensity of the site and factory overwhelmed him. Sprawling over 1,100 acres, it had a sense of colossal scale like that of the Egyptian pyramids or the cathedrals of medieval Europe. And like those monuments, the factories seemed to embody physically the great social forces of the age….He soon began to make paintings based on his photographs, imitating not only their compositions but their photographic character: their crispness…and..abstract geometric forms in almost airless space….adopted the values of the machine—clarity, precision, razor edges, and clean form. (This) became known as Precisionism, the leading school of American realism in the art of the 1920’s and 1930’s. ”
I like Classic Landscape, though I find it a bit dry. It does indeed have the “values of the machine.” While I would enjoy seeing this painting in a museum, I think it would depress me if I owned it and saw it all the time.
I think we do best when we are only as precise as we must be, not only in terms of honesty, but in terms of conveying the right facts within the larger context to best explain the issue at hand. A measure of symbolism in this painting, such as some hint of movement, might have suggested this was an auto plant. The railroad track is a suggestion of movement, yet the tracks seem abandoned. Nothing is moving. The clouds and shadows also imply movement. But the clouds are gray and motionless. And the shadows are reflecting off the landscape created by the factory.
The idea could be that the factory is the mover of things and not part of an interconnected world. Since there are no people or animals in the painting, it’s almost as if the factory created itself and now directs the world according to it’s own plan. Yet the natural world, people, and, in modern times, machines, all help make the world. At least they do for the brief time human beings will be on the Earth.
If I had artistic talent, I would paint a picture suggesting harmony. I’m not thinking of harmony in the sense of everything moving towards the same end or goal, but rather the measure of harmony I feel that we can discern in the controlled disorder of our world, universe, and all existence.
These things said, Classic Landscape is a helluva painting by a talented guy.
Clear Communication In A Complex World
I recently listened to a song called Mamavtu by a singer named Susheela Raman. Here are some of the lyrics:
you who reside in the temple of Kamakoti
rescue me
in your beautiful hands
you give truth to speech
your feet are worshipped by Emperors and kings
your eyes are as wild as Rajiva flowers
and your beauty bewitches.
Garlanded with gems
you fulfill the desires of the good
Indra himself bows down before you
I, Vasudeva, am your servant
for you are the divine word in its essence.
I like these lyrics for two reasons. The first reason is that they are clear and direct. I admire the ability to communicate in a clear and direct fashion in a complex world. This kind of communication is something we all have the ability to do with the application of some discipline and thought.
Hazy Images
I took this picture of the Mississippi River last week from the window of an airplane.
The picture came out hazy.
Looking at the Mississppi River got me thinking about the Mark Twain biography that I’m currently reading. While Twain’s riverboat days were only a small portion of his life, I find them interesting. I think part of my interest comes from my years of living in Cincinnati along the shores of the Ohio River. I’ve wondered what it must have been like when Cincinnati was a river town. I’ve thought I might have been able to function in a frontier society that placed a value on self-creation (At least if you were white).
When I read about Twain’s time on the river, I get an ill-defined longing for a different place and a different time. It’s a hazy notion that well compliments this hazy photo. I think we all have half-formed ideas in our minds of places we would like to visit and times we wish we could go back and see.
It’s a good thing we have books and imaginations that can partially take us to places that we wish we could visit or re-create.
Happy Rhode Island Independence Day!
May 4th is Rhode Island’s Independence Day.
If you were a school kid in Rhode Island in 1976, you got the holiday off as as part of bicentennial observances that year. What a good day that was!
Below is a little history ( Click here for the full link) —
Rhode Island was a leader in the American Revolutionary movement. Having the greatest degree of self-rule, it had the most to lose from the efforts of England after 1763 to increase her supervision and control over her American colonies. [Read more →]
Three States Of Being
Last Thursday I took a plane trip from Houston, where I currently live, to Cincinnati. I lived in Cincinnati for 18 years.
When I woke up Thursday, I was with my wife at home. I was in my most familiar surroundings. I could come and go as I pleased.
Later, on the airplane, I was with strangers. I literally had no idea where I was at any given moment. When I looked out the window, what I saw for the most part was clouds. I was trapped on the plane until it landed.
In Cincinnati, I was not at home but I was somewhere I knew well. I was with friends and family, but as a guest rather than a resident. I was welcome, but I still had to go by other people’s rules.
Being in Cincinnati was in between waking up at home and flying on an airplane.
You could say that I had three states of being last Thursday.
Does Good Information Reform People?
I recently read a quote by Charlayne Hunter-Gault that goes as follows—
“If people are informed they will do the right thing. It’s when they are not informed that they become hostages to prejudice.”
I don’t believe this is correct. I wish I did, but I don’t.
Beyond differences people might have on what the “right thing” might be, I feel that some intentionally choose an evil course. Similarly, others know that things such as racial prejudice, or not assisting the vulnerable, or on a more minor note, driving in a rude manner, are seen by many as bad actions. Yet these behaviors and many other bad behaviors show no sign of ending.
Progress is always possible in society, but it will be initiated by just some people instead of by all people. And the lessons of progress will be practiced only by some, not by all.
The information needed about decency to others is always out there for all to learn and act upon. Some, because they are evil, or selfish, or lazy, are never going to listen. So while I believe that decent people working together can make life better, I do not believe that information or education will lead the many people committed to bad acts to reform themselves.
Charlayne Hunter-Gault was one of the first two black students at the University of Georgia and she had to sue in order to gain entrance to that school. She is also a former reporter for the New York Times as well as the McNeil/Lehrer Report. Ms. Hunter-Gault currently is a reporter in South Africa.
Review Of Contintental Express Flight #5627
Here is a review of Continental Express flight number 5627, which left Houston April 24, at 10:10 a.m. and arrived in Cincinnati at 1:45 p.m..
It also landed on April 24. It was not a 27-hour flight.
The ticket cost $561.50. Can you imagine all that money to get to Cincinnati?
Above you see a picture of flight number 5627. Needless to say, all the passengers were surprised to be boarding such a plane.
The flight started well because boarding required walking outside and walking up a staircase-on-wheels. I always find this exciting. I pretend I am Charles De Gaulle boarding a plane to Algeria.
I mentioned feeling like General De Gaulle to the flight attendant. By her response, I did not get the impression she shared my excitement.
Once on board, the glamour was gone.
The plane smelled. I can’t quite classify the smell beyond being slightly yucky. The plane smelled from take-off to landing.
Also, my seat was filled with crumbs.
Radio Forerunner Of Gong Show
I read the following in E.L Doctorow’s novel World’s Fair, which is an account of growing up in New York City in years just before American entrance into W.W. II —
” …Major Bowes’ Original Amateur Hour, a radio program. Aspiring musicians were contestants on the program, and if they were no good, Major Bowes would ( bang a gong) to stop their performance. It made you laugh even though it could not have been funny to whoever it was who might have been rehearsing for weeks to be heard on the radio and hoping to win a professional contract from the appearance.”
While this is from a novel, the show did in fact exist.
This is pretty much the same as The Gong Show that ran in the late 70s. I enjoyed The Gong Show as a kid but today I’m sure I would find it very mean just as I find many so-called reality shows. However, I might still watch The Gong Show because it was absurd. I think I would watch it but not admit that I do.
I’m sure plenty of people knew The Gong Show was an imitation of another show. But I never knew.
Here is what is says in the Bible: “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.”
Here is a link to the Major Bowes’ Amateur Hour.
Here is information about Edward Bowes.
Here is information about The Gong Show.
Here is information about Gong Show host Chuck Barris.
Here is a review of World’s Fair.
I Sell the Shadow to Support the Substance
I saw this picture of Sojourner Truth a few days ago with the following caption and I knew I had to blog about it: ”I sell the shadow to support the substance.”
Sometimes hard facts are what you need.
But so often, when you are trying to convince someone of something or trying to understand something yourself, it is the essence of the facts– or the essence of the larger point– that you are looking for.
I’ve found that people who can easily grasp the essence of the matter at hand, or the “shadow” as Sojourner Truth says here, are often the most flexible and humane people I meet.
Rigidity and needing every fact can be toxic to understanding the world around you and getting along with others.
Being open, flexible, and grasping the issue at hand from the facts is a gift.
-
Errington C. Thompson, MD, is a surgeon, scholar, fulltime sports fan and part-time political activist. He is active in a number of community projects and initiatives. Through medicine, he strives to improve the physical health of all he treats...
