Dr. B's Notes

255 Catching Up After a “Break”

5/19/2023

As I sit down to post this, it’s just over a month since my last posting. As I said in my last post, this longer-than-usual time is due to my having my Right knee replaced in mid-April. This is not to be confused, of course, with having my Left knee replaced in early April two years ago. Now, I can’t say that joint replacement surgery is exactly fun, nor am I anything approaching back to what one might consider “normal” (which would probably not surprise many of my former students, although perhaps for different reasons). My “knee guy” did warn me that, while there is (usually) a fair amount of recovery in a relatively short period of time, it would be foolish to believe that the healing process does not continue for quite some time (perhaps two years) after the surgery. So, I guess that I can’t really expect that the Right knee process wouldn’t continue for quite some time.

I should point out that, while I can still tell the difference between the “replacement parts” in my left knee, which don’t feel quite the same as the “original equipment,” that knee has, finally, settled down to as close to “normal” as it’s likely to get and is only noticeable to me by an occasional, quiet “popping” sound when I catch it strangely. Anyway, I’ve been going to sessions with my Physical Therapist (happily, mostly with the young lady who supervised most of my therapy for my Left knee, of whom I became rather fond). While I won’t exactly say that I have enjoyed the PT sessions, she does a very nice job of making sure that I do the work involved, but actually manage to enjoy myself a bit in the process. I’m sure her colleagues are equally skilled, but a familiar face does make the process pleasanter.

So, things have been pretty quiet for me for the last month. I haven’t really gone anywhere, nor done much of anything. Other than the PT, I’ve read a lot (mostly rereading mysteries I’m fond of and haven’t read in a while). I’ve reread the entire Charlie Moon series by James D. Doss and I’m about halfway through the original Leaphorn/Chee series by Tony Hillerman, and am looking forward to working my way through the entire series including the expansion novels which also include the addition of Bernie Manuelito as a major character. This expansion is by Anne Hillerman, who took over the series after her father’s death. I have found both of these series, set primarily among the Ute people (Doss) and the Navajos (Hillerman), but drawing on the rich culture of the several Native Peoples who live (and lived) near the junction on Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah to be quite enjoyable. I confess that I enjoy the mysteries, but have also become quite fond of the insight I have gained into the traditions and religions of these peoples.

I have also been thinking that it’s almost exactly three years since Maggi and Brian got married on our back porch because they couldn’t have the wedding they really wanted at the Joslyn Castle here in town due to that thing called COVID. That means that it’s been three years since I was ordained as a minister of the Universal Life Church. I can’t say that my “ordination experience” had a terrifically profound effect on me, although I didn’t take it lightly, either. But Maggi is my daughter, and guy’s do weird things for their kids, and if there were ever two people who I was convinced should be married, it was those two. In fact, when we were writing the brief ceremony which was used, I made a point of commenting that I did not consider it to be creating a relationship between these two people, but simply a public acknowledgment of the existence of that relationship. The best “weddings” of which I have been aware seem to have been such acknowledgements, and I was confident that it applied in this case, or I would not have participated.

But, enough about such things, The rest of this may not be as well though out as my usual silliness, but I do have a cache of odds and ends which I can use to make this worth the trouble of posting. These are just a few “odds and ends” I found amusing.

Obviously, doctors have been on my mind a good deal in the last few weeks. Doctors handwriting is notoriously bad, so when I encountered this a while back, I was quite amused.

On the other had, given how dependent we, as a society, have become on “high tech” devices, I did get a certain satisfaction when I saw this notice somewhere.

I don’t remember where I found this picture of a sign near an airport, but I will confess that I found it both amusing AND just a little disturbing. If you don’t find it to be such, think about it for a couple of minutes, especially in the light of the surroundings …

Given my fondness for language-related humor, I admit that I found this sign just too funny to resist. Okay, I’ll admit to have a weird sense of humor.

Perhaps it’s time for me to wrap this up and take a pill, or something. One thing that can be said about surgery and the “recovery” process is that it takes a good deal out of one. It IS true that I have not been sleeping on anything like what I would call a “normal” schedule (even for me) and it is also true that I am still in the stage where there is a constant background of what the doctors like to call “discomfort” associated with my now “fixed” knee. It certainly isn’t serious pain, but it’s always there, sort of like an itch you can’t quite scratch, which makes it hard to really relax and turns one (at least me) into a semi-relaxed puddle with no real desire to do much of anything but just be a blob.

Oh, well, this will pass. I plan to be back in a couple of weeks at which point perhaps I will have my head screwed on a bit more securely and I’ll be making somewhat more sense. Of course, one can’t count on that, considering the author ….

🖖🏼 LLAP,

Dr. B

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”
— Nelson Mandela

“Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic; capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.” ― Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

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254 In Celebration of Shakespeare's Birth/Death Day

4/14/2023

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In just over a week it will be the proper day (April 23rd) to celebrate the Birth/Death day of the man who is probably my favorite playwright — William Shakespeare of Stratford-Upon-Avon in Warwickshire. Yes, for the sake of anyone who is even more pedantic than I, I will admit that we don’t actually know for certain what day he was born, although we do have actual records of when he died. And, we do know when he was baptized, as that is in a church record which has survived. Yes, I have been to Holy Trinity Church in Stratford where this event happened and seen their copy of this record. I have not seen the actual record, as it is preserved by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and not open to the general public. Given the standard practice of the time, what with infant mortality what it was and the perceived need to have any child in good standing with the Church, April 23 seems quite plausible as the birthday and is accepted by most scholars as not unlikely, in any case. So why do I care? I don’t really, but I’m not aware of too many other people who died on their birthday, although I know that Will isn’t the only one. (There’s an easy project for Internet research, if anyone wants it.) In any event, I’m rather fond of a lot of Will’s work and I choose to celebrate his life in my own way and this seems to me to be a better day for that celebration than most others would be.

I have noticed that quite a few people seem to take some sort pf inspiration from bits and pieces of Will’s work, so it is quite easy to find examples of things he (his works) have influenced. Since he was a real person, there are statues of him in many places around the world; here’s a picture of a reproduction of the one in Central Park in New York City. It was financed by the sons of Junius Brutus Booth (Junius Brutus Booth, Jr., Edwin Booth, and John Wilkes Booth) and others, including several from the NY theatre. J.B., Jr. was never a major star in the theatre of his day, although Edwin was, and, of course, J.W. (also something of a star) became best-known for a non-theatrical activity. Still, Shakespeare was the “bread and butter” of the Booth family and was, if you look into it, wildly popular across the U.S. throughout most of the Nineteenth Century, although mostly in the “family approved” editions which were (unfortunately) the standard fare at the time.

In fact, it was the Nineteenth Century (especially the “Romantics”) who turned Shakespeare from just a pretty well accepted, if slightly old-fashioned, poet and playwright into the literary deity which many people still consider him today. After all, his work provided the inspiration for works like this:

One doesn’t have to be a major Shakespearian scholar to figure out that this 1838 painting’s subject is the death of Ophelia in Hamlet. But Will’s inspiration has lasted a lot longer than Delacroix might have expected, even if he did paint several versions of this scene over a number
of years. Here’s a fairly recent, but obviously influenced piece by Mya Lixian Gosling the creator
of “goodticklebrain.com.”

Will’s creations have served to inspire other people’s work of all sorts, of course, not just pictures. One of the oddest, to my way of thinking, was the several of his plays which were published as if the play was being “… told through its characters texting with emojis, checking in at certain locations, and updating their relationship statuses.” Here’s an image of the cover of the one I got sucked into buying.

Although Amazon suggests that it is, “The perfect gift for hip theater lovers and teens.”, I confess I just found it to be weird. Amusing, yes, but definitely weird!

Of course, Shakespearian influences show up constantly in places one might not necessarily expect. Some are more clever than others, of course, but they are often fun, as I found this Shoe comic strip.

Lest a reader suspect that Will’s exclusive influence is on pictures of various sorts, I will close with this from the Saturday Review in 1964 composed, I would guess, in honor of Will’s 400th birthday. Having taught some of Will’s plays in my Dramatic lit classes, I confess that this strikes me as VERY funny/sad in the socio-political days of the present. It IS a bit dated, but I still find it funny.

Given some of my own experiences with academic administrators, I confess that I laughed a lot when I encountered this, long after 1964. I hope that it’s still amusing. I think it is.

As I am scheduled to get my RIGHT knee “done” before my next post would be “due,” it may well be longer than usual before I get the next one up. Rest assured that I have every intention of continuing to write these bits and pieces, but I expect it is likely to be a while before I can get down the stairs to my computer where I have my collection of materials and the peace and quiet to write them. I do plan to return to “publishing” them, however.

I’ll be back! In the meantime,🖖🏼 LLAP,

Dr. B

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”
— Nelson Mandela
“Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic; capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.” ― Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

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253 The First Amendment — Issues, Problems & Concerns

3/31/2023

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This is a bit later than planned for a number of reasons, but I wanted to get it out before April 1st because this is NOT an April Fool’s Day posting. It’s possible some readers might disagree, but that was NOT my intention. I’m concerned, upset, and annoyed!

I find myself forced to admit that my last post (#252 St. Patrick's Day and Related Rants) was a violation of my general practice of avoiding political issues in these postings. And, I confess that I am about to do it again! So, if any readers have no wish to put up with my waxing on pseudo-eloquently about things which have some relationship to the current state of politics in the USA, I would suggest that they simply close this file and pretend that it doesn’t exist. I hope that I will be able to come up with posts which will be of greater interest to you in the future, but, I’m not going to apologize for discussing issues about which I feel quite strongly, even if they have political overtones. If nothing else, the discipline of trying to write coherently about them usually lowers my blood pressure a bit.

One set of issues, which have come to the fore somewhat recently, concerns the basic freedoms which are derived from the First Amendment to the US Constitution. That Amendment reads: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Personally, I think this a fairly simple (and admirable) statement of some of the principles which the American colonies agreed to in setting up a common government. I think they did a pretty good job with the Constitution and it’s Amendments, but I am especially fond of the First Amendment, which I suggest makes a great deal of sense and appears to be pretty straightforward and comprehensive.

So, let’s take a closer look at it. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;….” I believe that to be pretty clear. My sense of it is that the freedom to manifest one's religion or beliefs may be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law because they appear to be necessary to protect public safety, order, health, or morals or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others. In other words, Congress (and no state) can establish an “official” religion nor outlaw any religious practices (within reason). Yes, I do think there are (and should be) restrictions on this. Human sacrifice comes to mind rather quickly as an obvious example of an undesirable practice, as does the notion that any religion has the “right” to execute non-believers, etc. Most obvious, perhaps, is the idea that it is unacceptable to restrict anyone’s religious beliefs or practices except and unless such beliefs or practices clearly pose a danger to the state or impose limits on other people’s right to practice their religious beliefs. That is, neither an individual, nor the government, can forbid, religious beliefs or practices unless it can be established that they violate the need for public order and/or safety and/or the rights and freedoms of others.

Skipping ahead just a bit for the moment, Congress (and, therefore, the states) are also forbidden to violate; “… the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” I think it worth noting the presence of the word “peaceably” in this clause, as I think that’s a key point. The events of January 6, 2021, were clearly NOT “peaceable” no matter what some people would like to insist by carefully editing 40 some thousand hours of video down to a few, carefully chosen, minutes. I was able to, and did, watch the events of that day unfold in real time (and on multiple channels) on my TV and there was nothing “peaceable” about the armed mob which forced its way into the Capitol building, which was legally CLOSED to the public for this ceremonial occasion. I also wonder if someone could explain to me how these “demonstrators” “just happened” to be equipped with helmets, truncheons, body armor, zip ties, etc., at hand for this “spontaneous” demonstration? I would suggest that it was pretty obvious to anyone who was paying attention to the news during the period leading up to that day that the closing of the building was a reasonable precaution and the “assembly” of “demonstrators” was NOT peaceable and WAS armed. Hence, it appears evident to me that what happened that day was NOT protected (nor should it have been) by the right to assemble and protest as described in the First Amendment.

That brings us to the crux of what I wish to discuss; “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press….” As I see it, these are, largely, the same thing, although there do appear to be reasonable distinctions. Unfortunately, many people, especially in the press (media) would like us to accept that they are somehow MORE protected than private citizens. Personally, I have doubts about that notion, I think they may be MORE restricted, but I’ll get to that later.

As anyone who has worked in a theatre should know, there ARE, in fact (and in law), restrictions on Freedom of Speech. For example; it is illegal to yell “Fire!” in a crowded theatre or to yell “Bomb!” at an airport even if you have reason to believe that a such a danger exists, because you might easily cause a panic and kill (or injure) more people than the fire, or bomb would. Lying about almost anything may be LEGAL (if perhaps ill-advised) to your family, friends, boss, etc., but it isn’t when testifying in court or being questioned by properly constituted authorities. There’s also the fact that the courts have ruled that you aren’t protected if you are lying about someone else’s mental health, criminal background, or medical status. That’s slander when spoken and libel when written. Okay, those are civil charges, not criminal ones, but they ARE illegal. You are also not protected (even under civil law) if you spread lies about someone to hurt them socially or professionally. Also, my understanding is that just saying that you are going to hurt someone (say, shoot up a school, a bar, or an otherwise peaceful demonstration) can be, at least technically, criminally illegal.

And there ARE other examples: Private companies, say Youtube or Twitter, since they are NOT part of the government, are within their rights to censor what is posted on their platforms, unless you can demonstrate that they are not consistently applying the standards to which all users agreed when they signed up. Your employer can also fire you for speech which damages the employer’s business. Hate speech (promotion of racism, sexism, hatred of a race or a religion, etc.) is NOT protected. Nor is incitement to commit an offense against the law, nor challenging the integrity and sovereignty of the United States. Other than that, I believe that an individual’s speech is, largely, free of legal restriction.

The Founder’s made a point of singling out “the Press” for special attention in this Amendment, and I think there may well be reasons for that fact. If an individual can be cited for endangering the public (yelling “Fire!” in a crowded theatre), then it only seems reasonable that those who claim to be “serving the Public Good” by making the “news” (Definition — News: newly received or noteworthy information, especially about recent or important events) available, are committing a similar, but a larger, potentially MORE dangerous act if they knowingly present information which is contrary to fact. That does NOT, in my opinion, mean “the Press” does not have the right to express an editorial opinion, but that they have an obligation to clearly indicate what they believe to be “fact” from what they know is “opinion.” This is the reason that newspapers, for example, have editorial pages and also may publish “Letters to the Editor,” and such. It’s worth noting, however, that those entries are, in my experience, clearly separated from the “news,” which is supposed to be factual. (As my High School Journalism teacher used to say; “News consists of Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How.”)

Now we ARE dealing with humans here, so mistakes ARE possible. Anyone can make a mistake, and, if you watch (read) the legitimate media, you should have noticed that, from time to time, they acknowledge a mistake, attempt to correct it, and apologize for having made the mistake in the first place. To my way of thinking, while I am unhappy that inaccurate information was published or broadcast, I think these steps go a long way towards gaining forgiveness for the incorrect statements. However, I strongly believe that deliberately using a press (media) platform to spread what is known to be false information closely resembles yelling “Fire!” in a crowded theatre when one KNOWS that there is no such danger. To me, it’s pretty obvious that the potential for creating a public danger, possibly on a large scale, exists and should be illegal.

Still, most of the time, especially for individuals, I believe that speech is, and should be, generally free of legal restrictions. This means, as Roger Ballwin, the founder of the American Civil Liberties Union said, “In order to defend the people, you have to defend the people you hate.” That means that, if I want “Freedom of Speech,” I have to respect YOUR right to it, as well. Or, as Voltaire is sometimes misquoted as having said; “I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” I think one of the best statements of the meaning of “freedom of speech” was written by Aaron Sorkin for the character Andrew Shepherd in The American President. I know I have quoted it before, but I think it’s worth a second glance.

   America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You've gotta want it bad,
   ‘cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say, "You want free speech? Let's
   see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing
   center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend
   a lifetime opposing at the top of yours." You want to claim this land as the land
   of the free? Then the symbol of your country cannot just be a flag. The symbol
   also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest.
   Now show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then you
   can stand up and sing about the land of the free.

All this suggests that I find myself forced to support the people’s right to express their belief that the last election had problems, even if I disagree. That’s why we have courts, to settle such concerns on their merits. But once the courts have ruled, we citizens are supposed to accept the decision reached. It’s worth noting that MANY questions regarding the election were, properly, dealt with in MANY courts prior to Jan. 6 and that ALL concerns were dismissed.

I’ve always been interested in “free speech” issues. In part, this probably was enhanced when I had what I considered to be a sort of “freedom of speech” challenge a few years back. Very few people know about, as I have avoided discussing it in public, but it may be worth describing. It began, as I recollect it, during the latter half of the 1999-2000 academic year while we were deciding on a theatre season for the following academic year.

You see, sometime about 1990, I think it was, when I was teaching a class focusing on the creation of production concepts and a student wanted to use The Rocky Horror Show script for a project. Since I had never seen a stage production of this script, or the movie, let alone read the script, I asked this student for a copy of the script to peruse. As I remember it, this copy was almost certainly a “pirated” version. Anyway, I read it through carefully, listened to some of the music (from the movie, probably), and discussed the script with the student involved. As I remember it, my response was that this particular student seemed to have a pretty weak grasp of the satire which seemed central to it, but I probably let him do the project, anyway.

On the other hand, I rather fell in love with the show, I think because I had grown up watching the movies mentioned in “Science Fiction, Double Feature” not in movie theatres, but on local television when I was a kid. Unlike the student who introduced me to the show, who seemed to have little to no knowledge of the satiric references to an entire generation of “B” (Were they even THAT good?) movies, and seemed to think they were not of much relevance, I was quite familiar with them and quickly became convinced that the script was intended as a bawdy, raunchy, overdone, 1970s satire of the “sci-fi, horror” genre of the serials and movies which grew out of the comics of the 1930s into movie “serials” and, after WWII, added the concerns of “the Red Scare,” and the effects of “atomic” radiation on the natural world in the 1950s.

Anyway, I filed the script away as one I’d like to do sometime, and didn’t think much about it until (again, as I remember it) when we were working on developing the theatre season for the 2000-2001 academic year. At some point, I remember mentioning in the shop one day that I’d wanted to do RHS for a long time and a number of the students became quite excited about that idea. So, it got mentioned it to the other theatre faculty as something which some students thought seemed like it would be fun and that I had an interest in directing it. I think it’s true that I don’t know for sure what happened beyond that. I have suspicions there may have been a certain amount of student pressure exerted in its favor. I think it’s also true that the show had been quite recently released for “amateur” (which includes educational theatre) productions. In any event, it ended up going on the calendar as the musical for the next winter, AND I was going to be able to direct it!

Now comes the problem. Later that spring, after our upcoming season had been published, the UNC System (which WCU was a part of) announced that it was seeking the voter’s approval for a big bond referendum the next fall. It took a while, but eventually, (it was early that summer, as I remember it) I was called into a private meeting with the Dean. He explained to me that, in the light of the UNC System seeking this bond referendum, some “concerns” had been expressed over the theatre program presenting such a “controversial” production, as it might influence the vote to go against the referendum, etc.

Now, I liked that Dean, so I don’t want to bad mouth him. I strongly believe that HE was being pressured by a “higher level” member of the Administrative staff, whom I think I could identify correctly, but I can’t say for certain. I also wish to point out that I find it hard to believe that the Chancellor (whom I would later get to know quite well, when I served as Chair of the Faculty for four years) even knew about this situation. No, I firmly believe that the pressure was coming only through quasi-official channels and from “underlings.”

As I think back on this, I believe that it's reasonably likely that the Dean was not all that familiar with the show, except that it had something of a “cult” following among younger people. I willingly admit that it WAS a bit controversial because it is a bit risqué (certainly at THAT time), there IS some (obviously faked) sexual content, and (horror of horrors) it’s not a “traditional” musical but a “campy,” cult piece with a somewhat fanatic audience. In fact, it’s still popular all these years later.

In any event, the Dean and I had a pleasant chat where he explained, somewhat embarrassedly I thought, that, “concerns” had been expressed to him that this choice might reflect badly on the university and have a negative impact on the upcoming referendum. I believe that I indicated that I would withdraw the production, if ordered to do so, but I also explained that I would not lie about why the production had been withdrawn to either my students or the public. I remember pointing out that the season had already been announced, so there would probably be questions regarding the change from students and/or the press and media. I think I also pointed out that that sort of censorship MIGHT be more damaging with the voters than just ignoring the issue, but I don’t know if that had much impact.

I suspect, however, that pointing out that UNC-Greensboro (a much larger and more centrally located sister institution) had announced that THEY were also doing The Rocky Horror Show during the upcoming FALL semester, shortly before the actual voting was scheduled to take place, so I didn’t quite understand the concern over Western doing it at the end of February, when the vote was in early November of the previous calendar year. I may also have pointed out my long-held belief that if an educational theatre doesn’t risk offending at least some people every so often, I don’t see how it can be considered to be doing its job, but I’m not sure about that. The Dean agreed to get back to me about this, as I remember it, confirming, in my mind, that he was just a “messenger boy” in this case. Anyway, the subject never came up again and we had great fun with our production (which I thought was better than UNC-G’s), but it had an impact on me that while one sometimes has to fight for one’s freedoms, violence is probably not the best solution, and it is likely to create potentially greater difficulties.

This brings to mind other concerns related to the questions I have been discussing. The “Culture War” on education is, at least in my mind, closely related to the notion of freedom of speech and the press. I am willing to admit, even defend, the right of people to speak and write ideas which I find offensive, but I will NOT concede to them the right to censor the facts of history in order to suit their notions of propriety. Facts are facts and, if the facts make us uncomfortable, it is OUR problem. I believe that we (as a culture) had better learn to accept both the good and the unpleasant facts of our history and deal with them, or we are going to end up with a society which is likely to make significant changes in directions we may not desire, as they could well deny us the freedoms we have enjoyed in the past.

I find it unacceptable in the modern world, to use language publicly which is known and intended to be offensive to other people on account of their race, religion, ethnicity, sexual preference, etc. I find it unfortunate that my ancestors may have engaged in behaviors which were intended to be detrimental to those of other races, religions, ethnicities, etc. I am conflicted, however, as I have some ancestors who were hanged as witches in Salem, as well as some who were among their accusers and some who were members of the court who sentenced the others to die. But, I wouldn’t be born until long after all of them were dead and I accept no responsibility for their actions.

It appears that far too many of our current political class want to believe that they can legislate the establishment of a world like depicted in Ozzie and Harriet, Leave It to Beaver, The Andy Griffith Show, or Happy Days when everything seemed so simple and peaceful and nothing really bad every happened. Guess what, guys? Those were TV shows! They were scripted to be pleasant, peaceful, and non-controversial because they existed to sell commercial time for the broadcasters! To put it simply, but honestly, they were NOT real! And, everyone KNEW it! They were intended to be entertainment, NOT news. News was reporting on the war in Korea in the 50s (which was NOT too much like M*A*S*H) and, later, on Vietnam, (which wasn’t too much like M*A*S*H, either).

I believe that we need to worry less about being “offended” by facts we don’t like and spend more time being concerned about being truthful to ourselves and our children! We cannot change facts, but we can use them to examine how our society got the way it is and how we can at least try to improve it. Removing Huckleberry Finn from the school library will NOT remove the “N” word from use, and isn’t it better for us to explain to our kids why it isn’t acceptable today, rather than attempt to “whitewash” history by pretending that it never existed? Do we really think that, “Slavery really wasn’t so bad,” as some have suggested, or that the US always treated the “Indians” fairly, or that there was never any discrimination due to racism, religious bias, or ethnic background as some people would suggest? Refusing to acknowledge gender differences, etc., may be comforting, but they aren’t going away. Hitler tried to eradicate those who didn’t conform to his ideas of what society was SUPPOSED to be, but it didn’t work and seems unlikely to be more successful now.

Facts really don’t change, but knowledge can be forgotten, if we work hard enough to make that happen. If we let Tucker Carlson of FAUX NOOSE’s edit about 44,000 hours of video from January 6 down to a few minutes carefully selected to only show “peaceful demonstrators” (who WERE in the building illegally, remember) wandering around the Capitol to be all that’s left after those of us who watched the events as they happened are gone, it’s likely that we will have a country that resembles an oligarchy instead of resembling something like a democracy. If we remove Maus and The Diary of Anne Frank and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn today, are we going to eliminate The Koran, The Torah, and those “incorrect” versions of The Bible tomorrow? What about the teachings of still other religious traditions and the facts of other nations’ histories?

Yes, we probably should be careful about exposing children to ideas which they are too young to understand. (By the way, I’ve never heard anyone suggest teaching the graduate school concept of CRT to K-3rd graders, except politicians!) Yes, we should be careful to prepare them to understand that humans are not perfect, we all make (and have made) mistakes, we all struggle to understand and do what is best for our survival and that of others. However, it would seem to me, at least, that hiding the facts (truth) of human behavior and history is unlikely to prepare our children for the future very adequately. Even more dangerous, if we adults insist on lying to our children, how do we expect them to respond when they discover that we have been doing so? They will, you know. It’s as inevitable as a snow melt in Florida!

The reality is that history is messy, and it’s often a good deal more complicated than it first appears. One doesn’t have to be much of a Finding Your Roots fan to discover that. But we, as a people can either accept that fact and work towards establishing that notion of E pluribus Unum which has been the traditional motto of the US as placed on the Great Seal since it was adopted in 1782, or we can end up as naughty children caught in our own lies. The truth may not always be pleasant, but at least it’s the truth! That seems like a good thing to me, because I can’t believe that we won’t get caught eventually. The book burning “firemen” would try to stop it (unsuccessfully) in Ray Bradbury’s fictional America in Fahrenheit 451, and I think it’s unlikely to work in the age of social media, either. We’d better figure out how to deal with it. I think, in the long run, our children would be grateful to have reason to think we at least tried to be truthful, especially if we actually took steps to try to resolve the issues.

Having gotten this more, or less, out of my system for now, next time I’ll try to revert to more normal material

🖖🏼 LLAP,

Dr. B
“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”
— Nelson Mandela
Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic; capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.”                                                                       — Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

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252 St. Patrick's Day and Related Rants

3/15/2023

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By the time this gets posted, it will (almost) be the day to celebrate St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. This being the case, it seems appropriate for me to celebrate my family’s Irish heritage. Problematically, the specific amount of that heritage seems to vary depending on which of the “ethnicity” sources one consults. There does seem to be general agreement that my family’s heritage is strongly based in what is loosely called “Britain,” including England, Scotland, and Ireland, with a substantial part being Irish. We have family history which specifically includes a Welch connection, but neither Ancestry nor 123 & Me have provided my sister (who is the family genealogist) with those specifics. We don’t know of any specifically Scots heritage, although I wouldn’t be very surprised if there were connections to that area. So, apparently I am somewhere between 41 and 83% “British,”(with a sizable chunk of that Irish) and virtually all of the rest from elsewhere in Northern Europe, depending on the source.

In any event, I thought I’d take a look at Irish-related stuff I’ve collected and see if I could come up with some things appropriate to celebrating the Irish part of my heritage. I suppose that I should be careful in discussing my ancestry, though, as there are probably some people who would probably like to “cancel” me for being too Irish, or not Irish enough, or that those with any Irish heritage should go back where they came from, or that ALL immigrants should be expelled from a country which was established by immigrants by putting the earlier residents on “reservations” (behind a “wall”) because they could get away with it, then engaging in discrimination against every other sort of immigrant down to the present based on various combinations of race, religion, ethnicity, and probably several other excuses.

Now at least one of those potential “cancellers,” (all of whose eight great-grandparents, [according to his Wikipedia biography] were born in Italy and were immigrants to the US between 100 and 150 years ago), wants to rewrite American history to, essentially, exclude any mention of racial discrimination against the formerly enslaved, and, apparently, also ignore the widespread discrimination which has existed against EVERY immigrant group I can think of which ever came to this country, including those from Italy. Of course, the “indigenous” people who were actually here first are simply to be ignored as not worthy of mention.

The facts are that my earliest American ancestors, who arrived here around 1620 (about 400 years ago), pushed the “indigenous” people who were here before them around, then proceeded to push around every other group of later immigrants. And, some of their group (even of their clergy) owned slaves, which some (ignorant) people assume was just a Southern “sin.” Ever wonder why were there so many early colonies? Look it up! (If Ron DeSantis and his “RINO culture warriors” haven’t “cleaned up” your library.) You’ll find that most of the colonies were founded, at least in part, to provide a place where some religious group hoped to be left alone to worship as they wished, which usually included not allowing any other groups to worship their way. And, these colonies were essentially all of ENGLISH heritage, so there was a common racial and ethnic bias, as well as a dominant Christian focus!

As time passed, groups of people from other parts of the world wanted to come here (especially after the high-sounding words of the Founding Fathers became known) and westward expansion took place (again at the expense of the indigenous peoples). So, a variety of ethnic, religious, and other groups came, or were brought, to this country and eventually, (along with the formerly enslaved people which earlier colonists had imported) wanted to become a part of American society.

ALL of these groups faced bias, discrimination, prejudice, etc., at the hands of the established colonists, and that didn’t go away quickly or completely. For example, I didn’t live in an area where many folks of Vietnamese heritage settled after we abandoned Vietnam in the 1970s and let some refugees in, but I was aware that in many places these people were not treated very well, for all that they had been our allies. I won’t discuss the treatment of Japanese Americans during WWII, but “concentration camps” comes to mind, although we called them “internment facilities.” This idea showed up again with the anti-Asian sentiment which developed around the “Kung-flu,” as COVID was called by some, and the anti-Muslim activities after 9/11, as well as other cases It’s also interesting to note that Ukrainian immigrants fleeing the current war in their homeland are being, generally, warmly welcomed, but refugees fleeing deplorable conditions in Central and South America are considered undesirable, and UNwelcome by many.

The fact is, of course, that we, as a country, have always taken our sweet time in allowing ANY group of “others” to achieve any sort of successful assimilation into the general society. The idea that we have’t resolved these sorts of issues yet is disappointing, but not really surprising, as we’ve been avoiding even discussing them much since our earliest beginnings. The belief appears to be that such issues will simply “go away” if we ignore them. Therefore, the “best” solution is to refuse to allow our children (and/or ourselves) access to accurate information about such issues in schools, libraries, the press, etc.

The facts may be unpleasant, but it’s only wishful thinking, and that’s all it ever will be if we try to believe that ignorance (or deliberate lies) will create any sort of solution. You see, as the saying goes, “The truth is out there!” The real (not “alternative”) facts are widely available, not only in scholarly writings, but in plays, novels, magazines, movies, tv shows, social media, etc., ad nauseam. If people don’t get it from scholarly sources, they’ll get it from “popular” media, which may well be more damaging, as it is less likely to contain the most accurate information. Unless the RINOs figure out how to implement a Fahrenheit 451 sort of world, however, the notion that, “all men are created equal” and that we have been (and are being lied to about it) just isn’t going to go away.

The “Ostrich” method seems unlikely to do much to change things, even if it was possible to destroy the sources of actual information and substitute some sort of singular “Master Race” concept. That’s been tried before, and it didn’t work then. And, it seems unlikely that it will work this time, no matter how much the RINOs hold their breath until they turn blue. My suspicion is that, in reality, far from being concerned that: “little white” children will be embarrassed by being members of the group which was the major oppressive force in most of these cases, it’s truly their PARENTS who are afraid that their children will wonder why THEY didn’t do anything to resolve these issues a long time ago. Rogers and Hammerstein aren’t the only ones aware that biased attitudes “have to be carefully taught.” It’s also worth noting that the “good old days” when everything was great (apparently the 1950s and 60s as imagined on old TV shows) really weren’t all that great either, or the whole Civil Rights thing wouldn’t have gotten going then. Some people seem to think they were the US's "golden age," however.

But, I have gotten distracted from the cause of St. Patrick’s Day which is MUCH more than a specifically Roman Catholic holiday, it’s a day where EVERYONE claims to be Irish! I find St. Patrick’s Day particularly nice because it demonstrates that it is possible to progress beyond the “No Irish Need Apply” mentality which existed for much of (especially) the 19th Century in the US as the Irish were not only an ethnic group of long-standing English discrimination for just being Irish, they were largely Catholic to boot, which made them an target of much of Protestant American society. I find it somewhat encouraging that the two parts of Ireland (Protestant and Catholic dominated) seem to have found a way to at least tolerate their differences without constantly resorting to the violence of a few years ago. This would appear to suggest that it IS possible for people to set differences aside, at least to the point of not killing each other. Maybe the rest of us will get there someday when dealing with such issues.

Anyway, I’ve selected a small group of St. Pat’s day stuff that I’d like to pass along for, hopefully, the general pleasure of the group. Some of these deal with drinking, of course, as most people seem to think that’s what the Irish do best. Rumor has it that they DO do it pretty well, but they can do other things, too. Along those lines, I believe this IS possible!

In case you ever wondered where Kermit got his frequently repeated phrase, I would suggest that it’s just possible that he got it from a leprechaun. (see below)

St. Patrick, of course, is credited with driving the snakes out of Ireland, making it a happier place for the Irish people. What most people don’t know, is that we have a picture of the event.

I don’t mean to suggest that the Irish have never been known to enjoy a glass of “the good stuff” on occasion. Many people have accused the Irish of drinking to excess more often than they should. However, that may be an exaggeration, as this card I saw suggests…

Still, we Irish DO enjoy the best brew going, and have been known to consume it on Saint Patrick's Day especially.

I’m entirely likely to hoist a pint of “the Black stuff”on St. Paddy’s Day, myself. Of course, I have good reason to believe that I have a substantial amount of Irish heritage, but on this day it seems that a great many people want to claim such, even when it’s pretty obvious that that is unlikely to be the actual case. Still, as Maxine says --

And, after all, even non-Christians need some excuse to take a break from the restrictions of Lent.

In closing, it’s been said that, on occasion, we Irish can have a pleasing way with the words, so, I pass this wish along for you on St. Paddy’s day and always.

Whatever you are doing this St. Paddy’s Day, may it bring you peace, joy, comfort and good companionship.

🖖🏼 LLAP,

Dr. B

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”
— Nelson Mandela
“Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic; capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.” — Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

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251 Strange Names & Other Language-related Oddities

3/1/2023

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Anyone who knows me, is aware of the fact that I am fond of what might be called “language” humor. I enjoy puns (perhaps more than I should), clever turns of phrase, most of what used to be called “wit,” and the ability of some people to use language in a manner which is entertaining because of its cleverness, surprising use of comparisons, etc. This might be blamed on my librarian mother, or on her English Professor father (who died long before I was born), I suppose, but I don’t care. I just enjoy the clever use of language and am not afraid of saying so. Nor do I refrain from condemning vulgarity when just used to be “clever,” as I do not, generally, find it to be so.

Anyway, not too long ago, I ran across a reference to the fact that unusual, or at least unexpected, names have developed over the years for many sorts of animals, birds, insects, etc. Specifically, I was watching a documentary series about the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London which showed a group of actors in a rehearsal. The rehearsal being shown wasn’t going as smoothly as might be desired and one the folks involved commented that a group of actors could be referred to as a “complaint,” as in “a complaint of actors” as a generalized, group name. I should note that I CAN remember situations where I would have thought the term was well-chosen, but that’s not the point.

I found this notion quite amusing, but it got me to wondering, which got me to “researching,” which got me to cataloging a number of this sort of names just to explore this diversity. I will confess that I didn’t explore this in any great depth, but it does seem that it is most common to invent these names for non-human creatures. Occasional human examples do show up, however, as, for example, in 1776, the musical, where the character, John Adams, suggests that, “I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is called a disgrace, that two are called a law firm, and that three or more become a Congress.” I confess that, based on my personal experience in the Aquacise class which Bonnie and I attend with some frequency, one could say that, “I have come to the conclusion that one talking woman is unusual, two may be called a gossip, and that three or more become an Aquacise class.” What I find most amusing about this revelation is how many of the women in the class are retired school teachers, whom I can’t believe would have put up with so much “chatter” from their students, but that’s a different story.

Still, most of the examples which I could find referred to animals, birds, insects, water creatures, etc. Some of these are relatively well-known, like a “pride” of lions, but many were a surprise to me, and often I found them amusing. It’s also true that many of the terms I discovered have variations and/or alternatives, which I assume means that multiple names have been used over time and from place to place. Anyway, some of these struck me as unusually appropriate or amusing, so I thought I’d pass some of them along in the hope that others might find them worthy of a minute’s attention. These aren’t in any particular order, just what caught my eye as I looked over the list.

While Adams MAY be correct in believing that three worthless men become a Congress, who knew that a group of Owls was known as a “parliament,” while a group of parrots is referred to as a “pandemonium,” and a group of eagles was a “convocation?” To stick with birds for a moment, did you know that multiple falcons formed a “kettle?” While one CAN understand the desire for having different names, is it really fair that a bunch of flamingos get to be a “flamboyance,” but a group of ravens are an “unkindness?”

I suspect that we all knew that a bunch of ants were called a “colony” and bees were referred to as a “swarm,” but did you know that a group of cockroaches were called an “intrusion?”

Why, he wondered, are crows a “murder,” foxes a “skulk,” and herons a “siege?” Now hyenas being referred to as a “cackle” makes a lot of sense to me, as does porcupines being a “prickle,” and certainly more than one skunk is a “surfeit.”

BUT, why are a group of cats called a “clowder,” or a bunch of jellyfish a “smack?”

Oh, well, that’s probably enough of that sort of thing. One can only push funny names so far, after all. I still have a fair supply of language-related stuff, however, so I thought I’d add a bit of non-name-related stuff to this, just to round things out a bit.

In my defense for my love a language-related humor, I include this strip from Pickles. I’m NOT admitting that I probably look more like Earl than I wish I did these days, but I often find the adventures of Earl and Edna to be highly amusing, especially as I get older.

The lighting designer in me can’t resist finding this saying amusing. I’ll accept the idea that many people may just groan at it, but I like it (and it’s MY blog)!

Speaking of bad puns (No, not ALL puns are bad, IMHO, but some can be pretty weak), I ran across this a while back, and, since I am fond of GOOD fish tacos (I especially like those at “On the Border”), I couldn’t resist the pun in this even though I would never consume a thing like this. I MIGHT eat a taco shell OR some “goldfish,” but I would NOT put them together!

While I have to admit that I have, on occasion, used language which might properly be referred to as strong, even impolite and, on what I hope were fairly rare occasions, even vulgar. Most of the time I have (and do) at least attempt to maintain a “civil tongue.” I ran across this a while back however, and it clarified to me that my education might simply have just been a bit broader than that of some others. Apparently, I am simply familiar with perfectly good English in a wider variety of dialects and accents than some others!

This is probably getting to be long enough to satisfy me that it MIGHT be worth someone’s time to read it, but there is another example of language-related humor which I do wish to include. This next pic is related to a word that many people have some difficulty with, at least in spelling. I know, I will admit to having “been there and done that,” although I don’t think ever quite this badly.

Okay, as Steve Jobs used to say to us Apple stockholders, “Oh yeah, there's one more thing.” I just can’t (okay, I won’t, is almost certainly more correct) resist this one.

And as Arnold said on several occasions, “I’ll be back!”

🖖🏼 LLAP,

Dr. B

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”
   — Nelson Mandela
“Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic; capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.”                                                                       ― Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

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250 Silly stuff because why not?

2/15/2023

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The other day, I was just glancing through some of the stuff I have collected for possible use in these posts and found several which don’t really seem to fit any obvious theme or have any especially thought-provoking qualities, but just struck me as amusing. That being the case, I thought I’d do a post about the sort of odd stuff that had struck me as silly. Why not? It’s MY blog, after all. I hope at least some other people find these items somewhat amusing, as I did. So, anyway, here’s some odds and ends just because they seemed funny to my weird sense of humor.

I don’t much care for the “Elf on the Shelf” idea, products, or books. They’ve always struck me as rather petty, somewhat mean, and not really great parenting, so I got a big laugh when I found this, especially since I’ve always been something of a “cat” person and this cat looks a bit like our Bellatrix.

Speaking of being a “mean” parent, how’s this for at least borderline holiday cruelty?

Okay, I’m no smarter than most people, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t appreciate good advice. This comment from “Vince the Sign Guy,” for example, seemed worth a repeat.

Another comment which is (perhaps) worthy of consideration is the following…

As people who know me are aware, I spent my career attempting to teach my students something about good design and trying to be the best scenic and lighting designer I could be. I never pretended to be great, although I think I did have some reasonable successes, which IMHO makes me qualified to agree with the caption I saw for this picture suggesting that, “Design IS Dead!” After all, if it weren’t, shouldn’t there be at least SOME reasonably obvious distinctions between SUVs from different manufacturers? I find this wonderfully silly (if also a bit depressing).

Leaving the automotive industry to try to find a way to convince us that there really IS a difference between brands aside, I’m left with another “question of importance” to ponder. Cooking, food, and cleanup seem to be major sources of amusement, frustration, and other forms of silliness for many people, so here are a couple of at least vaguely cooking-related things.

Then, there’s also…

Okay, I’ll admit it. I LIKE puns. I know that many people would say this was a BAD thing, but I do, anyway. If you don’t care for them, I don’t care! Get over it. I think they’re funny!

This, next, one isn’t a pun (you may be glad to discover), and I hasten to admit that I’ve never been THIS much of a disaster in the kitchen, although I have never really claimed to be a suitable “chef” for anyone except myself. Still, I did think this was appropriately silly.

Okay, that’s at least enough of that sort of thing. Being a practitioner of “Nothing exceeds like excess,” however, I won’t stop without a Shakespeare-related comment. I confess that I may be at least occasionally guilty of falling into this trap, but that’s the price I have to pay for the hours of pleasure Will has given me.

I expect to be back in a couple of weeks. Consider yourself warned! Of course, there’s always the chance that I MIGHT make better sense next time! Want to bet?

🖖🏼 LLAP,

Dr. B

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”
— Nelson Mandela

“Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic; capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.”
― Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

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255 Catching Up After a “Break”

254 In Celebration of Shakespeare's Birth/Death Day

253 The First Amendment — Issues, Problems & Concerns

252 St. Patrick's Day and Related Rants

251 Strange Names & Other Language-related Oddities

250 Silly stuff because why not?

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