John & Yoko's Anniversary 3-20-69

In my opinion, John Lennon and Yoko Ono are the musical equivalent of Liz & Dick. Are there people who have heard of one person without also knowing the second? I bring this up because this week is the 44th anniversary of the wedding of John and Yoko. They evidently met in London in 1968; Yoko and Paul give different versions of how John initially met her. Yoko had been married twice before; John was in the midst of separating from his first wife, Cynthia. As soon as this divorce was final, he married Yoko. Their partnership-marriage had a lasting effect on the Beatles, and therefore on pop culture in general. For the last year or so of the Beatles' existence, Yoko Ono was there. Some say she helped break up the band, and although it seems easy to attribute blame to an "outsider," the true story is probably a little bit more complicated. 

As it was, the courtship and honeymoon between John and Yoko was presented to the world in the song, "The Ballad of John and Yoko." It was written immediately after the incidences it is about, and was a Top Ten hit single in the summer of 1969. At this time John and Yoko were in the midst of their second bed-in in Canada. 

John recorded several albums and songs with his wife. "Number 9" on The Beatles (The White Album) was by them, for example. Their most famous work is probably "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" from 1971. And of course, Yoko's presence was keen on their last recordings, Double Fantasy and Milk and Honey, although none of the singles from this period were actual duets between them. 

To help celebrate one of the truly great pop cultural marriages, here are The Beatles (really only John and Paul) singing, "The Ballad of John and Yoko." 

Ken-Bun-Ki "Graduation"

 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 March 6, 1997. 

March is the graduation season in Japan. So today I want to write about graduation ceremonies in America.

First of all, in America elementary, junior high, and high schools are all one system, with only one graduation ceremony. In America's system each town has its own elementary, junior high, and high schools. We do not say 'Junior High First Graders" or "High School First Graders." We have "7th graders" or "sophomores." Also, elementary schools and junior highs do not have their own graduation ceremonies. There are "good-bye ceremonies" but that is it. There is only one graduation diploma given out after the twelve years. 

Also, the ceremonies in Japan and America are totally different. In America, graduation season is in May. Therefore, most ceremonies are held outside instead of inside. The graduates all wear gowns. When the graduation ceremony is over, the graduates will throw their caps into the air. Many of you have probably seen this scene in movies.

The order of who graduates is also different. In America, the graduates are not usually divided by gender. The graduates receive their diplomas in alphabetical order. Historically boys and girls were divided, and blacks and whites were also separate. Several decades ago, however, in order to be a more equal society, American standardized all ceremonies. In America it is considered discrimination to treat anyone differently.  We have various minorities  in America, so it is very important that everyone be treated the same. The first time I attended a Japanese graduation ceremony I was a little bit surprised when the students did not graduate in AIUEO (Japanese alphabetical) order but were presented traditionally, boys before girls, (in birth order). 

Anyway, for those graduating this month: Congratulations! Do your best on your new life path! 

Post-Script
This is another one of those articles that tells the Japanese audience about the US culture, so I have to tell you about the Japanese version now.
In Japan the elementary, junior high, and high school experiences are all totally separate. You get a graduation certificate at each location, and there is a graduation ceremony at each school. There's also a "graduation" ceremony at kindergarten/nursery school, but that is not considered in the same way as the others.
Each school hands out a "diploma" in the American sense, which boggled my mind. Mandatory education in Japan is similar to the US, as you have to by law go to school until you're 13 or 14 years old. So in that sense, I guess a junior high school diploma makes sense. In my farming community there were several kids who simply did NOT go on to high school. Still, the idea that your formal education is twelve years long was very strong in my head, so the Japanese system seemed odd to me.
Also, the graduation ceremony itself reminded this sentimental American of some regimented German or British system (Japan took many of their educational cues from Europe). The children stand up as one row of seats, march to the stage as one, march across the stage when their name is called, and then march off. There was absolutely NO spontaneity or emotion in 99% of the ceremonies I ever saw. Plus, the boys all got their diplomas in the birth order before any of the girls got theirs. So the youngest boy was graduated before the oldest girl, which to me seemed odd.
I am not sure if the traditions have changed, but when I asked/called the principals and superintendents out on this, they told me "this is the traditional way" and did not make any moves to change it.

Happy Birthday, Maine!

Today is the anniversary of Maine being admitted to our United States of America.

Date of Admittance: March 15, 1820

Parentage: There is some question as to where the name came from. Some say that the name is from a French province. Others say that it is a mis-spelling of the word "main," as in "main-land." Either way, Maine started out as part of Massachusetts until they disagreed with Boston's policies one too many times and petitioned for separation.     

Place in the Family 

Number 23

Maine was admitted three months after Alabama (Dec 1819) 
and one year before Missouri (Aug 1821).  

Motto 

"I Direct"

Which is why Alfred Hitchcock and John Ford both retired to Maine after they left Hollywood.

Nick-Name 

The Pine Tree State

Little known fact: 75% of all pine trees were from Maine until Washington 
and Portland joined the Union and displaced Maine's pine tree ranking. 

On the License Plate 

Pine trees, what else?

State Flag

A blue flag with the state symbol in the center. 
Yes, another one. 
However, this is the LAST one. 

First City You Probably Think of 

When You Think "Maine":

Portland

Actual State Capital:Augusta

State Size (Area) is 39th of 50
Population is closer to 40th of 50

(per 2000 Census figures)

Maine Sports: 
There are NO professional sports teams in Maine. 

Anybody From Maine
Ever Grow Up To Be President?
No!
41st Vice-President Nelson Rockefeller 
was as close as Maine has ever gotten. 

Maine Celebrities

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

poet, "Paul Revere's Ride"

L. L. Bean

outdoors-man & entrepreneur

Reta Shaw

character actress, 

"Mary Poppins," "The Ghose & Mrs. Muir" etc.

Stephen King

author, "The Shining," etc. 

Linda Lavin

actress, "Alice"

Andrea Martin

actress, comedienne

Judd Nelson

actor, "Breakfast Club"

Christopher Daniel Barnes

actor, "Little Mermaid"

David E. Kelley

writer/producer, 
"Ally McBeal," "Boston Legal," etc. 

Patrick Dempsey

actor, "Enchanted" 

Fictional Mainers

Dark Shadows

Collinsport, ME

Hawkeye Pierce

Crabapple Cove, ME

Carrie

unnamed town in Maine  

Pete's Dragon

Passamaquoddy, ME
(an actual town, believe it or not!) 

Casper

Friendship, ME

The Iron Giant

Rockwell, ME

A Song For You....
"There's A New Girl In Town"
I couldn't find any famous singer or band from Maine, 

so here's the theme from ALICE as sung by its star, 
Linda Lavin! 

Happy Birthday, Albert Einstein!

Albert Einstein 

March 14, 1879 ~ April 18, 1955

Imagination is more important than knowledge. 

Science without religion is lame;

Religion without science is blind. 

The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, 

but because of those who look on and do nothing. 

Example isn't another way to teach, it is the only way to teach. 

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. 

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving. 

Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. 

Sit with a pretty girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. THAT is relativity.  

Happy Birthday, Bob Haney!

When I first started reading comics back in the early-mid Seventies two of my favorite books were THE BRAVE & THE BOLD and MARVEL TEAM-UP, published by DC and Marvel, respectively. Both featured their "star" characters, Batman and Spider-Man, teaming-up with different co-stars every month.  To a new fan as I was these books served as wonderful introductions to dozens of characters I had never heard or seen before. Or, sometimes, they featured characters that I had seen in JUSTICE LEAGUE or AVENGERS and wanted to see more of.
At that time the writer of B&B (as it was called) was a gentleman named Bob Haney. He was also the main writer of WORLD'S FINEST, which featured Batman teamed with Superman. I read both of these books regularly and after awhile began to recognize Mr. Haney's rather unique writing style. He would create his own sense of "reality" (if I can use that term when talking about super-heroes, haha) and ignore what had gone before. His most famous example was creating The Super Sons, the sons of Superman and Batman. These characters appeared only in the pages of WORLD'S FINEST, and were basically created to represent the Counter-Culture or Youth Culture that was strong in the early Seventies. Obviously, Batman and Superman were not married and didn't have any children, but that didn't bother Bob Haney! Their wives, the sons' mothers, were only shown in silhouette and never addressed by name.

I later learned that Bob Haney had much to do with two of my favorites: Aquaman and The Teen Titans. He added such famous characters to the AQUAMAN world as Ocean Master, Black Manta, Dr. Vulko, and Tula. He did even more for the Teen Titans: he helped create them! He put Aqualad, Robin, Kid Flash, and Wonder Girl together in their first adventures. The rest is history.

Sure, Bob Haney created his share of stupid characters (Mad Mod, anyone?). But he also created Metamorpho, the Element Man (co-created with artist extraordinaire Ramona Fradon). So that should count for something.

For all the Bronze Age goodness that Bob Haney gave us, I want to celebrate his life. March 15 would have been his 87th birthday. Unfortunately, Bob Haney passed on in 2004.

Happy Birthday, Bob Haney! 

The first appearance of Aquaman's Arch Enemy, Black Manta

created by Bob Haney & Nick Cardy

Originally Speedy was not a Teen Titan and Aqualad was. 

When Bob Haney left, they switched. :-(  

Metamorpho, the reluctant hero

I came to appreciate this unique character after I was older 

The first issue of B&B I can remember buying...

note the Teen Titans reprint on the upper right!  

One of Haney's "controversial" Super-Sons stories. 

This one features a guest appearance by Robin, 

the semi-grown up Wonder! 

One of my favorite B&B issues...

I had never seen The Metal Men before, 

but I liked them after reading this story

Another "controversial" Haney story: 

Plastic Man is an alcoholic bum, and Batman 

needs both Plas and Metamorpho to solve a 

simple murder mystery. 

Still, somehow it works...

I just didn't understand WTH the Super Sons were. 

Several years later, I found I wasn't alone, haha! 

 

Bob Haney in his later years perusing 

a TEEN TITANS Archive edition

JL #27 "The New Members' Press Conference"

JL #27 FORWARD

I don't know why I started this story with a press conference. Thirteen years later, I really don't remember my thought process for that. I do remember that Hollywood stars and British musicians would always have press conferences whenever they visited in Japan, so it was more of a cultural idea to me then it was when I lived in the States.