Fools, Students, the Sleeping and the Wise

For some reason, I was thinking of this ancient proverb today:

He who knows not and knows not that he knows not is a fool; avoid him.

He who knows not and knows that he knows not is a student; teach him.

He who knows and knows not that he knows is asleep; wake him.

He who knows and knows that he knows is a wise man; follow him.

Change of Seasons

This time of year brings us our two major sports simultaneously for two months, and always makes me think of the comparisons between the two drawn by George Carlin (text version here).

And there's always Tom Boswell's comparison from his classic anthology The Heart of the Order, reproduced here. Granted, a few of the items (43, 44 & 66, for example), are obsolete, but it's still worth reviewing a few times a year. I think #30 is my favorite...

Seventy Years Ago

No, that's not a reference to a Twila Paris song...

Today (9/1/09) marks the 70th anniversary of Germany's invastion of Poland, which sparked World War II. The maps featured with this posting are scans of actual newspaper Londaon clippings I acquired in the early 1980's and have scrapbooked away.

It is also the 20th anniversary of a certain college sophomore being the only person in a class of about 700 who knew the significance of this date at that time, which was of course the 50th anniversary.

Remember me, Dr. Hess? (No, not Rudolf)

61* in '61

I finally got around to watching Billy Crystal's HBO movie 61* -- that is to say, I finally found it at the Library and didn't have to pay for it. Even a member of the loyal opposition can appreciate the history of the Evil Empire, and the heroics of Mantle and Maris nearly 50 years ago.

On one level, there is a great deal of nostalgia. Whether Crystal was trying to depict it or not, even a baseball movie from as recently as the decade in which I was born makes you yearn for day games, reasonable salaries (Mantle made about $70,000 that year, which less than Babe Ruth had made in his prime more than thirty years earlier), and accessible ticket prices. Baseball truly is -- or was -- the people's sport, being played every day with the intent that you can take your son or sweetheart to the game that afternoon without a great deal of saving, planning or a second mortgage.

Unfortunately, however, while 61* is about baseball's most accessible era, Billy Crystal makes it inaccessible to young fans. Why he finds it necessary to include a plethora of foul language and a little too much detail on the Mick's extracurricular habits makes the movie unsuitable for children, much like today's game (with 8:30 PM starts and decent tickets starting at $100) is also out of reach.

One other minor complaint -- several times in the movie, the Whitey Ford character addresses Mantle as "Slick." In fact, Slick was Ford's nickname (and the title of his autobiography), because Ford was the "City Slicker" of the bunch.

Some viewers also find fault with the film being bookended by the performance of Mark McGwire in 1998, breaking Maris' record, given how McGwire has disgraced himself since then. A fair enough criticism, although it should be noted that 61* was made in 2001, when McGwire still held the record and was still active (Bonds set the new record later that year). This viewer found it a curious cinemagraphic tool which probably made sense in Crystal's mind in 2001 -- who would have expected it to be somewhat jarring to the audience eight years later. Those who feel more strongly may want to Give It Back to Maris.

For Diehards Only

And for Red Sox fans with a lot of time on their hands, click here.

Good Luck, cont'd

One other thought on "Good Night and Good Luck" -- there's a scene where the Fred Friendly character (played by George Clooney) interrogates a military officer, asking him (amongst other things) who made the decision and if those people "were elected." An interesting thought coming from a member of the Fourth Estate.

Good night, good luck, and merry Christmas.

Being an old media hack, I figured I'd take in Good Night, and Good Luck. It's certainly well-filmed and well-cast (although the ridiculous subplot, which you can read more about in this review (scroll down!), may be the worst I've ever seen).

I won't nitpick the details with a view towards exposing the prejudices of the filmmakers, because we already know the conclusion of that. Since all I know about the 1950's is what I've read, or heard, or seen on Happy Days, I'll leave much of that judgment up to people who were there.

However, I do find it interesting that a movie full of caterwauling about the integrity of the media and its centrality to the preservation of democracy, produced by a cadre of well-known leftists, leaves us wondering how, exactly, Edward R. Murrow and his colleagues would evaluate the current state of media proselytizing, particularly their awestruck worship of the (eventual) commander-in-chief over the past 18 months or so, and their failure to find any flaws in his administration since January. I'm not naive enough to expect total impartiality, but I would like to see something close to the incisive and tenacious journalism that See It Now employed against the junior senator from Wisconsin.

Good night, and good luck -- to all of us -- that we would be saved from ourselves.

Hemmingway on Hughes

Interesting article on John Hughes by Mark Hemmingway.

I haven't seen too many of his movies, although I did see The Breakfast Club about 3 times, and I never decided if I liked it or not. I supposed I should have, since I was in high school when it came out, but I wasn't sure if I was John Bender, Andrew Clark or Brian Johnson. Maybe a hybrid.

Sheriff at the Gates

For those who appreciate great satire, with a Shakespearean twist.

Watch out for the "Fool" in Act III.

Born on the Fourth of July, cont'd

Taken earlier today a few miles from my home. Three observations --

(1) Yes, the sign is still up, 3+ weeks after the holiday with which it is affiliated.
(2) No, they haven't fixed the fairly obvious typographical mistake, and
(3) Yes, these people are retailing highly combustible, unstable and dangerous materiel to the general public.

Is this really happening?

You couldn't just stop at inciting further racial hatred and making police work more difficult. Now you have to invite everybody to the People's House (at the people's expense) "for a beer."

Ah, yes -- ALCOHOL. The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems, as Homer Simpson might say.

I really can't believe I saw this.

Real Heroes

Yeah, sure, Walter Cronkite, journalism legend and whatnot. Most trusted man in America, etc., etc. If I've lost Walter Cronkite, I've lost Middle America. And that's the way it is. WHATEVER. "Uncle Walter's" politics -- like that of his successor -- were no great mystery, and there are not a few of us who consider his anchorship to be the beginning of the slippery slope away from any manner of objectivity in the major media. And we can probably thank him for keeping the somewhat shaky reporting of the Watergate scandal alive when Woodward and Bernstein were floundering.

There are newsmakers and newsbreakers, and Cronkite's reporting began the blurring of the two where the reporter became the story. Personally, I'd rather see more reporting today on a Henry Allingham, a real hero from World War I who passed away a few hours after Cronkite. Now there are only four of them.

Wide World of Sports

Afternoon comes early for some retired players --

"I have a new TV show airing Saturday mornings at 12:00 Noon." -- Keyshawn Johnson


As for pitchers hitting (or flailing) in the All-Star Game --

"I know everyone tuned in tonight to see a Roy Halladay at-bat." -- Joe Buck


and some rare fiscal honesty from the C-in-C --

Joe: "They haven't won an All-Star Game since 1996. Maybe the National League needs a bailout."

BHO: "Sorry. We're out of money."

In your spare time...

I added EyeblastTV to my links (at right) in case any of you still harbor questions about major media prejudices and/or you can stomach seeing and hearing the evidence. There's some other good stuff too.

It's sponsored by the Media Research Center, whose link is also provided and has been since the inception of Salad Days.

I replaced the YouTube link, since that site seems to have fallen off a slippery slope, although I'll still link to it from time to time.

Born on the Fourth of July

Well, not exactly, but Johnny Cash should have been.

Happy Independence Day!

The Mighty 44 (well, some of them)

Presidential junkies might find this site interesting. It doesn't have all of them, but a pretty good assortment of presidential documents.

I still think these two speeches were pretty good. Worth re-reading -- parts prophetic, parts ironic, and some parts that make you wince a little, but their characterizations of their predecessors are dead-on.

RIP

You can have your angels, your eccentric song-and-dance entertainers with questionable habits, and even your career second bananas. I'll take Mladen George Sekulovich any day of the week.

RIP Karl and thanks for an amazing career. An incredible filmography in countless pictures, including the "original" Herb Brooks.

More 80's Nostalgia

I stumbled on this article last year but wasn't able to find it again until today. Amazing what a little down time wrought by minor surgery combined with patience will lead you to discover.

Although the premise of the story is flawed -- the 1988 election wasn't really that close at all -- I'll accept for the sake of argument that it was at least "winnable" for Dukakis had a few things gone differently. I started reading this article thinking it was your typical left-wing whining about if-only-the-people-were-as-smart-as-we-were, but it's actually somewhat plausible.

Of course, then this speech would have been a little different.

Top Christian Albums of the 1980's -- Honorable Mentions

KINGDOM OF LOVE – Scott Wesley Brown (1984) – A tough call between this and Somebody’s Brother, but we’re going with the earlier work simply because of its success in blending both the traditional and contemporary.

COMIN’ ON STRONG – Carman (1984) – A truly original work and perhaps Carman’s most complete album to date, unfortunately marred by inferior production quality that probably keeps it out of the top ten.

D&K – DeGarmo & Key (1987) – So hard to leave DeGarmo & Key out of the top ten, as they were consistently solid performers throughout the decade, and so hard to choose among their many solid albums. Street Light, Communication, and The Pledge all warrant strong consideration, yet the fact that none stands out from the other probably keeps them from the top ten. They are also handicapped by the fact that the volume of their production led to a fair amount of "filler" on each of those albums, debasing each collection in spite of each one also containing some memorable tracks.

LEAD ME ON – Amy Grant (1988) – Very highly rated by some. A watershed work, as Amy Grant would soon drop the "Christian" from "Contemporary," but nonetheless refreshing and authentic, far more than the overwrought Unguarded that preceded it or the schlock that followed it. It was her The Big Picture, breaking free from the strong but "ordinary" work of her early years and not matched since.

FACES – Hogland Band (1988) – Virtually unknown -- good luck finding this one, even on the Internet -- yet an original European-flavored collection that is consistent top to bottom. Only the lack of notoriety keeps it out of the top ten.

CRACK THE SKY – Mylon LeFevre & Broken Heart (1987) – Mylon cranked out nearly one album every year in the latter part of the decade. Face the Music and Sheep in Wolves Clothing were also highlights, yet the sheer volume of work (much like DeGarmo & Key) keep any one album from standing out. Nonetheless, there’s still nothing quite like listening to Reach for the Sky at high volume.

ANOTHER FRIDAY NIGHT – Kenny Marks (1989) – A Sentimental choice that showcases a fellow Falcon maturing as an artist, singing about conflict and resolution without being over-bearing, and helping me get through an otherwise dreadful year.

7 – David Meece (1985) – Meece rescues this otherwise straight-forward synth-rock fare with his creativity and charisma. An upbeat, positive collection boosted both by Meece’s talent as a songwriter and his strong voice.

Telling It Like It Is

I miss Rodney Harrison already, but at least he knew not only when to retire, but how to retire.

Another piece on that subject here.