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Richard S. Beam

51 Facebook and Quilters; Odd church names, oh, my.

1/30/2016

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a.)        When I retired a bunch of people tried to convince me that I needed to get onto Facebook, so that I could keep “up to date” with “everybody.”  Having observed how much time many of my students were spending on Facebook, and having heard horror stories about the kind of junk which can circulate on it, I was dubious, to say the least.
 
Just in the last couple of weeks, however, I have given it some further thought, at least as far as getting a basic “instruction” book from the library and reading a good deal of it.  The “free” Facebook account basically gives “them” (and that’s ANYBODY [including the Facebook company] who can get to your page) the right to copy whatever they want and use it for whatever purpose they wish.  I’m not a lawyer, but that makes me as nervous as I tried to make my students about having stuff posted on line; especially since once it’s “out there,” it will NEVER really go away, no matter what you do.  Once it hits a server, it’s PERMANENT!
 
I’m still debating whether I’ll get on Facebook.  It could be fun.  IF I do, however, I’m going to be extremely careful about what I post and who I “friend.”  I know this blog sometimes has some opinions which might not be popular with everyone and it’s just as permanent as a Facebook posting, so I suppose I’m being silly, but I’m still not sure that I want to devote the time to being “active” on Facebook – I seem to manage to keep reasonably busy without one more thing to do.  We’ll see….
 
b.)       Bonnie and I went to see the Midland University production of Quilters the other evening.  It was actually quite a nice production and Bonnie, who said she has very little memory of seeing the one we did at Western in 1989-1990 was surprised find that some bits and pieces seemed a little familiar.  As her book club recently read a book about some women’s lives during the Dust Bowl, she was, perhaps, more moved than I by some of the more depressing bits related to the suffering and hardship of pioneer life on the prairie, but she says she was glad to have seen it and enjoyed it a lot.
 
Typical of many college productions (even at Western, I’m afraid), some of the cast were significantly easier to understand than others, but I didn’t have much trouble following the story (having designed the set, light and built the show meant that I had studied it a good deal, even if it was a good while ago now).  The setting featured a much-oversized quilting hoop which hovered over the stage.  I thought that it worked pretty well.  The series of small platforms which made up the rest of the set worked pretty well, also, but I wasn’t excited by the choice of quilt “blocks” they used to decorate the tops of them.  The colors seemed too intense and “modern” and they didn’t seem to be traditional quilt block patterns, although they might have been.  They were a bit hard to see clearly even from our seats which were well elevated above the stage floor.
 
The music was quite well done, the musicians seemed adequate and the cast was beautiful to hear.  I think I understand why they chose to use a cast of twelve instead of the seven called for in the script and they were used pretty well, so that really only bothered me because the same character seemed to shift from person to person at times, which I found a bit confusing.  However, since there is a certain amount of character “doubling” written in the script, it wasn’t a serious problem.  And, the extra voices made the songs stronger and prettier.
 
Probably the only thing I was really confused by was the choice to use twenty blocks to form the “legacy” quilt for the finale.  The show, itself, is divided into sixteen “blocks,” so it seemed inappropriate to use twenty in the final quilt.  Yes, I believe that the other four are mentioned in the script, but the play is Sarah’s story describing the stories behind the blocks she chose for her “legacy” quilt, so I didn’t think the inclusion of the others made sense in this important visual.
 
I confess that I liked my “back of a quilt” raked floor better (Boy, was that a pain to make, but it looked good) and I didn’t find the prairie fire sequence too effective, but it was fun to see what someone else could come up with to solve the problems of this show, and it did work pretty well, overall.
 
All things considered, I’m glad that we went and had a pleasant evening in the theatre.
 
c.)        I suspect that it’s just the weird sense of humor I seem to have acquired from my wife, but I have become quite interested/amused/fascinated by the names of churches recently.  No, not the traditional St. Peter – Paul – James –Matthew – or whatever; nor the fairly common “covenant,” “evangelical,” “calvary,” “living,” “zion,” “tabernacle,” etc.  These are names I grew up with and which I think I understand.  No, I’m talking about the “new, hip” names which are being used by many churches now.  What’s amusing about some of these, at least to me, is that they suggest things which I don’t think were really intended.  Anyway, listed below are some of the names I’ve found and what they suggest to me.  If this offends anyone, don’t read on….
 
Element Church – We worship the Periodic Table.
 
First Love Church – Divorcees NOT welcome!
 
Kinetic Church – NOBODY sits still here!
 
Rhythm of Life Church – We started out in San Francisco and our pastor’s name is “Big
                        Daddy.”  We’re praying the authors of Sweet Charity don’t want royalties.
 
Red Church – We’re really Communists, but we don’t want to admit it.
 
Tapestry Church – We’re really into Carole King songs.
 
Celebration Church – We don’t do funerals, except in the New Orleans branch.
 
Awakening Church – We only do sunrise services!
 
Ignite Ministry – the place for pyrotechnics
 
HeBrews: where your cup runneth over – a church and micro brewery
 
Journey -- "Don't Stop Believing" is our theme song.
 
Boring Seventh Day Adventist Church -- Pastor Elder Dull  (This one is apparently true, so
                        I’m not going to touch it, but I think it needs no explanation.)
 
Discovery Church -- Our sacred symbol is the sextant
 
House of God, Inc. – Is this a non-prophet?
 
The Lighthouse – We worship tall, phallic buildings with tops that light up and flash!
 
Laboratory Church of God – we’re experimental.
 
Country Club Church – Get in a round of golf while you pray.  (Is that redundant?)
 
Designers’ Church – No actors, techies, etc. allowed.
 
The Sketch – ‘cause it’s not quite finished yet.
 
Reality Church – Does this mean that its beliefs relate to those of other churches the way
                        "Reality” TV relates to actual reality?
 
I have more, but I think I’m going to save them for future moments.  This is an interesting sampler, I think.  Readers are welcome to send me others.  Some of these I discovered by myself, others I found reference to on the Internet and I don’t know if they are real, or not.  Some, I suspect are not, but I find them amusing, in any case.
 
LLAP

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50 Some Thoughts on National Holidays

1/18/2016

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​Today is the U.S. national holiday celebrating the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.  In thinking about this day, I was taken by its inherent unfairness.  When I was a kid, a long time ago, we used to have national holidays on the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, but those were combined and became referred to as “President’s Day,” although it’s still (officially) “Washington’s Birthday,” but the term “President’s Day” is used most often.  As I remember it, the change to President’s Day was due to the fact that these two important figures from our history were born close together, so there were too many holidays in February to suit commercial interests, when the MLK holiday was created in mid-January.
 
What that means is that, except for Columbus Day (the Monday nearest October 12th, which is, in fact, not too widely celebrated except by banks, some government offices and the Postal Service) none of the major national holidays are in honor of a person.  Instead, they honor ideas.  We celebrate the coming of the New Year (the future), the Presidency, those killed during wars, our national independence, working men and women (Labor Day), our veterans, thanks and remembrance (Thanksgiving) and, of course, the Christian holiday of Christmas.
 
Now I’m not going to quibble about Thanksgiving and Christmas, although I think the separation of Church and State is not fully honored by having these as Federal holidays, nor am I going to get into the arguments over Columbus Day, although Chris was NOT, in fact, the first European to arrive in the “New World,” and some of the descendants of those who were here before he came tend to view this “celebration” with a degree of hostility which is not without cause.
 
On the other hand, celebrating our independence (founding) as a nation, or honoring workers, veterans, war dead, or the institution of our presidency isn’t the same as honoring a specific person.  These days honor ideas or classes of people and I believe them to be of national significance.  But, for all of the contributions which the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made to our nation, his work towards trying to establish and guarantee the civil rights of ALL citizens, was not done in a vacuum.  Nor was he, personally, or solely, responsible for the progress which has been made in this arena.
 
I’m old enough to remember watching the news coverage of the struggles to establish voting rights for all, to eliminate segregation on the basis of skin color, etc.  It’s true that I was not a direct participant in those struggles in the sense of my having been a Freedom Rider or one of the marchers at Selma, but these were events which I observed (at least in the news) and supported (at least emotionally).  I’m well aware of the many people and groups who were a part of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950’s and 60’s (SNCC, CORE, NAACP, etc., etc., etc.).  These groups tended to focus, almost exclusively, on the rights of Americans of African ancestry. 
 
I’m also aware of the fact that we, as a nation, still have a long way to go to meet the challenge of our ideals and that there is still a great deal of work to be done before we can truly claim to be “the land of the free,” for there are still many groups which are subject to harassment, limitations and even danger simply because they would like to be treated as full-fledged citizens of our country due to factors of race, religion, sexual orientation, or other causes.  “Equal justice for all” is still more of a dream, than a reality.
 
So, what does this have to do with the MLK holiday?  Simply that it bothers me that we have chosen to single out one individual who was involved with a part of this on-going struggle as worthy of a national day of recognition at the expense of two Presidents of some importance.  Now, I do think that it’s not a bad thing to honor the idea of the Presidency.  I do believe that the office is more important than the person.  But, wouldn’t it be more appropriate to use a day (I have no problem with the selection of MLK’s birthday as the choice of day) to celebrate the IDEA of Civil Rights, especially when there are, essentially, no other national holidays to celebrate a person?
 
I really don’t want to get too far into the controversies over Columbus Day, but I have never understood his connection to the US, except that he was, apparently, the first European recognized as having made landfall on this side of the Atlantic.  This was, in fact, actually after the Vikings who, apparently, had actually settled on land which would eventually become part of the United States and had, apparently, engaged in actual exploration and established settlements, which would seem to give them a better “claim” to land which was already occupied.  That, of course, would seem to make the whole question of the legitimacy of European “claims” to the Western Hemisphere somewhat questionable, except as an occupying force, but history is as it is…
 
I’m not convinced that King (if he had lived longer) would have been comfortable with the idea that he should have been singled out as the ONE advocate for civil rights worthy of celebration and recognition.  I think he was aware of the fact that he had a LOT of help and assistance from many people, Black and White, Male and Female, and that the success of the movement with which he is credited as leading would have been much less successful without their participation.  After all, the two portions of the “March on Washington” which I remember most clearly (and I suspect the same is true of most people who remember that day) were, of course, King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and Peter, Paul and Mary’s singing of “Blowing in the Wind” by Bob Dylan.
 
Now, I’m not naïve enough to think that my ideas are likely to lead to any sort of change in the designation of this holiday, but, all things considered, I do think that changing the “Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.” holiday to “Civil Rights Day” would better honor the legacy of King, and that of the many others, who have, and continue to, work towards making this a nation where the words “equal justice for all” are truly celebrated in action, not just in words, but I know that, for me, I choose to celebrate the fact that We, the People of the United States, enjoy greater civil liberties than many other people and that that is something worth celebrating.   It’s just a thought….
 
LLAP
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49 Heard Any New Ones Lately?

1/7/2016

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Well, the holidays are over and the most depressing time of year is upon us.  It’s cold, snowy (or rainy), cloudy, and we don’t have the wonder and excitement of the holiday season to cheer us up for another year (almost).  Even the warmth and sunshine of the spring is a good way off, although the heat of summer (with its associated discomfort) is (happily) a way off, as well.  Personally, I’ve been fighting a cold, which I picked up on Christmas Eve, for the last couple of weeks, although it seems to be in its final stages. 
 
In any event, I thought that the world might need a little cheering up, so I’ve been looking through the list of jokes which I collect as I think of, or discover, them from various sources with the thought that they might bring a little cheer into what often seems like a rather depressing time of year.  Some of them have been around for a while (some are, in fact, pretty old, I think), but some are new, at least to me.  Anyway, I hope they may help lighten the mood.
 
In keeping with the recent season:
 
The reason Santa is so jolly is that he knows where all the naughty girls live…
 
With apologies to my friends who are Chicago Cubs fans:
 
What would the Chicago Cubs be called if they moved to the Phillipines?
The Manila Folders
 
It hadn’t occurred to me until I saw this the other day, but:
 
I always wondered what the job application is like at Hooters, or Twin Peaks.
Do they just give you a big bra and say, “Here, fill this out?”
 
On the other hand:
 
Arguing with some people is like reading a Software License Agreement.
In the end, you just ignore everything and click on "I Agree."
 
Oddly enough, cemeteries often provide sources of unexpected humor, such as the following:
 
In a Ruidoso, New Mexico, cemetery:
Here lies Johnny Yeast.
Pardon him for not rising.
 
This one makes a lot of sense, at least to me:
 
Harry Edsel Smith of Albany, New York
Born 1903--Died 1942.
Looked up the elevator shaft to see if the car was on the way down. It was.
 
I liked this one:
 
In a Thurmont, Maryland, cemetery:
Here lies an Atheist, all dressed up and no place to go.
 
An old one from England:
 
Sir John Strange.
Here lies an honest lawyer, and that is Strange.
 
One from Ribbesford, England:
 
Anna Wallace
The children of Israel wanted bread, And the Lord sent them manna.
Clark Wallace wanted a wife, And the Devil sent him Anna.
 
On a grave from the 1880’s in Nantucket, Mass.:
 
Under the sod and under the trees, Lies the body of Jonathan Pease.
He is not here, there's only the pod, Pease shelled out and went to God.
 
That’s probably enough of that for now.  I have more and will keep collecting as I can, so I’ll probably do this again some time, when the mood strikes me.
 
Other random thoughts:
 
There’s a small (1300 student), private university located in Fremont, NE where we went to see The Good Doctor last fall which (as is true of a number of schools) has a short, “January term” where the students take one “in depth” class for about a month to provide a very concentrated focus for a short time.  In any event, at Midland, the school to which I refer, is using this term to prepare and present two shows by its performing arts students; Damn Yankees and Quilters.  These are scheduled for the last two weekends of this month and Bonnie and I hope to get to at least one of them, maybe both.  That will depend a good deal on the weather, as Midland is about 45 minutes away on good, but country, roads.  It’s not a bad drive in good weather (after all, we used to routinely drive from Sylva/Cullowhee to Asheville for shopping, etc. and that was further), but, if it’s icy, I don’t think it will be much fun (and it’s often colder here, too).
 
I confess that I’ve never actually seen Damn Yankees, so that should be fun (if we can get there), but I may be looking forward to seeing Quilters (if we can get there) more, since we did it in Hoey back during the 1989-1990 theatre season when I designed and built it, and did lights, too, I think.  I confess that I don’t remember the show well, although I know that Claire Eye was in it and I designed a stage floor out of Styrofoam carved to resemble the back of a quilt and covered it with muslin for durability.  I do remember that it worked pretty well and that I was pleased with the way the show came together, but it was a long time ago and I think I’d enjoy seeing what someone else did with it.  Anyway, I have that to look forward to (assuming that the weather cooperates).
 
I’m disappointed that I don’t see much evidence of many places taking advantage of the 400th Anniversary of Shakespeare’s death as an excuse for productions of his plays, which I think would be appropriate, but that’s the way it goes.  I remember being an undergraduate at Indiana in 1964 (the 400th Anniversary of his birth) and the entire spring season (3 productions) being devoted to Shakespeare’s plays.  As I remember it, they included The Tempest and Macbeth, but I don’t remember the other one at the moment (probably because I wasn’t involved in it, being heavily involved with sound for Tempest and playing a small part in the “Scottish” play).  I remember that Kevin Kline played another smallish part in the somewhat unfortunate production of this “cursed” play, but I don’t remember which one.  He was a freshman, as I remember, and was pretty good even in those days.
 
Well, enough chatter.  I guess I’ll post this and be done with it.  I’ll be back in a while with more….
 
LLAP
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