Competition. . .

(from Life Among The Lutherans by Garrison Keillor)
". . . Christmas is a holy day that the early church fathers invented because they were in competition with the Roman religion.  One thing Christianity lacked was a big feast, and the Romans had one toward the end of December, Saturnalia, so the Christians established Christmas, sort of like one chain putting up a store right near its competitor.  It doesn't have so much to do with Jesus as it does with business, and it's been a big hit;  the number of people celebrating Saturnalia and offering sacrifices to the gods has really diminished. . . "

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In Between. . .

Sometimes (especially at my age) life seems like a series of coping with bad things.  These things involve either a physical (although sometimes psychological) issue of my own or of others close to me, or sometimes death itself.  Not trying to be Debbie-Downer or anything here.  It's just how I feel sometimes.  

But in the meantime, I have to live my life to the fullest in between those times.  I must take advantage of all the good things and people in my life.  Living this way should and will strengthen me to cope better when the bad things do roll around. 

And I really don't want to be a pessimist because, as a good friend of mine often says, the glass is half empty AND half full at the same time.

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Still more. . .

 (. . . further refinement of 'A Hero'. . . )



I know you heard some talk today
It wasn't right but now
She won't be gettin' in my way
'Cause she was telling lies they say
It wasn't right but now
I can look the other way
And do as I please
I'm down on my knees
I'm begging you please

Why does a hero run so slow
Like he's got no place to go
And he will never be a hero again
Why does a hero run so slow
Like he's got no place to go
And he will never be a hero again

With thousands of adoring fans
I tripped the light fantastic
Was nothing more than sleight of hand
Don't underestimate my worth
I tripped the light fantastic
I'm just an ordinary man
I worked very hard
For all that I've got
A killer I'm not

Why does a hero run so slow
Like he's got no place to go
And he will never be a hero again
Why does a hero run so slow
Like he's got no place to go
And he will never be a hero again

Heroes run so slow
Just like the tide
Heroes want to take you
They want to take you for a
They want to take you for a
They want to take you for a ride

They're waiting here with baited breath
What is the actual story
They'll love him or they'll give him death
The verdict seems so clear to some
What is the actual story
He's dead before he's lost or won
The worst of his fears
A jury of peers
Can't turn back the years

Why does a hero run so slow
Like he's got no place to go
And he will never be a hero again
Why does a hero run so slow
Like he's got no place to go
And he will never be a hero again


A Hero
©1994 Raymond M. Jozwiak





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Sorting It Out. . .

To me, American football is an entertainment and marketing phenomenon.  The sheer number of fans

(i.e. Fanatic)
Definition of FANATIC
:  marked by excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion <they're fanatic about politics>

alone boggles the mind.


(from wikipedia.com)
". . . The first instance of professional play in football was on November 12, 1892, when William "Pudge" Heffelfinger was paid $500 to play a game for the Allegheny Athletic Association in a match against the Pittsburgh Athletic Club. This is the first recorded instance of a player being paid to participate in a game of American football, although many athletic clubs in the 1880s offered to help players attain employment, gave out trophies or watches that players would pawn for money, or paid double in expense money. Football at the time had a strict sense of amateurism, and direct payment to players was frowned upon, if not outright illegal.

Professional play became common, and with it came rising salaries, unpredictable player movement, and the illegal use of amateur collegiate players in professional games. The National Football League, a group of professional teams that was originally established in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, aimed to solve these problems. This new league's stated goals included an end to bidding wars over players, prevention of the use of college players, and abolition of the practice of paying players to leave another team. The NFL by 1922 had established itself as the premier professional football league.

The dominant form of football at the time was played at the collegiate level, but the upstart NFL received a boost to its legitimacy in 1925 when an NFL team, the Pottsville Maroons, defeated a team of Notre Dame all-stars in an exhibition game.[18] A greater emphasis on the passing game helped professional football to further distinguish itself from the college game during the late 1930s. Football in general became increasingly popular following the 1958 NFL Championship game, a match between the Baltimore Colts and the New York Giants that is still referred to as the "Greatest Game Ever Played". The game, a 23–17 overtime victory by the Colts, was seen by millions of television viewers and had a major impact on the popularity of the sport. This helped football to become the most popular sport in the United States by the mid-1960s. . . "

I used to try to understand it so I could watch it with others and participate in the enthusiasm and fellowship of the occasion.  I have to confess, I never fully grasped the concept.  In time I even stopped trying.  Don't get me wrong, I truly understand and appreciate the concept of cheering for the local team (in any sport) and feel that the camaraderie that results is good for the individuals as well as the society.  But I still don't understand, nor at this point in my life need or want to understand,  the game of football.

Nevertheless I most certainly do intend to fully participate in the 'good vibes' inherent in the process next Sunday at the party, drinking and enjoying good friendship when we all gather to watch football, even though I still don't understand the game.

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A Certain Something. . .

As far back as I can remember, I have always possessed a great appreciation for humor.  I don't just mean the telling of jokes good or bad, or listening to jokes per se. Even though all kids, myself included, go through the 'knock knock" stage.  (I remember when our youngest did.  He would concoct the most nonsensical knock knock jokes which evoked the most hilarious laughter from himself, non-stop at the dinner table.) And I certainly enjoy certain stand-up comedians as well as humorists in literature. 

Maybe I should more specifically say that the appreciation to which I am referring was (and is) for individuals possessing a natural, innate quality in their ability to inject a humorous element in ordinary conversation to the degree that they become, for lack of a better word, humorous.

I have personally encountered several of such personalities throughout the years.  In the past I even enjoyed them so much that I wanted to be like them.  But this mysterious, humorous quality is not something that can be taught or learned.  It appears to be a genetic trait and a natural characteristic that one either has or does not, such as blue eyes or the ability to curl your tongue.

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Legend. . .

(from http://www.northjersey.com/arts_entertainment/102321329_Hidden_sound_of_Charm_City.html?page=all)

The Left Bank Jazz Society, launched in 1964 by jazz aficionado Benny Kearse, arrived at a time when Baltimore's jazz scene was in decline and its racial tensions were worsening. Against that background it was a progressive, integrationist group that, over the course of more than 30 years, brought most of the great names of jazz to its Sunday soirees: Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Herbie Hancock, Stan Getz, John Coltrane, Art Blakey, Maynard Ferguson and many others. - See more at: http://www.northjersey.com/arts_entertainment/102321329_Hidden_sound_of_Charm_City.html?page=all#sthash.clUxO6rD.dpuf

The Left Bank Jazz Society, launched in 1964 by jazz aficionado Benny Kearse, arrived at a time when Baltimore's jazz scene was in decline and its racial tensions were worsening. Against that background it was a progressive, integrationist group that, over the course of more than 30 years, brought most of the great names of jazz to its Sunday soirees: Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Herbie Hancock, Stan Getz, John Coltrane, Art Blakey, Maynard Ferguson and many others.

On May 17, 1967, concert-goers were unaware that they were listening to world-renowned saxophonist John Coltrane's last live performance, writes Cathleen Carris, in a profile of the Left Bank Jazz Society included in "Music At The Crossroads: Lives & Legacies of Baltimore Jazz."

Coltrane died two months later of liver cancer at 40.

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Musicians . . .

. . . are special people. . . 


(from http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/11/world/meast/israel-palestinian-jewish-rock-bands-for-peace/index.html?iid=article_sidebar)
"Two Israeli bands, one Jewish and one Arab, are joining together in "metal brotherhood" to spread a message of peace through rock 'n roll.  Arab group Khalas (Arabic for "Enough") and Jewish band Orphaned Land are heading out on an 18-day European tour that they hope will foster tolerance between the two sides in the Arab-Israeli conflict "We want to share the stage together, we want to show co-existence," said Kobi Farhi, Orphaned Land's vocalist. The bands will also share a tour bus for three weeks. What more perfect example of co-existence, asks Farhi. "We will snore at each other, we will do laundry together, we will make coffee for each other," he said. Among those on the tour bus will be Abed Hathout, Khalas' guitarist and band manager. "If we can do this co-existence on a bus, why can't we do it all over this country," he said.

One in five Israelis is of Arab descent, according to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics. Sometimes called Israeli-Arabs, many consider themselves Palestinians. Apart from handful of cities that the government designates "mixed," where a minority of Arabs lives alongside a majority of Jews, the two groups live in separate communities.

We will snore at each other, we will do laundry together; the only conflict we have is who is going to pay the bill. . ."

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