Reel to Reel: Green Book

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The premise of the movie “Green Book” seemed, at least to me, a bit mind-numbing, but I decided to give it a try and I am glad I did. It is a fictionalized account of the interaction of Tony “Lip” Vallelonga and Donald Walbridge Shirley. In the movie, despite some early friction with their differing personalities, the two became good friends. However, Maurice Shirley, Don’s brother, said, “My brother never considered Tony to be his “friend”.” He was considered by Don to be an employee, his bodyguard, his chauffeur.

The Green Book was published for more than 30 years and is from a period when Blacks who traveled often would put themselves in peril while traveling in the Deep South. Blacks were denied service in many restaurants, hotels and even had to use different drinking fountains. They even faced being jailed or killed in so called “sundown” towns, where they were told they weren’t welcome after sundown.

In answer to policies like these, a postal employee named Victor Hugo Green wrote a guide that was designed to, in his words “give the Negro traveler information that will keep him from running into difficulties, embarrassments and to make his trips more enjoyable.” The Green Book finally ceased publication in the late 60’s.

Racism made the Green Book a necessary travel companion for people of color. The movie “Green Book,” is mix of buddy movie and road trip combined with social history. It mixes the reality of the times with Hollywood sentimentality that feels both relaxed and cautiously blended.

It’s the story of, a bouncer from the Bronx, who was making his living at a New York nightclub in 1962 and was trying to get out of working as hired muscle for the local mob. He loses his job and puts his amazing appetite to use in a hot dog-eating contest to make ends meet (pun intended). Eventually, he answers a call from a Manhattan pianist who was looking for a driver for a tour he had booked. He shows up for his interview, ready to take almost anything that pays a salary.

He finds a Black man named Don Shirley, an accomplished musician and composer who conducts the interview from what appears to be an ancient Egyptian throne. Shirley, the darling of Park Avenue and other wealthy areas, had booked some dates for a tour that is supposed to end around Christmas. His classically infused jazz is very popular with white audiences but he doesn’t want to take any chances traveling for his concerts through the Deep South. He hires Tony to act as both a chauffeur and bodyguard in case he has any problems.

The journey progresses very much as you might expect. The unkempt, tough talking Tony and the quiet, perfectly mannered Dr. Shirley begin to bicker about everything from the music Tony listens on the car radio to the brand of cigarettes he smokes in between his nonstop babbling. But “Green Book,” turns out to be much more than “Driving Miss Daisy” meets “The Odd Couple.” As might you might expect, Dr. Shirley and Tony meet their share of danger in “Green Book.”

Even though at first the uncouth Tony does not understand Dr. Shirley’s brilliance as a pianist or his cultured opinion of etiquette. He recognizes the two-facedness of celebrating Dr. Shirley’s talent one minute and then relegating him to a “Negroes Only” bathroom the next. But Dr. Shirley isn’t comfortable with the black servers, bartenders and domestic staff that he meets either.

It shouldn’t surprise you to learn that both Tony and Dr. Shirley undergo a powerful transformation in the movie. “Green Book,” starts out with Tony throwing away two water glasses that were used by black workmen hired by his wife, Dolores and ends up with Tony and Dr. Shirley liking each other.

“Green Book” is a remarkably enjoyable movie, both visually and to listen to, photographed in rich color and filed with gorgeous music. The result of all this is that “Green Book” hits all the numbers, and is the kind of pleasurable middle-of-the-road movie that is well worth a look-see. However, Maurice Shirley, Don’s brother, said, “My brother never considered Tony to be his “friend”.” He was considered by Don to be an employee, his bodyguard, his chauffeur. Watching this romanticized movie is time well spent and may just open your eyes to a historical time.

There was a time when a movie like “Green Book” might have been about a racist who had a heart of gold who is actually saved by an African American. However no one is in fact saved in this movie however they do both gain respect toward each other. The success of “Green Book” lies in its unpretentiousness, and the way it identifies the change that happened in a couple of human beings.

The movie is rated PG13 due to mature thematic elements, strong language, racial name calling, smoking, some violence and suggestive material. 130 minutes.

I give it 8 out of 10 popcorns, , well worth the price of admission.

Rocketship 7

A long, long time ago, in a place that seems far, far away, many Buffalo area children, myself included, would turn on their TV sets in the morning and were greeted by a trusted friend.

In 1961 the space race was on! Before a special joint session of Congress, President Kennedy announced his goal to put a “man on the moon” before the end of the decade. If you were a preteen, rockets and robots ruled. It was in this environment that one of the most popular television programs in the history of Buffalo broadcasting was created.

During the span of a few months, the USSR’s Yuri Gagarin made history as the first human in space and Alan B. Shepard made America’s first ride into the stratosphere. From toys to television programs, it seem that everyone was looking towards the future including Buffalo’s WKBW. Channel 7 management looked to add an additional children’s show to its morning line-up which already consisted of a local version of Romper Room. Looking to attract kids 5 to 12 years old, a space-themed program was a natural.

The station’s creative minds developed a program that would have an academic focus with a foundation deeply rooted in scientific facts rather than fanciful fiction. To host the program, Channel 7’s station manager Doug McLarty called upon a fresh-faced broadcaster named Dave Boreanaz. He was calling himself Dave Thomas then and it was thought he would be the perfect choice to host the program. He had adopted the stage name “Dave Thomas” when he joined WKBW-TV in 1961 first as a booth announcer and weatherman. His boyish good looks, calming manner of tone, and slight hint of mischievousness in his eyes appealed to children and adults alike.

In the autumn of 1962 WKBW-TV’s new children’s program was ready for its television debut. September 10 was chosen as the “launch date” of the newly christened Rocketship 7 with Dave Thomas. Featuring educational segments interwoven between Warner Brother’s cartoons and the animated shorts like the stop-motion curiosities “Gumby” and “Davey and Goliath”. The show was quickly adopted by its young audience. Rocketship 7 aired on WKBW-TV for 16 years. Thomas, in what passed for an astronaut jumpsuit, stood next to a stack of cardboard boxes with epaulets known as Promo the Robot. They were joined by Mr. Beeper, their puppet pal.

A Buffalo native, Thomas began his broadcasting career in 1954 at WAER-FM, Syracuse, New York and later worked at WOLF-AM, Syracuse, New York. In 1956, he started in television at the NBC owned and operated WBUF-TV in Buffalo, later joining WGR-TV (now WGRZ-TV) before joining Channel 7. For months prior to the show’s launch, Thomas traveled to the Bell Testing Laboratory in Wheatfield, New York to learn about aeronautics and space flight. At the time, the Niagara County facility hosted some of the nation’s brightest engineers and test pilots. As the show’s future space cadet, Thomas would practice in a Mercury era program training capsule and helicopter simulator.

The name of the program, “Rocketship 7,” referred to Channel 7 and lent itself to NASA’s Mercury space program. From 1961 to 1963, seven of America’s first astronauts made pioneering ventures into space. National audiences would follow the likes of Freedom 7, Liberty Bell 7, Friendship 7, and Aurora 7 as spacecraft reached towards the heavens. Rocketship 7 would join the local lexicon and would prove to have the right stuff for television success.

With the calming influence of Dave Thomas at the helm, the show ran weekday mornings from 1962 thru 1978. Rocketship 7 was cancelled because Thomas left his native Buffalo for another job. After the show went dark, the original Promo sat in a prop room for a while. When WKBW moved to a new building, the robot costume was thrown in the trash but it was rescued by a guy from the crew who put it in his garage. Eventually it was fixed up and, for a while, put on display at a toy museum.

The fate of the shows themselves, thousands of hours of children’s programming, is even sadder. Very little exists today. Most of those early, local children’s shows were shot live and if they were on tape, they were erased or thrown out. Back then, few saw the need to archive copies for future use like DVD collections or specialty channels. Forgotten Buffalo has compiled an excellent photo montage for a Youtube video:

Rocketship 7 has been reincarnated twice. The first time was The Commander Tom Show hosted by Tom Jolls. This was cancelled in 1991 but WKBW chose to resume the “Commander Tom” character bringing back Rocketship 7 as a Saturday morning show. “Captain” Mike Randall took over hosting for this edition of the show. Rocketship 7 was cancelled for the last time in 1993. It blasted off for good as infomercials, public affairs, and educational/informational programming began to dominate the Saturday morning lineup.

Love Poems

old couple walking while holding hands — Photo by Noelle Otto on Pexels.com

I recently received a picture of a painting from a local Buffalo artist of two older people hand in hand walking away due to something I had published in the newspaper. It reminded me of my wife and me, always walking hand in hand wherever we go.

I remember meeting her at a birthday party I crashed with a friend of mine. It was the wild sixties. I picked her up and carried her off into a corner loudly proclaiming “This one’s mine”. I had dated quite a few girls but had never met anyone like her. Eventually, I fell in love and I remember trying to find a way to ask her how to marry me.

She worked at Saint Mary’s Home for Children with children who had birth defects and knowing how much she loved children, I devised what I thought was the ideal line. One that I thought she could not say no to.

One night at Ellicott Creek Park, as we were looking out across the water and I said I had something to talk to her about. I then asked her to marry me and have my children. She hesitated a bit and I thought I had blown it. I realize now when I said I had something to talk to her about, this wasn’t quite what she was expecting, but she manage to say “Yes.”

It also reminded me of a few short poems I wrote to her several years ago that she has framed on her dresser.

The first poem reads.
Thru good times. Thru Bad.
Thru happy. Thru sad.
Thru high. Thru low.
Thru you, I’m whole.

The good times were all the years we have been together, going to dinner, laughing and loving each other. The bad times were when I was being treated for cancer and I would lay in bed sleeping, only waking to eat chocolate covered mini doughnuts. The Oncologists and I didn’t think I would see another Christmas. She would lay beside me comforting me thru it all. I firmly believe she are the reason I made it.

The happy is when she said “Yes” at Ellicott Creek Park and when she said “I do” in Saint Patrick’s church in 1969. It also relates to the children and grandchildren she has given me. She has given me an amazing, loving family. The sad is the loss of family members we have both suffered.

The High is the soaring feeling I get seeing her, hearing her voice and snuggling with her on the weekends. The low is the times we had to spend apart while I was in the service. She will never know just how I missed her then.

With you, I’m whole means that without her, I would be a ship drifting on the sea of loneliness. Completely lost. I never thought I would deserve such a loving, kind person in my life. One who accepted me for who I am.

The second one’s a three-word poem that goes. Together, Forever, Whatever. This reflects in three words how I feel about us. Sometimes simple is best. Both of these poems reflect what she means to me.

In all the years we have been together, I don’t ever remember having a major argument. We’ve had disagreements sure, but we always resolved them quickly.
She is my soulmate, the Yin to my Yang, the ping to my pong, the day to my night. We’ve been together for 50 years and I want another 50. She will always be my “Bride”.

I Robot

round robot vacuum — Photo by Jens Mahnke on Pexels.com

We have a couple of residents at our house. We don’t have to feed them. They never need a doctor’s appointment. We don’t have to take them anywhere. And here’s the best part, they never make a mess. In fact, they clean up after us humans. These tenants roam around the house every day cleaning up the crumbs and debris left behind by us.

Yes, our “tenants” are robots. Not the kind you see on TV with legs, arms and a head. No C3PO or R2D2 here. These robots are the kind that vacuum our floors on their own. I had been watching these for quite for a while and I read several rave reviews on the internet from people who had bought a vacuuming robot of their own. When the one I was reading about finally went on sale, I jumped at the chance to get one. It is a workhorse, cleaning the living room, dining room, kitchen and the master bedroom suite.

It worked so well that I bought a second one for upstairs. We now have downstairs and upstairs “maids” as we jokingly call them. The upstairs maid even speaks to us in a feminine voice whenever she gets stuck. But even cooler than that, we can program her to speak to us in French. I always wanted a French, upstairs maid.

In the time they have been roaming around in our house, vacuuming up dirt, crumbs and hair I’ve grown rather fond of them. They’ve quickly become like a regular member of our family. But they are vastly different than rest of us. They only need to be asked once to do their work, they never complain, and they never say they’ll get to it later. They never roll their eyes, sigh heavily or conveniently forget because they are too busy playing video games or texting.
And, OMG, are they efficient. With just a touch of a button, they take off randomly patrolling our floor in their mission to find and collect as much dust, lint, hair and crumbs as they can. Fragments left behind by the rest of us. All they ask is that we empty their dust collection bins after they are done with their work. It’s astounding to see just how much stuff they pick up each time we use them. I never knew that we were that dirty.

These technological “employees” even have remote controls that allow me to choose what days and what times I want them to do their job. That way, I can program them to work when we are not home so we can come home to a clean house. What’s not to love?

I really admire their work ethic. This flat, round workhorse will vacuum until they have expended almost every bit of energy they have and then they will slowly, ever so slowly, roll their way back to their home bases and gently ease themselves into their dock to recharge. They never call in sick, never have to leave early or ever come to work late. I don’t have to worry about taxes or liability insurance and if one of them breaks by falling down the stairs, I just throw it away and get a new one.

Because they are so thin and low to the ground, they can go many places that an upright vacuum hasn’t been in many, many years. There’s something so very satisfying about resting on the couch after a long day at work, watching TV, and having a robot wheeling around sucking up the dirt and grime that has managed to get into our carpets.

My wife never wanted one of these but now that she has one, one more household chore is done for her. I never thought it could do as great a job as it does though and I am surprised just how much dirt and grit is in its collection bin every time we run them. I also like how they leave vacuum cleaner wheel marks everywhere they go.

Of course, they are not without fault, nor do I think they would be. Every now and then, they get stuck on something, trapped under my recliner or entangled in a lamp cord. If I don’t hear them running, bumping into things like a drunken sailor or see them charging on their base, I know I have to go looking for them like a high tech game of hide and go seek. Once we find them, we pick them up and return them to their home base so they can recharge for the next time.

So here’s to the robots who save us time and take us a little closer to Rosie the Jetsons’ maid and housekeeper of the future.

An interesting housekeeping robot just debuted at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Click here

not only can it clean your floors, it can fetch you a beer.

Growing up in the 50’s.

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We had the junkman who would drive down the street in his beat up truck. He would collect your scrap metal to sell at the junk yard. The local cobbler would repair your shoes if the soles wore out or heel broke off. On garbage day, they would send a man ahead of the truck to bring our can to the curb. Then after it was emptied another man would take it back into the yard.

The milk man used to deliver to your house. I can still remember the rattle of the empty bottles in the wire carrier that he used. We had a wooden door in the side of the house by the back door for the milkman to deliver our milk and dairy products. This was called a milk box. If you didn’t have a milk box, your items were left on your porch in an insulated metal box. The milk would have a layer of cream on top that you would pour off to make whipped cream or to use in cooking. I loved the milk in glass bottles. A fixture back then was the “knifeman”, who would drive up and down the street and sharpen your knives, scissors, hedge sheers and the blades of the old reel type, hand pushed lawnmowers.

We had bread delivered to the house and had the rag man as well. Let’s not forget the fruit wagon. He would yell “Apples, peaches, strawberriessssssssssssssssssss.” I recall the popcorn man pushing his cart down our street with that steam powered whistle summoning us to come running. We would bring our precious coins that we had earned by returning bottles to the corner store and get this hot, salty snack. That is, if we had any left after buying our stash of penny candy, ice cream treats, & comic books. My Grandfather was a Fuller Brush man and he used to sell aprons and Fuller Brush products.

Around Christmas, the post office used to deliver a twice a day. We walked to school, coming home for lunch, and played outside till dark, only going home when the street lights came on. We were always playing in the street, roller skating, playing baseball or tag. In the fall, we played football. We used to call “Heads up!” whenever a car was coming.

My father worked every day and drove the only family car. This caused us to walk everywhere, parents just didn’t drive their kids around and you walked if you wanted to go anywhere.

We had a few chores, but then it was outdoors in the summer. In the winter we would go to a friends’ house or they would come to mine to play board games. You would walk to a friend’s house and see if they could play. Calling our friends by their name to come out to play didn’t involve texting. We would walk over to a friend’s house and yell “Oh (insert friend’s name here) can you come out to play?” We never rang a bell. If somebody was calling you, you would ask permission from your mother to go outside. It was a simple yes or no and no one got angry if the answer was no. Neighbors got along better than today.

Women were outside & visible around their houses hanging wash or doing yard work, watching their kids in the yards. Our basement contained a wringer washing machine for washing our clothes, our dryer was a clothes line in the back yard and our dishwasher was my mother. When I got older, the kids were in charge of washing and drying the dishes, setting and clearing the table.

The doctors made house calls if you were too sick to come in, or very contagious. Our family doctor visited me when I had the Chicken Pox and the Measles.

We would go home for lunch from school every day and we had a bank day at school on Mondays where we would take our money and get it posted to our bank book.

Every Wednesday we would get out of school early so we could walk to church for religious instructions. I used to stop at the local five and dime and get a small bag of Spanish peanuts for the trip. Speaking of school, there were air raid drills in school. We crouched on our hands & knees, in the hall ways, up against the wall, or under our desks, hoping the Russians didn’t bomb us.

We played with homemade toys such as kites, scooters made out of fruit crates decorated with pop bottle caps, scrap 2x4s, pieces of scrap wood for handle bars and discarded metal roller skates. I made a car out of a large crate and the wheels from an old wagon. You steered using a rope that was attached to the front axle.

There was also the “rubber band” gun. A long narrow piece of wood used as a rifle that we would put a notch at the top of to hold a rubber band made out of a used tire tube cut into 1/2 inch wide trips. You knew when someone shot you because of the sting that you felt.

I have memories of Fel’s Naptha soap that was used for anything from washing clothes, floors and taking baths. Sponge baths all week were the norm then when Saturday night was the night for a real bath in a claw foot, cast iron bathtub.

It was good being a kid in the 50s.

Reel to Reel: Replicas:

food snack popcorn movie theater — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

What can I say about the movie “Replicas”? I saw this last week and it seems like I have seen this all before. I have. This movie seems to be put together from the cutting room floor debris of several better cloning movies to me.

The plot is so predictable and slow, you can go make popcorn in the middle and not miss anything. The plot of this thriller has so much potential that it is sad it never hits the mark even once. It has more holes in it than a pound of thinly sliced deli Swiss cheese. It might however make a good drinking game. Every time you see a part stolen from another movie, everybody else has to chug their drink.

William Foster (Keanu Reeves), in a lifeless performance that should have been released to VOD is cast as the top neuroscientist at the Bionyne research facility in Puerto Rico where he’s trying to invent a way to download a human brain into a robot body (can you say Robocop). it’s a hard enough job that’s made even more difficult by William’s intolerant boss (John Ortiz), who gets extremely upset when he finds out that William may not achieve “the world’s greatest technological achievement” in time for the company’s next quarterly earnings report and threatens to shut the experiment down.

There’s reason for optimism though when William’s assistant (Thomas Middleditch) wheels in a fresh new body from the morgue. Everything goes well until the android body, a CGI robot that looks like a cross between the robots in “I, Robot” and C3PO rejects the dead man’s consciousness.

All of this is merely a lead in for the real plot though. William has an accident during a storm and his wife (Alice Eve) and their three kids die in the accident. In a hyped up B grade movie like this though, death isn’t the end. And it’s not surprising that William won’t leave the crash site before he decides to map everyone’s neural networks into a “hard drive” for later use. This hard drive looked to me like a love child between a Betamax cassette and an eight track tape.

At this juncture is when the Swiss cheese fest begins. You might think you know where this is going and you probably think that our hero is going to turn his family into a bunch of robots as a way to atone for his poor driving and to save the company. WRONG. That would make way too much sense. In the outlandish world of “Replicas,” screenwriter Chad St. John throws us a curve. William decides to clone the dead members of his family and steals the equipment to do this.

This plan raises several questions in my mind that the movie seems to have no interest in answering. Questions like how you grow human beings in a cube full of Kool aid in your basement. More than that, why is William working on robots if he has the ability to bring the dead back to life in their own skin? I don’t understand why it takes exactly 17 days for them all to be cloned, even though his wife and children are all different ages. And why nobody is looking for the missing equipment during this time.

For most of the movie we are cooped up in William’s house as he toils to bring back his family without raising suspicion. Brace for a whopping 90 minutes of Reeves shuffling around wearing a ratty bathrobe. This is an ideal time to get some snacks, make some phone calls or maybe take a nap, you won’t miss much.

The film is immobilized by all of the competing story lines that are trying to control its plot. It starts to feel as though the movie is simply changing gears from psychological horror to corporate espionage to a lame car chase in a desperate bid to distract from the faulty script.

There is a jaw dropping reveal at the end that still has me wondering what I watched.

“Derivatives” would be a better title for this movie as it derivative of many previous movies. Too bad it didn’t pick better parts to copy.

I give it 4 bags of popcorn out of 10

Winter driving: Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

cold fog forest landscape — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Winter can be a very hazardous time of the year especially in Western New York, sunny one minute, and a blizzard 3 miles down the road. It pays to prepare yourself for the unexpected by having a few supplies and by following some simple safe driving guidelines to insure that you arrive at your destination.

First off prepare your vehicle for winter driving. Dependable transportation is important in the winter. It is very important to get it checked to avoid any unpleasant or perilous circumstances. You should inspect the following prior to winter, the Ignition system, belts, fluid levels including washer fluid, wiper blades, tires, cooling system, battery, lights and antifreeze. Keep your gas tank at least half full at all times. Keeping your tank as full as possible will minimize condensation and could prove helpful if you are stranded.

Before driving, clear off all windows and lights and the hood and roof of frost and snow. Drive with your headlights on. Stock your car with basic winter driving equipment. A scraper and brush, jumper cables, and a bag of sand or cat litter for tire traction. Also include a blanket, heavy boots, warm clothing, and flashlight with batteries. Reverse the batteries in the flashlight to avoid accidentally turning it on and draining them.

When driving, leave sufficient room for stopping, drive according to the conditions and use brakes sensibly. Brake early. It takes more time and distance to stop in winter conditions. Bridge decks might freeze before the roads do due to the fact they are open to the cold on both sides. Roads are exposed to the weather on only one side.

Don’t use the “cruise control” when you drive in wintry conditions. Even roads that seem perfect can have black ice and the smallest touch of your brakes to disable the cruise control can make you lose control of your vehicle.

Don’t get arrogant in your 4×4 vehicle. Remember that, if you are driving a four wheel drive vehicle, it may help you get going faster but it won’t help you stop any better. Many 4×4’s are heavier than passenger vehicles and in fact may take longer to stop.

Look further ahead in traffic than you usually do. Movements by cars and trucks will alert you earlier to difficulties and give you additional time to respond safely. Remember that trucks weigh more than cars and take more time to come to a complete stop, so avoid pulling ahead quickly in front of them.

Remember that the road in front of the plow is frequently in much worse shape than behind the plow. Plows will typically travel slower and there is always a temptation to pass them. For your safety, I recommend that you stay a safe distance behind snowplows.

When you see an approaching snow plow on a roadway, move as far away from the center line as you safely can because blowing snow may hide the actual width of the snowplow’s blade.

If stranded, call 911 on your cell phone and when you talk to authorities, be prepared to describe your location and the trouble you are experiencing. Listen for questions. Follow any instructions. They may tell you should stay where you so they can guide rescuers. Don’t hang up before you know who you are speaking with and what will take place next.

Stay in your vehicle. Walking in a storm can be very dangerous. You might lose your way, wander away, become exhausted and collapse risking your life. Your vehicle itself is a good shelter. Avoid overexertion. Attempting to push your car, trying to jack it into a new position or shoveling snow takes a lot of work in storm conditions. You might risk heart attack or other injury. The storm will eventually end and you will be found. Don’t work so hard as to get hot and sweaty. Wet clothing loses insulation value making you more vulnerable to the results of hypothermia.

Keep fresh air in your vehicle. It is better to be chilly or cold and alert than to become comfortably warm and slip into unconsciousness. Keep the radiator unrestricted by snow to preclude the engine from overheating. Start the engine at 10 to 15 minute intervals for heat. Freezing-wet or wind-driven snow can plug your vehicle’s exhaust system permitting lethal carbon monoxide gas to go into your vehicle. Don’t run the engine unless you are positive the exhaust pipe is clear of snow or other objects.

Keep your blood circulating freely by undoing tight fitting clothing, changing positions frequently and moving your arms and legs. Don’t anticipate being comfortable. The task is to stay alive until you’re found. Make yourself noticeable to rescuers. Tie a bright cloth to your antenna or door handle if possible.

If you skid, don’t panic. You need to keep your head clear when you go into a skid, because your “instinctive” reactions are apt to do more damage than good. Second, keep your eyes focused on something in the distance. Choose a point further down the road in the direction you want to head and stay focused on this object. With this object in view, you’ll be better able to steer your car so that it is traveling in the correct direction.

Most importantly please remember to SLOW DOWN! Also, seat belts should be used at all times, it’s the law.

Norb is a columnist and worked as a safety professional in Lockport. He wants you be as safe as possible when driving this winter.

I tend to write much more than I need to

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I tend to write much more than I need to, but when I can’t write or get published it’s a very distressing feeling. A good day is when I get articles published in multiple places. My mind tends to become dependent on writing and seems to build up a tolerance to being published.

I find myself writing all day, late into the night and sometimes get up at five in the morning so I can write again. But I do catch myself nodding off in my recliner with my laptop in my well…. lap in the afternoon and early evening. Go figure.

I was nominated for the “Survivor of the Year” for the “Relay for Life” one year and accepted. One of my duties was to give a speech. I started out by writing a speech about my personal involvement with cancer and it was exciting. I felt I needed a hook to engage the audience so I started with humor.

I read my speech out loud for a week so I could get the cadence, mannerisms and inflection down and the day of Relay I was ready.

I went onstage with a thick pile of paper and thought I could feel the unarticulated groan from the people there. At this point I felt I was my plan was working. I dropped the papers on the floor and with great flourish and picked them all up clumsily.

At this point I heard a few muffled giggles. Nobody really knew at this point if I was doing stichk or not. After I composed myself I looked down at the papers and said “I wish to thank the academy, the Hollywood foreign press……” by now there was more quiet laughter but everybody was trying to be polite at this point, still not knowing if this was a comedy routine or a bumbling idiot.

I knew I had had set the hook and I was now ready to reel them in. I then looked up and scanned the crowd and said “Oops wrong speech” and everybody laughed. At that point I had their attention and I read the piece I had written for the occasion. A few people came up to me later and told me that it was the best speech they had ever heard. The heart pounding feeling this gave me made me want more and I thought to myself “I can do this”.

Up until then, I hated writing. Ninety percent of the things I had to write for a school assignment were written on the school bus on the day they were due. No sense in wasting time if we were going to have a snow day and school was going to be closed that day.

I started writing shortly after Relay I would write about about personal experiences, marriage and my thoughts on driving safety, volunteering and mandatory retirement. I would then submit them to local newspapers, hoping to get published.

After a few of them picked up my work, I started writing about more “hot ticket” issues. Issues that affect us as a city, a state and as a country. These included things that are driving us apart like education, the Vietnam War, the border wall and nuclear power. I got some fans and had some very passionate adversaries complaining about these columns. We all have opinions but I felt I had at least opened the lines of communication.

But writing isn’t successful unless someone is actually reading what you write. I know that it is important in America that we talk to one another about the walls that divide us as a country. That even if we disagree we must have civil discussions about that which comes between us. Any attempt to prevent this is censorship, pure and simple.

I am now being published regularly in three print newspapers, in three online magazines and have had my work published in at least 10 other places.

The First Amendment guarantees “Freedom of the Press” which is the right to circulate opinions in print without censorship by the government. Private entities however can censor the hell out of anything you write and you have, as a reader, the right to read and comment on a piece or just not read it at all. It’s no wonder I love this country.

In closing let me say,
Free Speech – Good.
Censorship – Bad.

We all have our own view points but please let us just discuss them respectfully.

What’s the point of teaching English if it ain’t going to be spoken good?

black and white book business close up — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

“Why can’t the English teach their children how to speak?” asked Professor Henry Higgins in the musical “My Fair Lady.” It’s a very good question for Americans now days.

I recently was in a movie theater and two young women sat behind me. They were talking rather loudly. In just a few minutes I counted 16 “likes” and “you knows” from just one of them. It went this way: “And then she was like blah, blah, blah and then he was like blah, blah, blah, and I was like blah, blah, blah, you know.”

As an adverb, “like” means nearly, closely or approximately, as in the experience was like jumping off a high diving board. This is perhaps the most familiar use of the word like but there are others.

The NBC News Correspondent Edwin Newman penned two books concerning the mistreatment of English. Some of his least desired words are heard inside airports. Newman grew irritated when airline employees spoke of a “podium“. This is defined by Merriam-Webster as a low wall, serving as a foundation or terrace wall or a dais especially for an orchestral conductor, and not a desk. He was also confused when they invited certain passengers to “pre-board” the airplane, which he noted was impossible. One can board early, or board ahead of other passengers, but to “pre-board” is a contradiction.

When I was in school, English grammar was required, not an optional. We would diagram sentences and learned the proper use of words. We were taught when to say “me” and “I,” and the difference between there, their and they’re.
Clichés were once mostly used by young people and inexperienced writers. Today, clichés have crept into the language of people who should know better. These clichés include “needless to say” (then why bother to say it?), and “cautiously optimistic.” The Washington Post compiled a list of “200 journalism clichés … and counting” and these are only two of them.

Don’t get me started on TV hosts and reporters. They say, “As you can see……” Yes, we can. That’s because it’s called television. It’s not radio, it has pictures. “Shot in the encounter” was a favorite of a former news director at a TV station that I watched. I often wondered where the encounter was on your body.

Good English skills are vital to succeeding in life, in terms of career, and personal relationships. There are three main areas that have to be worked on, vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar.

Then we have the word axe. What does it mean when you axe someone a question? Do you chop if into little pieces? I was walking to my car at Walmart when I overheard a woman on her cell phone (it wasn’t too difficult). It went. “I was literally in Walmart when she literally walked up to me and literally started an argument with me. I told her she had better literally get her act together or she was going to literally lose her kids.” Really? (pun intended)

The point is to learn English as a means of expressing ourselves that shows we didn’t just fall off a turnip truck (deliberate use of a cliché). What’s the point of teaching English if nobody learns it and it can’t be properly spoken or understood?

Speaking English lets you to truly broaden your world, including job opportunities and the ability to relate to people from every country.
Knowing proper English makes it much more interesting when traveling. Wherever you want go in the world, you will probably find someone who speaks English. If we count only the countries where the English language is the official language, the United Kingdom, U.S.A., Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and the Caribbean countries, there are more than 400 million native English speakers.

The statistics reveal that more than a quarter of the world’s population speaks English that means that about 1.6 billion people understand and relate with the help of the language of Shakespeare. To not mention that most of the films are in English, the largest film industry, Hollywood, is produced in English.

English also improves the quality of life. You have access to jobs that you could not even take into consideration, you can evaluate an international career and you can live in many countries with the ease of being able to go shopping or negotiate a rent for the house.

Simply put, we must recognize that English is an international language, the main language of this planet.

Over Christmas, I listened to a reading of the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas’s brilliant “A Child’s Christmas in Wales.” The delight of words, well-chosen and beautifully spoken, was thrilling and captivating. He makes you want to listen, as opposed to wishing to plug your ears.

The benefits speaking properly can bring in to life of a person is countless. It is important to know that the English language is able to knock down a lot of barriers, including cultural ones.

The English language allows us to relate to and therefore understand each other.
Could one of our Resolutions for 2019 be to speak better English?

Kindness

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You got to try a little kindness
Yes show a little kindness
Glen Campbell 1969:

I recently ended up on the ground as I was on my way to a medical appointment. My legs just gave out. Several kind people came to my aid and they even called an ambulance for me. It got me thinking about kindness. There are many ways to show kindness.

When you find yourself waiting in a line in a supermarket and there is someone behind you with just a few items you let them go ahead of you. It won’t take much of your time and could make someone’s day. Be courteous.

When I used to take bike rides thru the city, I would greet people I would see sitting on their porch. They would always say hello back. Say hello to strangers when you walk past them on the street. Be friendly.

Yours truly walked into a local food bank with some cash and gave it to them. Donate anonymously. Just the act of giving is all the reward you should need. Most of us have clothing we have out grown or don’t wear anymore. Donate your used clothing to charity. It feels good to know you are helping someone out even if you don’t know them. Also you can donate your used vehicle to a worthy cause. Be charitable.

Upon witnessing three soldiers in desert camo going into a local sandwich shop, I circled the block and went in and paid for their meal. When I see a veteran with a ball cap indicating they had been in the service, I go out of my way to thank them. This also happens to me as well when I wear my Vietnam veterans’ hat. Make every day Veteran’s Day. Be thankful.

While working at a super market in my youth, one of my jobs was to go on “cart patrol”. It was especially aggravating to have to get dressed in my winter coat, hat and boots to retrieve that one cart someone had left in the furthest corner of the parking lot. Return the cart to the store or the cart corral if they have one. Be considerate.

Speaking of shopping carts, I give my cart to someone at Aldi and when they offer me the quarter, I refuse and tell them to pass it on. Sometimes I just push it into the cart collection area and walk away, leaving the quarter in it. It’s just a quarter, It’s not going to bankrupt me. Be thoughtful.

My wife likes flowers so I try to keep fresh cut flowers in the house every day of the year. Give flowers to someone for no particular reason at all. Be loving.

We all get frustrated in traffic at one time or another. However, simply because traffic is moving slowly doesn’t mean that we can’t let another driver into your lane. One additional car in front of you isn’t going to make you arrive any earlier or later. Mow the lawn, rake the leaves or shovel the snow for a senior citizen and surprise them. When I was younger, I used to snow blow all the way around the block. I figured I was dressed and out in the cold anyway, why not help people out. Be kind.

The next time you hear someone sneeze, say “Bless you” whether you know them or not. People rarely do this anymore. Be polite.

At some point in time, we’ve all had to call a handyman to help us out. The next time someone is at your house fixing something, offer them a cold drink. Let them know you value the work they are doing for you. You might get a higher level of service in gratitude and maybe the bill will be a bit lower. I know, I used to run a handyman business myself. Be appreciative.

Hold the elevator for someone. The few minutes you wait for someone will not affect your day but it may improve theirs. Be nice.

I have taken extra coupons to a fast food restaurant and give them to families with children or older couples. If you have extra coupons give them to other customers. Stop at a kid’s lemonade stand and buy a drink. It’s usually only a quarter. You will make them smile. Servers make their living on tips. Leave a big tip and the next time you go you might be treated well. Be generous.

Telling someone you like their work, their outfit or their haircut is the cheapest form of kindness there is. Acts of thoughtfulness generally cost you little and can make a person’s day better. Be Complementary.

Recently, I was at a Dance recital. At intermission, I had gone out to get something to drink and they were selling iced, bottled water for a dollar a bottle as a fund raiser. Unfortunately, the cooler was on the floor. Being as I have a balance issue, I asked the person in front of me to get me a bottle of water. She handed me the one they had gotten for themselves and bent over to get one for herself. When she did this I slid my way around and cut in front of her. I can only imagine what she was thinking. When it came time to pay, I paid for both of our drinks.

One good turn deserves another. Kindness starts with just one person holding open a door for another one and that person passing it on.