On the Radio

“Radio is the theater of the mind; television is the theater of the mindless,”  Steve Allen

In the mail from Amazon.com came the Mumford and Sons CD “Babel” (great from start to finish and even including a bonus cover of Paul Simon’s “The Boxer”), ordered December 30, by whom, there’s no hint.  Neither Angie and Dave nor Bob and Niki purchased it, so I am mystified as to the gift giver.  Otherwise the weekend consisted mainly of gaming at Dave’s ( Tom brought Agricola, which the three of us played for the first time together) and watching NFL playoff games (none went the way I wanted, with the Redskins defeat especially tough since they had a 14-point lead and probably would have prevailed had QB RG III been healthy).

Arriving at WVLP radio station in Valparaiso Monday for a guest appearance on Jerry Davich and Karen Walker’s “Out to Lunch” show, I said hello to friendly station manager Gregg Kovach.  He introduced me to Tony Rose, who was handling the dials and has his own country music show following “Out to Lunch.”  An IU Northwest grad, he worked with Tom Higgins and Ted Thorn on Gary’s WWCA starting in 1970, my first year in Indiana. Higgins and Thorn were local legends during the postwar years when a vast audience tuned in their station for news of local happenings as well as national and world events.

Jerry asked what brought me to the Region (a job) and why I stayed my entire teaching career (diverse student body, collegial faculty, research interests in Gary, steelworkers, Latinos, and the rich ethnic variety in Northwest Indiana).  Discussing big local news stories of 2012, I mentioned gun-related homicides, multi-million-dollar renovations at Marquette Park, and the proliferation of charter schools, [potentially crippling to public education.  Jerry mentioned dining in Cedar Lake and being ignorant of the town’s rich history. He had never heard of Midway Ballroom, where big bands performed in the Forties, Rock and Roll shows attracted thousands in the Fifties and Sixties, and country rock prevailed in the Seventies.  Davich recounted visiting the Calumet Regional Archives and being impressed that the holdings were not just musty old books.  I commented that while some think of history as long ago occurrences, as an oral history, I believed it important to examine contemporary events before people’s memories fade.

Davich brought along a book of pop culture trivia questions.  I knew Ricardo Montalbán was the Chrysler Cordoba spokesman who purred the words “soft Corinthian leather,” recognized that Angie Dickenson played Pepper Anderson on “Police Woman” (when the LAPD presented her with an honorary doctorate, she quipped, “Now you can call me Dr. Pepper”), but struck out on who sang “Pretty Little Filly” – it was Mr. Ed, the talking horse.  I told Jerry that in Trivial Pursuit, Baby Boomer edition, I was better at sports and history than arts and entertainment.  Davich also had a list of words most frequently Googled in 2012 to ascertain their meaning.  Socialism was at the top, no doubt due to troglodyte critics claiming Obama was of that persuasion.  Malarkey was in the top ten, due, I pointed out, to Joe Biden employing the Irish putdown in his vice-presidential debate with Paul Ryan.

After the radio show I saw “Parental Guidance,” at least the beginning. Despite mediocre reviews, I like Billy Crystal, Bette Midler, and Marisa Tomei as does Toni, and thought I could see if she might wish to see it.  It was so lame and contrived that I switched theaters to “This Is 40,” almost as enjoyable the second time around.  It was fun anticipating Melissa McCarthy’s rant about Paul Rudd touching her breast after he poked her on the shoulder (“I have high nipples,” she claims).

My old bowling buddy Bill Batalis is near death from the effects of a just discovered large brain tumor.  After Bill’s brother told me his room number, I visited him at St. Anthony Hospice in Crown Point, where he was in a coma.  I told how much I admired him and that I loved him.  A few years ago after he bowled a 165, 30 pins over his average, I called him “my idol.”  Even though the ravages of age had slowed his ball to a crawl, it almost always found its way to the pocket.  The 85 year-old bachelor seemed to respond slightly when I held his hand, and I took heart when a nurse said that hearing is one of the last senses to go. 

The nurse recognized me as her professor from 25 years ago.  Her maiden name was Pennie Bozetarnik, and she wrote an article for Steel Shavings that’s in volume 18, the Thirties issue.  She interviewed Anita Smith, whose family lived in Whiting and struggled to survive the Great Depression.  The Salvation Army provided them with food baskets and clothing, and diet staples included soup, beans, and day old bakery rolls.  Carless, the family took the trolley to window shop at Woolworth’s and Goldblatts in downtown Hammond.  Anita married Chuck Ballon at age 16.  He was a big Cubs fan and while working on an ore boat asked Anita to follow the team and update her on how the team did when he was gone

Hammond trolley from blog of Richard Barnes (hhs59.com)

The “Lives” essay in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine is by a woman whose husband died of cancer at age 36.  Four years later, without checking what was inside, she sold the contents of his storage locker for a hundred dollars to a stranger with M.O.B. tattooed on his hand.  It comes from a Tupac Shakur lyric and either means Member of Bloods, an L.A. gang, or, as 2Pac claimed, Money Over Bitches.  Either way, it’s something the guy was ashamed of. I felt sorry for the author, whose pain prevented her from treasuring a chance to go through her late husband’s possessions.

Over the weekend Ron Cohen met Katie Turk, the niece of Jim Jontz who won the award for best Indiana Magazine of History article of 2012.  Coincidentally, grad student Brandy Eddy just started an archives internship and will be processing the papers of former Congressman Jontz.  The lead article in the latest IMH is by IUN’s Eva Mendieta about an East Chicago mutual aid society started by Mexican Americans during the 1920s.  She did a great job and made use of information in several of my publications, including Forging a Community, Maria’s Journey, and Weasel, Louie Vasquez’s autobiography.

I bowled two practice games with teammate John Uylocki (a Hungarian name pronounced like "you lock key"), who gave me several excellent pointers, including keeping my elbow close to the body and bringing the ball further back to increase velocity. After I outscored him in the second game, his son Ray joked about the student beating the teacher.

This Is 40

 “The first forty years of life give us the text; the next thirty supply the commentary.”  Nineteenth-century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer

Judd Apatow’s new flick, “This Is 40,” was so enjoyable I plan to see it again.  What initially intrigued me was Graham Parker playing himself as an aging singer still on top of his game but no longer commercially viable. A Rumour reunion concert flops although Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day shows up and Parker tells him that one of his songs is being used in “Glee.”   The supporting cast included favorites Lena Durham, Albert Brooks, and Melissa McCarthy, hilarious as an angry mom confronting her son’s principal.  One of her memorable lines goes, “This is what happens when you corner a rat.  I’ll chew through you.”  Megan Fox appears in various stages on undress and mingles at a bar with several Philadelphia Flyers, including Scott Hartnell and Ian Laperierre (even inserting Lappy’s false teeth in her mouth).  A sequel of sorts to Apatow’s “Knocked Up” but without Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl, Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann) turn 40 at a time of financial uncertainty in their lives but manage (barely) to overcome doubts entering what once was called middle age about their marriage.  A few critics faulted Apatow for not including any black characters.

I can’t recall my fortieth birthday in 1982 (back then I did not keep a journal, much less a blog), but my hair had not yet turned grey and softball and tennis skills had not diminished noticeably.  I had made full professor, thanks to books on Jacob A. Riis and the city of Gary.  Michael Jordan was in college, Princess Di birthed Prince William, Flock of Seagulls was turning out hit songs, “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial” was the top grossing movie, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” debuted on MTV, and Ronald Reagan was in his destructive second year as President.  I published the eighth edition of Steel Shavings, a slim, 48-page volume on the “Roaring Twenties in the Calumet Region.”

At lunch Anne Balay and I shared anecdotes about how the holidays went with our respective houseguests.  Anne took several folks on a tour of Gary.  They managed to get inside the abandoned City Methodist Church and came across a Christmas tree with a few decorations and presents underneath – evidence of a homeless family seeking temporary sanctuary in the once grand place of worship, perhaps?  The lady friend of Anne’s dad, who has early Alzheimer’s, tried to convince her daughters what a mellow fellow he was.  It reminded me of Charles Thomas’s hospice caregiver, who came to our high school reunion after he died to meet his old friends.  We all knew him as a dour curmudgeon, but she had an entirely different view of him.

Joining us in IUN’s Redhawk Café were CIS professors Bill Dorin and Bhaskara Kopparty, who is married to popular Business professor Surekha Rao, who had a prominent role in IUN’s Asia Day.  Kopparty previously taught at Indiana State in Terre Haute.  I visited the Eugene V. Debs house adjacent to campus while at an oral history conference in a session with Lance Trusty, Steve McShane, and George Roberts.  I particularly remembered the mural depicting Debs’s accomplishments on the top floor and his old-fashioned desks with many cubbyholes.  The Victorian house fell on hard times and at one point was used as a fraternity house and then apartment units until made a National Historic Landmark in 1966.  On the top floor was a mural depicting Debs’s many accomplishments.

Thinking about what Jerry Davich wants to discuss on his Monday “Out To Lunch” show – looking ahead to 2013 in Northwest Indiana while using “what history has taught us” – I decided to mention the unutilized potential of three of the Region’s resources: proximity to Lake Michigan and Chicago and the talents of its young people (too many of which move away and never return).

Former student Nancy Hrnjak George, whom I ran into last summer at an outdoor concert, sent me a Congratulations card over winning the Hoosier Historian award.  In a note beginning “Hello Dr. Jim,” she said, “You so deserve this award.”  She lives in Ogden Dunes, and maybe if I’m invited back to talk to their historical society, I’ll try to get her and her husband to come.

On Ron Cohen’s recommendation I saw Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained,” about a former slave (Jamie Foxx) who teams up with a white bounty hunter in order to rescue his wife from a nefarious plantation owner (Leonardo DiCaprio).  Samuel L. Jackson is amazing as faithful house slave Stephen, and Bruce Dern and Don Johnson make interesting cameo appearances.  Tarantino included references to the 1966 spaghetti western “Django” as well as the 1975 flick “Mandingo.”  Some critics jumped on the frequent use of the “n” word, while others claimed its message was that white people are evil.  Certainly what some called “the Peculiar Institution” was indeed a scourge on our country.

On HBO is Cameron Crowe’s 2011 documentary “The Union” about the making of the album of that name, a collaborative effort by Elton John and Leon Russell produced by T-Bone Burnett.  Especially fascinating are clips showing Elton and Leon performing during the Seventies.  Elton still looks good for his age, as does Booker T. Jones, who plays on a couple tracks.  The same cannot be said for Russell, two months my junior born April 2, 1942, but once he is at the piano performing, he magically comes to life.  Starting out as a session musician for such groups as Jan and Dean and Gary Lewis and the Playboys, Russell organized Joe Cocker’s “Mad Dogs and Englishmen” tour and played a large role in the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh.  Seeing some of the old musicians reminded me of a cartoon Don Price of codgers arguing whether to put on the Beatles or the Rolling Stones.

David Barry’s year in review mentioned that the reality show “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo makes “Jersey Shore,” which went off the air after six “hideous” seasons, look like “Hamlet.”  Poking fun of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s efforts to clean up pro football, Barry writes that he was investigating allegations that some Saints players did not sing during the National Anthem.  “On a sad note,” he continues, “beloved entertainer Dick Clark passes away, although he will continue to host his popular New Year’s Eve special.”  In fact, ABC still called the show “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” and hosts Ryan Seacrest and Jenny McCarthy paid tribute to the former “Bandstand” host.  Show highlights included performances by Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, and Psy, whom Berry had satirized as a bizarre Korean who prances around on an imaginary horse.  Barry also ridiculed New York mayor Bloomberg’s campaign against Big Gulp soft drink containers, Clint Eastwood delivering sentence fragments to a chair at the Republican convention, and CIA director David Petraeus engaging in “unauthorized covert action” with Paula Broadwell.