"He instinctively can find the shining greatness of our American culture and does a good job of highlighting it (although he also does have those rare lapses when he writes about hockey, but that is something caused by impurities in the Eastern waters or something)." Erik Keilholtz
Under the patronage of St. Tammany
Mark C. N. Sullivan is an editor at a Massachusetts university. He is married and the father of three children. Email
Those of us who have seen war know it for the truly terrible thing it is. We also know that war is not the worst of things. War brings great heartache and great heroism. John jokes that it takes no unique talent to intercept an SA-2 missile guided to you. Those of us who know him, and have shared some of his experiences, know better. He is a man of great courage. He has faced vicious enemies, armed with nothing but his character and determination.
Throughout his life, John has fought for what he believes is right for the United States. He lives to serve causes greater than himself. He is running for president not to be somebody, but to do something.
That is courage. That is leadership...
We served with John and know the truth: There is no better man to lead us through the challenging times our nation faces today and on to our best days that lie ahead. #
He has muscles in his hair. – Lefty Gomez, re Jimmie Foxx
When Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon, he and all the space scientists were puzzled by an unidentifiable white object. I knew immediately what it was. That was a home run ball hit off me in 1933 by Jimmie Foxx. -- Ibid.
Francis Parkman gives a harrowing account of the death of St Jean de Brebeuf, "the founder of the Huron mission, its truest hero, and its greatest martyr."
He came of a noble race, - the same, it is said, from which sprang the English Earls of Arundel; but never had the mailed barons of his line confronted a fate so appalling, with so prodigious a constancy. To the last he refused to flinch, and "his death was the astonishment of his murderers."
Fr. Brebeuf is pictured above addressing an Indian council. Parkman writes:
On one occasion, Brebeuf appeared before the chiefs and elders at a solemn national council, described Heaven and Hell with images suited to their comprehension, asked to which they preferred to go after death, and then, in accordance with the invariable Huron custom in affairs of importance, presented a large and valuable belt of wampum, as an invitation to take the path to Paradise...
...[The Jesuits] found especial pleasure in the baptism of dying infants, rescuing them from the flames of perdition, and changing them, to borrow Le Jeune's phrase, "from little Indians into little angels."
The number of jazz musicians in this country who piece out their lives in the shadows and shoals of show business has always been surprising. They play in roadhouses and motel lounges. They play in country inns and small hotels. They appear in seafood restaurants in ocean resorts and in steak houses in suburban shopping centers. They play in band shells on yellow summer evenings. They sit in, gloriously, with famous bands on one-night stands when the third trumpeter fails to show. They play wedding receptions and country-club dances and bar mitzvahs, and they turn up at intense Saturday night parties given by small-town businessmen who clap them on the back and request 'Ain't She Sweet,' and then sing along. Occasionally, they venture into big cities and appear for a week in obscure nightclubs. But more often they take almost permanent gigs in South Orange and Rochester and Albany. There is a spate of reasons for their perennial ghostliness: The spirit may be willing but the flesh is weak; their talents, though sure, are small; they may be bound by domineering spouses or ailing mothers; they may abhor traveling; they may be among those rare performers who are sated by the enthusiasms of a small house in a Syracuse bar on a February night. Whatever the reasons, these musicians form a heroic legion. They work long hours in seedy and/or pretentious places for minimum money. They make sporadic recordings on unknown labels. They play for benefits but are refused loans at the bank. They pass their lives pumping up their egos. Some of them sink into sadness and bitterness and dissolution, but by and large they remain a cheerful, hardy, ingenious group who subsist by charitably keeping the music alive in Danville and Worcester and Ish Peming.
Born Gladys Green in Plattsburgh, N.Y., on this day in 1900.
Plucky Capraesque kudos to the Llamas for noting the occasion.
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Some Clarissa Saunders quotes to mark the day:
Don Quixote with bill will get to his feet in a minute and speak two important words. Willet Creek. When that happens, the Silver Knight will fall off his tightrope and Puss will jump out of his boots.
I wonder Diz, if this Don Quixote hasn't got the jump on all of us. I wonder if it isn't a curse to go through life wised up like you and me.
[to Jefferson Smith] Why don't you go home?...This is no place for you - you're half-way decent. You don't belong here. Now go home.
Clarissa Saunders: How many times have you heard me say "I'm fed up with politics" and I... no, I let him talk me into staying. Secretary to a leader of little squirts! Why? Because I need the job and a new suit of clothes! Diz Moore: Would you settle for a husband? Clarissa Saunders: Mmm, I sure would! [suddenly realizes he's referring to himself] Clarissa Saunders: Heh? Diz Moore: You know my old standing offer. Diz Moore, poet of Washington correspondents. Clarissa Saunders: [smiling] Oh, that again. Diz Moore: I'd cherish you - and I'd stay sober. Clarissa Saunders: Oh, Diz, you're a wonderful egg. I don't know, maybe if I saw you once with your hair combed or something... [Diz sheepishly finger combs his hair] Clarissa Saunders: [laughs] No, I don't even think that would do it.
Diz Moore: [dictating into phone] In protest, the whole Senate body rose and walked out. Clarissa Saunders: No! No, not that straight stuff. Now listen, kick it up, get on his side, fight for him! Understand? Diz Moore: You love this monkey - don't you? Clarissa Saunders: What do you think? Now listen, go to work. Do as I tell you. Diz Moore: [into phone] Throw out that last, take this. This is the most titanic battle of modern times. A David without even a slingshot rises to do battle against the mighty Goliath, the Taylor machine, allegedly crooked inside and out. Yeah, and for my money, you can cut out the "allegedly."
"Livin' In The Sunlight, Lovin' In The Moonlight" #
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Smells & Bells &c
The venerable Jesuit above is Fr McElroy, founder of Boston College, profiled in the recent BC Magazine by historian James O'Toole.
BC's football team is now ranked third in the country. Those who've read Flashman & the Dragon will hear echoes of the Chinese mandarins in Notre Dame loyalists' imperialhubris.
Strangely, no one seems to have worried about the feelings of old ladies who loved singing “Soul of My Saviour” and other traditional Catholic hymns and suddenly found them replaced, overnight, by “Bind Us Together, Lord”. The poor things must have felt like Mrs Punch, being bashed over the head by a rolled-up copy of the Celebration Hymnal, accompanied by a gleeful liturgist’s cackle: “That’s the way to do it!”
Benedict XVI also told the monks of Heiligenkreutz: "A liturgy which no longer looks to God is already in its death throes." Haydn, a Catholic with a deep spirituality, was not far from this view of beauty in the Christian liturgy when he wrote at the end of each of his musical compositions, "Laus Deo," praise to God.
When in the Creed of the "Mariazeller Messe," the soloist intones "Et incarnatus est," and when the "Benedictus" is sung in the Sanctus, flashes of eternity truly break through. More than a thousand words, great liturgical music communicates the mystery of "He who comes in the name of the Lord," of the Word made flesh, of the bread that becomes the body of Jesus.
The liturgy that inspired Haydn - together with other great Christian composers - these sublime melodies, glimmering with theological joy, was the ancient, Tridentine liturgy: just the opposite of the "sense of staleness" that some associate with it.
Michael Crichton, author of Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain &c, on GK Chesterton:
Chesterton's was one of the few voices to oppose eugenics in the early twentieth century.He saw right through it as fraudulent on every level, and he predicted where it would lead, with great accuracy.His critics were legion; they reviled him as a reactionary, ridiculous, ignorant, hysterical, incoherent, and blindly prejudiced, noting with dismay that "his influence in leading people in the wrong way is considerable." Yet Chesterton was right, and the consensus of scientists, political leaders, and the intelligentsia was wrong.Chesterton lived to see he horrors of Nazi Germany.This book is worth reading because, in retrospect, it is clear that Chesterton's arguments were perfectly sensible and deserving of an answer, and yet he was simply shouted down.And because the most repellent ideas of eugenics are being promoted again in the 21st century, under various guises.
After failing to win with the "Big 3" - Bender, Plank and Bush, the Athletics turned to second year man, Bob Shawkey in an effort to get themselves back in the game. The Miracle Braves were on the verge of sweeping one of baseball's original dynasties and the A's were running out of options. Shawkey rose to the challenge and shutdown Boston for three scoreless innings before giving up one in the fourth. In the next inning, he helped his own cause with a game-tying double, but later surrendered two more runs in the bottom of the inning. Game 1 winner, Dick Rudolph held the A's at one and the Braves went on to a 3-1 victory and World Series sweep. The Philadelphia Athletics became the first team in World Series history to be eliminated in four games... (Baseball Almanac)
Although the Fall Classic had shifted to Boston, the Braves were still without home-field advantage. Fenway Park (home of the Red Sox) was chosen over their own South End Grounds as a more attractive and inviting venue. Game 3 was anyone's game as the Braves and A's battled to another game extending tie at 2-2 through nine innings. Once again, "Home Run Baker" came up clutch, hitting a two run single off of the Braves starter, Lefty Tyler. The Braves answered back with two runs of their own in the bottom of the tenth as Gowdy led off with a timely homer and Joe Connolly produced a run-scoring fly ball later in the inning. Bill James came in as relief for Tyler and shut the Athletics out for the next two innings. In the bottom of the twelfth, Gowdy knocked a double off of "Bullet" Joe Bush (who had gone the distance) and gave way to a pinch-runner, Mann. After an intentional walk to pinch-hitter Larry Gilbert, Herbie Moran followed with a perfect bunt. Bush grabbed the ball and threw toward the third baseman in an attempt to force Mann, but his throw went wide resulting in much more than an error. Mann jumped at the opportunity and darted home for the 5-4 victory. Boston was now up three-games-to-none and the Philadelphia favorites were in serious trouble. (Baseball Almanac)
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Bos 5, Phila 4 (Tyler, James W, Bush L), Fenway Park. Box Score
While some trumpet Al Gore for the Nobel Peace Prize, the NY Sun nominates the American soldier, specifically Gen. Petraus:
It has seemed to us that the American GI is the greatest force for peace in the world today, and we say that without the slightest bit of irony. GI Joe and GI Jane always go overseas for reasons not of conquest but of liberation, to secure the hope of democracy, and always with the intent of returning home.
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Elsewhere in the Sun, Paul Greenberg describes the Harry Truman style, conveyed in the presidential library in Independence, Mo.:
While aware of the impression he was leaving — he was, after all, a politician of some note — the man had no airs, certainly not intellectual ones. He'd been there, done that, and didn't need to philosophize about it.
He was an earnest student of history — the old-fashioned kind with heroes and villains, right and wrong. None of this Toynbeean murk for him. He knew what he knew, the rest he would learn — if he thought it worth learning.
Truman never did have much patience with the pretentious. At a particularly low point in his presidency, his party having just lost the midterm elections, a distinguished senator from Arkansas on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee suggested that he resign the presidency in the best British tradition. Much like a prime minister leaving office after a vote of no confidence.
Harry Truman didn't think much of that idea. And as for the senator who'd come up with it, he dismissed the Honorable William Fulbright as someone who'd been "educated above his intelligence." And that was one of his milder descriptions of the gentleman from Arkansas. #
[The] "Miracle Braves" called on their other ace Bill James who had boasted an impressive twenty-six wins for his team during the regular season. The A's Connie Mack countered with the 1913 Series winner Eddie Plank and both pitched to a 0-0 standstill after eight innings. In the top of the ninth, Boston's Charlie Deal hit a one-out double, stole third and scored on a two-out single by Les Mann. In the bottom of the ninth, James walked two batters but got out of the jam by inducing Eddie Murphy to hit into a game-ending double play. James' two-hit, 1-0 victory gave Boston a shocking Series lead of two games to none. (Baseball Almanac)
IN THE NEWS: The Boston Braves go into the World Series as underdogs, despite their strong finish. Only one regular, LF Joe Connolly, hit .300. Their strengths are pitchers Dick Rudolph, George "Lefty" Tyler, and "Seattle Bill" James, 2B Johnny Evers, who wins Chalmers' final MVP automobile, and SS Rabbit Maranville, their cleanup hitter. The Philadelphia A's Eddie Collins, with a .344 BA, wins the Chalmers AL award with 63 of 64 possible points. The A's have seven pitchers with 10 or more wins, led by Chief Bender's 17–3. Bender's World Series magic is quickly dispelled as the Braves knock him out in the 6th. Rudolph coasts to a 5-hit 7–1 victory. Hank Gowdy has a single, double, and triple. He will hit a World Series record .545, and Evers, .438. Only Babe Ruth will top Gowdy with .625 in 1928. Bender makes his last World Series appearance, finishing with a record 59 strikeouts. (Baseball Library)
Above: Evers & Braves manager Stallings, 1914 World Series
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Political Animalia
Nearly one in five registered Democrats polled say the US would be better off if it lost in Iraq. Another 20 percent "don't know" if the US would be better off losing.
In nearby Davis Square, the annual Honk Fest activist street band festival "reclaimed the streets for horns, bikes and feet," while answering a longstanding question:
If I am an unshaven lesbian redolent of hemp and BO tooting a sousaphone in a Mummers costume, why don't national policy makers listen to me on climate change, Palestinian rights, and the need for bikes not bombs?
The answer, of course: Because we don't live in a democracy, man!
![[SMMMHDH]](http://www.mgilleland.com/music/smmmhdh.png){kind=small}
