An L-shaped reflection

Now some random thoughts after L:

Team loyalty?  As was the case with a certain motor racing superstar, the Carolina Panthers came "before my time".  I was a college student by the time the team was announced and later the team had played its first game.  In my youth, the television primarily aired Washington Redskins games, as the Redskins were the team our region received weekly.  The most popular station in our city aired Redskins games on most weeks, not Falcons games, so we had many Redskins games on television.  (That motorsport superstar of today is mostly burgundy with his social media discussion, but he was a month from turning 21 when the first Panthers game was played.)

Bad halftime shows.  When CBS and the NFL made the decision 25 years ago that XXVI would be Minnesota-themed with a winter carnival, complete with figure skating legends Hamill and Boitano performing to cross-promote the upcoming Winter Games in France, it led to a ratings fiasco when viewers jumped to the adult raunchy late night comedy sketch show airing in prime time as counterprogramming. The NFL changed the game for halftime, and it's been worse.  For reference, I found the last five Super Bowl halftime shows before the NFL made the change as a result of the ratings fiasco when the adult sketch show drew enough viewers to concern the NFL:

XXI (Pasadena):  A salute to Hollywood's 100th anniversary.  Hollywood legends involved
XXII (San Diego):  Radio City Music Hall performance, with Chubby Checker and the Rockettes.
XXIII (Miami Gardens):  Elvis impersonators and card tricks.
XXIV (New Orleans):  A celebration of New Orleans and the Peanuts.  Last halftime with marching bands.
XXVI (Minneapolis):  A celebration of winter featuring figure skating by Boitano and Hamill, and G. Estefan performing.

Note that I omitted XXV, since that show was not broadcast as a result of Gulf War coverage.  (It was Disney's Small World with a popular teen pop group.  25 years later, the kids performing probably will still be angry that their moment in time was broadcast late at night.)

With catcalls from many regarding the artists performing at the Super Bowl halftime, which has become nothing more than a rock concert by the pop star of the time (look at the recent lists of left-wing elite pop divas), is it time the Super Bowl halftime show return to its roots as a family-friendly show with marching bands and localised themes?  Think of Houston with a celebration of the Rodeo, or New Orleans with a show celebrating the city's comeback from Katrina, or had it happened in East Rutherford a few years ago, a celebration of Broadway including the music of the Rat Pack and the Metropolitan Opera (that was the year La Belle Renée did the national anthem, remember?).  If the NFL would go back to basics, maybe halftime would be a greater celebration of the good with marching bands and themes that would be friendly for families.  Imagine in 2004 if there was a tribute in Houston to the Johnson Space Center, on the one-year anniversary of the STS-107 tragedy, of America's travel to space, and a memorial to the Apollo 204 test, STS-51-L, and STS-107 at halftime.  It would have been far better than the show that drew outrage.

As for the Electric Football game reference recently:  Back in the day, the goalpost issue between the amateur and professional level led to the reason the term "post pattern" was used -- the idea was to put the opponent into the post.  The goalposts were on the goal line as a result of the 1932 Championship Game indoors at the Madhouse on Madison.  By the mid-1970's, the goalposts were moved back.

New logo, now?  CBS Sports debuted a new logo for Super Bowl L, finally retiring the logo that had been used by the network since the early 1980's and had been part of the network's branding.

And cross promotions?  For the Friday "go home" episode of The Price Is Right leading to Super Bowl L, CBS pulled off the theme, complete with "Posthumus Zone" (the network's NFL theme) playing during the opening to the show and into commercial breaks, prize themes with the game, NFL legends modeling (including a car modeling skit where the ex=players were waxing the car), and Super Bowl tickets.  This is triennial because it is done only in years where CBS has the Super Bowl.

Welcome to the media, Jeff.  Fox will give Jeff Gordon his first primetime show on February 20 when he hosts his Daytona 500 eve party show that will air at 9 PM ET.  That's something none of the other two Fox motorsport analysts (McReynolds, D. Waltrip) have done, though the latter has posted a publicity photo where he hosted Ralph Emery's television show, which is a byproduct of his friendships he built as a young club racer in the area when he appeared on Emery's radio show. (https://twitter.com/AllWaltrip/status/692842149692313600)

So what's Marc thinking?  The leader at a PCA church who is a baritone for choral pieces I've had the opportunity to sing in the past is bringing a 90's female supergroup to perform at his church. Back in the pre-LaRoche Era Bobby, I'd attend their concerts when they came up.  But, of course, the LaRoche Era was a new era in how I thought of music, and I am thankful for the LaRoche era.

A good omen for the Socialists?  The two Socialist candidates for President have both attacked Wall Street.  The markets are likely headed for the shredder as the AFL beats the NFL, which is how the Super Bowl Index works.

Throwback Thursday: The buzz that lingers

If you were like me growing up (and, as I always say, you should have been), you remember electric football - the game with the vibrating plastic men who never went where you wanted them to, instead congregating on the sidelines against the board's edge - or, even worse, running the wrong way into the opponent's end zone.

The Tudor game pictured at left was the second electric football game I ever had, and the first one to have real teams, instead of the generic red and white teams.  This one had the Cardinals and the Bears, and included spare holes in the end zones so you could move the goal posts from the goal line (where the pros had them at the time) to the back of the end zone, for the college version.  (Although why you'd want to use college rules for NFL teams was always a mystery to me.)  For me, the real fascination with the game lie in the externals - the simulated cardboard stadium, the design of the field, the helmet logos on the side of the board, and the different teams you could buy.  I had my share of games over the years, each one of them with its unique characteristics, and although none of them played very well, I loved them all just the same.  The games have long since disappeared from the household, but they've also disappeared from the stores, a victim mostly of our continuing obsession with the latest technology.  When you can recreate games and leagues with a computer, why bother with a three-dimensional game that doesn't work very well?

My interest in them has always remained, though (as hours of trolling around eBay would attest), and so I found this article (h/t Uni Watch) of great interest, telling us of efforts to revive the electric football industry.  I know I'm not alone in my affection for the game, as this book and website show, and I really hope Doug Strohm's efforts to get the NFL merchandising license pan out.  The games have improved over the years, and besides, there's something so - social about it all.  It's not sitting in front of the screen for hours; it's something you do with other people.  It's something you can be part of in ways other than simply pressing buttons.  And I wish them all the luck in succeeding.

By the way, that game pictured on the Unforgettable Buzz website?  It was one of the great games ever made, a Tudor special edition for Super Bowl III, as the logo and the teams would indicate.  It was the first to be specially made with the Super Bowl logo and markings on the field, and it was the first game to feature an AFL team in white uniforms (previously, NFL teams came in both dark and white jerseys, but AFL teams were dark only).  I had this game, and although the Colts may have lost the real Super Bowl, in my version they beat the Jets every time.  Of course, I can't promise that I didn't help the players out a little from time to time...


Originally published April 26, 2013

Opera Thursday: The bohemians

That's the literal translation (or at least close enough) of the title of Puccini's famed opera La bohème, which was first performed this week in 1896. The story, as is so often the case, is fairly idiotic, but Puccini's music, as is so often the case - well, if the story bothers you, you can always close your eyes and listen.

This rendition of selections from the opera looks to have been from a television broadcast of 1956, though I can't find a quick description. It features two of the greats of 20th Century opera, Renalta Tebaldi and Jussi Bjorling. Is anything else necessary?

The Great One

Wayne Gretzky is now 55, same age as me, and it just doesn't seem possible. When he first appeared in the NHL, as something unlike which we'd ever seen, I never thought of him as being the same age. He was young, unbelievably young; a superstar while still a teenager. And yet the age similarity didn't compute; John Updike once wrote famously of Ted Williams that Gods do not answer letters, and I suppose there's something of that in this: mortals do not compare their ages to Gods. I never got to see him play in person, but even though our television coverage of hockey was woefully inadequate for much of his time in the game*, everyone knew about him - even non-hockey fans.

*Not that there aren't plenty of highlight reels of him; it was only living in the Twin Cities that our television coverage suffered, thanks to our lack of cable for so long. On the other hand, it also means that whenever you search him on YouTube, he'll take your breath away.

Joe Posnanski wrote about Gretzky as the greatest, in a way that's undefinable in terms of statistics or records or grace - it's worth sharing because, ultimately, there is no other way to describe him, not even as Paulina's father.

He was a child prodigy who, like Mozart, defied the rules of gravity in his craft. He imagined a new way to play. Sure defenses are tougher now, and goaltenders are better now, and he might get roughed up a bit more. But so what? Gretzky always found a way. Geniuses are like that.

We'll just leave it at that, I think.

STS-51-L: A thirty-year retrospective

When the Green Bay Packers made their appearance at the White House for the traditional presidential visit after their Super Bowl XXXI victory, backup quarterback Jim McMahon (who would retire after the game) drew controversy for wearing some Chicago Bears gear during his visit to the White House.  He explained it was a makeup visit for the 1985 Chicago Bears (which he was the starting quarterback) that won Super Bowl XX, as the team never made its obligatory White House visit, 11 years past.  It would be a full 25 years and 9 months before the 1985 Bears received their official White House visit, 12 years after the death of their star running back.

Jim McMahon's reasoning would sound unusual and hateful for many younger fans, since most did not understand the reason the 1985 Bears never made the White House visit.  Their official visit was scrubbed as a result of the days following the 46-10 victory over New England, and would not take place until October 2011.  That leads to the memory of this day, and the time, we mourn thirty years ago.

11:39:13

The cultural impact of that time stamp thirty years ago has the same as another generation would have in 2001 with 16:41 (February 18) and 8:46 (September 11).  We remember that day.   McAuliffe.  Jarvis.  Resnik.  Scobee.  McNair.  Smith.  Onizuka.

Coming up on the 30-second point in our countdown...T-Minus 30 seconds and we've had a go for auto-sequence start...

The solid rocket booster hydraulic power units have started...T-Minus 21 seconds...and the solid rocket booster engine gimbal now underway...

T-Minute Fifteen Seconds. T-Minus ten, nine, eight, seven, six, we have main engine start, four, three, two, one, and liftoff! Liftoff of the 25th Space Shuttle Mission (51-L) and it has cleared the tower.

Good roll program confirmed . . . Challenger now heading downrange . . .

Steve Nesbitt, NASA public affairs officer:  Engines beginning throttling down now at 94 percent. Normal throttle for most of the flight is 104 percent, we'll throttle down to 65 percent shortly. Engines at 65 percent . . . three engines running normally . . . three good fuel cells . . . three good APU's . . . Velocity 2,257 feet per second, altitude 4.3 nautical miles, downrange distance three nautical miles. Engines throttling up . . three engines now at 104 percent.

Mission Control: Challenger, go at throttle up.

Commander Scobee: Roger, go at throttle up.

Nesbitt:  One minute, Fifteen seconds . . . Velocity 2,900 feet per second . . . altitude nine nautical miles . . . Downrange distance seven nautical miles.

Flight controllers here looking very carefully at the situation . . . Obviously a major malfunction . . . We have no downlink.

We have a report from the Flight Dynamics Officer that the vehicle has exploded. Flight Director confirms that. We are looking at checking with the recovery forces to see what can be done at this point.

After homework and dinner, along with a continuous pipe of WDIX radio (now defunct) to catch updates on the disaster, it dawned on me that it was a disaster like no other I knew. After homework and dinner, the television was on the disaster for the whole evening. It was the first time I had witnessed a national tragedy of this proportion. And it was devastating to a nation in a fight against the Soviets.

Contingency procedures are in effect.

We will report more as we have information available. Again, to repeat, we have a report relayed through the flight dynamics officer that the vehicle has exploded. We are now looking at all the contingency operations and awaiting word from any recovery forces in the downrange field.

This is Mission Control Houston. We have no additional word at this time. Reports from the flight dynamics officer indicate that the vehicle apparently exploded and that impact in the water at a point approximately 28.64 degrees north, 80.28 degrees west. We are awaiting verification from . . . as to the location of the recovery forces in the field to see what may be possible at this point, and we will keep you advised as further information becomes available. This is Mission Control.

This is Mission Control Houston. We are coordinating with recovery forces in the field – range safety equipment, recovery vehicles intended for the recovery of the (solid rocket boosters) in the general area. Those parachutes are believed to be paramedics going into that area. To repeat, we had an apparently normal ascent with the data coming to all positions being normal.

Up through approximately the time of main engine throttle back up to 104%, at approximately a minute or so into the flight there was an apparent explosion, the Flight Dynamics Officer reported. Tracking reported that the vehicle had exploded and impacted the water in an area approximately located at 28.64 degrees north, 82.8 degrees west. Recovery forces are proceeding to the area, including ships and a C-130 aircraft. Flight controllers reviewing their data here in Mission Control. We will provide you with more information as it becomes available. This is Mission Control Houston.

Additional Resources:
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NASA Transcript

Posted: NFL regulations for Super Bowl L themed show

CBS posted recently the attire regulations for an upcoming Super Bowl L themed episode of The Price Is Right to air the Friday before the game.  The NFL and Nike have assured only current era logos are permitted, and only current era Nike jerseys are permitted.  No visible logos from adidas (which had the NFL uniform contract until 2013) are permitted -- only official NFL gear is permitted, and the only logos allowed are Nike.  Here is the show's official statement:

"IF YOU CHOOSE TO WEAR FOOTBALL THEMED ATTIRE, IT MUST BE OFFICIAL NFL MERCHANDISE ONLY. NO VISIBLE REEBOK LOGOS OR FAN MASH UP JERSEYS WILL BE ALLOWED IN THE STUDIO. ALL ELIGIBILITY RULES APPLY. "

Looks like the NFL and CBS (which has used Price for many NFL promotions) is tightening the regulations to ensure for NFL official gear.

Wish I'd written that: Rod Serling's suggestion we'd do well to emulate

I'm delighted. Let them write anything they want. I don't think we're in trouble in this country if we let people say, talk, think, comment. This isn't our problem. It's when we start to abridge that."

- Rod Serling, regarding the frequent hate mail he'd receive after writing various controversial episodes of The Twilight Zone. (H/T Vote For Bob Crane)

Talking the ball and going home?

RAND PAUL HANGING OUT WITH TREVOR NOAH INSTEAD OF HIS FELLOW REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES

Rand Paul, as unhappy as he is of not making the top seven in the two polls that determined the lineup for last night's Fox Business press conference - essentially an Eliminator Seven round - decided instead that he would not participate in the dinnertime press conference at the Casa del Ray.

This forced me to consider the question:  Is he reminding me of a golfer who is 2-3 strokes behind the cut line early in his second round decide to take the clubs and go home, and withdraw instead of attempting to improve his game and attempt to go on a roll from the outside looking in to where by the time his 36th hole is finished, he is on the positive side of the cut line, potentially even looking at making a run for the lead by moving day or in the final round?

If he went in the dinner time press conference and scores huge, he could easily make a return to the main stage for the next crucial press conference.  But no, he prefers to take his ball and go home, not trying to work his way back to the premiership.  Is this the type of leader we can afford?

Throwback Thursday: The power to move the world

Lately, I've been spending a good amount of time in the year 1968. Several of the TV Guides I've written about in the last few weeks have been from the 1967-68 period, and I've been studying some media coverage of the news events of that year, in particular the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.

I've never been a fan of the Kennedys politically, but I have often admired their style if not their substance. John was in a class by himself, and Ted had a long life, which means that Robert has been caught somewhere in the middle. To be honest, I'd never given a great deal of thought to his impact on history, despite the fact I have clearer (if still limited) memories of his death than I do of John's.

Quite by accident, I happened to stumble onto a website that proved a treasure trove of radio coverage about RFK's assassination and funeral, which I wrote about over at the TV blog. In listening to the broadcasts, and investing some money in the accompanying television broadcasts, I came to a bit more of an appreciation of Bobby Kennedy's style, and some of the convulsive reaction to his death. There is much that is hyperbole about his life and death; for example, I don't think he would have won the Democratic nomination, much less been elected president; Hubert Humphrey was already quite close to the number of delegates needed to win, and RFK's victory over Gene McCarthy in the California primary (which Kennedy had been celebrating when he was shot) was in fact much narrower than it should have been. Many of Kennedy's most astute advisors (Lawrence O'Brien, for example) felt that he never really had a chance of winning. At most, he might have assumed the position that wound up residing with George McGovern, and in that light one can contemplate whether or not Kennedy would have given Richard Nixon a run for his money in 1972.

Kennedy speaking at the University of Cape Town, 1966

But I digress. One of the benefits of being plunged into the Kennedy phenomenon is that it's given me exposure to some quite remarkable things. Whereas Jack's gift was his charming demeanor, and Ted's was his debauchery, Bobby's appears to have been his eloquence in the written word. In 1964, introducing the JFK memorial film at the Democratic convention, he quoted Shakespeare, which was perhaps the last time anyone spoke that literately at any political convention. I excerpted one of his most famous speeches last week, one that he'd given in South Africa in 1966, and I'm going to present another, longer excerpt here in a moment. I've recordings of Kennedy giving this speech, and I'll admit it comes across with a bit more power on paper than in his delivery, which at the time was more halting, more self-conscious than it would be later on. This portion of his speech was read by Ted at Bobby's funeral, and for all the grief I've given Ted Kennedy over the years for his bloviating style, in this particular case he nailed it. The words themselves, and the phrases, carry such power that Ted's flat, emotionless delivery stays out of the way and allows one to ponder their true force. If you want to hear either Bobby or Ted delivering it, you can easily find clips on YouTube; I prefer to look at them on the page. Some comments will follow.

"There is," said an Italian philosopher, "nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things." Yet this is the measure of the task of your generation and the road is strewn with many dangers.

[M]any of the world's great movements, of thought and action, have flowed from the work of a single man. A young monk began the Protestant reformation, a young general extended an empire from Macedonia to the borders of the earth, and a young woman reclaimed the territory of France. It was a young Italian explorer who discovered the New World, and 32-year-old Thomas Jefferson who proclaimed that all men are created equal. "Give me a place to stand," said Archimedes, "and I will move the world." These men moved the world, and so can we all. Few will have the greatness to bend history; but each of us can work to change a small portion of the events, and in the total of all these acts will be written the history of this generation.

[…] It is from numberless diverse acts of courage such as these that the belief that human history is thus shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance. […]

Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change the world which yields most painfully to change. […] I believe that in this generation those with the courage to enter the conflict will find themselves with companions in every corner of the world.

[There is] the temptation to follow the easy and familiar path of personal ambition and financial success so grandly spread before those who have the privilege of an education. But that is not the road history has marked out for us. There is a Chinese curse which says "May he live in interesting times." Like it or not, we live in interesting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty; but they are also the most creative of any time in the history of mankind. And everyone here will ultimately be judged -- will ultimately judge himself -- on the effort he has contributed to building a new world society and the extent to which his ideals and goals have shaped that effort.

These are timeless words, more stunning because of how applicable they are to our times. For as we've experienced the collapse of confidence in government, the contempt (most of it justified) in which politics is seen, the decay of institutions formerly held in esteem, we realize that much that is important in life has been reduced to a bare essential.

There are many ways to, as Kennedy put it, "enter the conflict." It is not necessary for us to do everything, but imperative that we do something. For one man to stand up and fight the machine, whatever that machine happens to be, may seem a futile act; it is when others see and follow that man that change becomes a possibility. But, as Kennedy says, it takes the courage to stand up - despite threats, despite ridicule, despite the loneliness and isolation that often comes from being the first one to stand up.

And the change that will happen, the change that must happen, cannot come from institutions, but must come from people acting together. When I retired from competitive politics I remarked on the single most important lesson I'd learned: you can't change the world by passing a law; you can only change it by converting hearts and minds. And it isn't done in Washington, or in some state capital; it comes in your interactions with your family, your friends and loved ones, your neighbors, your co-workers, those in your wider community. It comes in the church you attend, the organizations to which you belong, the places you spend your spare time. And all the money, all the power, all the prestige in the world doesn't mean a damn otherwise.  You can't let the standards of the world determine your definition of success, of happiness, of making a difference.

There is much lamenting within the conservative movement that the culture war is lost, that Hollywood and the media have combined to freeze out the conservative voice. There are those on all sides who decry the corruption of Big Business, of the multimillionaires that often worship at no higher altar than the bottom line; and of Big Government, and those politicians who seek only to preserve their own power and line their own pockets. And here we must exhibit the courage of which Kennedy speaks, to turn away from the wealth and power which the modern world offers, in order to take the road less traveled, one which may contain hardship and heartache but ultimately emerges triumphant.

As I said, this is a remarkable speech, and whether or not RFK was responsible in toto for writing the words, he undoubtedly believed in what they meant. One of Kennedy's contemporaries, Ronald Reagan, was even more gifted at it - unparalleled, in my opinion.  Is there anyone today who uses such words to appeal to man's higher nature with an essentially optimistic message? And if not, why not? And what does that say about us?

Bowie

I quoted from this song once, when I was running for the state legislature so many years ago. There was something noble about it, the idea that it wasn't old-fashioned to dream of big things and grand deeds, to think that such things were possible for ordinary individuals.

It's perhaps the quintessential Bowie song, the one that so many have come back to in the days since his death, and I think it's because it strikes something in the hearts of people, the possibility of striving for something, even if it's just for one day, even if you wind up failing in the end. And there is something noble about that, particularly in the "why bother" world we seem to have lapsed into too often.

There's no sense in adding to the millions of words written, not when one has nothing new to offer. A couple of very good posts from people I follow in unlikely places, ones you might not ordinarily read: F1 journalist Joe Saward here, and Catholic blogger Steve Skojec here. Check them out when you get the chance.

And here's perhaps the quintessential performance of the quintessential song, at least given the context: Bowie singing Heroes at Live Aid in 1985.

The stupidity of the Powerball jackpot

The jackpot for the "SuperQaeda" known as Powerball, a government expansion ring that teaches false hope and has never delivered in education, but has paid more to jackpots and gambling service providers with state endorsement as the bookie, is likely to reach over two thirds of a billion dollars for the drawing set Saturday night while Carrie hates herself for loving you.

The disgrace of this government expansion has been an issue that I have fought because of the false hope it teaches, and this entitlement generation is more likely to believe they can make more money out of a numbers racket than they can with hard work because of advertising, and the entitled generation from "free" education paid with this racket has proven themselves to be absurd, as the Occupiers, the voters that have shifted the country hard left on government as a deity, those that adore the Socialist and Communist candidates for President, and Protesters of College Now were raised on this type of freebies.  All of their actions are being paid by "scholarships" from gambling that has raised the cost of school for everybody else.  If you make things free, everyone else has to pay, and we are seeing that now.

Dave Ramsey, whose radio talk show airs in the afternoon here, and has inspired how I even purchased my car and other savings ideas, has this to say from 2012 about the numbers racket that is the sweetheart of the country based on the false hope of that two thirds of a billion dollar racket.

And radio host Clark Howard once posted the odds of those huge jackpots.  I would be much better off with the perfect lady around my arm than to win this jackpot!

And our own Throwback on gambling.

Remember:  This mega-ball "jackpot" will lead to doom and failure.  You will never win this racket!

We officially end the Christmas season

Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.

And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.

When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.

And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way."

-- Matthew 2:7-12

And this we reach the end of the Christmastide, the Christmas season, which runs from December 25 to January 6, with yesterday's celebration of the Epiphany of our Lord Jesus Christ.  We celebrate the Wise Men coming, as seen in those verses posted, with the final part of Bach's Christmas Oratorio, which has parts that are to be sung in the new year.  This Epiphany part is to be sung during this time.

The disaster that is Corporate America

Hi everybody, and welcome back! Oh wait, I'm the one who's been gone! In that case you should be welcoming me back.  Or maybe not, depending on what you think.

Anyway, last month I ran across an interesting article from Rod Dreher, who can be equal parts depressing and fascinating, and this one is probably both in that it gives us an insight into the moral corruption of Corporate America, which is fascinating, but because of that it also paints a dim picture of the future, which is depressing. It comes from video of a talk by Patrick Deneen, which you should definitely watch when you have the time, but since I'm already a month late with this post, I'll share the same quotes that Dreher did - it got Mitchell going when I showed it to him (he hadn't seen it yet), and if you feel the same way we do, it will likely get you going as well.

It begins with Deneen discussing how big business leaped on the homosexual "rights" bandwagon so quickly after Indiana passed RFRA last year, the bill that allowed companies to "assert that their exercise of religion has been, or is likely to be, substantially burdened as a defense in legal proceedings." (H/T Wikipedia.)

There is a deeper reason for corporate support [of gay rights laws], however. ­Today’s corporate ideology has a strong affinity with the lifestyles of those who are defined by mobility, ethical flexibility, liberalism (whether economic or social), a consumerist mentality in which choice is paramount, and a “progressive” outlook in which rapid change and “creative destruction” are the only certainties. The response to Indiana’s RFRA law shows very clearly that corporations have joined forces with Republicans on economic matters and Democrats on social ones. Corporate America is aligned with the ascendant ­libertarian portion of each party, ensuring a win for the political, economic, and ­social preferences of libertarianism. In effect, there is only one functional party in America today, seemingly parceled between the two notional parties but in reality unifying them in its backing by financial and cultural elites.

[...]

What this means is that today’s cultural power elite is entirely aligned with the economic power elite, and they’re ready to steamroll anyone in their way. In the case of Indiana’s RFRA, corporate and gay activists combined to bring to heel conservative Christians in a rural, Rust Belt state that struggles at the margins of America’s global economy. The threat to demolish Indiana’s economy is only a more explicit expression of a project that corporations like Apple and Walmart have been carrying out with the ­assistance mainly of Republicans (as well as free-trade Democrats) for a generation.

To see the glee with which ­liberals joined forces with corporations revealed the deepest fact about the American ruling class: politicians and corporations will join forces to effect the change preferred by corporations, change that too often damages the working class and benefits society’s elites. Corporate America is willing to join any coalition that advances its financial interests and deeper philosophic commitments, at the expense of Americans on the wrong side of history, especially those Americans living in places like Indiana who aren’t part of the meritocratic global elite.

And finally,

Americans of both parties once believed that no center of power in America should become so concentrated that it could force its views on every other citizen. What we saw in Indiana was not just a “miscalculation” by Republicans. We saw fully unmasked just who runs America, and the kind of America that they are bringing more fully into reality every passing day. It will be an America where the powerful will govern completely over the powerless, where the rich dictate terms to the poor, where the strong are unleashed from the old restraints of culture and place, where libertarian indifference—whether in respect to economic inequality or morals—is inscribed into the national fabric, and where the unburdened, hedonic human will reign ascendant. No limits reflected in political, social, or religious norms can be permitted: All are allowed except those who would claim the legitimacy of restraint.

What's most interesting about this is that large companies, and here I'm thinking back to the era of Robber Barons, have frequently tried to deny their desire to control the lives of Americans in order to achieve a bigger profit. They use a lot of fancy words, but they would never admit what they're really up to. But now they flaunt it in front of us, daring us to do something about it.

The effrontery of their arrogance is breathtaking, or at least I would have said that a few years ago. I suppose at least they honor us by not being so condescending with their denials that they insult our intelligence. The idea that they can pronounce who is and isn't on "the right side of history" is laughable, except that they have the power to say it and then enforce it. They've come out of the closet (so to speak) as elites who not only fully believe they know better than you, they'll tell you that and then dare you to stop purchasing their product.

This also confirms what I've been saying for years, which is that Republicans and Democrats are really two sides of the same coin. The only difference between the two, I suppose, is that the Democrats don't really have a grass-roots opposition in the same way that the Republicans do. The fringes of the liberal left want to make the Democrats even more leftist, whereas there are at least a few conservatives out there trying to reign in the Republicans and get them to see that big business is not their friend, that in fact the only friends they have are the American people themselves, and they'd better be careful how they treat them.

It's part of why Donald Trump continues to defy the political experts, why he continues to dominate the Republican side of the presidential race. Now, it may be true that Trump is part of that big business cabal that's trying to run everything; I don't think so, but the point nonetheless is that you've got someone out there saying, in essence, "FU!" to the elites, be they from politics, media or business. That's what a lot of us are thinking right now, and if The Donald isn't the one to fix it, at least there's someone out there besides Howard Beale who has the guts to stand up and say he isn't taking it anymore.

Three deaths as the hours waned

Three notable deaths made New Year's Eve in 2015 feel very sad, considering the value of those we lost in just one 24-hour span.

Marvin Panch. The 1961 Daytona 500 champion, the oldest living Daytona 500 champion (born 1926), died Thursday.  Seventeen Sprint Cup Series wins, he won the race at just under 150 MPH, then a record.  Some of his wins, according to the family statement, included those with Ford's works team run by Peter DePaolo, the man who was an Indianapolis 500 record setter, as he won the first Brickyard classic to go under five hours in 1925.  He also won the second of NASCAR's then-three majors, the World 600, with Richard Petty (his boss) as relief driver.  Panch's 1961 Daytona victory was known for being in an older car when top driver Glenn (Fireball) Roberts had the engine expire on his new 1961 model Pontiac late in the race, allowing Panch to win.  Legend has it that Dewayne (Tiny) Lund (who was very big despite the nickname), who pulled Panch out of a Maserati that had caught fire after a nasty crash during a testing session for the Daytona Continental (now Rolex 24), was given Panch's Wood Brothers ride for the 1963 Daytona 500, and Lund, an Iowan who made his home in Berkeley County, won the race.

Natalie Cole  A pop singer who transitioned from R&B to jazz to match the standards of her late father Nat King Cole, her success came at a price.  She admitted in her early years to drug use and alcohol problems, and criticised NARAS for awarding their awards to a drug addict who later died at a fairly young age.  Her jazz standards will forever be remembered for the trickery used to make listeners think she was doing a duet with her father, who died when she was 15, but she had success on her own as well.  She also enjoyed modest success in television and film work. She was a legend in the jazz standards market, and most assuredly will be missed.

Wayne Rogers.  For younger people, he will be remembered as a financial analyst on Fox News, often appearing as one of the Cashin' In panelists in its original format.  However, another generation will always remember him as the one and only original Trapper John McIntyre on M*A*S*H (Pernell Roberts did the spinoff drama Trapper John, M.D.). After leaving the show in 1975, his career was fairly modest (as was the case with so many actors who leave successful programs, particularly M*A*S*H, as most of his shows that he starred in - City of Angels and House Calls - were either short-lived series or guest spots in TV movies. There was something inherently likable about him, though, with a friendly smile and ingratiating personality, that will ensure he, like Marvin Panch and Natalie Cole, will be remembered.

Of a professional wrestler and the artist's version he used for entrances

For some reason, I was reflecting on my youth and the entrance music of a popular professional wrestler in the 1980's whose gimmick had a 1940's influence and a 1960's pop song as his entrance music.  Remember which wrestler used the song?

Yes, it was this artist's version that was used, although this is the current version of the group that is being used.  Which wrestler used this song as his entrance music?  Personally I'd still have this group than what goes for "pop music" today.

Those days of watching championship "wrestling" as a kid and hearing this song that always meant one wrestler's entrance!

25 Days of Ad-vent, Day 25: wishing you a...

An ad not for Coke, which produced the product, but Vendo, which made the machine that kept the product cold. What a wonderful, vivid ad, and a great way to bring this series to an end. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did - don't worry, this just scratches the surface of what's out there, and there's no reason we can't do this again next year. And a Merry Christmas to you all!

25 Days of Ad-vent, Day 24: the big night

Doesn't this ad perfectly capture the anticipation of Christmas Eve? I used to get so excited on Christmas Eve I'd get almost physically ill. It's strange, I know, but that's what happens when you're a kid.

Wish I'd written that

I think Ricky Brooks must be involved in the final decision of the Miss Universe 2015 pageant."

-- Daniel Hemric, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver.

Ricky Brooks is the lead technical inspection official at many big-money Super Late Model races, including the Snowball Derby in Pensacola held in the first full week of December.  Many times, his events end with a notable disqualification of the winner for various sundry technical issues, such as Christopher Bell's disqualification, once in qualifying for violation of a Super Late Model unified rule on car body mounting, and once after the race for the car's left-side weight being greater than the 58.0% maximum in post-race inspection two weeks ago at the Snowball.

The Brad Keselowski Racing driver's comments referenced the Miss Universe pageant's mistake by host Steve Harvey, which ruined a throwback since the pageant's glory days a Goodson-Todman show host led the pageant (Barker), and Harvey being the host of a Goodson-Todman show currently.

25 Days of Ad-vent, Day 23: we dish you a Merry Christmas

Because what woman doesn't look forward to finding this under the tree?

Back in the day

Where was this gig when I was 30?" -- Steve Harvey, on hosting Miss Universe at 58.

Well, Steve.  Bob Barker hosted Miss Universe for the last time.  And you are the first Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions game show host to do Miss Universe since Mr. Barker.

(NOTE:  Although Mark Goodson died in 1992, and the family has since sold it, the Goodson library is now part of German television network RTL.  Family Feud, like The Price Is Right, was a Goodson-Todman library show, so Mr. Harvey is the first Goodson-Todman show host since Mr. Barker to do the pageants.)

25 Days of Ad-vent, Day 22: say it with aluminum

At first I thought this said, "Hunting Season," which I'm sure is what they wanted to play off of.  I know I have problems with Disney, but that would have been going too far...

25 Days of Ad-vent, Day 21: the "St. Nick" of time

The way things are going in this country, I'm more confident about Rolex always being there than Christmas.

I only wish I was kidding.

25 Days of Ad-vent, Day 20: how sweet it is

Aren't these colors great? Sharp and vivid, especially against the black backdrop. Perfect for those Christmas parties.

25 Days of Ad-vent, Day 19: have an RC and a smile?

You mean Coke isn't the only soft drink at Christmas?  But if Barbara Stanwyck says to drink RC Cola, who am I to disagree?

25 Days of Ad-vent, Day 18: full steam ahead!

Now this is a contemporary ad that gets it right. It's from the 2013 Lionel Christmas catalog, but it has all the hallmarks of ads from 50 or more years ago: the vivid colors, the wonderful detail (note the reflection of the engine on the polished surface of the table), the cookies and milk under the tree, and Santa himself looking with loving care upon the gift he's about to leave some lucky child. The gift of a train itself evokes so many memories of Christmases past - yes, this is an ad that presses all the buttons. Makes me wish Santa was bringing me one this year.

25 Days of Ad-vent, Day 17: it doesn't add up

Whatever else you do, do not get this as a Christmas gift. For anyone. This is not a good idea. I don't know many people who appreciate a scale at any time of the year, let alone Christmas, and though I have one myself, I promise you I will not be looking at it between now and the end of the year. Whoever greenlighted this ad should not be allowed anywhere near Sales and Marketing in the future.

Classic Sports Thursday - Remembering New England racing legend Ron Bouchard

The news came in last Thursday morning in Massachusetts -- legendary New England Modified racer Ron Bouchard, who pulled off the upset in the August 1981 Talladega NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race for his only win, died December 10.

The son-in-law of New England racer "Steady" Ed Flemke, Sr, a popular New England Modified racer in a time where the Mod Squad (glorified in the 2010 History documentary "Madhouse" about Modified racing in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, which is one of the few places in the Southeast where the division of Yankee racing has a stronghold) provided drivers, mechanics, and broadcasters (SiriusXM's Jackie Arute, as he was called at Stafford Speedway in the glory years where he and Mike Joy served as public address announcers, is one, and owns that track in Connecticut with his brothers;  Joy often says the best motorsport broadcasters have a strong background in local track announcing), Bouchard scored his only Sprint Cup win in the dramatic tri-oval to the line pass at Talladega against two future Hall of Fame members in 1981.  He scored two more national series wins, sweeping the 1984 Xfinity Series 200-mile races at the historic Darlington Raceway held before the Rebel and Southern 500 races.  As his career would down, Bouchard, as was the case with both of the drivers he beat in the Talladega finish, would turn to owning an automobile dealership in his Fitchburg, MA home, where some of his Modifieds and his Cup winner are stored in a recently opened museum.

Here is a clip of the 1981 Talladega upset -- the winning car is at the Bouchard family dealership for viewing.


Today, Ron Bouchard's Auto Stores () represents Honda, Hyndai Motor Group, Fiat, and Nissan in Massachusetts.

He is survived by wife Paula, whom he was married over 32 years, and their children are part of the family dealership.

Godspeed, Ron.

25 Days of Ad-vent, Day 16: Santa and a smile

Just as the cartoonist Thomas Nast first came up with the modern concept of Santa Claus, Haddon Sundblom's iconic paintings of the Coke Santa have really become the face of Santa today. I never fail to smile at these; they're so warm, capturing the awe and wonder of childhood Christmases, that we'll look at several of them in the next ten days. In this one, the boy presumably wonders if it's naughty behavior to raid the icebox of people you don't know.

25 Days of Ad-vent, Day 15: just under the surface

I really like the midcentury graphics of this 1959 ad; I have memories of this kind of illustration from the tail end of its run, in the early '60s, before things got more psychedelic. But still - underwear for Christmas? As someone once said, this is what you get when you don't believe in Santa.

25 Days of Ad-vent, Day 14: what a ham!

So when did ham become the Christmas standard? We eat turkey on Christmas, but so many people seem to opt for this instead. Looking back at old movies and television shows, you hear people talk about turkey and goose, but not ham. And yet this ad shows that it was always part of the tradition.

25 Days of Advent, Day 13: by the bag or by the box

Just like Whitman's Samplers, Brach's chocolate is one of the classic Christmas gifts. You can see the pleasure Santa has in bringing them, although he looks so pleased, I'd open the box and count to make sure they're all there before I let Santa leave...

25 Days of Ad-vent, Day 12: not even training wheels!

This picture tells so many stories. It's a crisp, clear Christmas morning, and the lucky recipient of this bicycle is so excited he can't wait to get it outside, even in the snow. His friends have gathered around to check it out; perhaps some of them have gotten bikes as well. In the background the parents, happy to have pleased their son, proud that he takes a step into the next stage of his life. As I say, a great story.

25 Days of Ad-vent, Day 11: good stocking stuffers

Or as Tennessee Ernie Ford would have said, "Bless your pea-pickin' little hearth."

New York Media shows hatred of Heartland's belief in God in light of San Bernardino Shootings

Source:Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times / Polaris 

Breakfast Thursday sounded normal, as would be the Thursday of all Thursdays, but in light of last Wednesday’s horrific terrorist attack in San Bernardino, in the Inland Empire, the shock of a Christmas Party gone rogue resulting in the shooting deaths of 14, then the chase that led to the death of the two assailants left a nation in shambles. Members of the Contender Round in the Republican Chase still remaining (that once-16 strong field has become whittled to 11; it seems there is a NASCAR Chase-style theme – Challenger 17, Contender 12, Eliminator 8, Championship 4 – in the Republican field) expressed thoughts and prayers to the victims.

That, however, left the New York Daily News to show their elite hand in their Thursday edition. The headline was in favour of gun control and mocked the quotes of two members of the GOP Contender Round, the official Leader of the Loyal Opposition (aka the Prime Minister of the United States), and our Senior Senator in a headline that ridiculed America's Heartland in favour of a worldview of the ruling elites. Much in the way Justice Scalia scolded New York elites in their overturning of Constitutions of a three-fifths majority during a famous dissent in June, the New York elites scolded the heartland of America that has a strong belief in God. Albert Mohler reminded listeners in his Briefing commentary Thursday of Genesis 4, where Cain slew Abel, and had his own rebuttal to both the Daily News and The Atlantic, which also bashed the prayerful leadership, citing references to the 1880's in regards to the quotes.

This led to me reminding myself of the United Nations General Assembly where Pope Francis spoke recently, where in front of His Holiness, Shakira performed the John Lennon hit “Imagine,” an anthem of the humanist utopia, a world without God, having been performed at the closing ceremonies of the two most recent Olympic Games held in Europe (Turin 2006, London 2012) and played before the ball drop at Times Square. Here was the Pope, in New York, and a pop diva sang the ultimate insult to those of faith. Now compare that to our little Summer Chorus in June, where we sang Felix Mendelssohn's call for prayer taken from Psalm 55. The New York Daily News had clearly pushed Lennon, while the four leaders mocked by the newspaper, and the majority of Americans, supported Mendelssohn's “Hör Mein Bitten”.  Think over the six lines from this wonderful song (from the English):

Take heed to me! Hear how in prayer I mourn to Thee,
Without Thee all is dark, I have no guide.
The enemy shouteth, the godless come fast!
Iniquity, hatred, upon me they cast!
The wicked oppress me, Ah where shall I fly?
Perplexed and bewildered, O God, hear my cry!

To have the media mock the leaders for asking God to hear our prayers, as in Mendelssohn's beautiful masterpiece that I thoroughly enjoyed singing in June, and effectively picture the vision of the world provided by a pop singer of the 1960's whose surname is a homonym of the founder of the CCCP worshipped by elites who want this nation to turn to the values of the CCCP as superior to those of the nation built on the Bible and the law of God, as De Tocqueville noted.

Is the United States a nation that believes in the godless ideals of the 1960's pop hit, or one of Mendelssohn's passionate cry for prayer?

WORK CITED
Albert Mohler, “The Briefing,” December 3, 2015.

25 Days of Ad-vent, Day 10: playing to type

One of my favorite scenes in A Christmas Story comes at the very beginning, when the kids are pressed up against the store windows, looking in awe at the new toys. Somehow, I doubt a typewriter would have inspired the same awe, but who knows?

Decency makes a stand at Fox

FOX BUSINESS HOST STUART VARNEY (LEFT) WITH RETIRED LT. COLONEL RALPH PETERS 

Fox News and Business suspended Ralph Peters and Stacey Dash two weeks for comments made on Monday's Varney & Company (Mr. Peters) and Outnumbered (Miss Dash) where each contributor made remarks that legally crossed the line into obscene.

In the former, airing in the 9 AM Eastern Time hour, where televisions at financial institutions are often tuned to the Fox Business Network, Mr. Peters made this comment:

“Mr. President, we’re not afraid! We’re angry! We’re pissed off! We’re furious!  We want you to react. We want you to do something. You’re afraid! I mean, this guy is such a total (expletive), it’s stunning! We, the American people, who he does not know in any intimate sort of manner, we want action. We want action against Islamic State.”

In the latter, airing at the 12 Noon hour, where restaurant televisions are often tuned to Fox News, Miss Dash responded to the President's speech the previous night:

“His speech was an epic fail. It was like when you have to go to dinner with your parents, but you have a party to go to afterwards. That’s what it felt like – I felt like he could give a (expletive) – excuse me, like he could care less.”

Fox promptly threw a two-week suspension on both parties for their language.  Before you consider criticising Fox News for this, consider the words they said.  One was a sexually explicit reference that we heard in the late 1980's-early 1990's rap group “2 Live Crew,” which went over the edge.  The other was a word that has drawn NASCAR's ire with heavy fine and points penalties for its use in a rule imposed after Super Bowl XXXVIII.  Yes, cable does not have the same language requirements on broadcast, which his why elite television (HBO, Showtime, Netflix, Amazon Prime) dominate today as they have no language standards.  But Fox News has made it clear that if you want to discuss the issue, please be decent and not resort to gutter language on the street.  It is highly unprofessional, and in a world where standards must be restored, Fox News has posted the ultimate warning regarding television decency.  We need to return to decency, and punishing people for indecent language on broadcasts is a welcome sight that we have long needed.

A news broadcast is not a place for profanity.  We had those standards in school, we have those standards in work, and we have standards where obscene language would shame a person.  Glad to see Fox have decency standards in place when that is sorely needed today.  You can make your point, but gutter language from the thug life is never to be accepted.  Would a debater use such saucy obscene language to win a debate?

25 Days of Ad-vent, Day 9: Plymouth rocks

There's just something very, very inviting about this ad. Perhaps it's the vividness of the colors, the red rug in the entryway, the wreath hanging on the front door and the red decorations hanging down from the walls. Maybe it's the arms laden with gifts on what probably is Christmas Eve. The holly inserted in various parts of the frame. Whatever, it's a wonderful tableau - so much better than the car ads you see at Christmastime nowadays, when it's all about doing something for yourself, rather than allowing the car to be a reminder of the joy you can bring to others.

25 Days of Ad-vent, Day 8: Sammy Claus

There isn't, really, any need to say more, is there?

25 Days of Ad-vent, Day 7: faster than a speeding sleigh

Yes, in the days before Federal Express, having a gift or letter delivered via Air Mail was a big deal - when you got a package with the distinctive striping pattern around the edges, especially at Christmastime, it was special. So is FedEx, but not in the same way.

25 Days of Ad-vent, Day 6: wrap it up

I don't know about you, but my first thought was that a Christmas gift made from Reynolds Wrap would have been made sometime in first or second grade. Now I can see they might be talking about something else.

The tinsel-type trees are always great, particularly now that they're made from something other than aluminum. You can put lights on it. But then, that's what the color wheel was for.

25 Days of Ad-vent, Day 5: do you have Prince Albert in a can?

Then you'd better let him out! (Accompanied by the sound of adolescent chortling.)

Seriously - I love the colorfulness of this ad, but it's not something you're likely to see today, is it? And did you notice, a different product for mister and missus? Because you don't see many women smoking a pipe, I'd guess.