Tuesday, May 30, 2006

war! what is it good for?


about 8 years ago, we removed hbo from our satellite service package. i'd be dishonest if i didn't admit that part of the reason was a morality statement. most of the offerings at the time were vulgar, lewd, and/or foul (not much has changed.) the other reason was economical...we didn't watch hbo, so we felt that we were just wasting money. for about two years we were hbo-free, and our lives were not amiss of anything.

then, i caught a story in some magazine about hbo's upcoming world war 2 mini series entitled, "band of brothers." the story was essentially true, the screenplay was co-written by stephen ambrose (perhaps my favorite author) and the series was co-produced by tom hanks and steven spielberg. they were fresh off their successful ww2 movie "saving private ryan" (which i enjoyed thoroughly) , so my hopes were high. we ordered hbo just in time -and specifically- to watch the series.

there are a few historical events that never cease to drive my interest, regardless of the amount of material i consume concerning the subject. the civil war, the life and assassination of abraham lincoln, jfk's assassination, the mafia in its heyday, and the tale of the american indian are a few of these subjects. world war two is another.

i've been to new orleans several times, and one of the coolest things i've seen there is the national d-day museum. this museum is also a project headed by ambrose, hanks, and spielberg. i even watched the grand opening ceremonies on c-span since my interest was so keen. i ultimately went to the museum with neil and brian. we spent several hours in the museum and saw everything from a sherman tank to an authentic army issue chocolate bar. i hope to return soon, as the museum is now home to a huge collection documenting the war in the pacific, as well as that in europe.

"band of brothers" is a fantastic series. it is also a wonderful book -written by stephen ambrose. i rewatched it this past sunday night and monday morning. the series follows easy company of the 101st airborne from basic training in georgia to normandy on d-day to holland to bastogne to the battle of the bulge in the ardennes to hitler's eagle nest in berchtesgaden. that's close to everywhere in the european theater, and they were there. it is a story of heroism, cowardice, bravery, failure, victory, and death. ambrose pulls no punches in the telling, and it is capable of being pretty brutal.

perhaps the context of watching this story unfold on memorial day caused me to see it in a different light. my depth of respect and admiration for those who have lived or died in our military is without bounds. i also think every right thinking person is a pacifist. who in their right mind would desire death and destruction over harmony? i think none. i believe those who provoke or incite anger, confrontation, or violence are mad. watching the boys in this reenactment being destroyed mentally and physically was quite unsettling.

it reminded me of a situation involving robert e lee. on a hilltop watching the gruesome battle of fredericksburg, he remarked, "it is well that war is so terrible, we should become too fond of it." i don't understand enough to know what would cause one to become fond of this kind of endeavor; but, i do believe his assessment of the nature of war is apt.

it is interesting to note that the presidential address given on the first memorial day was given at arlington national cemetery by james garfield. the site of this famous cemetery was once the property of robert e lee. his home was overrun by union soldiers during the war, and the vindictive general meigs turned the property surrounding arlington house into a national cemetery with the sole intent of robbing lee of his family home. robert e lee never returned to his estate in arlington.

Monday, May 29, 2006

declaration of interdependence

this morning, jackson and i watched the national lacrosse championship game between umass and uva. i can define my lacrosse knowledge in two statements: "you have to run around too much, just like in soccer" and "jim brown was the greatest lacrosse player, ever."

unlike soccer, lacrosse players are frequently rewarded with goals. i think the score of this game(match?) was 17-5. it would take a month and a half for the average soccer team to score 17 times. although i know very little about the game, it was fun to be a spectator for a little while.

the most interesting things about the match were observations made by the commentators. they were comparing the two teams...the nature of their teams cultures, their program histories, and their paths to the championship game. massachusetts and virginia. being a history nerd, the first thing that came to my mind was adams and jefferson. the longer the commentators spoke, the deeper i slid into the metaphor.

the university of massachusetts is a public university available to all those who desire to attend. the university of virginia is also a public university; but, it is widely regarded as the finest public university in the united states and is correspondingly selective in its acceptance of applicants.

the players on the virginia team are elite student athletes. they are attending one of the prestigious universities in the nation, living lives of leisure on scholarship, while preparing for lives as attorneys and doctors. surely, some of these descriptions apply to the players at umass, but they consider themselves to be "blue collar" guys. i'm sure the cavaliers have never worn blue collars.

the umass team were huge underdogs, and unknowns in the championship this year. uva is one of the storied lacrosse programs in the nation with a long history of preeminence. this year, they are undefeated, and have been ranked # 1 all year.

following suit- as the allegory goes-the privileged boys from virginia demolished the upstart workers from massachusetts. some things remain the same.

p.s. yes, i know adams defeated jefferson in '96; but, from then on it has been all jefferson...even when it was not true or deserved. from friends to rivals and back, the two of them have been forever linked in history.

44 long? isn't that a deep jumper from jerry west?

the first time i ever wore a suit was just before i moved away from home. i was 19 years old, and mom and dad bought me two suits to be worn on my mission. i remember thinking how mature i was because i owned a suit of clothes. that sweet suit quickly evolved into a rotting albatross tied around my neck.

when we went to salt lake city, kramer took us to a mall and i came face to face with a good source of lasting comedy. there i found a store selling Mr. Mack brand suits. apparently mr. mack is all the rage in the mission field for a couple of reasons. they are made for missionaries. they are made of a very durable material designed to withstand the wear and tear specific to spending hours a day on a bicycle seat. they also appeared to be flame-retardant, though i'm not sure when that would come in handy on a full-time mission. most notably, these particular suits are all three-piece suits, though not a traditional three pieces. they come with one suit coat, and two pairs of slacks. now that is classy and practical. what a deal. was i ever glad we had made suit purchases prior to leaving home? a kid from rural hays county, texas can recognize cow manure from quite a distance.

i spent two years in phoenix, arizona. most full-time missionaries world-wide will wear a suit all day, every day for most of the year. in the valley of the sun - where i experienced temperatures up to 122 degrees - we were given the option of leaving the suit coat in the closet from easter to halloween. this does not include sundays, when suit were required. i was lucky enough to have arrived in arizona on 19 october, when the daytime temperature still eclipsed 100 degrees. i was pleased because the suit -wearing time of the year was upon us. i quickly got my fill.

after getting to know the mission life, i soon realized that my sweet, brand new, carefully chosen suits were not as cool as i had suspected. in the mission, what passed for stylish was a thrifter suit procured from a second-hand shop. if your suit was acquired for less than 10$, this added quality to the recycled wool hanging on your shoulders. if your suit had been found in a cool locale, you were set..."yeah, i found this in a catholic resale shop in south phoenix (or ouray, or window rock, or wherever.)" it was a dry cleanable version of hotel luggage stickers. one could "brag" about one's mission travels just by dropping the location of the thrift shop from which one's suit originated. the highlight acquisition of my mission was a forest green, checked hart shaffner and marx i found in durango, colorado. let me assure you that it was fabulous. as it was quite the attention getter, it was not wholly appropriate for daily wear. i only broke it out for special occasions. i am not sure what ever came of that beauty..i think neil may have taken it to portugal.

after two years of toting around the extra weight of a suit coat; i swore them off, forever. i am fortunate that i work in a business, where suits are not only not required, wearing one would be ridiculous. as such, i have been able to fulfill my suitless desires for the better part of 16 years. i wore one as a pall bearer at my uncle billy ray's funeral. that was only out of respect for the man. i have worn tuxedo's on several instances since my oath's inception out of respect for the occasion...and fear of my wife. all this is about to change.

today, i had the adventure of purchasing a suit of clothes. my first try didn't go very well. we went into dillard's. i tried to casually inspect their offerings; but, when i was approached by a salesman, i had a minor panic attack and bolted. we got in the car and drove around the block. we didn't return to the same parking spot, but we did return to the same mall. this time we decided to try foley's. charlotte and jackson gave me some room to breathe, and i mustered up the gravitas needed to ask for help from a salesman. he quickly sized me and made a recommendation based on my meager needs. i even pressed myself into calling charlotte over for an opinion - she was a little put out over the earlier departure. 10 minutes later, we were out the door, with the offending garment discreetly cloaked in a plastic bag.

i'm not sure what to do with it now.

Sunday, May 14, 2006

practically unthinkable


a few years ago, jman spent the weekend with my sister and her family. for some reason, neither charlotte nor myself were able to go with him; so, my parents took him to visit. it may have been ethan's birthday...maybe it was just a random visit. sometime that weekend, jman was introduced to the story of titanic. i think he saw a television program. he told me that after watching that first show he thought, "oh man! i need to learn more about that." when he came home at the end of the weekend, he asked me if i knew about titanic. after answering in the affirmative, he blurted out to me, "why didn't you tell me?" i didn't have a good answer.

i have been interested in the story of titanic for a very long time. it is a story of superlatives. words such as wealthiest, bravest, most opulent, premier, selfless, and heroic find their way into the story on many occasions. unfortunately, so do poorest, cowardice, shame, arrogance, catastrophic, and failure. its name is one that almost everyone knows. it is not the deepest shipwreck, nor is it the foundering that took the greatest number of lives. nevertheless, this is the story that remains brightest in our consciousness because of the grandeur of the ship, the romance of the era, and the idea that although it was branded "practically unsinkable," titanic went to the bottom of the atlantic only 5 days into its initial journey.

by the way, don't even get me started on that piece of crap movie. and if you start to hum that song, i may pour liquid metal into my ears.

last summer, our family went to las vegas. charlotte was going to a convention, and jackson and i went along for the ride. charlotte was scrapbooking, but all i was thinking about was las vegas and the freaking mirage. the mirage is a lovely hotel. we really enjoyed our stay there. we also went to a show at the luxor. we ate dinner at ceasar's palace, the bellagio, and the venetian; but, the highlight of the trip took place at a seedy old-school hotel called the tropicana. last summer, the tropicana hosted a titanic artifacts exhibit. one evening, we walked from the mirage down to the tropicana and took the tour. it was self-guided, and for 25 dollars each, we were able to walk through this collection of materials gathered after nearly 100 years at the ocean's bottom. we saw clothing, personal letters, parts of the ship itself, china, deck chairs, and life belts. the final room (well, the one prior to the gift shop) held the largest piece of the wreckage ever brought to the surface. it is enormous. as such, it has been named "the big piece." it is a 25 x 15 piece of steel, complete with rivets and portholes. there is a photo of the titanic next to the "big piece" which truly gives one an idea of how titanic titanic really was. the "big piece" is highlighted, shown in its original position on the ship - it is a speck in the view of the whole. upon entering the exhibit, each visitor is given a boarding pass similar to those given the actual passengers. on the back of each pass is the name of a titanic passenger or crew member. also included are vital information about "your" individual...age, class of ticket purchased, family, home, occupation, destination in the united states. near the end of the tour, one of the rooms displays the names of each passenger and crew member on titanic's initial voyage. the names are divide into groupings under the following parameters: "passenger or crew"; "1st class, 2nd class, steerage"; and, finally "survivor or lost." one would find the name of the individual indicated on the boarding pass and find that name on the wall. it was kind of a gimmick, but it gave a bit of a personal touch to the viewing of the artifacts. charlotte and jackson survived. i didn't. it was a really great show and well worth the price.

jackson's interest in titanic has never waned. if anything, it has grown. as i write this, he is watching a documentary of a series of dives to the wreckage site. we have seen many of these documentaries over the years. he has a nice little library of titanic books. most are picture books, but a few are chapter books...both fiction and non-fiction. he was given a model of titanic as a gift, which he loves. did i mention that this past april 15th, we had a titanic party at our house. we had cake and explored an awesome and comprehensive titanic cd-rom. that cd is really cool.

he really has forgotten more about titanic than most people know.

Friday, May 12, 2006

the rebirth of slick

each may the pga tour makes its customary stop at the colonial country club in fort worth. for the past 10 or so years, neil, brian and i have gone to the tournament together. it is a "real" golf course. the players there have to play the course. often enough these days, they can just whip out their drivers on every hole and bang away. colonial doesn't forgive that kind of approach for more than the first 2 holes. from there on in, you had better be able to golf your ball if you want to be around sunday afternoon. it is the tournament made famous by ben hogan. the sentimental call it hogan's alley because he won this particular tournament so often. of course, there are two or three other courses which dub themselves hogan's alley, so you can readily see that the hawk really got around. colonial also has a non-circus feeling because eldrick never plays. he is too busy getting 2 million dollar appearance fees from the wonderful golf benefactors of dubai. bully for us.

this year, i am unable to attend. seminary graduation is the same night, and i really have to be there. instead of going to, or watching the tournament, i'll just have to relive some of the great moments from my past adventures there. i loved finding nick faldo on the practice green an hour after his sunday round was over. just getting a feel for the greens for next year, i guess. i thought mark brooks' head was going to catch fire after watching him take a 5 on the par three 4th. one year, brian was commenting on how i can always be counted on to underdress. t-shirt, shorts, and tennis shoes are as dressed as i get on the weekend...or weekday. neil came to my defense and said that it didn't matter how much money i made, i would always dress like i didn't have any. thanks.

i am much more interested in comfort. i enjoy dressing like a third grader...and it works for me. on my first date with my wife-to-be i dressed in a long sleeve white t-shirt, old baggy jeans, and flip flops. as she was used to dating guys who crease their jeans, i looked uber cool. unfortunately, familiarity breeds contempt.

at my 10 year high school reunion, some of us were looking at an old year book, and the subject turned to the "best" and "most" designations from our senior year. kenny lancaster reminded me that i had been voted "best dressed." charlotte refused to believe it until she saw for herself in the pages of the annual. after seeing my picture under the aforementioned heading, she turned to me, looked at me from head to toe, and asked, "what happened?" NICE.