Among those who know nothing about detective literature or haberdashery the fedora is considered the hat of the hard-boiled detective. Like many public assumptions, this one is wrong. Consider Mike Hammer with his pork pie hat or Shell Scott wearing no hat at all.
The association is due to the time when the classic hard-boiled detective novels were written. In those days most men living in cities wore fedoras. The connection of the gumshoe and the fedora is tantamount with Encyclopedia Brown and trousers.
But be that as it may, the fedora is almost the perfect hat for a man. It always looks good, even when beat up. It is a serious hat. It is a hat that can reflect one's mood. It protects the wearer from sun and rain.
The best colors for the fedora are a dark gray or an olive, both with a sateen hatband. Black fedoras are favored by Chasidic Jews, so, unless one is a son of Abra and one would be better off wearing a pork pie.ham this writer would suggest that you limit one's self to gray or olive. Fedoras or primary colors are just silly
We here at Bloody Nib Manor are ever vigilant for encroachments on the rights of the citizen, and the just plan idiocy and silliness exhibited by the government and popular culture. But even we, despite gallons of coffee and pounds of No-Doze, do require relief from manning the ramparts.
Here are a couple of palate cleansers that amount to not much, but are interesting:
YouTube - DeFord Bailey - Fox ChaseYouTube - Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee - Fox ChaseAnd filling in for your faithful correspondent and the ever-lovely Lady Nib is Andrew Klavan with some interesting comments in the present circus:
Pajamas TV - Klavan on Culture - How To Have SexPajamas TV - Klavan on Culture - FLASHBACK: Is Barack Obama Jesus Christ?
As usual, this writer is behind the curve on breaking news. But your faithful correspondent has decided to make a short notation regarding the recent arrest in Switzerland of the movie director Roman Polanski.
As those who pay attention to the news are well aware, there has been, in France and the entertainment industry, support for the man despite the fact that he raped a thirteen year old girl some thirty years ago. Excuses have been cut and rationalizations have been made for this little creep having raped, via drugs and drink, a thirteen year old girl.
And those who have made excuses for the man's criminal behaviour have stated that his behaviour is excused by his status as an artist.
This modern idea of the artist as outside the norm of civilized behavior originated with the French. Look at the French intellectuals' consideration of De Sade as a serious philosopher, Genet and Celine as a serious novelists, Mumia Abu Jamal and Jack Abbot as serious thinkers. Al the previous mentioned men were criminals, but they could write well.. Ergo, the ability to write well means that the writer's talent overrides his criminality. And the same attitude holds true for the intelligestia's support for the Polish pedophile midget.
In other words, we live by the law and they don't.
Swine flu has been in the news lately. In fact, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebalius, has even given us a lesson about the "proper" way to sneeze to avoid spreading the flu. (The "proper" way to sneeze, if one does not have a handkerchief or tissue, is to sneeze into one's sleeve, according to the DHHS; never mind the idea that you may be wearing a short sleeved shirt)
Your faithful correspondent is not a doctor. Nor does he play one on television. But it seems to him that all this swine flu talk is a bit "chicken little". One would think that those in control seem to see a modern version of the Black Death coming over the horizon and that state workers will be going from door to door daily collecting the dead in wheelbarrows.
This writer remembers the last outbreak of swine flu and remembers that more people were harmed by the vaccine than by the disease. One can never be too careful, but one can be too fast in being too careful.
The following article carries on the panicky claims by those in the world health and money grabbing industry:
Swine flu could kill millions | World news | The ObserverHas it ever occurred to anyone in a position of authority that perhaps the best way to deal with out-breaks of the swine flu is quarantine to prevent the thing from spreading to other areas? And perhaps quarantine of ares that have not had any cases of the swine flu. There were four locations in the United States that did not have any cases of the Spanish flu in 1918 and the reason they did not have any cases of the flu was because they prevented anyone from outside their areas of authority from entering their towns or commands until the flu had run its course
Egypt, in an attempt to prevent an outbreak of swine flu, as well as stick it to the Coptic Christians in that benighted nation, several months ago ordered the slaughter of all pigs and hogs in Egypt. They have reaped the rewards of their idiocy and one cannot help feeling a sense of schadenfreude. In instead of dealing with swine flu they will find themselves dealing with cholera and stench and trash:
Belatedly, Egypt Spots Flaws in Wiping Out Pigs - NYTimes.comWe here at Bloody Nib Manor have not been regular attendees of the cinema for quite a few years, and have always held to the view espoused by the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius that the words "actor" and "whore" are almost synonymous. This is not to say that we did not have our favorite movie stars. We are only human, after all, and sinners by nature. The ever-lovely Lady Nib was especially fond of Tyrone Power and Sam Elliot, while this writer was especially smitten with Ava Gardner (a crazy chick if ever there was one, but those green eyes...) and Catherine Zeta-Jones. We grew up in the days when "stars" pushed the box office receipts. People would go to the movies to see their favourite star. Nowadays "star" status seems to mean less and less to the movie going public. "Stardom" seems to mean popularity in cheap magazines (US, People, Okay!, National Enquirer, et al) more than is means in pulling in money for the movie studios:
Box Office Poison
The nation seems to have become a nation of awful gawkers at the lives of people who really don't account to much in the life and direction and culture of the Great Republic. "Stars" seem to reflect the worst aspects of the national character and, this writer believes, are popular because they show that despite their fame and fortune, they live lives that are more low and paltry than the average American. The guy working at construction or the gal working as a hairdresser can look at the "star" and say to his or her self and say, "My life may be rather boring and my marriage may be a little rocky and my kids may be a little bratty, but my life is a lot better than this or that 'star' who is a drunk/addict/adulterer/just plain idiot."
It's similar to the popularity of Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston and Sara Jessica Parker among women. The Hollywood studios and publicity machine sold these women as beautiful to the public, when in fact, if any or all of the three had been cashiers at the local Wal-Mart nobody would bother to give them a second look. Women like them because they think that if Julia, Jennifer or Sara are considered "babes" then they, who look a bit horsey or plain, are just as beautiful. Most men do not find Julia Roberts or Sara Jessica Parker beautiful, or even attractive. And Jennifer Aniston appeals to men who think she looks like their junior high school girlfriend.
While writing about actors and actresses let this writer be clear as glass about something. Most British actors and actresses working in Hollywood are insufferable. There are a few exceptions. Gary Oldman and Tim Roth come immediately to mind. The problem with the Brits is that they pretend that they, in their performances in Hollywood movies, are practicing a form of "art".
Two examples are Hugh Laurie (he of the television program "House") and Kate Beckensale (she of the movie "Van Helsing", several other vampire movies and the new movie about a monster in the Antarctic). This writer remembers when Laurie and Beckensale acted in British productions ("Much Ado About Nothing", "Emma")and small American movies (Beckensale in the "Last Days of Disco") in which they portrayed characters instead of caricatures. There is no acting art in American television series and there is no art in performing wearing rubber body hugging suit that appeal to latex fetishists. Laurie says that he misses Great Britain, but he still works in the US. Why? Money. Not art.
Beckensale, several years ago, stated that she was going to return to Great Britain because her child started using the word "elevator" instead of "lift". But she's still living here. Why? Money. Not art. Whenever you here an actor, no matter what the nationality, talk about their "art" be assured that what that person is saying is that since that person considered his or herself an "artist" that person should be paid more than another actor/actress who considers acting a job. In other words, the long green, as is evinced by their actions, is more important than their "art". And if that isn't a whore this writer does not know what the word means. A busker outside a subway station has more dignity.
Back in the days when your faithful correspondent was a wet-behind-the-ears youth there were two stores for men that were considered the plus non ultra for men: Brooks Brothers and Abercrombe and Fitch.
Brooks Brothers specialized in clothing the proper man with tailored suits, overcoats, custom-made shirts and hats, as well as accessories. The style of clothing was conservative, but classic. One could be married in a Brooks Brothers suit and buried fifty years later in the same suit. But since this writer never had the ready cash to give his custom to Brooks Brothers for a suit or shirt, the only Brook Brothers items he own are two bow ties and a pair of suspenders.
And now that this writer is a middle-aged man with expendable income he finds that Brooks Brothers has really become not much more than an Old Navy with virgin wool.
But times changes and one gets accustomed to being called a stick in the mud for wearing a double-breasted pin-strip suit instead of a pair of baggy dungarees and a dirty sweatshirt to church.
Abercrombe and Fitch was, at one time, the complete outfitter. It was a combination of Brooks Brothers and REI co-op and more. If one intended to go on safari in Africa one could be outfitted with clothes, guns, tents, portable kitchens, first-aid kits,maps for the journey. The same held true for treks to Tibet, fishing in New Zealand or dogsledding across Antarctica.
Now A & F has become a rather gay-ish trendy clothing store of metrosexuals and the women who love them. Instead of serving the needs of the explorer or adventurer of the physical world it seems to service the desires of those who are not quite such about the state of their sexuality. The catalogues and ads seem to feature an inordinate number of gay looking men, so one a=can only assume that the company is trying to appeal to the sexually confused. And the company's attention is well known.
So one wonders why this young woman, who claims to be a religious Muslim, would want to work there? Could it be a set-up for a lawsuit to prove the "intolerance" of a company?
Tulsa World: Teen at center of rights suit
One sometime wonders what "archeology" really means. We here at the Manor assume that it those site deserving of an archeology study should be akin to the received definition of "antique", meaning one hundred years old or older.
Well, apparently the term "archeology" means a the study of a "culture" or occurrence of near forty years. But that's what happens when "Baby Boomers" (among which this writer is a member, unfortunately) defines what is and is not historically important:
Groovy artifacts from 1960s Marin County commune sorted - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento BeeLet's face it. All that nonsense that went on in the late 60's and early 70's in popular culture was all nonsense and would best be forgotten. Archaeologists would be much better employed searching for bearing and skateboard wheels on Venice Beach. Who remembers hippies as anything but freaks? But kids are still skateboarding on your stair rails.
Up until about thirty years ago the model for the television cop show was Dragnet starring, and created by, Jack Webb. At the time the show was being first broadcast it was a favorite among the thin blue line in Los Angeles because it was, compared to much of the competition, realistic and always showed the LAPD in a good light.
Jack Webb passed away many years ago and the television cop show has descended into soap opera with murder. But from beyond the grave Joe Friday gives Our Dear Leader a little dose of wisdom:
Hot Air » Blog Archive » Quote of the dayThe "health care" debate goes on and concerned citizens who doubt the viability of the proposed health care plans have made it a point to attend town hall meetings to express their opposition to the various forms of health "reform". Here a young woman challenges her congressman to take her money after expressing her skepticism toward anything that the Congress or White House attempt to push through:
Hot Air » Blog Archive » Video: Constituent lectures Congressman on executive powerWhen this writer was an apprentice machinist and a young journeyman in the trade he worked in a shop making parts for both civilian and military nuclear reactors. In order to perform the tasks he was required to have several security clearances -- one from the Department of Defense and a second from the Atomic Energy Commission. Despite the fact that your faithful correspondent had already been issued a Secret clearance while in the Navy, an investigation of his background was performed, including conversations by the investigators with people this writer had never spoken to. The investigation was a lot of work to assume the various governmental entities that this writer was not a Communist, a Nazi, a member of the Industrial Workers of the World or the Sons of the Rising Sun.
The One decided to appoint another czar (I fell sleep in the good ol' USA and woke up in pre-revolutionary Russia. In spades), and apparently didn't even bother to have the man's background investigated. Or perhaps Mr. Obama, in his almost divine wisdom, decided that the man's communist background was meaningless and that the Yankee public was such a bunch a rubes that he could hide the fact that the man he named as a czar was a goddamn nut.
Charles Krauthamer has a few things to say about the deal:
Hot Air » Blog Archive » Krauthammer: Van Jones Truther allegations “devastating”For the past couple of months there has been a crisis of sorts in Honduras. Basically the story is this:
The man who had, up until recently, Zelaya, been president of the nation decided that he had the right to change the constitution of Honduras so that he could run for another term as president. The Honduran constitution is adamant concerning presidential terms. The number and length of presidential term cannot be changed at all by anyone including the president or the legislative branch. When Mr. Zelaya decided that an exception should be made in his case the Honduran Supreme Court decided that Mr. Zelaya was violating the Constitution and should probably, for his own good, take a vacation in neighboring Nicarauga. Some people, most of them outside of Honduras, have decided that the removal of Mr. Zelaya was not an enforcement of the Constitution but, rather, a coup. Among those who think that Mr. Zelaya was given a bad deal are the Messiah and Lady Hillary.
Mr. Zelaya is a man heavily influenced by Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, who is influenced by Fidel Castro of Cuba. In other words, Mr Chavez (a man who is not loathe to shut down radio and television stations that are critical of his Marxist agenda) is a Mini-Me to the Beast of Cuba (Castro), and Mr. Zelaya is a acolyte of Mr. Chavez. Or to put it in the terms of the popular culture and preceding metaphor, a Micro-Me. Or an imitation of an imitation, which is the most flattering form of flattery.
Our Dear Leader seems to forget that one of the great platitudes mentioned in the United States is that we are a country not of men but law. The Honduran Supreme Court and Congress have followed the law. Mr Obama wants the nation to hitch its self to a man. Perhaps in the same way that he wants the United States to hitch its self to him instead of the Constitution, which he has violated many times in the past nine months.
The National Review has a good essay concerning the problem:
Stop Bullying Honduras by The Editors on National Review OnlineWe here at the Manor are considering mounting a campaign called, "Buy Your Congressman and Senator a Skateboard." The whole idea is based on the idea that if we, as a public, can convince our elected rulers to take up skateboarding we can expect either one of two things. The first is that the clumsy will fall and break their necks (or at least their hips). The second is that they will discover that there is something more fun than sticking their noses into other people's business. Then they might leave us alone.
If you've been half-awake during the last fifteen years you may have noticed that among the younger consumers of popular culture there is, among the lovely youth, a fascination with, and love for, vampires.
Your faithful correspondent traces the start of this fad to Anne Rice's novel Interview With the Vampire and the motion picture made of the same novel starring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt (or was it Val Kilmer?) and Kirsten Dunst (what kind of proper name is Kirsten, anyway? Is it a misspelling of Kristen? An atheist form of Christine? Is the male form of the name Kirstofer?). It was with the publication of the novel that the character of the vampire became a romantic figure instead of a parasite, a freak, or just plain damned.
Since that time Tom Cruise has become a Scientologist, Brad Pitt hooked up with a freaky bird (Val Kilmer has pretty much disappeared) and Kirsten Dunst became Spiderman's girlfriend. And a vampire ethos and culture emerged.
We here at Bloody Nib Manor are no strangers to the spooky. The name of the Manor, itself, sends shivers of fear among the urchins polluting the streets of the Eastside. But the fear inspired by Bloody Nob Manor has nothing to do with vampires. We just host various prosaic ghosts; Tudor ladies carrying their heads under their arms, mad monks searching for chaste maidens to despoil, a pearl-eyed phantom mastiff roaming about in the garden. But we have no vampires and will not host vampires despite our nieces' love for the Twilight series of novels,
We will have no truck with blood-suckers simply because vampires are nothing more than leeches, ticks, fleas in human form. There is nothing romantic about a damned being that wants nothing more than to take an involuntary transfusion from one whether that being look like Louis Jourdan or Barbara Steele.
But, of course, we at Bloody Nib Manor tend to be of a more Victorian sentiment and outlook than the average Goth/Neo-Vampire. The Victorians had their problems, but they had some sense. They realized that evil is evil no matter how pretty it looks.
Now, in the United States, we have people who want to be, or pretend to be, vampires. In this writer's opinion these people, if they were to see a real vampire (an impossibility since there is no such thing as a real human physical vampire; psychic and emotional vampires are another matter), would find themselves surprised to find that their vampire was more of a wolverine than Tom Cruise.
But people are stupid and they see what they want to see and pretend what they want to pretend. An example would be Renaissance Faire re-enacters who do not seem to realize that if they had lived during the Renaissance they would more likely be scrambling to provide bread on the table than being a knight, queen or lord.
At the end of this post is an article and television report about Neo-Vampires in Tampa Bay, Florida (of all places) who meet monthly to celebrate their vampireness. If one watches the video one will see a group of rather unattractive Goth girls and the men who want to take advantage of them. The women would be much better off, if they insist upon wearing fishnet stockings and corsets, to re-enact the Moulin Rouge during the fin-de-sicle in France. At least then they might get their portraits painted by a midget instead of giving their blood to a freak more interested in getting a shot of leg. And the guys with the black clothes and fake choppers will get a shot of leg from these silly girls.
V is for voracious: Vampire culture unveiled - St. Petersburg Times
The Mexican swine flu first reared its head in April. And almost immediately medical researchers and labs began working to develop some sort of vaccine while at the same time telling us that the Mexican swine flu had little or no chance of developing into a flu of epidemic proportions like the 1917/1918 Spanish flu. Their actions belied their words. They were afraid that the Mexican swine flu would follow the pattern of the Spanish flu; a short and mild first appearance followed by a period of apparent dormancy which is followed by the flu boomeranging back like gangbusters, more virulent and widespread than ever.
Why bother to develop a vaccine for a flu that was claimed to be a milder and more benign flu than the seasonal flu? The answer is that researchers, despite their first words, are scared of the thing.
So the wise men and women in the medical/pharmaceutical industries have been working overtime trying to come up with a vaccine that, once it is developed, will be promoted, perhaps even required, by the government. The work on the vaccine has been going on since April and the result has been this:
Swine flu jab link to killer nerve disease: Leaked letter reveals concern of neurologists over 25 deaths in America | Mail OnlineNow, let's consider the various governmental health care schemes proposed by the executive and legislative branches of the government (the judicial branch has yet to stick its oar in the matter, but that will come with time). Whatever the proposal presented, one problem is that no proposal has been thoroughly thought out. If one listens to the various Solons pushing this gag, one is reminded that speed of passage of a health plan, any health plan, is of the essence. Never mind the details or the cost.
Is the race for a Mexican flu vaccine a living metaphor for the various federal health care plans that must so speedily be passed? This writer thinks that it is. The need for speed, in both cases, seems to have overcome the requirement for safety (safety in regards to Obamacare means you're monetary and health safety). No one politician, to this writer's knowledge, has read, or even understands all the facets of, the health care plan they are flakking. They want a plan. Any plan even if it means that a person has to wait six months for cancer surgery or if the cost is so high that the initial phases of the plan will be paid for three generation from this day.
Speed in governmental action is required in only one instance. That instance concerns national security from foreign threats i.e., declarations of war when the U.S. has been attacked. The nation has survived with what some politicians have called an unacceptable, or even inhumane, health care system for over two hundred years. Another year or ten won't make any difference.
And one thing that must be pounded into the heads of our elected masters is the question of whether the federal government has any Constitutional authority to mandate any national health plan. Once that they understand that their is no Constitutional authority perhaps they'll abandon the whole idea and go back to excessive drinking, woman chasing and bribe taking, and just leave us the hell alone.
The nation does not need a self-administered case of GBS.
Those of you who know this writer are aware that he is not, nor has ever been doctrinaire anti-union
.
Both his grandparents on the maternal side were union members (in one case the Garment Workers' Union and in the second of the Teamsters) and that he was involved in the attempted unionization of a machine shop some twenty years ago. He was also, at one time, a member of the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World). This writer sees the value of unions in certain cases. Those cases have to do with fair wages, safe work places and the representation of the worker, as a whole, when dealing with management and the shop owner.
But, since the days of your faithful correspondent's union activism it has turned out that several unions have decided to become unofficial arms of the government instead of representatives of the worker. A case in point is the SEIU. To be honest, the SEIU is a union that represents people who, if they had any damn sense, would use their jobs as janitors, hotel workers and maids, as a way to work themselves up into something better. In other words, they have made permanent jobs of jobs that were once performed by men and women attending college and working the jobs to pay their way through college or between high school and entering the military.
Now, in the administration of The One, we find that the SEIU has become an unofficial arm of Obamaism by acting as enforcers against the free speech of citizens at Town Hall Meetings who oppose the various permutations of ObamaCare.
Now the SEIU has taken to violence in an attempt to silence those who oppose the various forms of socialized health care while raising the image of mine workers in Matawon fighting Pinkertons; a silly comparison. But many unions have become silly. They worry more about the wealth of the union leaders than the well-being of the members. Also note, many members of the SEIU are unable to speak English, meaning that they are illegal aliens and are easily led with the promise of another few tortillas in the bento box.
If this writer were a young man he would not consider becoming a member of the CIA. The reason is not because he has a prejudice against spycraft, but because it has turned out that, from one presidential administration to another, one is never quite sure whether one will be awarded a medal or charged with criminal activity. The Justice Department of the Obama administration seems to have decided that it will prosecute CIA interrogators of Al-Queda and Taliban operatives using waterboarding as a method. There has been not beatings, no electrical shock, no starving. There has been the placing of soaked towels over the faces of the questioned. It is not unusual for members of the American military to have undergone such treatment. Waterboarding is not torture in the same sense that beatings or electric shock are. But The One and his DOJ seems to have decided that it is.
If you're a CIA agent it's probably a good time to get out.
Here's the story: Criminal investigation into CIA treatment of detainees expected - Los Angeles Times
As those who are familiar with your faithful correspondent are well aware, this write has, and has had for many years, a dim view of the gutter press. The definition of "gutter press", in usage here means daily newspapers and news weeklies such as Time magazine, Newsweek and US News and World Report Few news items, of national or international import can be written accurately about in less than a month after the event. There is just no time for proper analysis and contemplation. Newspapers and news weeklies are good for such things as "screamer" stories i.e., "7-11 Victim of Robbery", "Dead Sharks Found in Trash Bin", "House Burns on Broadway".
But someone at Time magazine has deigned to write an essay about the importance of men wearing serious hats instead of baseball caps. And he also mentions the silliness of the "stingy brim" hat that is often worn by male hat wearers on the East Coast. A proper hat has a purpose (in fact several purposes). It shades, it protects and it decorates. The "stingiest brim" hat that an adult male should feel comfortable wearing is the boater. A hat, a proper adult hat, is more than a fashion statement, but it is also a statement. The statement is that the wearer is a man who realizes the importance of protect of the noggin and face from either heat or cold and that he aligns himself with a certain type of point of view -- the fedora being the hat of a serious man, the porkpie being the hat of the less than serious man, the homburg being the hat of the very serious man with money, and on and on.
Here's the link to the article: In Praise of Serious Hats - TIME
Here is a link to a video of a man asking his senator a series of cogent questions regarding the proposed national health care scheme:
YouTube - US Soldier Demands Apology From Senator Claire McCaskill at Town HallBut, of course, we should all keep in mind that for The One and his cronies the Constitution is really nothing much more than a wax nose to bend and shape as they like.
And I might prove to be a valuable thought experiment to consider how, once ObamaCare goes into effect, how the government will insist that you eat, drink and exercise in a healthy manner so that you will not drain the resources of "the people." Say good-bye to your Mountain Dew, pork rinds and put on your running shoes because The One is concerned for your health. Big Brother will be watching you. And get rid of that skateboard. It's bad for your health.
Global warming is one of those topics that waxes and wane depending more upon what other items are in the daily news cycle than what the actual temperature is at any particular time. If there isn't a beer summit, talk about a "learning moment", a particularly gruesome murder or Megan Fox saying another stupid thing, then the Global Warming stories come out of the freezer of the news rooms and we are subjected once again to hair-on-fire stories about migrating whales not knowing whether or not to turn left or right when they get to the Equator because of the suspected rise in the water temperature or ducks not flying south for the winter because the weather in Canada at the beginning of winter has suddenly become a balmy 34 degrees.
Here are a couple of stories dealing with Global Warming. One taking a look at the theological aspects of the theory and the second having to do with the unintended consequences of legislative idiocy:
Global warming is the new religion of First World urban elitesGetting Around the EU Ban: Germans Hoarding Traditional Light Bulbs - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - InternationalAs our town-criers will never let us forget, Senator Edward Kennedy is a physically ill man. It is almost as if we have been put on notice that we should be on a death-watch and we should stand that watch with the same sadness and sense of the passing of a great fount of wisdom that Socrates' students had when they witnessed his death by hemlock. But we should not let this anticipation of the death knell for Senator Kennedy blind us to the fact that he was, and is not, a particularly good or wise man. His passing will be a sad thing for his family and friends, but the nation will have lost nothing more than an old-style Boston politician who was a bully, a shallow thinker and a man who took upon himself (and was granted by a fawning press) the characteristics of a Medieval
baron; a womanizer, a drunkard, a bellowing buffoon, a perpetrator of manslaughter. And like many of the worse barons of old, Senator Kennedy has never really done anything to earn his position except have the right family connects and the right name. If he had not been of the magic litter of old Joe Kennedy (much of whose wealth was made through boot-legging) he would have ended up as a local ward heeler at best.
If the above appears rough or cruel, just keep in mind Senator Kennedy's treatment of Judge Robert Bork. Mr. Bork has shown himself a good and honorable man, a much better than the man who destroyed his reputation in the public's eye.
Here's a link to a story recounting the Chappaquiddick affair that showed Senator Kennedy's true character:
Chappaquiddick Revisited by R. P. George and D. Quinn on National Review OnlineHere is another story of the "My Husband is an Uncaring Lug Who Doesn't Talk to Me the Why I Want Him To, But I Love Him Anyway" type. What's different about this one is that it appears to have been written under the influence of something:
My husband is a snail and I can't whisper - CNN.comSo there you go.
In this writer's last post regarding the passing of the news man Walter Cronkite, reference was made to the news man Eric Sevareid (who's name was mis-spelled due to this writer's ignorance of the spelling of Norwegian names).
Mr. Sevareid was not so much, in his later years, a news reader or news man as he was a televised essayist. He was one of Murrow's Boys and spent much of World War II as a correspondent in the Asian Theatre, and as a European correspondent in Europe after the War.
Mr. Sevareid was a literate man of the type not seen on television today.
Below are two links showing Mr. Sevareid. As you watch them ask yourself if any news man or woman would take for granted the literacy of the viewing public that Mr. Sevareid did.
YouTube - Eldridge Cleaver returns to the U.S. YouTube - Eric Sevareid Farewell Nov 30, 1977 While watching and listening to the videos of Mr. Sevareid your faithful correspondent was reminded that at the time the broadcasts were first made there was talk of professional boxing in the United States dying out because of the lack of a fan base. Boxing was considered brutal and barbaric.
Nowadays boxing looks tame compared to Ultimate Fighting.
We did not know it then, but, apparently we were experiencing a breather before the barbarians crashed through the gates. Guy Grand (refer to the novel The Magic Christian) has proven his point and we continue to suffer for the media's appeal to the lowest common denominator. If the promise of the late 1970s had held truth there would be no such thing as the Jerry Springer or Maury Povitch shows except as local programs produced by local stations looking for the leftovers from the networks.
How far we have fallen. And we continue to fall.
When will we hit bottom?
The television news reporter/reader Walter Cronkite passed away this week. The man lived a very long life. He died at the age of 92.
For some reason, the news organs of the nation have deigned him the "Dean of Television news", when, in fact, his real claim to fame was being one of "Murrow's Boys" during WW II. Mr. Cronkite's fame lies much with his longevity i.e., he outlived his contemporaries. John Cameron Swayze was, if anything, the Dean of Television News because he was there first.
But, a generation and a half grew up with Cronkite on the television at six o'clock in the evening, so he got the title.
And, while Mr. Cronkite was a good news reader, and ad-libber, he was, during his on-camera career, no more special than the new readers on the other television networks. Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, and Eric Severide were as good or better. Severide was especially good. He was a news reader who, in his reading, demanded some thought from his audience. Cronkite, on the other hand, appealed to the middle-brow who took his word for Gospel.
But, let's face it. What is a television news reader but a herald or town crier standing in a village public square ringing a bell and crying that five sheep have been stolen from Mr. Jones' field or that a footpad is abroad?
We here at the Manor hope that Mr. Cronkite rests in peace, but we do not feel that his death is the death of journalism.
Your faithful correspondent has never been a big fan of the porkpie hat.
In modern times the porkpie hat has been indicated by two elements.
1.) The crown of the porkpie hat is round with a round crease around the top of the hat instead of a longitdutinal crease. In other words, the crease on a porkpie hat follows the crown. In other words, the crown of a porkpie looks much like, when looked at from above, the crust of a pie.
2.) The brim of a porkpie hat usually narrow. Occasionally the brim of a porkpie is wide, as is the case of Buster Keaton or the old comic strip character Hipshot Percussion, but mostly the brim is narrow.
Wearers of the porkpie have been Gene Hackman in his character of Popeye Doyle in The French Connection, Buster Keaton in many of his films, and Mickey Spillane
.
Mostly the porkpie has been worn, in movies and television, by characters who are rather questionable in
morals, but not really bad. They have been men who have not quite figured whether they want to be real criminals or law abiding.. In other words, they are apprentices who haven't quite made up their minds whether to be bankers or three card monte men or zoot suiters.
In the past few weeks the following events have taken place:
Iranians (many Iranians) have protested against the results of their national elections claiming that that the results, given by the government, have been bogus. The results of the protests have been the disappearances and deaths of more than a few protesters.
The validly elected government of Honduras decided to eject the president of the nation because the president was violating the Honduran constitution.
Uighers (natives of Turkmenistan which is in the area now known as Western China) have protested and have been victims of Han Chinese suffered under the anvil of Peking for the reason that they (the Uighers) have demanded fair treatment. The result has been the disappearance of more than 1,500 Uighers and the deaths of more than 150 of the same.
What's wrong is that out Dear Leader had protested the constitutional action of the Honduran congress and supreme court while ignoring the situation in Iran and in Western China.
In other words, The One seems to think that the overthrow of a nation's constitution is a more favorable action than the exercise of protest against violators of human rights.
Once again. Follow the money.
Some people consider the residents of the Manor as Luddites despite the fact that we regularly use computers. The reasons for these accusations may be due to the fact that this writer prefers to use manual typewriters or pen and ink for his serious writing, that we do not have an automatic dish-washer, our (by contemporary standards) overuse of commas, semi-colons and dashes, or the fact that we have neither cable nor satellite television.
Your faithful correspondent suspects that the main ground of accusation lays with the television matter. The idea of receiving television signals over the air and not paying for the "privilege" seems, to some, as quaint as the idea of sitting in the front room (called by those with aspirations of appearing sophisticated the "living room" or by others, mostly long dead, "the front parlor") listening to a Philco or Dumont radio waiting for John McCormick to start singing Ave Maria.
But, believe it or not, we here at the Manor at one time received cable television back in the days when we, and MTV, were young. We saw the first Michael Jackson music videos. In fact, this writer's brother The Honorable Mister Daniel, worked with Mr. Jackson as a sound editor on several of Mr. Jackson's early music videos. And to tell the truth, during our days being connected to the cable teat and thereafter, we have never been particularly enamoured of Mr. Jackson. He was a good dancer, but no Fred Astaire, a decent singer of his type (meaning of the frenetic hard breathing style) and an entertainer who depended more on technology than real talent. In other words, he was a busker who made a lot of money and fooled a lot of people.
Mr. Jackson died this past week and the world seems to have gone into the type of mourning that is saved for the trivial. The same type of thing happened when Diana Spencer, John Belushi and James Dean et al died. The logic behind this mourning seems to be based on the idea that the dead were mis-understood., when, in fact, the deceased were really not much more than parasites.
To paraphrase Bryan Suits, entertainers and celebrities are remora and the public is the shark. Celebs feed off the public and really never give anything of value back to the public and the culture. Celebs, including Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon and David Carradine, as well as Mr. Jackson, Elvis, Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and others, were nothing more than officially sanctioned court jesters, actors or talkers. They made us laugh, tap our feet or were nice to look upon and they expected money in exchange. Meanwhile, the guy or gal you work with who tells good jokes or stories that make you think or laugh five days a week gets nothing but a pat on the back; and the guy you work with is working at a job of work making something.
There was a day when professional entertainers were suspect by the public. And the reason is because entertainers fed off the lower desires of the public. Music and story-telling were a part of daily life among one's peers and done to pass the time, not something done to make more money than the audience.
It is a sad thing that Mr. Jackson died at a relatively young age. But the man was a pederast and a man who, probably without knowing it, strove to lower the datum of civilized behavior during a time when the criterion should have been raised. Not to put a religious bent on the matter, but Mr. Jackson, Mr. Carradine and Mr. Belushi were evidence of de-evolution. They appealed to the basest part of the human experience. Ms. Fawcett, while pretty and a sex symbol for some, was, in reality, on the level with Nell Gynne and Lillie Langtry.
Billy Mays, America's greatest pitchman, died today. If you do not recognize the name Billy Mays perhaps you might look in your pantry and find a bucket of Oxy-Clean, a bottle of Orange-Glo or a tube of Mighty Putty. Mr. Mays, with his solid body and square bearded face and cry, "Billy Mays here!" was the cause of a lot of scrambling for the remote control by certain segment of society, but his death, was, in fact, a much greater loss to the Great Republic than was the death of Mr. Jackson. Billy Mays was an example of a man who had come from nothing and had risen to a level in his various pitches in county and state fairs, and television that he had made for his various employers something to the tune of a half billion dollars. When one sent money to a phone number that Billy Mays announced for a product one could be assured that one would soon get a tangible thing in one's hand within as week or two. Billy Mays, whether the products he pitched were good or bad, Mr. Mays carried on a long, long tradition of medicine men in America in a way that Mr. Jackson did not. Mr Jackson sold himself. Mr. Mays sold something you could use.
So when the funerals of Mr. Jackson and Ms. Fawcett (at the Taj Mahoney: this writer did not know that she was a Catholic) take place this week, please remember Billy Mays. He was better, in his life, for the nation, than the others.
Summer time is here, unfortunately, and the weather has gotten hot. What is the man man of style to do to find relief from the oppression that unrelenting sunshine presents to one without wearing a pith helmet?
The answer is: The Boater. Among the uninitiated the hat is called a "straw hat" (too broad a term) or a "skimmer" (a slightly different hat -- skimmers are worn by students at Eton).
Unfortunately, the boater has taken a beating from popular culture. It has become a vaudeville staple for hoofers, an institution (in its foam plastic incarnation -- a truly blasphemous creation on the level with the plastic green derby worn by drunks on St. Patrick's Day) at political conventions and pizza parlors, and a joke when the crown is punched out by a comedian.
But the boater is a serious and useful item of headgear for the man. It's lightweight, offers shade, and looks good when worn properly. When worn level and square the hat says that is a serious man not to be taken lightly, as in the photo above of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. When worn with a sideways tilt the wearer comes across as a bit of a rake or a joker. When worn tilted back one appears either young or as a sailor (the boater was based on the canvas and tar hats that sailors wore in the 1800's).
The boater is one of the few men's hats that women can wear and not look ridiculous. But a woman wearing a boater can only look not silly if she is either wearing a middie blouse and long skirt or a striped pullover and sailor pants. Preferably the ribbon on the hat should be long and drape over the back of the hat. Hot pants, Levis and mini-skirts never look good with a boater.
So, if you are suffering from the oppression of summer weather, consider buying yourself a boater. It's a great hat and works well.
Among those who know nothing about detective literature or haberdashery the fedora is considered the hat of the hard-boiled detective. Like many public assumptions, this one is wrong. Consider Mike Hammer with his pork pie hat or Shell Scott wearing no hat at all.
