Happy Thanksgiving 2014

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! 

Here in the United States, we set aside the last Thursday of November to get together with family and friends and take stock of all of our blessings. (Then the next day we go out in a mad rush to buy *more* stuff; that's how schizophrenic we are as a nation.)

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. I like to sit around with good friends and family, I like to eat, and I like to drink. What better holiday can there be!? As an adult, Thanksgiving is the holiday where I go and spend time with my family, so it's even more special to me now. (Christmas weather is too chancy to travel in the Midwest, in general, so we travel at Thanksgiving instead.)

When I lived in Japan I would try to celebrate this holiday, but of course it is based on the Pilgrims surviving their first awful year in the US, so it is not a holiday in any other country. I ended up having a yearly dinner party with other Americans the weekend before or after actual Thanksgiving. We even special ordered a turkey a few times, but usually would have ham. It was fun, because I've always had plenty to be thankful for.

First of all, I have my health. I've never suffered from anything major in my entire life.

Secondly, I have my family and they have *their* health. My wife had cancer many years ago, but no relapse in twenty years, so we are very thankful for that. Our daughter and my sisters and brother and father are all healthy.

Thirdly, I have been blessed to have many wonderful people in my life. Yes, I have lost some dear friends and family. This past year was especially bad, as our mother died, which was not totally unexpected, and my brother-in-law also lost his battle with cancer, which was more of a shock. But you know what? I was blessed to have them at all, ya know? I treasure all my memories of them both. And on the brighter side, I have way more friends still around that I can continue to enjoy! So here's a shout out to all my loved ones, scattered all over the world...you give me support when I need it, sometimes when you don't even know you're doing it! :-)

So really, what more do I need?

I'll be in St. Louis for the next few days. I'll be back next week. So sit back and enjoy yourselves. I urge everyone reading this to take a minute to give a hug to your friends and family, thank them for putting up with you, tell them you love them, and then counting your blessings. For all the crap out there we have to face....it could always be worse. It really is a wonderful life.

Your friend, Russell

To illustrate this essay, here is the most famous Thanksgiving painting ever: Freedom From Want, by Normal Rockwell. He painted this in 1943 as a series of "The Four Freedoms" for the magazine The Saturday Evening Post. The magazine wanted to remind the people of the United States what freedoms we were fighting for. The term comes from a speech President Franklin Roosevelt made in 1941. This painting has been parodied many times over the years....and at the bottom  is my version, featuring the Legion of Super-Heroes. I call my version, "Giving Thanks Day 2986."

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas....

This song was written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blaine for the 1944 movie, Meet Me In St. Louis.  The film stars Judy Garland as one of the daughters of a family getting ready to move out of St. Louis just as the 1904 World's Fair is coming to town. The authors were told to write a song that was *not* overly celebratory. According to Hugh Martin's book, The Boy Next Door, one original lyric went as follows,
"Have yourself a merry little Christmas / It may be your last/ Next year we may all be living in the past / Have yourself a merry little Christmas / Pop that champagne cork / Next year we may all be living in New York."
However, according to Martin, Judy Garland, her co-star Tom Drake, and the director, Vincente Minnelli, all objected to such depressing lyrics. Martin eventually did change these lines, changing "It may be your last / Next year we may all be living in the past" to "Let your heart be light / Next year all our troubles will be out of sight".

In 1957 Frank Sinatra recorded his Christmas album, A Jolly Christmas. He asked Martin to change "Until then we'll have to muddle through somehow." Martin changed it to "Hang a shining star upon the highest bough." Since then, most versions you hear include this lyric instead of the original.

However, I'm a fan of the original, so-called "darker" version. I haven't put much emphasis on Christmas being this ultimate day of happiness since I was a kid. It is a wonderful time of the year, sure, but it isn't the be-all and end-all of everything. As I got older, I began to appreciate the season and not The Day. Specifically, as I have gotten older and seen my loved ones spread out around the world, I truly appreciate the "we have to muddle through somehow" sentiment. This touches me more than a lyric about putting another shiny ornament on a tree does. This year, especially, this sentiment hits close to home.

So here's Judy Garland singing the original, from Meet Me In St. Louis, directed by her soon-to-be husband, Vincente Minnelli.
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, everybody.

The Monkees "'Riu Chiu"

 

During the two years that THE MONKEES was on television, they only did one holiday-themed episode: "The Christmas Show," which first aired in the US on December 24, 1967. It's about the Monkees being hired to baby-sit spoiled rich kid (Butch Patrick) while his aunt takes a holiday cruise. The boys at first try to entertain him and then, when they realize he has none, they try to instill a little holiday spirit in him. Butch Patrick, famous as "Eddie" from THE MUNSTERS, resists their efforts. The boys keep at him, however, and he eventually sees the error of his ways, letting a little more love into his heart. 

The episode is pure Monkees: an abundance of slap-stick with a thick layer of heart. They mean well. You can certainly see that at this point the show was trying to practice what it preaches: money isn't everything (they lose the money they get for the gig by paying various doctor bills and department store damages), but Love is. Also, Love saves the day. It still holds up, some 40 plus years later.

The episode ends with a beautiful a capella version of a 16th century Spanish song, "Riu Chiu." I researched this song and it is about the birth of Jesus. I have never heard this song before or since, but evidently it is a well-known folk or chorus song. It's a beautiful tune, and with this performance alone doubters should stop hating the Monkees. They are obviously singing here, and singing well. 

If you want to read the lyrics or see a translation, visit this Tradition In Action homepage. 

Happy Christmas! 

God Bless Us, Everyone!

 

Thanksgiving 2013

 

At this time of year, as it gets colder and darker as we head towards Winter I can understand the need of people to put out lights and decorations to hurry Christmas along. However, barreling forward into the end of the year and the beginning of the New Year makes it easy to forget one of the most important holidays we have in the United States: Thanksgiving.

It is often said that the first Thanksgiving was between the Pilgrims and the Native Americans  and was held in 1621 in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Whether this is historically accurate or not, the public perception of Thanksgiving in the United States is based on the idea that you get together with friends and family and humbly thank God or each other (or both) for managing to get through the past year.

I think Thanksgiving is a great holiday because it is based around four truly important ingredients: family, faith, humility, and food.

I know that many people have a strong image of "going home for Christmas," but I am never surprised to read that more Americans travel at or for Thanksgiving than do for Christmas. I certainly do. For one thing, the weather can  usually be counted in late November compared to late December, so I would rather drive at that time. (Flying sucks during any holiday season.)

Faith comes into play because the Pilgrims escaped England in order to practice their faith in the way they wanted; the first Thanksgivings were held to literally give thanks to God for not killing them in the rough New World that they had chosen for themselves. This sense of freedom to practice their religion as they wanted eventually led us to the Freedom Of Religion (or Freedom From Religion) that we have today.  

And Faith leads naturally to humility. No one has ever sat around a Thanksgiving table and said, "I did what I did all by myself. I didn't need any help. I deserve all that I got and I want more." Even the most arrogant and self-centered people tend to gain a little bit of humility when they sit down and start to contemplate just how lucky they are. Unfortunately, that type of humility tends to whither and die sooner than a rose in winter.

And of course, Thanksgiving is all about food. Just make sure you do two things this year: thank whoever it is who worked so hard to cook all that food for you, AND share the bounty. Buy some pies and bring them to the fire or police stations for those people who are on duty that day. Drop off canned goods to food banks or shelters. Remember, "there but for the grace of God, go I...."

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!

Veterans' Day 2013

Today is Veterans' Day, the day set aside to honor and remember all the men and women who have put on a uniform of the US military.

Walt Kelly, the creator of POGO, set aside every November 11 for Veterans' Day. He was one of The Greatest Generation, but could not actually serve in the military during World War II due to health issues. However, he was not exactly a "hawk" about his respect for the military.

DC Comics, which was the popular culture institution that had the most effect on me growing up, did things right.

Marvel Comics, of course, had the best known veteran ever. Captain America sometimes was a bit too gung-ho for my tastes, but he was always good at heart. He is a favorite.

There are a lot of platitudes you see at this time of year (and at Memorial Day). For example, If you value your freedom, thank a soldier. Or All give some, and some give all.

I think a simple, "Thank you" is appropriate. Although it is wholly insufficient, it is still more than any soldier I have ever met ever expected. 

US Service Men and Women Out There: 

Thank You For Your Service!

Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

I tried to think of a patriotic movie I could review for Fourth of July Film Friday, and then it hit me: James Cagney won his only Best Actor Oscar for his role as George M. Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy. I had never seen it, so I decided this would be the perfect excuse.

On the one hand, it's a great 1940s musical. The numbers are fun and over-the-top (now I understand why in all The Little Rascals shorts I watched as a kid, every time they "put on a show" they had to go over-the-top!). The songs are all by Cohan, which means they are catchy and fun. The acting is top-notch, of course.

On the other hand, it's a 1940s musical, which means the story is simplified. For some reason, Cohan's actual older sister is made into his younger sister for the film. The whole story is told, literally, by Cohan to President Franklin Roosevelt. In 1936 Cohan was given the Congressional Gold  Medal, the first civilian from the artistic world to receive the award.  It is this honor that is shown as the reason Cohan is called to the White House, although it is obvious that the US is in the midst of WWII at this point in the film.

For what it is, the film is highly entertaining. I especially liked the bit where Cohan tells people he is popular because he gives the people what they want, because he is OF the people. He travelled extensively as a child and did not consider himself just an East-Coaster or of any particular region, but as an American. This might be Hollywood make-believe, but with James Cagney espousing it, it sure does sound good!

The highlight for me (especially this week) are the especially patriotic songs: "Yankee Doodle Boy," "You're A Grand Old Flag," and "Over There."  The scene where Cohan is singing "Over There" to a group of troops when their power goes out is especially powerful and quite well done. Just thinking about these songs makes me have them in my head, which I guess this week is not a bad thing.

If you don't like song-and-dance, you might not like this movie. If you like any of the songs I just mentioned, though, you'll like this movie. And by gosh, that Cagney kid can sing, dance, AND act!

Directed by Michael Curtiz

Screenplay by Robert Buckner & Edmund Joseph
Story by Robert Buckner
Dance numbers staged by
Leroy Prinz & Seymour Felix
James Cagney's dance routines by John Boyle
Music & lyrics by George M Cohan

 

Happy Independence Day 2013!

Read any good Declarations lately?
Best part:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

And yes, I'm writing that from memory (but I did verify it, haha).

To read the actual document, go here: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html

Happy Fourth of July, everybody!

Captain America

Seeing as how Wednesday Comics comes on July 3 this year, let's talk about the most patriotic character in all of comics....the one-and-only, often imitated but never duplicated CAPTAIN AMERICA.

I don't know the history of this character other than that Joe Simon and Jack Kirby created him in the fall of 1940. They were against the Nazis and what was happening in Europe at the time, although the US was not yet at war. The cover of Captain America #1 (shown here) has Cap knocking Hitler in the jaw.

Think about that for a minute. It's easy to imagine this scene now, some 70 years later. However in 1940 this was Cap hitting an actual, sitting leader of a well-known country! According to Joe Simon's autobiography Marvel got complaints and for awhile he and Kirby had to have police protection at their studio. Still, the comic sold more than one million copies.

From that austere beginning Captain America has been a part of the US popular culture almost non-stop. He existed in the Fifties for a few years, but was retired when the vast majority of super-hero comics were cancelled. He returned in The Avengers #4 (1964) and has been around ever since.

One of my favorite runs on his book was during the Watergate Scandal, when Cap questioned his allegiance to the US. He actually dropped his Captain America identity for a few issues and was known as Nomad. He eventually realized that America is more than just who happens to be President at any given time and resumed his Cap identity.

Personally, one of the reasons I like Captain America is because of his origin. He was scrawny, weak Steve Rogers but he still wanted to help the war effort. He couldn't enlist (4-F) but he was determined to help out in some way. Scientists use him as a guinea pig for their Super Soldier formula, and the rest is history. The important point, however, is that he *used* to be the bullied. He wasn't one of the privileged, rich, jock types; he was the bullied kid who eventually turns the tables on the bullies.

Another good Captain America was more recent. Immediately after 9-11 he appeared in several Marvel Comics as a type of focal point. One of the best stories from this time had him come across a group of bullies who wanted to beat up on a Muslim teenager. Cap stood up for the kid and basically told the bullies, "Americans don't do that. We don't stoop to the other guys' level." THAT is why Captain America is cool.

  

Memorial Day 2013

Happy Memorial Day, everyone.

While you're out and about STOP and think about what Memorial Day is supposed to be all about.

 

 We would not be here today if not for all the men and women who were willing to give their *lives* to secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity....

 

It's not about a sale at Wal-Mart.

 

 

All gave some,

Some gave all....

 

Happy Birthday, Aquaman!

According to the 1976 DC Calendar, January 29 is Arthur Curry's birthday. Of course, Arthur Curry is better known throughout the world as AQUAMAN. According to his publisher, DC Comics, today is his birthday, which makes him an Aquarius. I think that makes perfect sense. :-)
This is the second year that I have been doing this blog in January so that I could write about Aquaman's birthday. (Last year's article is available here.) Because this year it falls on TV Tuesday, I thought I would talk about Aquaman on television.

Aquaman has had three distinct TV appearances/versions. The first one was in 1968 when he was part of The Superman-Aquaman Hour.This version was produced by Filmation and featured the voice talents of Mark Miller, Jerry Dexter as Aqualad, and Ted Knight as most of the bad guys. Besides Aquaman and Aqualad, the series featured Tusky the walrus, Storm and Imp the sea-horses, and, in a few episodes, Aquaman's wife Mera. Bad guys featured were Black Manta, The Fisherman, The Torpedo, and Filmation-created The Brain and Vassaa, Queen of the Mermaids.

 This cartoon is most famous for having Aquaman wearing black boots, a look that never caught on. It's also where I first heard his name pronounced. I hadn't thought about it before seeing this, but I am definitely in the "ah-qua" pronunciation camp; Ted Knight and everyone here says "aa-qua," which always bothered me.

Aquaman's second run on television occurred between 1973 and 1980 when he was cast on ABC-TV's lead cartoon series, The Super Friends. Originally he was one of the five main stars (alongside Superman, Batman & Robin, and Wonder Woman) but by the end of the run he was just another also-ran, outdistanced by upstart "hip" characters like Firestorm and Cyborg. Still, he made quite an impression in pop culture; if you don't believe me, ask around if people have heard of him or not. Most people, especially of a certain age, know who he is. We have The Super Friends to thank (or blame) for that.

 

  by the end, Aquaman stands with them and is one of the two fighter pilots, but that's about it

And lastly, Aquaman was a semi-recurring guest star on the SMALLVILLE television series. This was his first live-action appearance anywhere; he was portrayed by Alan Ritchson. A.C. was a student in Florida who was close to being "an environmental terrorist" (in the words of Lex Luthor). This portrayal of the character was popular enough for the SMALLVILLE producers to create a pilot "AQUAMAN" series in 2006. In this AC was portrayed by Justin Hartley. The pilot did not sell, and Hartley became famous on SMALLVILLE as another super-hero, Green Arrow.

 Here's a link to AC's first appearance on SMALLVILLE because I couldn't find the hyper-link to You Tube.

There are rumors of a JUSTICE LEAGUE motion picture if the up-coming SUPERMAN movie is a success. We can only hope that we may one day see another non-comic book version of Aquaman.

Aquaman's wife, by the way, has her birthday two days from now. Mera was a royal princess from another dimension. She happened to see Aquaman and Aqualad in some sort of inter-dimensional viewer and was infatuated enough to come for a visit. They fell in love and got married: the first wedding for a super-hero in comic-book history (Mr. Fantastic & The Invisible Girl got married a year later). So what do you think: are they the same age, is he older, or is he younger? 

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr Day

Martin Luther King, Jr 

1929-1968

I drew this picture maybe 20 years ago? Still very proud of it. 

Celebrate the birthday of one of the century's greatest Americans.

Ken-Bun-Ki "Holidays"

Note: "Russell's Ken-Bun-Ki" is a series of articles I wrote for my Japanese City Hall newsletter back in 1996-97. They were articles about life in America or life in Japan as experienced by an American. This one is from January 9, 1997. 

 

Among the holidays in the United States and Japan, there are only two that are on the same dates. And they both are in the month of January. One of them is, of course, January 1, New Years Day. The other is January 15. In Japan this is "Adult Day" (sometimes translated as "Coming of Age Day.") In America, this is Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday. 

In America the representative holidays are Independence Day (July 4) and Labor Day (first Monday in September). In Japan you have such holidays as Vernal Equinox (March 20), Constitution Day (May 3), and new from last year, "Ocean Day" (July 20). Also, both countries have holidays to honor those people we  respect. For example, President Washington's birthday and President Lincoln's birthday are both in February, so America has a joint celebration called Presidents' Day (the third Monday in February). In Japan there is the Emperor's Birthday (December 23) and also Emperor Showa's birthday (April 29) became "Green Day"  and Emperor Meiji's birthday (November 3) became "Cultural Day." 

In America Rev. King's birthday became a holiday several years ago. Dr. King worked for the US Civil Rights movement, seeking equality for Black Americans using non-violent means. In 1964 the federal Civil Rights Law was passed, and after that Black Americans joined US society in a more obvious and fair way; many more Black mayors, for example, were voted in after the law was passed. Dr. King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his efforts. Dr. King had many White supporters, but in 1968 he was felled by a radical's bullet. 

Every year on Dr. King's birthday there are speeches and parades organized to raise peoples' consciousness about working to protect peoples' basic civil rights. The movement is to stop discrimination on the basis of what color your skin is. It is similar to Japan's "Human Rights Day" activities, I think. When I was in college I would participate every year in the parades. 

  

Post-Script

In the sixteen years since I wrote this, there have been a few changes on the Japanese side. Japan as a country finally adapted the idea of moving most holidays to Mondays so that people could have three day weekends. (They called the movement "Happy Monday.") So that was a step forward. However, the Emperor Showa (known internationally as Emperor Hirohito) is being celebrated now that he has been dead long enough; the first few years after his death his birthday was celebrated as "Ocean Day" but now it has been re-named Showa Day. The Japanese government seems intent on wanting people honor the dead man,  even though he personally hated the cult of personality that sprung up around him and his family before him. Showa, by the way, is the name of his reign. The current Emperor is called "Heisei."  

Here is a list of the current Japanese holidays: 

New Years' Day (Jan 1)

Adult Day (2nd Monday in January; used to be Jan 15)

Foundation Day (Feb 11; the day the god-emperor Jimmu acceded to the throne of Japan, thereby creating the country) 

Vernal Equinox Day (March 20 or 21)

Showa Day (April 29; previous Emperor's birthday) 

Constitution Day (May 3; the day in 1948 when the Japanese Constitution took effect)

Green Day (May 4)

Childrens' Day (Boys' Day) (May 5) 

Ocean Day (third Monday in July; used to be July 20)

Respect For the Aged Day (3rd Monday in September; used to be Sept 15)

Autumnal Equinox (Sept 22 or 23)

Physical Education Day (2nd Monday in October; used to be Oct 10, which commemorated the Opening Ceremony of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics)

Culture Day (Nov 3) 

Labor Thanksgiving Day (Nov 23)

Emperor's Birthday (Dec 23)

 

 

 

For more information, please read the wikipedia article Public Holidays in Japan. 

Happy Thanksgiving 2012

Today is Thanksgiving in the USA. This is a holiday where we Americans celebrate all that we are thankful for, and I don't mean that we are the richest country on Earth or that we own too much "stuff." I mean we stop and thank God (or each other, or whomever) for the serious stuff: our loved ones, our health, our happiness. It all harkens back to a dinner in 1621, when the heretofore starving Pilgrims had a simple "feast" to thank God for surviving the winter. Over the centuries this turned into a national day of Thanks, with all the traditions of turkey and pumpkin pie somehow getting included. 

Personally, my family has a tradition that I would like to tell you about. It started a few years ago, right around the time of 9-11. My sister Jo Anne suggested that we take some of our extra food and share it with our local fire-fighters or police officers on Thanksgiving Day. After all, these heroes don't get that day off like most of the rest of us do. So every year for the past five years I have made extra cookies or pumpkin pie and brought them to our local establishments. I have also started doing this on Christmas Day, too. If you like this idea, I urge you to try it. The smiles I get every time I show up with free food for the fire station or police station is payment enough for an extra few hours in the kitchen. 

So as I spend my day with my family in my hometown of St. Louis, Missouri I would like to wish everyone reading this a Happy Thanksgiving. Never take anything for granted, and be humble and thankful for all that you receive. Remember: but for the grace of God.....


And here is the original Norman Rockwell print that served as the basis for the illustration by Carlos Pacheco shown above. 

Ken-Bun-Ki "Thanksgiving"

Note: "Russell's Ken-Bun-Ki" is a series of articles I wrote for my Japanese City Hall newsletter back in 1996-97. They were articles about life in America or life in Japan as experienced by an American.
This one is from November 21, 1996. 
 

In America, the fourth Thursday of November is "Thanksgiving" (in Japanese, literally "Festival of Thanks"). It began in 1621. English religious immigrants called Pilgrims survived a terrible winter, and with the help of Native Americans they had been blessed with a healthy crop. In a town called Plymouth, close to Boston, they held a 3-day banquet. The main foods at Thanksgiving is turkey or ham, corn, potatoes, vegetables, and cranberry jelly. Dessert is pumpkin pie, apple pie, or pecan pie.

While I was a student I didn't ever really feel any gratitude for anything. I looked on Thanksgiving as an All You Can Eat holiday. Recently, however, I have a lot of things to be thankful for. For example, all of my family is healthy. I have many friends. I'm busy everyday at a job I like. And not just personally; I'm very thankful that the world is a much more peaceful place than it used to be.

November 23 is Workers' Thanksgiving Day in Japan. How are you spending your holiday? I will be hosting a House Party for five foreign families to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Post-Script

Sorry the original Japanese is hard to read. This article took up the whole bottom of the page (two columns) when it was printed in the newsletter. Now it takes up too much space here. I thought that if I put it on the bottom of the page it would enlarge enough to be able to read, but the icons on the right column block it off no matter how I try to arrange this. 

So as an added bonus, this is my daughter Anna and I at a Thanksgiving party in 1994, two years before I wrote the above article. All of us were ex-patriot Americans or Japanese. And yes, we played Trivial Pursuit. ;-) 

Veterans Day 2012

Today is Veterans Day in the United States. Because it falls on a Sunday, the official celebration will occur  tomorrow. However, Veterans Day started out being called "Armistice Day." It originally celebrated the end of hostilities of the First World War, as the Armistice to end hostilities of that conflict occurred on November 11, 1918.

President Woodrow Wilson created the first Armistice Day in 1919. Congress eventually made it a national holiday in 1938. Then after World War II, veteran Raymond Weeks led the fight to change Armistice Day to Veterans Day to honor all veterans, not just those from World War I. In 1954 President Eisenhower made the change legal, and it has been called Veterans Day ever since.

It should be noted that Veterans Day is set aside to honor all who served in the US military, and that Memorial Day is to honor those who died while serving.

So take a veteran out to lunch today or tomorrow, and thank him/her for their service. It's the least we can do.   

Walt Kelly and Veterans' Day

For some reason, POGO creator Walt Kelly took Veteran's Day VERY seriously. Every year on November 11 he would stop whatever was going on in the storyline and post a commemorative strip. He started in 1949, the first year that POGO was nationally syndicated, and as far as I know, he didn't stop until he was dead.

Walt Kelly did not see action in any war. He was of age in World War II but due to health issues he did not serve in the military. Instead he worked in the Army's Foreign Language Unit illustrating manuals.

Perhaps precisely because he never served in the military he was more sensitive to the veterans around us. 

Here are the first two Veterans' Day strips, from 1949 and 1950, respectively. Click to enlarge.

Native American Heritage Month: "Running Bear"

I just found out that November is Native American Heritage Month here in the United States. This evidently has something to do with the Federally recognized Native American Heritage Day, which is the day after Thanksgiving, aka Black Friday. I suppose it's appropriate that the day we call "Black Friday" is the same day we honor those people we raped, pillaged, and murdered for a century or two. "Bloody Friday" would have been a good name, too, I guess.

President George W. Bush (the son) signed into law The Native American Heritage Day Bill on October 8, 2008. The bill was originally passed by the House of Representatives in November, 2007. The first recorded celebration of Native American Heritage Day was November 28, 2008.

This information caught me somewhat flat-footed, as I already have things planned for the month of November for TV Tuesday, and I only know of one or two Native American comic book characters to feature on Wednesday Comics. I do, however, know of several hit songs that have something to do with Native Americans, so we'll be celebrating our Red Brothers in song this month at the very least...

First up: a "novelty" song written by the late lamented "Big Bopper" himself, JP Richardson. He wrote the song for what he considered an up-and-coming singer, Johnny Preston. It is the Big Bopper and his friends Bill Hall and C&W super-star George Jones singing the "huu-ga-huu-ga" of the background "braves."

The song was written and recorded before The Big Bopper died in the fateful crash that also took the lives of Ritchie Valens and Buddy Holly on February 3, 1959. However, Mercury Records held onto the song for almost a year before releasing it. It went to Number One in early January 1960.

Johnny Preston could not sustain his career without his mentor. His last charted record was in 1961.

Here he is from December 1959 being introduced by none other than that immortal teenager himself, Mr. Dick Clark....!

 

National Dog Day Aug 26 2012

Today, August 26, is National Dog Day. You know how they say "every dog has its day"? Well, this is the one for all of them.

I came across this in one of my educational (?) calendars a few months ago that listed various "holidays" and events. I put it on my calendar and then forgot about it until today.

It looks like it was created in 2004 by a woman named Colleen Paige who wanted to set aside a day to THANK all the dogs in our lives who do so much for us. If you go here: 50 Ways to Celebrate Dog Day you can also follow the links to read her message and various other facts and factoids about National Dog Day.

I love dogs. However, I have a very unbalanced experience with them. When I was a kid of about 8 I got bitten by our St. Bernard. She snapped at my face, nearly taking my eye out. Then a few years later one of my family's friends' Chihuahua bit me on the lip. When I was in middle school we got a Beagle-Mutt from the Humane Society and named her Sam. I loved that dog. When I was an adult my in-laws had a Pomeranian. I never did anything mean to this dog, but every day when I came home from work she would yap at me like I was a serial killer or something. I hated that dog. At about the same time we were given my sister-in-law's Siberian Husky to keep. I didn't know anything about keeping dogs in Japan, and he got sick with something and died suddenly. It was not pleasant. A few years later one of my co-workers offered me one of his Golden Retriever puppies, and I tried dog ownership again. Jack is still alive and well and living with my in-laws as of this writing. That's him at the top of this column.

Currently I live in an apartment complex that does not allow dogs. One day if/when we move, I would like to have another dog. Until that time, I'm content with my memories.

Today is National Ice Cream Day!!!

Pralines & Cream, yum!

Today is National Ice Cream Day. In 1984 President Ronald Reagan declared July to be National Ice Cream Month and the third Sunday in July to be National Ice Cream Day. So let's talk about ice cream! 



When I was a kid, ice cream was a luxury item. It's nt that my parents were cheap, but they grew up after their parents had experienced the Great Depression. So they tried not to waste anything, and with four kids to raise ice cream simply was not a staple on the gocery list. When it was in the house it was usually not in the house very long! (see note about four kids to raise) My father did have a sweet tooth, however. So often he would buy ice milk, which was cheaper than ice cream and very much less delicious. He would also buy ice cream flavors only he liked, such as mint chocolate chip or Neopolitan (which for some reason is the name given to the mix of vanilla-chocolate-strawberry). My siblings and I also eventually came around to this flavor: my sisters would eat the chocolate and vanilla and I would eat the strawberry.

When I was in my mid-teens BREYERS came out with their "gourmet" brand. At the time there weren't so many different choices, so we had the "house" brands (in my case Schnucks, A&P, or National) or nothing. Then when we actually (finally) tried BREYERS I thought I was in heaven. I swore off "house" brands (and ice milk!) then and there and have never gone back. Now, of course, BREYERS is one of the "cheaper" brands. But it will always have a place in my heart.

A word or two about ice cream and its relatives. Ice Milk is the term given to the dairy dessert with less than 10% milk fat with the same amount of sweeteners. Sherbet is the term for the dessert with a higher level of sweeteners than milk fat. And Sorbet is the dairy dessert with no milk fat at all. Frozen Yogurt (or Frozen Custard) uses yogurt or custard instead of milk fat.

When it got hot in the summer when we were kids there would be an ice cream truck on our street (we had a lot of families in our neighborhood). But come on, didn't you buy popsicles from them, not ice cream? My favorite was the rainbow pop or the red-white-blue pop or the green-white (Sprite/7-Up flavored) ones. Instead of those, sometimes my mother would give us money and send us to our neighborhood dairy store/ice cream parlor, VELVET FREEZE. Anybody out there remember that (local?) chain? It was about three blocks from our house, so I guess the idea was that we would get atleast a little bit of exercise in our effor to get a dessert. And my mother wouldn't have us around for awhile, so it must have been a win for her, too!  

St. Louis (where I grew up) likes to take is ice cream seriously. We have the popular story that ice cream CONES were created at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair after the ice cream vendor ran out of cups to sell hi wares; he combind with the waffle-cone vendor to create a new sensation. I don't know if this story is true or not, but it is passed down among generations in St. Louis as fact.

My parents almost never took us to DAIRY QUEEN. I think my older sisters would bring me sometimes after they started to drive. But I was in my late teens before I ever had a dipped cone or a Dilly Bar. I do remember having Mister Misties every once in a while, though. Were those from DQ? Or 7-11? I ask because notw that I visit DQ myself they don't sell them! Anyway, this was before DQ had created their Blizzards. I don't remember having one of those until I was very much an adult.

After VELVET FREEZE went out of business and when my parents were feeling very generous (haha) we would make a rare trip to the Baskins-Robbins store in town. I cherished these visits because I always got the same thing: Pralines & Cream, which is my all-time favorite ice cream flavor. When I came back from Japan and found a B&R store, I was very disappointed to find that the flavor didn't stand up to my memory of it. I haven't had one since. (It doesn't help that B&Rs are harder to find, either.)

I first came across Haagen-Daz in Japan. I thought at first that it was a European brand; I found out later that it was actually called H-D so that people would think it was European. It was my favorite ice cream (its Almond Chocolate Vanilla bar, yum!) for several years.

When I came back to the US and tried Ben & Jerry's I was converted. Now Chunky Monkey and Strawberry Cheese Cake are my favorites. And if we go to Coldstone I always get Apple Pie. Sometimes if Starbucks is on sale  will get their Coffee or Mocha flavors. VELVET is a local Ohio brand but they only make huge containers and I don't want that amount in my freezer, so I don't buy it. It is good, though.

Now excuse me, because with all of these thoughts about ice cream I'm off to have some! Hope you do,too!

Happy Birthday, America!!!

LAND OF THE FREE,
HOME OF THE BRAVE!!

LIFE....

LIBERTY....

PURSUIT....

HOPPY...

NESS!