Then and Now

“As albums go, Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs” was probably my favorite of the year, with Ra Ra Riot’s “The Orchard,” The New Pornographers’ “Together” and Titus Andronicus’ “The Monitor” as close runners-up.” Robert Blaszkiewicz”

I put on Robert’s favorite songs of 2010 CD to see how the selections hold up a decade later. Most seem particularly fitting in this, our plague year.  Robert led off with “A More Perfect Union,” by Titus Andronicus, the Civil War theme hopefully not a harbinger of things to come with a sociopath in the White House sowing sedition.  Spoon’s “Trouble Comes Running” follows, then “Crash Years” by New Pornographers and, two tracks later, Cee Lo Green’s “Fuck You,” served with a figurative raised middle finger. The middle verse goes:

Yeah I'm sorry, I can't afford a Ferrari,
But that don't mean I can't get you there.
I guess he's an Xbox and I'm more Atari,
About the way you play your game ain't fair.

 

Robert always broadens my musical horizons, and 2010 was no exception, with “Boyfriend” by Best Coast, “10 Mile Stereo” by Beach House, and “Glass Printer” by The Besnard Lakes. I hadn’t recalled that the 2010 Mix contained “The Weekenders” by The Hold Steady, one of my favorite bands since Alissa’s husband Josh introduced me to “South Town Girls,”; also, Arcade Fire, whose 2010 “The Suburbs” CD, which contains “Rococo,” I presently have on heavy rotation. The finale: “Talk on Indolence” by the Avett Brothers, whom Robert and I saw at Merrillville’s late, lamented Holiday Star with the Nitty Ditty Dirt Band opening for them. “Talk on Indolence” could be a lamentation for our current time

Well I've been lockin' myself up in my house for some time now

Readin' and writin' and readin' and thinkin'

And searching for reasons and missing the seasons.

The Autumn, the Spring, the Summer, the snow.

The record will stop and the record will go

John and Lorraine Shearer discovered numerous Petroskey stones during a recent expedition to Lake Michigan by Sleeping Bear Dunes. They live in Traverse City in one of the few areas where the pebble-shaped fossilized coral can be found.  According to Wikipedia, “Such stones were formed as a result of glaciation in which sheets of ice plucked stones from the bedrock, grinding off their rough edges and depositing them.” It is the state stone of Michigan.
Neil Goodman sculpture at IUN

On campus during Indiana University Northwest’s registration for Fall semester, I found my building and the library virtually deserted.  The process is apparently all automated.  In contrast, when I began my IUN teaching career, registration was a chaotic affair with heavy faculty participation; in order to successfully enroll for a particular course, a student had to maneuver in lines in order to pick up IBM computer card from department representatives situated in a huge room filled with students, faculty, and harried Admissions staff hoping to provide guidance to bewildered freshmen.  Working registration, I socialized with colleagues whom I might not otherwise have been with at any other function.

 

Numerous people identified with my description of past registration.  Janet French wrote: “That’s how it was at VU when I began in 1974.  In the gym heavy canvass was spread out on the floor.  If you didn’t get in line quick enough, for a class, you lost out. Chaos, but I miss that.”  IUN grad liked the socializing aspect of registration, adding: “It appears that part of the college experience has disappeared.”  Former IUN History professor Jerry Pierce recalled:

    Had something similar when I started at Oregon. We had to go to the basketball court in the arena, get cards, and stand in line. While waiting for a science class that was filling too fast, I struck up a conversation with a grad student at the Religious studies table and decided to register for Intro to the study of the Bible, which set me on my career trajectory. And it was a much better class than Physics of light and color.

 

First day of Fall semester at IU Northwest was unlike any I can remember. Normally the parking lots are filled to overflowing; not this year. No sign of student groups recruiting new members at tables set up near the student union. The cafeteria was almost devoid of customers.  With so many online offerings, less than 20 percent of courses are in classrooms, and the Zoom website was so overwhelmed, it crashed for a couple hours. Those students I encountered were wearing masks inside buildings but not always while outside. Only a few professors appeared to be around, but Philosopher Gianluca Di Muzio asked if I’d attend his freshman seminar next month to talk about the history of IUN, a course component. I agreed but am unsure whether I’ll need to keep a mask on during the entire 75 minutes.  I plan to give students my latest Steel Shavings beforehand, something that sparked discussion when I spoke in Jon Becker’ class last year. I’ll begin by mentioning that IU is celebrating its bicentennial, IUN its hundredth anniversary, and that I have been at the university exactly half that time - 50 years. In 1970 fully a third of the classes were in the evening, and most students were from steelworker families and first-generation college students whose parents or grandparents were immigrants.

My Oral History Association conference session is all set, chaired by Dr. Annette Henry of the University of British Columbia, who will also speak about two Black-Canadian women she interviewed.  Also on the panel is Izumi Niki, who will discuss Japanese-Canadian Kishizo Kimura, a west coast fisherman interned shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, similar to what happened in the United States.  Some 22,000 Japanese-Canadians, 90 percent of them Canadian citizens, were order to evacuate British Columbia and move inland into relocation camps.  The Canadian government also deported others and would not allow those relocated to return to the west coast until 1949, four years after World War II ended.  What is unique about Kimura is that he served on government bodies charged with disposing of the property holdings, including fishing vessels, of people he formerly had worked with and kept n extensive diary, which has been edited and published under the title “Witness to Loss.”  Were it not for the pandemic, I’d be looking forward to meeting Annette Henry and Izumi Niki.  As it is, we’ll be at home rather than in Baltimore.

 

David Foster Wallace’s “Infinite Jest” (1996) takes place at a future time when years will have a corporate sponsor similar to sports stadiums.  Thus, most of the action takes place in the “Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment.”  Other years are named for the Whopper, Perdue Wonder chicken, and, my favorite, the Trial-sized Dove Bar.

The Republican convention is un-watchable.  Among the despicable things that has transpired is approving a platform branding the Southern Poverty Law Center, which catalogs the nation’s hate groups, a “radical organization.”  Co-founded by Julian Bond and dedicated to the rule of law and ideals of Martin Luther King, it is an organization that we have supported for decades.

The Republican convention is un-watchable.  Among the despicable things that has transpired is approving a platform branding the Southern Poverty Law Center, which catalogs the nation’s hate groups, a “radical organization.”  Co-founded by Julian Bond and dedicated to the rule of law and ideals of Martin Luther King, it is an organization that we have supported for decades.

Pink Houses

“There’s winners and there’s losers

But they ain’t no big deal

’Cause the simple man, baby, pays the thrills

The bills and the pills that kill”  

John Mellencamp, “Pink Houses”

 John Mellencamp in 2009

Hoosier bard John “Cougar” Mellencamp from Seymour, Indiana, has represented the common man for nearly a half-century in such heartland songs as “Jack and Diane” and “Small Town.”  The compositions capture the utopian dreams of youth and, ultimately, coming to grips with life’s disappointments.  While in Voodoo Chili and now when jamming on acoustic guitar, Dave often sings “Pink Houses,” whose opening lines capture the bittersweet realities of everyday existence:

There's a black man with a black cat
Living in a black neighborhood
He's got an interstate running' through his front yard
You know, he thinks, he's got it so good
And there's a woman in the kitchen cleaning' up evening slop
And he looks at her and says:
“Hey darling, I can remember when you could stop a clock”

Born with spina bifida and married at 17 to a pregnant girlfriend, Mellencamp spent a few years in an alcohol and drug haze until foreswearing all such stimulants save for cigarettes. He told Rolling Stoneinterviewer David Fricke: “When I was high on pot, it affected me so drastically that when I was in college there were times when I wouldn't get off the couch. I would lie there, listening to Roxy Music,right next to the record player so I wouldn't have to get up to flip the record over. I'd listen to this record, that record. There would be four or five days like that when I would be completely gone.” Mellencamphad the name Johnny Cougar foisted upon him by a management company that otherwise refused to release his first album. He finally got to use his real name when the 1983 album “Uh-Huh” was released, containing “Pink Houses,” “Crumblin’ Down,” and “Authority Song.”  The latter Mellencamp called his version of “I Fought the Law.”  It contains these lyrics:

They like to get you in a compromising position
They like to get you there and smile in your face
They think, they're so cute when they got you in that condition
Well I think, it's a total disgrace

Realizing that “authority always wins,”the song’s hero asks a preacher to give him strength to win “Round 5”: 

He said: “You don't need no strength, you need to grow up, son”
I said: “Growing up leads to growing old and then to dying,
And dying to me don't sound like all that much fun”

On the local news came a report that traffic on the Frank Borman Expressway (80/94) was backed up for miles because a semi had overturned and spilled honey across all westbound lanes near the Illinois state line.  Next day’s NWI Times headline read: “After honey spill, traffic wasn’t sweet.”  Former Post-Trib headline writer Dean Bottorff could have done better. The mess would have affected my commute to IU Northwest had I not decided to spend the day playing duplicate at Banta Senior Center in Valparaiso at a game directed by Charlie Halberstadt.  Even though I hadn’t been there since last year, I recognized everyone except Norm and Mary Ann Filipiak, the eventual winners.  Mary Ann had buttons from regional events in Fort Wayne, Kalamazoo, and Chicago; Norm asked how many master points I had.  Only around 20, I replied.  I bid farewell to Terry Brendel, on his way to a 50th wedding anniversary cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Seattle.On the local news came a report that traffic on the Frank Borman Expressway (80/94) was backed up for miles because a semi had overturned and spilled honey across all westbound lanes near the Illinois state line.  

 H.B. Snyder

Dee Browne’s partner was Sharon Snyder, who recognized my name as being connected to IUN’s Calumet Regional Archives.  Sharon’s father-in-law was formerPost-Tribeditor/publisher H.B. Snyder.  The family had donated materials to the Archives, including travel columns Snyder’s wife had dispatched from locales all over the world.  Sharon had known Garrett Cope, whose parents had were cook and chauffeur for the man Mayor George Chacharis, his arch-enemy, facetiously called “The Duke of Dune Acres.”  In fact, her husband, Henry Burgess Snyder, Jr. (known as B.G.)  and Garrett had been childhood playmates.  Sharon was still in contact with Garrett’s widow Barbara and recently attended a music recital featuring Garret, Jr., whom Sharon referred to as G.G.  I told Sharon that my kids were in summer musicals that Garrett directed and that he did valuable community outreach work for IUN well into his eighties.  We all loved him.  He had nicknames for everybody; he called me Jim Bob.

above, Anna Robbins; below, Riley, Charlie, Mr. Pinkham, Kody, Jimbo

Sweet Anna Robbins passed away at age 85.  Anna played bridge at Banta Center three times a week and in Florida during winter months.  She often brought delicious strawberries and tomatoes to games when they were in season. Barb Walczak’s Newsletterstated that Anna was a winner on Jeopardy– I’d love to know the details. According to the obit, Anna loved to play golf and travel with daughter Kathy.  They visited Portugal a total of 17 times. The Newsletteralso contained remarks from Oregon-Davis students who participated in a duplicate game at Banta Center, including these from Riley A.:

    I enjoy bridge club because it is challenging and fun at the same time. I love doing math puzzles, so this was a great opportunity. I’m in eighth grade and I’m going to be playing bridge on our math club team for many years to come. I like how challenging it is and the way you have to focus. When I heard about our school having a math club, I was really excited and was the first person to join. It was really fun to have a team just dedicated to math and the card game of bridge. 

John Quincy Adams 

I submitted a generally positive review of Ted Galen Carpenter’s “Gullible Superpower: U.S. Support for Bogus Foreign Democratic Movements,” published by CATO Institute, a libertarian-leaning think tank.  In our unsettled time of Trump saber-rattling regarding events in Venezuela and Iran, Carpenter’s call for restraint is a welcome palliative.  He advocates that our policymakersheed the timeless advice of Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, who stated on July 4, 1821: “[America] is a well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all.  She is the champion and vindicator only of her own.”

Talking on the phone to Phil Arnold, I mentioned being in touch with our Upper Dublin classmate Dave Seibold.  He recalled that Seibold drove a Packard that was four different colors and that before a formal dance, he used shoe polish to darken a stripe on his sneakers because he didn’t own any dress shoes.  Dave replied: “

 Just can’t believe Phil would remember stuff like that.  Wow! The Packard was my father's car. It was new or less than 3 years old. My dad would get a new car every 3 to 3 1/2 years. It was Packard's top of the line with all the newest gadgets in its day... automatic load levelers, antenna that went up and down automatically, pop the trunk from the inside, etc. Two of the colors were black and yellow along with a lot of chrome. I will guess it was a 1957 or 1958?  The shoes had a white stripe on the outside of each foot. They were designed that way. My mother was not going to buy formal shoes that I would only wear one time so she put shoe polish over the white to try to hide it. Guess it did not work since Phil, and others, must have seen it and remembered.  Phil Arnold lived across the street from Wentz's Turkey Farm and Sue Schofield lived around the corner.  Phil, Bob Elliott, me and I tried to start a male cheer leading squad for the basketball games.

I recall the turkey farm.  Wally and Pam Illingworth’s dad worked there.

above, Family Cafe in Knox; below, Tyler Grocery by Kay Westhues

Photojournalist Kay Westhues thanked me for the latest Steel Shavings, which contains shots of old postage stamp vending machines that now dispense lottery tickets in Lake Station taprooms, including He Ain’t Here Lounge. Her photo-zine of “14 Places to Eat” in Hoosier small towns contains places in Kouts and her hometown of Walkerton.  Kay and I met at an oral history conference in Finland, where her brother Mike, a singer-songwriter and guitarist with the progressive rock band Wigwam, lived for many years.  I told her about my Finnish musical connection – Joe Davidow, whom Dave and I stayed with in Helsinki after the conference.

Robert Blaszkiewicz expressed these thoughts, as Dick Lugar was laid to rest:

    Some years back, in a meeting with Rep. Pete Visclosky, the subject turned to the work Sen. Richard Lugar was doing to secure nuclear weapons in the former Soviet republics. “He's doing God's work,” Visclosky said solemnly. It's a quote that stuck with me, an acknowledgement of service and the higher calling that politics could be. Years later, that quote came to mind as I read the email from Richard Mourdock's campaign announcing his primary challenge of Lugar. A passage quoted Mourdock saying something about Lugar not spending enough time in Indiana eating pork tenderloin sandwiches.I really had a visceral reaction to that. I mean, here was someone who was being slammed for not spending enough time in Indiana when in reality, he was spending time overseas, trying to make sure loose nukes didn't wind up in the hands of a terrorist or tyrant. You could easily argue that no U.S. senator did more to keep the world safe than Lugar did.
    Surely voters would see through this act, I thought. But then I began to see the polling turning against Lugar. And a majority of county GOP chairmen came out in favor of Mourdock. It was a clear signal that the priority for the party was partisanship, not accomplishment. When Lugar needed friends, few backed him. In fact, just about the only major Republican figure in Indiana who offered his endorsement was Gov. Mitch Daniels, who was soon to be out of politics. Mike Pence, Dan Coats, the rest of them didn't have the guts to stand up for the obviously better candidate.  Instead, Mourdock imploded on a debate stage in October and Joe Donnelly took the seat for the Democrats, taking the place of Indiana's longest serving senator.
    And that is why words from partisans like the vice president, who now praise Lugar in death, ring so hollow. The echoes of his statesmanship have long since faded, and this is what we're left with.

Sharp Dressed

“Black shades, white gloves,

Lookin’ sharp, lookin’ for love.

They come runnin’ just as fast as they can

‘cause every girl crazy ‘bout a sharp dressed man.”

         “Sharp Dressed Man,” ZZTop

Miranda's post: officially won "most over-dressed" 

For Phil, Robert Blaszkiewicz, and Jimmy Satkoski’s fiftieth birthday celebration, young women were dressed up to the nines while most guys opted for casual.  Our upstairs bathroom that afternoon smelled like a beauty salon, not that I’m complaining. Both Dave and I wore Helsinki t-shirts. It was perfect weather, and I spent much of the evening outside on the Shorewood clubhouse porch, where a nearby band played Jimmy Buffet and the Grateful Dead and fireworks periodically went off from several directions.  I talked to the Bayers about Dave and my Helsinki stay with Mike’s brother Joe and wife Jaana.  John English told me he was a high school exchange student in Tampere, Finland.  Two security guards observed teenagers playing cornhole and appeared to sniff their drinks to ascertain if they contained alcohol.  Dave and Jimmy Satkoski joked that had it been them at that age, the answer probably would have been yes. Dave welcomed them and by evening’s end they were eating birthday cake.

 Bayer family

Josh Leffingwell and Lane gang

Lisa and Fritz Teuscher with Phil

sharp dressed men; photos by Alissa Lane

Once karaoke got underway with Dave as m.c., things inside got lively, starting with Andrew English doing “Sweet Caroline.” Kirsten’s nine-year-old son Nick requested Imagine Dragons.  Miranda and Tori did a rousing Chainsmokers number that got everyone up dancing, and Dave persuaded former LINT bandmates Jimmy Satkoski and Hans Rees to harmonize on a couple REM songs.  Spotting Tom and Darcy Wade getting ready to leave, Dave put on ZZTop’s “Sharp Dressed Man” and Tom, Dave, Phil, and I did our by-now polished routine where we pretend to be playing guitars in sync.  A high point was Phil doing Clarence “Frogman” Henry’s “Ain’t Got No Home” and “My Chaw,” with lyrics he made up in high school to the tune of “My Guy.” His sisters dragged Anthony out onto the dance floor, but once there, he was a hit with the girls.  Afterwards, Toni brought home so much pizza that I’ll be having it for lunch all week and then some.  On Saturday I had made bacon and blueberry pancakes for our houseguests. On Sunday Toni cooked omelets.

Nephew Beamer and family drove in from Tremont, Maryland for the occasion, and at Chesterton’s European Market seven-year-old Nick observed a man make clever balloon creations. Beamer introduced us to the board game Gravwell, which we liked so much we played twice, with Phil winning each time.  Gravwell publisher Cryptozoic Entertainment provided this overview:

After being pulled through a black hole, four spaceships find themselves in a dimension with physics never before encountered and without fuel. By mining and collecting basic elements from the space dust and asteroids in the area, you can muster just enough thrust to move your ship. But in this bizarre dimension, gravity is not working like how you’ve been taught. Your ship will typically travel towards the nearest object… which is usually another ship… and those ships are moving. Sometimes forwards, and sometimes backwards. It’s a real mind—bender!

Cubs took 2 of 3 from Cincinnati to complete a 7-1 home stand.  In the rubber game, Jason Heywood, my favorite player, scored the lead run from first on a single by Javier Baez, something I hadn’t seen since a mad dash by Jose Cardenal during the 1970s.  Heywood had taken off for second on a hit and run and scampered home when the centerfielder took his time getting the ball back to the infield.

 Curtis Hill

Indiana lawmakers, led by Governor Eric Holcomb, are urging Republican attorney-general Curtis Hill to resign after four women accused the African American of groping them on March 15 while drunk at a party celebrating the conclusion of the legislative session.  He allegedly gave one a back rub, hugged another, slid his hand down one’s back under her clothes, and grabbed a fourth’s buttocks. The former Elkhart County prosecutor denies the accusations.  If reports of the egregious behavior are true, one wonders why colleagues did not intervene before things went so far.  Could it be because of his race?  In 2016 Hill garnered more votes than any office holder in Indiana history. Perhaps some Republicans viewed him as a threat and welcomed his comeuppance.

I dropped off my latest Steel Shavingsat Jackie Gipson’s house.  She was pleased to see Mayor Hatcher on the cover. Jackie had a house full, as her sister’s family and relatives from Atlanta were visiting.  I stumbled descending the porch steps, my right knee still weak from dancing to “Sharp dressed Man.”  I think Dave played a long version, and, of course, I stuck with it to the very end.

I invited Dave Serynek to be my book club guest and told him to arrive early if he wanted free bar food.  Gino’s did not disappoint, serving sausage with fried onions. A record crowd turned out to hear Rich Miroc talk about Chief Justice John Marshall.  I restricted my remarks to defending Jefferson for regarding Justice Samuel Chase as a threat to free speech and Aaron Burr as a scoundrel up to no good after killing Andrew Hamilton in a duel and heading west with several dozen armed filibusterers.  I introduced Dave to Roy Dominguez, Lorenzo Arredondo, and Brian and Connie Barnes; he enjoyed himself so much he added his name to Joy Anderson’s email address list.

Behind That Curtain

“Mind, like parachute, only function when open,” Charlie Chan

Ron Cohen loaned me Yunte Huang’s “Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History” (2010).  Charlie Chan was an American original, a film stereotype both demeaning and admirable. Huang concluded: “Charlie Chan, America’s most identifiable Chinaman, epitomizes both the racist heritage and the creative genius of this nation’s culture.”  He continued:

Anyone who believes that Chan is Chinese would also probably believe that the fortune cookie is a Chinese invention.  He may have slanted eyes, a chubby and inscrutable face, and a dark goatee, but he prefers Western suits and wears a Panama hat.  Chan is voluble and enjoys spouting fortune-cookie witticisms that are alternatively befuddling and enlightening.  This is the strength of his character: his beguiling charm, his Confucian analects turned into singsong Chinatown blues.

In an Appendix are a list of, in Huang’s words, “Charlie Chanisms,”some profound, others enigmatic, often uttered in films (there were 44 in all, the most starring Swede Warner Oland) in pidgin English like heard in Hawaii.  Here's a sample:

* Biggest mistake in history made by people who didn’t think.

* Caution is good life insurance.

* No poison deadlier than ink.

* The wise elephant does not seek to ape the butterfly.

* Wrong pew perhaps, but maybe correct church.

* Death is the black camel that kneels at every gate.

What I found particularly fascinating in "Charlie Chan" was learning about real-life Honolulu detective Chang Apana, on whom the novels of Earl Derr Biggers were based, including “Behind That Curtain” (1928).  Apana’s father arrived in Hawaii as a coolie contract-laborer destined for a sugarcane plantation.  It was Chinese sugar masters  (tong see) who first harvested sugar from Hawaiian canes, which rescued the island kingdom’s economy after the collapse of the sandalwood trade and led to the importation of tens of thousands of Asian laborers. The talented Apana rose to become a paniola (cowboy) on the Parker Ranch on Hawaii’s “Big Island” and around the age of 20 was hired as a stableman for the Samuel Wilder estate in Honolulu.  Wilder’s daughter Helen founded a chapter of the Humane Society and hired Chang Apana to investigate cases of cruelty toward animals.  Thus his legendary career as a bullwhip-toting law enforcement officer commenced.

 Chang Apana

“In the hierarchical world of late-nineteenth-century Hawaii,” Huang concluded, “an uneducated yellow man like Chang Apana would not have stood a ‘Chinaman’s chance’ without luck or help.” Apana benefitted from his relationship to feudal barons (the Parkers and Wilders), a group that dominated Hawaii’s politics and economy. In colonial societies, Huang asserted, bonds between servant and master were often more reciprocal than in under capitalism. Thus, in his words, “the feisty and compassionate Helen Wilder gave Apana, a humble coolie’s son and an illiterate Chinaman who spoke broken English, a chance to show what he was truly made of.”

Through Jack London’s colorful character Koolau the Leper in “The House of Pride and Other Tales of Hawaii” (1912) Huang conveys how haole(white) ministers and traders and their predatory ancestors gained an iron grip on power in the Pacific paradise, often through intermarriage with King Kamehameha’s progeny:

They came like lambs, speaking softly. Well might they speak softly, for we were many and strong, and all the islands were ours.  As I say, they spoke softly.  They were of two kinds.  The one kind asked our permission, our gracious permission, to preach to us the word of God.  The other kind asked our permission, our gracious permission, to trade with us. That was the beginning.  Today all the islands are theirs, all the land, all the cattle – everything is theirs.

 Miranda at La Rambla, Barcelona, and in Valencia with Carly, Alissa and Josh

Miranda and Carly stopped in Barcelona after visiting Alissa and Josh in Valencia.  Toni and I were there ten years ago with the Migoskis and Hagelbergs for a Mediterranean cruise. In a room adjacent to the hotel lobby on our final day someone snatched Toni’s purse that contained our passports, but she shouted an alarm and followed in quick pursuit.  The thief tossed it away to avoid capture, and a passerby told Toni where to retrieve it. Close call!  We had been warned of pickpockets hanging out at La Rambla, Barcelona’s colorful promenade, but these thieves were brazen indeed.

 Quinn Buckner

Former IU basketball star Quinn Buckner, who led the Hoosiers to an undefeated season and the 1976 NCAA championship, is on the Board of Trustees and will attend a reception on our campus.  It’s on the day before Dave and I fly to Finland, but I need to print out our boarding passes that evening anyway.  Trustee Philip Eskew, a former football and track star at DePauw University and distinguished physician, responded to receivingSteel Shavings,volume 47, with this note: “You continue to amaze me, what a terrific collection of thoughts and observations.  Capturing the history of the Region is invaluable and I salute you for your effort.” 

The final question on Jeopardy was confusing.  The category was U.S. Quotes, and the clue stated: In a 1789 letter, Benjamin Franklin relates the durability of the new Constitution to these 2 things.”  I guessed checks and balances, but the answer was death and taxes.  Franklin’s 1789 statement to French scientist Jean-Baptiste Le Roy reads, “Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Hardly a case of cause and effect.  No wonder nobody knew the answer.

Hearing about Ron Cohen and my new edition of “Gary: A Pictorial History,” Naomi Millender made a pitch to include a photo by Korey Caroll depicting a Gary historic tour that took place on June 19, 2017.  The brainchild of VISTA workers Sam Salvesen and Alex Koerner and sponsored by the Gary Redevelopment Department,  what some nicknamed the Gary Ruins tour commenced at the original Gary Land Company Building.  The goal is to turn City Methodist Church and other vacant properties into tourist sites and urban gardens.  Members of the Gary Historical and Cultural Society, including Naomi Millender, greeted participants. I was nearby at an IUN booth manned by Diversity director James Wallace giving away Steel Shavings.  Dolly Millender (Naomi’s mother), founder of the Gary Historical and Cultural Society, was on the cover.

Kirsten Bayer-Petras wondered why “Whiter Shade of Pale” isn’t on other band’s cover lists. Matthew Petras responded : “The old Hammond organs are too large and expensive.”  Jessica Black Smith quipped: “Because too many of us would be in bed by the time it ends.” I wrote: “Nice to see it honored at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony - one of my favorite songs. Heard Procol Harum organist Matthew Fisher sing it at a Ringo Starr Revue at the Holiday Star.”

 Alison Fiori with llama on "Let's Make a Deal"

The phrase “Behind that curtain” brings to mind the popular game show “Let’s Make a Deal” with host Monty Hall that aired continuously for 14 years beginning in 1963.  Contestants could choose one of three curtains and receive whatever was behind it.  At least one was a gag gift, such as a live llama.  Studio audience members dressed in outlandish costumes hoping to be chosen as contestants.  Prize winners commonly broke into ecstatic expressions of joy, often hugging, humping, and kissing Monty full on the mouth, sometimes with tongue.

cartoon from Jim Spicer

Paul Kern called from Florida to talk about IUN doings and said that wife Julie was stressing out over bridge.  Her club plays the same pre-dealt hands as hundreds of others, enabling comparisons with large samples rather than just those played face-to-face.  I’m happy we don’t do it that way at Chesterton.  According to Bridge Bulletin,I have accumulated 12.27 master points and am a Junior Master; I need 7.73 more to become a Club Master and 487.73 to be a Life Master. The magazine printed this pompous remark by Theo Lichtenstein of Tallahassee: “In order for a person to earn the title of LIfe Master, a player should have to earn at least one platinum point.  If that is too hard, then maybe these players don’t deserve to be called Life Masters.”Competing just once a week and only locally, I have no desire to join that exalted rank, rest assured Mr. Lichtenstein. Some people take the game too seriously.

When I arriving at Chesterton YMCA for bridge, I noticed that a crowd had gathered inside the front door.  My partner Dee had fainted.  Chuck Tomes was on the phone to her daughter and YMCA officials had called 911.  With extremely low blood pressure, Dee is subject to fainting spells.  Revived with the help of a wet towel, she insisted on staying.  A half-dozen EMTs thoroughly checked her vital signs and then left.  With five full tables, we proceeded to play nine rounds.  Marcia Carson mentioned fainting right after a youth baseball game that Jim was coaching, and he admitted to completing his postgame speech while a friend in the stands tended to Marcia.  One time Toni got numerous planters warts on her hand removed and insisted that she was fine when the doctor wanted suggesting leaving some for a future visit.  When he finished freezing all of them, she would have fallen to the floor had someone not caught her.

Former Math teacher Chuck Tomes provided some interesting facts to Barb Walczyk for her bridge Newsletter that compared playing cards to a calendar:

*There are 52 weeks in the year and so are there 52 playing cards in a deck. 

*There are 13 weeks in each season, and thus there are 13 cards in each suit. 

*There are 4 seasons in a year and 4 suits in the deck. 

 *There are 12 months in a year, so there are 12 court cards — those with   faces, namely jack, queen, king in each suit — 3 cards each in 4 suits. 

          *The red cards represent the day, while the black cards represent the night. 

 *The spades indicate plowing/working. 

 *The hearts indicate loving thy crops. 

 *The clubs indicate flourishing and growth. 

 *The diamonds indicate reaping the wealth. 

 Mayor Jim Kenney and Eagle Jason Kelce dressed like mummer at Super Bowl celebration

Trump abruptly cancelled a White House visit by the Superbowl champion Philadelphia Eagles after getting wind that a dwindling number of players planned to show up.  He accused them of disrespecting the American flag even though not a single Eagle took a knee nor remained in the locker room during the National Anthem all season.  Fox network showed Eagles kneeling without revealing that they were praying and it not during the playing of the “Star Spangled Banner.” Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney stated that disinviting the players “only proves that our President is not a true patriot, but a fragile egomaniac obsessed with crowd size and afraid of the embarrassment of throwing a party to which no one wants to attend.” Referencing Samuel Johnson’s 1775 assertion that “patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel,” Ray Smock wrote: “Trump is the latest in a long line of “pretended patriots” who uses patriotism not for pride of country and time-honored tradition that unites the American people, but as a weapon to smite his enemies.”

 Max Blaszkiewicz at RFK gravesite

Margaret Gallagher

Bobby Kennedy passed away 50 years ago.  I was asleep when an assassin shot him in California after he won the primary that would have assured him the Democratic Presidential nomination.  How different America’s destiny would have been but for that senseless murder.  Robert Blaszkiewicz posted photos from a 2016 family visit to Kennedy’s gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery.  His mother, Margaret “Maggie” Gallagher, commented: “On this day 50 years ago, I was very pregnant and waiting the birth of my first child, my husband was in the service, so we agreed that if we had a son he would be named after RFK . So that is how Robert got his name.”  Dave, Phil, and Robert became good friends in high school. After the 2000 home invasion Maggie, a hair stylist, cut Dave and my hair, Dave’s by necessity and mine to match.  In my “Survival Journal” published in Steel Shavings,volume 33 (2002) I wrote:

    Got a brush cut from Maggie, who did wonders with Dave after one of the home invaders idiotically chopped off chunks of his hair.  The shorter hair brushed back is my first new look in more than 20 years.  Lots of gray hair came off.  My head felt cleansed. In high school Phil, Dave, and Robert went on a class trip to Mexico accompanied by Robert’s cool grandmother. who was born there.