Edward John Smith: Captain of Titanic

THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 2012

When anyone asks how I can best describe my experience in nearly 40 years at sea, I merely say, uneventful.  Of course there have been winter gales , and storms and fog the like, but in all my experience, I have never been in any accident of any sort worth speaking about . . . I never saw a wreck and never have been wrecked, nor was I ever in any predicament that threatened to end in a disaster of any sort.

- Edward John Smith
Excerpt of an interview with Captain Smith in 1907 after he brought the Adriatic to New York on its maiden voyage


Who was Edward John Smith, the captain of the ill-fated Titanic?  What was the background of the man who commanded the famed ocean liner on its doomed maiden voyage?  To what extent was he responsible for one of the most horrific maritime disasters of all time?  Many people are not familiar with Smith's name.  They simply refer to some faceless captain of Titanic.  As the 100th anniversary of the sinking of Titanic draws near, it seems appropriate to explore the life and background of Captain Smith.  The 62-year old British naval reserve officer was closing in on retirement when he took command of the RMS Titanic in April of 1912.  He died in the tragic accident and his body was never recovered.

Edward John Smith was born in the town of Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, England on January 27. 1850 to  Edward  Smith, a potter, and his wife, Catherine.  The Smiths later became shopkeepers and young Edward attended Etruria British School.  At the age of 13, he went to Liverpool to start a seafaring career. In 1869, he apprenticed on a clipper ship called Senator Weber, owned by A. Gibson & Co., a  Liverpool company.

It was in 1880 that Smith joined the White Star Line as Fourth Officer.  He was given command of his first vessel, Republic, in 1887.  Through the years, he also commanded Coptic, Majestic, Baltic, Adriatic, Germanic and Olympic.  By the time he took charge of Titanic, Captain Smith had logged 46 years of experience on the sea, including captaining Majestic during the Boer War.  For his service during that war, King Edward VII awarded him the Transport Medal.

Regrettably, Smith's lengthy career was marred by some mishaps that happened under his command prior to the Titanic.  On February 16, 1899, while at New York pier, Germanic capsized as a result of an ice buildup in the vessel's rigging and superstructure.  On June 21, 1911, Titanic's slightly smaller sister ship, Olympic, was preparing for her maiden voyage when a tugboat, O.L. Hallenbeck, was sucked against her stern.  The reverse burst of Olympic's propeller caused serious damage to the tugboat.  White Star was sued for $10,000, but the case was eventually dismissed due to lack of evidence.

On September 20, 1911, less than a year before Titanic set sail, Olympic collided with the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Hawke in a narrow channel off the Isle of Wight.  The British war ship lost her prow (the forward part of a ship's bow).  As for Olympic, she managed to return to Southampton with one of her propeller shafts twisted.  The Royal Navy held Olympic responsible for the incident, contending that her huge size generated a suction that pulled Hawke into the larger vessel.

Despite the Hawke incident, White Star assigned command of Titanic to Captain Smith and continued to regard him as  a competent and experienced seaman.  The rapid increase in the size of ocean liners may have played a part in the previous mishaps that occurred under his command and the sinking of Titanic itself.  All of Smith's training skills and his vast experience at sea did not prepare him adequately for the advances in shipping and the sheer size of newer ships.

Captain Edward John Smith was a popular figure with a loyal clientele of passengers. Some voyageurs, particularly those of England's upper classes, would only cross the Atlantic on a ship that he captained.  Smith was well-liked by the management of White Star Line and by friends and colleagues.  They affectionately referred to him as E.J.  His salary was $6,250 per year and there was a "cash bonus" of $1,000 if any ship under his command were not damaged during the 12 months.  This was indeed a handsome sum in those days.

Captain Smith's personal life appeared to be very stable and content.  On January 13, 1887, he married 25-year-old Sarah Eleanor Pennington at St. Oswald's Church in Winwick.  Smith's wife preferred to be known by her second name, Eleanor, and she called her husband "Ted" or "Teddy."  The couple had one child, Helen Melville Smith, born on April 2, 1898 at 20 Alexandra Road, Waterloo, Litherland, near Liverpool.  Ted and his family eventually settled in Southampton on England's south coast, where the White Star office was situated.  They lived in a spacious two-gabled brick house named Woodhead,  Helen, known as "Mel," had just turned 14 years old when her father set forth on his fatal voyage on Titanic.

On April 10, 1912, the white-bearded Smith, wearing a bowler hat and a long overcoat, rode in a taxi from his home to the Southampton docks.  Shortly after12 noon, Titanic, the largest and most luxurious ship in the world set off for New York City.  Her maiden voyage got off to a shaky start.  As the grand ocean liner was leaving port, the suction caused the ropes of a docked ship nearby to break.  Tugboats were rushed to the scene in order to prevent a collision between the SS. New York and Titanic.

At about 11:40 p.m. on Sunday, April 14, 1912, Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic off the coast of Newfoundland.  A lookout had apparently sighted the iceberg and rang a warning bell three times.   He then telephoned Sixth Officer James Moody and alerted him to the situation, but it was too late to prevent the fatal disaster.  The ship sank for over two and a half hours, killing more than 1,500 people.

In "Titanic Research," an April 29, 2006 piece by Samuel Hepburn appearing in Encyclopedia Titanica, Hepburn ponders the question of how the Titanic could have unexpectedly discovered a solitary iceberg in its way.  He notes that the sworn testimony of Moody and Reginald Lee, another Titanic lookout, leaves the impression that only one iceberg was seen prior to the deadly collision.  He writes that "many people believe it to be improbable for the Titanic to have steamed deep into iceberg infested waters and suddenly find a single isolated iceberg dead ahead in its path."  Other icebergs, Hepburn points out, "should have been sighted earlier especially since we know that in the morning, after the sun came up, many icebergs were seen all around the area of the wreckage"

On the day of the disaster, Titanic received six ice warnings.  Unfortunately, the messages were all ignored by the wireless operator who was more concerned with transmitting passenger messages.  The weather was also a factor in the collision.  The moon was not out and the water was calm, making it difficult to spot the iceberg.  If the water had been less still, breakers would have formed around the iceberg, making it easier to see from a distance.

Captain Smith's final actions during the sinking of the ship remain uncertain and there is much speculation about the details of his death. Some historians maintain that Smith was on the bridge at 2:13 a.m. and that he went down with the ship.  Other sources, however, state that he went to the wheelhouse.  There are also sources that claim he was present in the radio room.  The stories vary and they conflict each other.  For example, some survivors of the disaster recalled having seen Smith on the ships's bridge and some claimed to have witnessed him jumping off the deck.

Just before 3.00 p.m., on Thursday, April 18, the following message was posted on the notice-board at the White Star office in Southampton.   The poignant words were from Eleanor, the wife of Captain E.J. Smith.

TO MY POOR SUFFERERS:
My heart overflows with grief for you all, and is laden with sorrow that you are weighed down with this terrible burden that has been thrust upon us all.  
May God be with us and comfort us all.
Yours in deepest sympathy
(Signed) Eleanor Smith

Captain Smith's widow remained in Southampton for a while after her husband's death.  She later relocated to London.  On April 28, 1931, she was run over by a taxi near her London home and died at the age of 70.  Helen Melville Smith married Captain John Gilbertson of Liverpool of Liverpool, England.  Gilbertson, the youngest captain in the British merchant navy, died of black water fever while returning from India on board his first command ship.

In 1922, Helen married Sidney Russell-Cooke, a stockbroker, at St. Mark's Church, Mayfair.  The couple had twins, a son named Simon and a daughter, Priscilla, born at Bellcroft, London on June 18, 1923.  Priscilla wed a lawyer, John Constantine Phipps, She died soon after of polio in Scotland on October 7, 1947.  Simon, who never married, was killed in battle during World War II on March 23, 1944.  Russell-Cooke, died in a hunting accident on July 30, 1930.

On July 29, 1914, Helen Melville Smith unveiled a statue of her father in Lichfield, England.  Its sculptor was Lady Kathleen Scott, widow of Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott.  The plaque beneath Captain Smith's memorial reads: Commander Edward John Smith RD, RDR. Born January 27, 1850, Died April 15, 1912, Bequeathing to his countrymen the memory and example of a great heart, a brave life and a heroic death. Be British. (There is an apocryphal story that Smith's last statement to his crew was, "Be British.")

In 1934, Helen moved to the quiet country village of Leafield, Oxfordshire and died there on August 18, 1973.  Mel was 75 years old at the time of her passing.  Since both of her children died childless, she left no descendants. Thus ended the progeny of Captain Edward John Smith.

END NOTE

Smith was a heavy cigar smoker.  In May of 2011, a cigar box he once owned sold for 25,000 pounds at a Liverpool auction.


- Joanne

All About Easter Lilies

SUNDAY, APRIL 8, 2012

I have a great fondness for Easter Lilies and I get them every Easter. On this Easter Sunday, Number 16 presents some facts about this beautiful symbol of the season.  Their white, trumpet-shaped flowers represent hope and regeneration.  

* The Latin name for the Easter Lily is Lilium longiflor.  The Easter Lily is also known as the Bermuda lily.

*  Easter Lilies are native to the Ryukyu Islands of southern Japan.  They were discovered by famed plant explorer Carl Peter Thunberg and delivered to England in 1819.  Missionaries and sailors brought the lilies to Bermuda in 1853, hence the name Bermuda lily,  A virus destroyed the crop in 1898 and production moved to Japan.

*  Before the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, most of the Easter Lily bulbs were imported from Japan.

* A World War I soldier named Louis Houghton has been given credit for starting production of Easter Lilies in the United States.  Houghton carried a suitcase of lily bulbs with him to the southern coast of Oregon in 1919.  He gave them to friends when the supply was cut off after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The area along the California-Oregon boarder is now the "Easter Lily Capital of the World" and produces the vast majority of the bulbs grown in the world.

- Joanne

People want jobs. Unemployment is the number one issue

THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 2012

It's a recession when your neighbour loses his job:  it's a depression when you lose yours.

- Harry S. Truman (1884-1972), 33rd President of the United States
In Observer, April 13, 1958

So many politicians don't get it!  They just don't get it!  The number one priority is not debt.  It's not deficit reduction.  The number one priority is job creation.  This is not to trivialize fiscal irresponsibility.  It is to state categorically that job creation is the most important problem facing many countries around the world.

Rick Santorum, candidate for the Republican Party's nomination for president of the United States was quoted as saying that he "doesn't care what the unemployment rate is going to be."  Santorum later explained that he meant that the election was about something more basic - freedom.  For Santorum and other right-wing conservatives, freedom can be defined as less government.  Conservatives want to cut social programs and government jobs.

Severe austerity measures during times of economic slowdown, however, result in job losses and layoffs.  It's sure to create more misery.  How can you stimulate the economy by putting more people out of work?  It's simply not logical.

 Here's what Santorum and other conservatives, including Canada's prime minister, Stephen Harper, don't seem to understand.  The unemployed can't wait.  They need jobs as soon as possible.  They have rent to pay and mortgages and children to feed.  How free are they if they can't pay the bills and put food on the table?  The unemployed can't afford to spend money to get the economy rolling.  People who fear losing their jobs are afraid to make new purchases.  They are reluctant to eat out at restaurants or join fitness clubs.  As a result, businesses are forced to close down and more employees lose their jobs.  This leads to slumping retail sales.more layoffs and less money in the government coffers.  It's a vicious cycle.

The unemployed cannot wait for the private sector to start hiring.  Government has to step in when necessary.  That's why U.S. President Barack Obama set forth his stimulus plan for the American economy and his American Jobs Act.  That's why Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a self-proclaimed fiscal conservative, brought forth Canada's Economic Action Plan, even though the stimulus plan went against his conservatives principles.  Government investment in infrastructure creates jobs.

in January of 2010, one year after Obama took office, the effects of the 2008 recession were being felt and the U.S. unemployment rate was quite high, about 9.7 percent.  According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the most recent unemployment rate (February 2012) is 8.3 percent.  There are 12.8 million unemployed .persons in the U.S.A.  That's unacceptably high.  Yet, under Barack Obama, the jobless rate has steadily decreased.  Obama's economic stimulus has been working.  It's a shame that the Republicans have blocked his American Jobs Act.

In Canada, the unemployment rate for February 2012 was 7.4 percent.  Canadians are being told that we must lower our expectations and that secure employment and decent pensions are things of the past.  We're being told that government spending must be reigned  in.  Yet the Conservative government has plenty of money to spend on building new prisons at a time when the crime rate is decreasing in Canada.  Don't worry, though.  Once more social and recreational programs are cut and more jobs are lost, they'll be plenty of people to fill those prisons.

The recession of 2008 was devastating.  Four years later, we're still feeling reeling from its effects.  Unemployment remains unacceptably high in North America and much of Europe.  A jobless recovery is not a real recovery.  Just ask the thousands of people seeking employment or those who can only find temporary and part-time jobs.



I grew up in the Thirties with our unemployed father.  He did not riot, he got on his bike and looked for work.  

-  Norman Tebbit (1931 -
British Conservative politician; Speech at Conservative Party Conference, October 15, 1981


What if the work isn't there?  What if employers are only laying off and not hiring?  Conservative politicians like Tebbit constantly urge us to be self-reliant and to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps.  Although rioting is definitely not the solution, neither is complete individual self-reliance.  Self-reliance and individual responsibility are good qualities.  Sometimes, however, people genuinely need help.  When you are 52 years old and find yourself laid off, it's difficult to find another job, especially when employers are not hiring due to cutbacks.  It's also hard to find employment at a time when so many jobs are being lost due to technology. The private sector is cutting jobs, not creating them.  The so-called "trickle down" theory isn't working.

Prices are going up and the cost of living is continually increasing.  It' isn't easy for many families to keep up, even if family members have steady employment.  It's especially difficult for seniors on fixed incomes.  Too many people are falling behind or falling between the holes of our social safety nets.  What of our youth?  What of their future?  Who will offer them hope for steady employment and decent pensions?  Will we allow them to be the future without a future, a lost generation?

It's easy for many bankers, politicians and CEOs who live in ivory towers to ignore the concerns of the most vulnerable in our society. After all, bean counters only see numbers and statistics.  Their decisions, however, have a significant effect on human lives.  People need jobs and they need them now.  The gap between rich and poor is growing every day and the middle class is quickly disappearing.  That does not bode well for our society.

- Joanne

It's the first day of spring! Spring fever anyone?

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2012

SPRING HAS SPRUNG!

A little Madness in the Spring
Is wholesome even for the King.

- Emily Dickinson


It's March 21st, also known as the vernal equinox.  Freshness and renewal are in the air.  It's time for spring cleaning and lighter clothing.  As the great American poet Emily Dickinson suggests, perhaps a little good-natured craziness is order.  Spring fever anyone? 

Emily Dickinson

THE SEASON OF ROMANCE

Of course, spring is also the time for romance.  It was the English poet, Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809 - 1892), who wrote:

In the spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to love.

That line was written by Tennyson in 1835 in his poem Locksley Hall.  It was published in his 1842 volume of poems.  Tennyson was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom during the reign of Queen Vistoria.  He was born in August of 1809 at Somersby, Lincolnshire and succeeded William Wordsworth as Poet Laureate in 1850.   (I would be remiss if I did not point out, Lord Tennyson, that a young woman's fancy also turns to love in the spring.)

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Spring is necessary

 Spring is necessary.  We all have to recharge our batteries.  The time for hibernation is over.  Awaken from your slumber.  Let there be light!

Is it so small a thing
To have enjoyed the sun,
To have lived light in the spring,
To have loved, to have thought, to have done;
To have advanced true friends, and
beat down baffling foes?

- Matthew Arnold (1822 -1888), British poet and social critic
From Empedocles on Etna {1852}


We need spring.  We need it desperately and usually, we need it before God is willing to give it to us.

- Peter John Gzowski (1934 - 2002), Canadian broadcaster
From Peter Gzowski's Spring Tonic [1979]


When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be the happiest.  The only thing that could spoil a day was people and if you could keep from making engagements, each day had no limits.  People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself.

- Ernest Hemingway (1899 - 1961), American author
From A Moveable Feast


Spring will not be denied

Pablo Neruda

The circle of life contines and spring will not be denied.  The Chilean poet and politician, Pablo Neruda (104 - 1973) wrote:

You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming.


- Joanne

William Jennings Bryan and the Scopes Trial

MONDAY, MARCH 19, 2012

Today is the 152nd anniversary of the birth of William Jennings Bryan, a politician of great prominence in American history.  Bryan was the Democratic Party's nominee for president three times - in 1896, 1900 and 1908 - and he was defeated all three times.  He is remembered for his outstanding oratory and for his role in the famous Scopes "monkey trial" of 1925.

William Jennings Bryan was born in Salem, Illinois on March 19, 1860.  In 1881, he delivered the validectory speech at his graduation from Illinois College in Jacksonville, Illinois.  The young man then studied law at Union Law School in Chicago (now known as Northwestern University School of Law).  While preparing for his bar exam in Jacksonville, he met Mary Elizabeth Baird and married her on October 1, 1884.  The couple had three children: Ruth Baird (born October 2, 1885), William Jennings Bryan Jr. and Grace.

Bryan practiced law in Jacksonville for a few years, but he and his family moved to Lincoln, Nebraska in 1887.  In Lincoln, he became involved in politics and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Nebraska's Ist district in the Democratic landslide of 1890.  After winning re-election to Congress in 1892, Byron became a rising star in the Democratic Party.  He decided to run for the United States Senate in 1894.  His Republican opponent was John M. Thurston, the general counsel for the Union Pacific Railroad.  Although the Republicans won the state Legislature and elected Thurston to the Senate, the campaign provided Bryan with national exposure.

In July of 1896, at the Democratic Convention in Chicago, William Jennings Bryan made one of the most memorable speeches in American history.  His dramatic "Cross of Gold" speech mesmerized the audience at the convention.  His words addressed the controversy at the time concerning the coinage of silver. Jennings supported silver against the Gold Standard and he defended the interests of western farmers over the industrial East.  "Burn down your cities and leave our farms," he thundered, "and your cities will spring up again as if by magic.; but destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country. "  He ended his speech by declaring that "You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold," his arms outstretched in the form of a crucified Christ.

At the age of 36, William Jennings Bryan went on to win the Democratic nomination for president of the United States, becoming the youngest person ever nominated for the office.  During the campaign of 1896, he took four major railroad trips and gave stump speeches at every whistle stop.  According to The American Nation: A History of the United States Since 1865, Bryan made over 600 speeches, speaking directly to some five million people.  His amazing energy and his superb oratory, however, failed to win him the election for him.  The Republican candidate, William McKinley, was elected president with 51 percent of the vote to Bryan's 47 percent.

William Jennings Bryan had two more chances to become president, but he was defeated by McKinley again in 1900 and by William Howard Taft in 1908.  After supporting Woodrow Wilson for the presidency in 1912, Bryan was appointed Secretary of State when Wilson assumed office.  He served as Secretary of State during the early years of World War I, before the United States had entered the conflict.   He resigned in June of 1915 in protest over President's Wilson's handling of the Lusitania crisis, fearing that U.S. would be thrust into the war. 

On May 7, 1915, the Lusitania, a luxurious British ocean liner, had been torpedoed by a German U-Boat.  Nearly 1,200 passengers and crew were dead, including over 120 Americans.  The Germans claimed that the ship had been carrying munitions and was a legitimate target of war   Wilson, upset by the loss of life and the lack of German regard for freedom of the seas, sent a letter of diplomatic protest to the Germans.  The letter was signed by Secretary of State W.J. Byran.  When Germany's Foreign minister replied that sinking the ship was a valid action, Wilson decided to send another letter of protest.  Bryan refused to sign the second letter, concerned that Germany would break off diplomatic relations with the United States.  As it turned out, the U.S. did not officially enter the First World War until almost two years later, on April 6, 1917.
 
In the summer of 1925, William Jennings Bryan played a central role in one of the most spectacular trials in American history.  He was a prosecuting attorney in the case of John Thomas Scopes, a 24-year-old high school science teacher in Dayton, Tennessee who had been arrested for teaching the theory of evolution.  In March of 1925, the Tennessee legislature had passed a statute making it unlawful for any teacher in a publicly suported educational institution "to teach any theory that denies the story of the divine creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man descended from a lower order of animals."

Bryan, a believer in the literal interpretation of the Bible, had been asked to participate in the Scopes trial by the Christian Fundamentals Association.  Although he had not set foot in a courtroom for 30 years, he agreed to become a member of the prosecution.  Heading the defence in the Scopes case was 68-year-old Clarence Seward Darrow, America's most celebrated criminal lawyer, and an agostic. 

Clarence Darrow was a former labour lawyer who had switched to criminal law.  A staunch civil libertarian with a formidable reputation, it was Darrow who had defended "thrill" killers Leopold and Loeb in their 1924 trial for murdering 14-year-old Robert "Bobby" Franks.  It was he who had saved the two Chicago teengers from the death penalty.

The Scopes trial was dubbed "The Monkey Trial" and it began in Dayton on July 11, 1925.  Over 100 journalists converged on the small town, as well as thousands of curious vistors.  The Chicago Tribune set up its own radio transmission and the trial became the first in American history to be broadcast nationally.  A trio of schoolboys testified that John T, Scopes had indeed taught Darwin's theory of evolution at their school.  Since the judge, John T. Raulston,, would not permit scientists to testify at the trial, Clarence Darrow summoned William Jennings Bryan to the witness stand.  During the cross-examination, the wily Darrow tried his best to make Bryan seem foolish. 

The trial lasted for 12 days during one of hottest and driest Tennessee summers ever recorded.  Despite Darrow's efforts, Scopes was found guilty of violating the law and fined $100.  The Tennessee Supreme Court later overturned the conviction on the technicality that the jury, not the judge, should have determined the amount of the fine.  On Sunday, July 26, 1925, only five days after the end of the trial, Bryan died in his sleep during an afternoon nap in Dayton.  He was 65 years old at the time of his death.  Clarence Darrow returned to Chicago where he lived until his passing on March 13, 1938 at the age of 80.  The cause of Darrow's death was pulmonary heart disease. 

As for John T. Scopes, he went on to study geology at the University of Chicago.  While doing geological field work in Venezuela, he met and married his wife, Mildred, and was baptized a Roman Catholic.  Scopes eventually launched a career in the oil industry, first in Texas and then in Louisiana.  He retired in 1963 and died on October 21, 1970 at the age of 70.

John T. Scopes

William Jennings Byran's views cannot be easily labelled or pigeon holed.  He was a certainly a devout Presbyterian and a religious fundamentalist.  His fundamentalism was similar to that of the Tea Party faction of today's Republican Party.  Yet, Byran, if he were alive today, would eschew any association with the Tea Party.  He was a loyal Democratic with some progressive views for his era.

William Jennings Bryan was an outspoken critic of banks and railroads.  His support of women's suffrage helped to pass the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing American women the right to vote.  He was also a strong advocate of  graduated income tax and the regulation of child labour.  Throughout his life, Bryan campaigned for social and economic justice.  His nickname was "The Great Commoner."


These are the words of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in his speech at a memorial to Bryan in 1934.

It was my privilege to know William Jennings Bryan when I was a very young man. Years later both of us came to the Nation's capital to serve under the leadership of Woodrow Wilson. Through this service and the intimate relations which ensued, I learned to know and to love him.

As we look back on those days—the many of us who are gathered here together who were his friends and associates in the Wilson Administration—I think that we would choose the word "sincerity" as fitting him most of all. It was that sincerity which brought to him the millions of devoted followers; it was that sincerity which served him so well in his life-long fight against sham and privilege and wrong. It was that sincerity which made him a force for good in his own generation and has kept alive many of the ancient faiths on which we are building today.

It was Mr. Bryan who said:

"I respect the aristocracy of learning, I deplore the plutocracy of wealth but I thank God for the democracy of the heart.

"Many years ago he also said:

"You may dispute over whether I have fought a good fight; you may dispute over whether I have finished my course; but you cannot deny that I have kept the faith."


- Joanne

Irish wit, humour and folklore

SATURDAY, MARCH 17, 2012

                 HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

The Irish are renowned for their wit and their humour.  On St. Patrick's Day, Number 16 is proud to present some of that fine Irish drollery.


IRISH WIT AND HUMOUR

An Irishman was asked if the Irish always answered one question with another.  'Who told you that?' he replied. 

- Niall Toibin
Irish comedian and actor, born November 21, 1929 in Cork


Did you hear about the Kerryman with the inferiority complex?  He thought he was only as good as everyone else.

- John Brendan.Keane (July 21, 1928 - May 30, 2002), Irish playwright and novelist from Listowel, County Kerry


St. Patrick brought Christianity to Ireland.  It's a pity the idea never caught on.

- Attributed to George Bernard Shaw (July 26, 1856 - November 2, 1950), Irish playwright, born in Dublin


A man who says his wife can't take a joke forgets that she took him.

- Attributed to Oscar Wilde (October 16, 1854 - November 30, 1900, Irish writer and poet, born in Dublin


I was travelling in County Mayo late one evening and stopped outside a little boarding house.  I knocked on the door and a second later the top floor window opened and a woman yelled down, "What do you want so late in the evening?  I asked, "Could I stay here for the evening?"  The woman yelled down to me, "YES!" and then closed the window.

- Hal Roach


A man buys a jigsaw puzzle with eight pieces.  Nine months later he has managed to put it all together and is delighted with himself.  He thinks he has done well because on the box it says "four to six years."

- Hal Roach


This fellow Casey went to the dentist.  He said to the dentist, "All my teeth are turning yellow.  What can I do?"  The dentist said, "Wear a brown tie."

- Hal Roach


Murphy found himself very late one night in London in the underground subway station.  He walked along to the escalator.  And on the escalator it is written, "Dogs must be carried on the escalator."  And he thought, "Where am I going to find a dog at this hour of the night?"

- Hal Roach

(Hal Roach, described as Ireland's international comedian and the King of Blarney, passed away recently.  He died on February 28, 2012 at the age of 84.  Roach was born in Waterford, Ireland.)


Reilly went to trial for armed robbery.  The jury foreman came out and announced, "Not guilty."  "That's grand," shouted Reilly.  Does that mean I can keep the money?"


- Source unknown


IRISH FOLKLORE

Two of the most famous characters in Irish folklore are leprechauns and banshees.  The word "leprechaun" is the Gaelic tern for shoemaker.  According to Leprechauns, Legends and Irish Tales by Hugh McGowan, the old book of Irish folklore tells us that a leprechaun  is "a tiny man, though not so small that he could hide under a mushroom or dance on a blade of grass."   Any further details?  Well, yes.  "His countenance is a mixture of crankiness and humour.  He has a pair of piercing black eyes which twinkle with mirth or mischief.  His nose is hooked and his mouth grins from ear to ear."

McGowan describes a banshee as "a spirit whose sad song warns of  imminent death.  She takes the shape of a beautiful girl dressed in flowing white and has siren quality which attracts the listener in spite of its sad prophecy.  She appears and disappears on dark windy nights and those who hear her chant know that a death will shortly follow."

- Joanne

Bomb Iran? Stop and think!!!!

THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 2012

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

What's said on the campaign trail, you know, those folks don't have a lot of responsibilities.  They're not commander-in-chief.  And when I see the casualness with which some of these folks talk about war, I am reminded of the costs involved in war.  I am reminded [of] the decision that I have to make in terms of sending our young men and women into battle and the impact that has on their lives, the impact it has on our national security, the impact it has on our economy.

- U.S. President Barack Obama
Press Conference, March 6, 2012


The United States has fought two costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Why then are some American politicians beating the drums of war against Iran?  Let me be clear.  The Iranian government is despicable.  Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is an anti-Semite and a Holocaust denier.  That does not mean, however, that the United States and its allies (including Canada) should be eager to go to war against the regime.

Thank goodness for the good sense and moderation of U.S. President Barack Obama.  I watched Obama's press conference last Tuesday with great interest.  Obama was asked about the situation concerning Iran and he spoke rationally and calmly.  He declared that "this is not a game" and that "there is nothing casual about it."

Obama simply said what needed to be said.  He emphasized that war should not be entered into lightly and the consequences should be carefully considered.  He stated that it was his belief that "we have a window of opportunity where this can still be resolved diplomatically." 

The Middle East is unpredictable and volatile.  As abhorrent as the Iranian regime is, Iran has not aggressively attacked or occupied any other country.  Why open a Pandora's Box and draw Middle East nations into an all-out military conflict?  Given the tensions in the region, that would be a recipe for disaster and possibly World War III.  As President Obama stressed, there is an opportunity to settle this conflict diplomatically.  Diplomacy should be given every chance to succeed.

It's a good thing that Obama won the 2008 election and not John McCain.  Remember when the Senator from Arizona sang "Bomb Bomb Bomb Bomb Bomb Iran."   It was a parody of the Beach Boys' song, "Barbara Ann" and it was not a joke.  Bombing another country is never something to joke about.  The incident was a reflection of McCain's hawkish mentality.  To watch a video of McCain singing about bombing Iran, click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-zoPgv_nYg

It's worth remembering that the McCain mentality is shared by three out of the four remaining candidates seeking the Republican nomination for president - Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich.  The only exception is Ron Paul and Ron Paul does not have enough support to win the nomination.

- Joanne

Joanne's Journal: March 6, 2012

TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2012

JOANNE'S JOURNAL
Editon No. 6


Quote of the Day

Education is when you read the fine print; experience is what you get when you don't.

- Pete Seeger (1919 -  American folk singer and songwriter
From L. Botts, Loose Talk [1980]

ON THIS DAY

If you were born on this day, you share a birthday with one of the greatest artists this world has even known.  Michelangelo di Lodvico Buonarroti Simoni was born on March 6, 1475 in Capese, Republic of Florence (present-day Tuscany, Italy).  He died in Rome on February 18, 1564 at the age of 88.  It is noteworthy that men of that era rarely lived to the age of 88.  It is also noteworthy that Michelangelo died the same year that William Shakespeare came into the world.  Shakespeare was born in April of 1564, a few months after Michelangelo's death.  One genius left the world and another was born soon after.

THREE INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT MICHELANGELO

1.  He completed two of his greatest works, The Statue of David and The Pieta, before the age of 30.

2.  The Pieta was the only one of his works that he ever signed. 

3.  During his lifetime, Michelangelo was called Il Divino ("the divine one").



GUN CRAZY U.S.A.

On February 22, 2012, a nine-year-old boy inadvertently shot his classmate at Armin Jahr Elementary School in Bremerton, Washington.  According to police, the boy had brought a .45 caliber handgun to school in his backpack.  The gun fired accidentally when he slammed his backpack down and eight-year-old Amina Kocer-Bowman was shot.  Amina remains in critical condition.  HeraldNet reported that she requires a ventilator to help her breathe.

The boy, a Grade 3 student, pleaded guilty to three charges - possession of a gun, bringing a dangerous weapon to school and reckless endangerment.  The Seattle Times reported that he told a Washington court that he was sorry after pleading guilty to the charges.  Under a plea agreement, he will serve a year of probation followed by 48 hours of community service.  His mother and her boyfriend have been accused of allowing him access to the gun.  Meanwhile, his classmate, the unfortunate Amina Kocer-Bowman, will never be the same - if she survives.

Is this the kind of society the National Rifle Association envisions for America?  Do Americans really want pistol-packing nine-year-olds?  Is it too difficult to understand that the easier it is to obtain guns, the more likely they will fall into the wrong hands?



WITTY DEFINITIONS

Atom Bomb: An invention to bring an end to all inventions.

Conference: The confusion of one person multiplied by the number present.



RIDDLE ME THIS

What was written on the hypochondriac's tombstone?


ANSWER

"I told you I was sick!"

Hockey

I've never been a great fan of Ron Wilson and I can't say I'm disappointed that he's no longer the Leafs' coach.  He was, however, the scapegoat for failure of the Toronto Maple Leafs to make the playoffs during his four-year tenure.  Although Wilson bears a great deal of responsibility for the teem's fecklessness, he is not the only culprit.  General Manager Brian Burke and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment share some of the responsibility for the mediocre performance of an iconic hockey franchise.  Ron Wilson failed to motivate the players and handled his goaltenders miserably.  Although to be fair, he didn't have great goaltenders in the first place.  As for new coach Randy Carlyle, I wish him the best of luck.  He'll need it.


Baseball

The Toronto Blue Jays have to improve their 5-man pitching rotation.  It is not deep enough and there are too many question marks.  Of course, the party line is that the team can contend with the starting pitchers it has now.  What will happen if Ricky Romero or Brandon Morrow gets injured, though?  Then what?  There's not enough depth to carry the team if one of those pitchers should sustain a serious injury, especially one that requires surgery and a lengthy convalescence.  The Jays have built an impressive bullpen.  If the starting pitching flounders, the bullpen will be overused and overtired. 

 
Where is free agent Roy Oswalt headed?  Would he play for the Jays for one season?  Until the Jays start contending, they'll continue to have problems attracting players such as Oswalt to the city.  Too bad!  He would really bolster the starting rotation.  I wouldn't rule out Oswalt in a Jays uniform, but he's most likely to end up in Boston or Arizona.

- Joanne

All about Leap Year

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2012
\

Thirty days hath September
April, June, and November
All the rest have thirty-one
Excepting February which stands alone.
It has twenty-eight days clear,
And twenty-nine in each leap year.


In the Gregorian calendar, February 29th is referred to as a "leap day."  Leap days occur in years that are evenly divisible by four such as 1968, 1972, 1976 etc.  The only exception happens in years that are divisible by 100.  They do not have a leap day.  Years that are divisible by 400, however, do have a leap day.  For example, the year 1900 did not contain a leap day because 1900 is divisible by 100.  The year 2000, on the other hand, did have a leap day because 2000 is divisible by 400. 

So why do we add an extra day to February every four year?  Why is it necessary?  It is done to make the calendar year as close as possible to the solar year.  Otherwise, the calendar year would fall behind the solar year.


PROMINENT LEAP YEAR BABIES

Pope Paul III was born Alessandro Farnese in Rome or Canino, Italy on February 29, 1468.  Elected pope in 1534, Paul III was the first pope of the Catholic Counter Reformation and it was he who inaugurated the Council of Trent On December 13, 1547.  It was also he who excommunicated King Henry VIII of England in 1538 because of Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon.  Paul III died in Rome in 1549.

Henri Richard is a retired Canadian hockey player who played 20 seasons for the Montreal Canadiens. Born in Montreal, Quebec on February 29, 1936, Henri is celebrating his 76th birthday today.  A member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, he has 11 Stanley Cup rings to his credit, more than any other player in the history of the National Hockey League.  He also scored over 1,000 points in over 1,000 games.  Henri was nicknamed "The Pocket Rocket" because he was younger and smaller than his legendary brother, the late Maurice "The Rocket" Richard. 

Henri never thought he would have the opportunity to play with his brother.  He said, "When my brother Maurice got married and left home, I was six years old.  I never thought I would play with him.  I not only got to play with my brother Maurice, which was quite a thrill, but I played with him for five years."

By the way, Henri Richard wore my favourite number on his sweater, Number 16.

James Francis "Jimmy" Dorsey, a prominent American musician of the big band era, was born on February 29, 1904 in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania.  Dorsey was a talented clarinetist, saxophonist, composer and band leader.  Nicknamed J.D., he is known as the composer of "I'm Glad There is You" and "It's the Dreamer in Me."

In the 1930s, Jimmy formed an orchestra with his younger brother, Tommy Dorsey, a trombonist.  The Dorseys had a falling out in 1935 after which they led separate orchestras.  Despite their feud, the brothers appeared together in a 1947 film called The Fabulous Dorseys.  Jimmy reunited with Tommy's band in 1953 and in the summer of 1954 the siblings launched their own television series called Stage Show. 

Stage Show, originally a summer replacement, returned on a occasional basis during the 1954-1955 season.  By the 1955-1956 season, the show was running once a week.  Beginning in January of 1956, Elvis Presley appeared on the Dorseys' program for six consecutive weeks, marking Presley's first national broadcast television appearances.

On November 26, 1956, 51-year-old Tommy Dorsey accidentally choked to death in his sleep.  After having eaten a heavy dinner at his home in Greenwich, Connecticut, Tommy sedated himself with sleeping pills before going to bed.

In the aftermath of his brother's unexpected death, Jimmy briefly took over the leadership of the orchestra until his health failed.  Jimmy Dorsey died of lung cancer on June 12, 1957 in New York City at the age of 53.

Pepper Martin was an American baseball player.  He was born Johnny Leonard Roosevelt Martin in Temple, Oklahoma on February 29, 1904.  Martin entered the big leagues in 1928 at the age of 24 with the St. Louis Cardinals.  A third baseman and outfielder, he was a member of the famed "Gashouse Gang," the St. Louis Cardinals of the 1930s.  During the 1931 World Series, Pepper Martin batted .500 and stole five bases in the Cardinals' victory over the Philadelphia Athletics (He has a career World Series batting average of .418).

Martin was lightning fast on the basepaths.  During the '31 series, he was asked why he was such a speedy runner and he answered, "I grew up in Oklahoma, and once you start runnin' out there, there ain't nothin' to stop you."  A flamboyant player, author Lee Allen described Pepper Martin with the following words in The National League Story:  "A chunky, unshaven hobo who ran the bases like a beserk locomotive, slept in the raw, and swore at pitchers in his sleep."

Pepper spent his entire career with the St. Louis Cardinals and played his final game on October 1, 1944.  He died in McAlester, Oklahoma on March 5, 1965 at the age of 61.  By the way, Pepper Martin has a second nickname.  He was also known as "The Wild Horse of Osage."  Osage County is a county in the northern part of the state of Oklahoma.
 

Dinah Shore, an American singer, actress, and television personality was born February 29, 1916 in Winchester, Tennessee.  Her birth name was Frances Rose "Fanny" Shore and her parents. Solomon and Anna Stein Shore were Jewish immigrants from Russia.  Solomon Shore, was a dry goods merchant who later opened a department store.  The couple had another child named Bessie who was the older sibling.

After a childhood bout with polio, young Fanny Rose was left with a deformed foot and a limp.  A shy girl, she enjoyed singing and Anna, an aspiring opera singer, encouraged her.  Anna, however, died of a sudden heart attack when Fanny was only 16.  She never saw her daughter's success.

Fanny attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville where she graduated in 1938 with a degree in sociology.  While in Nashville, she visited the Grand Ole Opry and sang on a radio station.  After her graduation from Vanderbilt,  she left Tennessee for New York City where she began recording with bandleader Xavier Cugart on radio station WNCW.  The young singer later changed her name to "Dinah" after her success with a song of that title.  A disc jockey, unable to remember her name called her "the Dinah girl" and the name stuck.  In 1940, she signed a recording contract with RCA.

From 1940 until the late 1950s, Dinah Shore recorded a string of popular hit songs. For six years, from 1951 until 1957, Dinah hosted The Dinah Shore Show, a twice-weekly 15-minute music program on NBC TV.  From 1956 until 1963, Dinah starred in an hour-long television variety show sponsored by Chevrolet.  It was called The Dinah Shore Chevy Show and Dinah sang her sponsor's theme song, "See the U.S.A. in Your Chevrolet."

Dinah Shore was married twice and divorced twice.  On December 5, 1943, she wed actor George Montgomery.  In January of 1948, Dinah gave birth to a daughter, Melissa Ann.  The couple later adopted a son, John "Jody" David Montgomery.  They were divorced on May 9, 1963.  On May 26, 1963, Dinah married tennis player Maurice F. Smith.  Her second marriage was short-lived and she and Smith divorced in 1964.

During the 1970s, Dinah hosted two talk shows.  She also had a much-publicized romance with actor Burt Reynolds.  Their relationship attracted a great deal of attention because Dinah was 20 years Burt's senior.  Dinah Shore died of ovarian cancer on February 24, 1994 in Beverly Hills, California.  She was 77 years old at the time of her death.


END NOTES

* Here's something else that's noteworthy about Leap Day.  There is a tradition that "allows" women to propose marriage on February 29th.

* My husband was born on February 29th so he only gets a "real birthday" every four years.


- Joanne

2012 Oscars Quiz

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2012

Are you ready for the 2012 Academy Awards ceremony tomorrow?  Before the big show, why don't you sit down and test your Oscar knowledge by completing Number 16's ten-question quiz.


1.  Comedian Billy Crystal will be hosting the Oscars this year.  Counting this year, how many times has Crystal hosted the Academy Awards show?

A.  8 times

B.  7 times

C.  10 times

D.  9 times

E.  6 times



2.  The only person who has hosted more Oscar ceremonies than Billy Crystal is legendary comedian Bob Hope.  How many Academy Awards broadcasts did Bob Hope host?  (This is your bonus question.  If you answer it correctly, give yourself an extra point)

A.  18 times

B.  16 times

C.  20 times

D.  17 times

E.  15 times



3.  Christopher Plummer and Max von Sydow are both nominated this year in the Best Supporting Actor category.  Canadian-born Plummer is nominated for his role in Beginnings and Sweden's Von Sydow for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.  Both men are 82 years old and if either one wins, he will become Oscar's oldest winning actor.  Who is currently Oscar's oldest winning male actor?

A.  Art Carney

B.  Hal Holbrook

C.  George Burns

D.  Peter Finch

E.  Jack Palance



4.  Who made the longest acceptance speech at the Academy Awards?

A.  Elizabeth Taylor

B.  Katharine Hepburn

C.  Jane Fonda

D.   Shelley Winters

E.  Greer Garson



5.  Acceptance speeches at the Academy Award now have a time limit.  What is that time limit?

A.  45 seconds

B.  one minute

C.  50 seconds

D.  70 seconds

E.  40 seconds



6.  At the 1979 Academy Awards ceremony, Annie Hall won four major Oscars:  Best Actress for Diane Keaton, Best Picture, Best Original Screen Play and Best Director for Woody Allen.  Woody Allen did not attend the event.  Where was he?

A.  Woody was ill with the flu.

B.  Woody was playing the clarinet at a jazz club.

C.  Woody was filming a movie on location in New York City.

D,  Woody was mourning the recent death of his mother.

E.  Woody did not attend in protest of American foreign policy.



7.  Bing Crosby won only one Oscar during his lengthy career.  For which movie did Bing win?

A.  The Bells of Saint Mary's

B.  The Country Girl

C.  Going My Way

D.  Holiday Inn

E.  Man on Fire




8.  Tom Hanks won the Best Actor award in two consecutive years.  He won for Philadelphia in 1993 and Forrest Gump in 1994.  Only one other actor has accomplished that feat.  Name him.

A.  Clark Gable

B.  Dustin Hoffman

C.  Humphrey Bogart

D.  Spencer Tracy

E.  Al Pacino



9.  Sally Field made a memorable acceptance speech at at Academy Awards in 1985.  She said, "I haven't had an orthodox career, and I've wanted more than anything to have your respect.  The first time I didn't feel it (when she won in 1980), but this time I feel it, and I can't deny that you like me, right now, you like me!"  Most people remember that speech, but they don't remember what movie Sally Field won the Academy Award for in 1985.  What was the film that earned her her second Best Actress Oscar?

A.  Places in the Heart

B.  Forrest Gump

C.  Norma Rae


D.  Steel Magnolias

E.  Mrs. Doubtfire


One of the shortest acceptance speeches by a Best Actress winner consisted of these words: "There's a great deal to say, and I'm not going to say it tonight.  I would just like to to really thank you very much."  Who made that concise speech?

A.  Audrey Hepburn

B.  Katharine Hepburn

C.  Gwyneth Paltrow

D.  Joan Fontaine

E.  Jane Fonda



ANSWERS

1.  D

Billy Crystal will host the Oscars for the ninth time this year.  Crystal has previously hosted the Academy Awards broadcast in 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2004.


2.  A

Bob Hope hosted the Academy Awards broadcast 18 times during his lifetime.  The first time he hosted the show was way back in 1940.  The last time he hosted the broadcast was in 1978.

Bob Hope at the 1940 Oscars

3.  C

George Burns currently holds the distinction of being Oscar's oldest winning actor.  Burns was 80 years old when he won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance in The Sunshine Boys at the 48th Academy Awards in 1976.  It should be noted that Hal Holbrook was 82 when he became Oscar's oldest male actor nominee in 2007.  The oldest person to win an Oscar remains Jessica Tandy.  Tandy was 80 years and 252 days old when she won the lead actress Oscar for her performance in Driving Miss Daisy.  It is very likely that her record will be broken by Christopher Plummer or Max von Sydow.

To watch a video clip of George Burns accepting his Academy Award from Linda Blair and Ben Johnson, click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WUBZsCYc1w


4.  E

Greer Garson gave the longest acceptance speech in Oscar history while accepting the Best Actress award for Mrs. Miniver in 1943.  It was after 1 a.m. when she gave the speech and it was one of the last speeches of the evening.  According to Patrick Stockstill, a historian at the Academy of Arts and Motion Pictures, the speech lasted seven minutes.  Garson began her speech with the words, "I'm practically unprepared."


5.  A

Since 2010, acceptance speeches onstage at the Academy Awards have been limited to a pithy 45 seconds.  Winners, however, can make a second speech of unrestricted length backstage and post the video online.


6. 

Rather than attend the Academy Awards ceremony, Woody Allen chose to play the clarinet at Michael's Pub in New York City, his usual activity on Monday nights (Note:  The Oscar presentations were then held on Monday nights).  Interestingly, Allen has attended the Oscars on only one occasion.  Following 9/11 terrorist attacks, he presented a tribute to his beloved New York City.


7.  C

Bing Crosby won the 1944 Academy Award for Best Actor in 1944 for his performance as a priest named Father Chuck O'Malley in Going My Way.  Crosby was nominated for The Bells of St. Mary's in 1945, but lost out to Ray Malland in The Lost Weekend.  He was nominated again in 1954 for The Country Girl, but Marlon Brando won for On the Waterfront.


8.  D

Spencer Tracy won for Best Actor in two consecutive years.  He won for Captain Courageous in 1937 and for Boys Town in 1938.



9.  C

Sally Field won the Best Actress award in 1985 for Norma Rae.  It was her second Best Actress award.  She won in 1980 for Places in the Heart.  To watch a video clip of Sally's 1985 "You like me!" speech, click on the link below.

http://www.spike.com/video-clips/nmhmna/sally-fields-1985-oscar-acceptance-speech


10.  E

Jane Fonda made that very succinct speech in accepting the Best Actress award for her performance in Klute in 1972.  To watch a video clip of Jane receiving her Academy Award for Klute from Walter Matthau, click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qlxvt8eJEDE


- Joanne

The Incomparable Nat "King" Cole

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2012

My favourite singer to this day is Nat "King" Cole. I've tried to emulate his phrasing. It is so absolutely beautiful to listen to his lovely voice.

- Johnny Mathis


Nat "King" Cole died 47 years ago on February 15, 1965.  He had a voice as smooth as silk.  It was a beautiful baritone voice and it was as "unforgettable" as the title to one of his most well known songs.  Born Nathaniel Adams Coles in Montgomery, Alabama on March 17, 1919, Nat was the son of a preacher.  When he was four years old, the family moved to Chicago, where his father, Edward Coles, served as a Baptist minister and his mother, Perlina Adams Coles, was the church organist. 

Young Nat was trained in classical piano, but his interest soon turned to jazz.  He listened to jazz musicians in clubs around Chicago and he was influenced by such artists as Earl Hines, Louis Armstrong and Jimmie Noone.  At the age of 15, Nat dropped out of school to become a full time jazz pianist.  He billed himself as "Nat Cole," dropping the "s" from the end of his surname.  He later acquired the nickname "King," most likely due to the similarity of his name to the nursery rhyme Old King Cole.

Nat began performing in the mid-1930s and joined forces with his older bother, Eddie Coles, for awhile.  Eddie, a bass player, became a member of Nat's band and they performed regularly at clubs.  In 1936, under Eddie's name, they made their first professional recording.  Nat later joined the national tour of the Broadway musical revue Shuffle Along as a pianist.  When the show failed in Long Beach, California, he remained there for a time, but eventually returned to Chicago.

Back in Chicago, Nat began to achieve success.  In 1937, he started to assemble what would be known as the King Cole Trio.  They toured a great deal and finally made the charts in 1943 with "That Ain't Right," a song written by Nat himself.  In 1944, the group landed another hit with "Straighten Up and Fly Right," based on one of Nat's father's sermons.  Other hits followed such as the classic Yuletide favourite "The Christmas Song," and the romantic ballad "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons."

In the 1950s, Nat "King" Cole emerged as a popular solo performer.  He churned out numerous hits such as "Mona Lisa," "Too Young and "Unforgettable."  In November of 1956, Nat made television history when he hosted his own national variety program, The Nat "King" Cole Show, becoming the first major African-American entertainer to do so.  The show featured guest performances by stars such as Count Basie, Peggy Lee, Sammy Davis, Jr., Tony Bennett, the Mills Brothers and Ella Fitzgerald.

Nat's show was short-lived  and plagued with problems.  Due to the racial attitudes of the 1950s, it failed to attract a wide audience and it lacked a national sponsor.  American television audiences and advertisers were not yet willing to accept and support black performers.  NBC, to its credit,  did not give up on the series and kept it on the air at a loss for as long as it could, until December of 1957.  After the demise of his variety show, Nat's career took a downturn in the late 1950s.  The singer, however, was back on top in the early 1960s with songs such as "Ramblin' Rose" and the light-hearted "Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer." 

At the time of his death in 1965, Nat "King" Cole was still enormously popular.  His final television appearance was on an episode of The Jack Benny Program which aired on January 21, 1964.  In the episode, Jack introduces Nat as "the best friend a song ever had."  Cole banters with the comedian and croons "Day In, Day Out" and "When I Fall in Love."

Nat's private life certainly had its ups and downs.  When he was only 17, Nat married Nadine Robinson, a dancer from St. Louis who had worked with him in Shuffle Along.  The couple were married by a judge in Michigan on January 27, 1937.  They divorced in 1948.

Just six days after his divorce from Nadine became final, Nat remarried.  This time his bride was widowed singer Maria Hawkins Ellington and the wedding took place March 28, 1948 (Easter Sunday) at a Abyssinian Baptist church in Harlem, New York.  It was a lavish affair attended by celebrities such as Sarah Vaughan and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson.  Eddie Coles was the best man and the newlyweds honeymooned in Mexico.

Nat and Maria raised five children: daughter Natalie Maria (born 1950); daughter Carole (1944-2009), adopted in 1949 after her mother, Maria's sister, died of tuberculosis; adopted son Nat Kelly Cole (1959-1995), and twin daughters Casey and Timoline (born 1961).  Natalie Cole, of course, is a successful singer.  Carole, an actress, succumbed to lung cancer at the age of 64 and Nat Kelly, an actor, died of complications from AIDS when he was just 36.

Nat "King" Cole was a heavy smoker of menthol cigarettes.  He believed that they enhanced his voice and gave it a rich sound.  In 1964, Nat was diagnosed with lung cancer.  When the cancer was discovered, Nat was having an affair with Swedish-born actress Gunilla Hutton.  Hutton, best known as the second Billie Joe Bradley on Petticoat Junction (1965-66) was also a regular cast member of Hee Haw. 

Daughter Natalie referred to the affair in her autobiography Angel on My Shoulder. 

. . .  I knew nothing of Gunilla Hutton, the woman Dad had been having an affair with, but my mother certainly did, and it must have made dealing with the aftermath of his death even more difficult for her.

Maria stayed with Nat during his illness and remained with him until his death in Santa Monica, California at the age of 45.  After Nat's passing, she married writer and producer Gary DeVore on October 17, 1969.  They divorced in 1976 and Gary died in 1997.  Maria is now 79 years old.

Click on the link below to watch an excerpt from the 1957 film Istanbul in which Nat "King" Cole sings "When I Fall in Love."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h649I7ETaHI


- Joanne

Valentine's Day Thoughts

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2012

It's easy to fall in love.  It's considerably more difficult to build and maintain a healthy relationship.  That, of course, takes time and patience.  There was a recent story in the news about an American couple from Wisconsin who celebrated their 80th wedding anniversary.  Their names are Dorothy and Roy Fleming and they were married on February 6, 1932.  Roy, who was a spry 20-years-old on their wedding day is now 100.  His 15-year-old bride, Dorothy, is now a feisty 95-year-old. 

Ray is a long-retired tool-and-dye maker with an easy-going personality.  He and Dorothy met at an ice- skating rink in Milwaukee.  Her father had some misgivings about his daughter getting married at such a young age.  Yet, the marriage certainly did endure.  Dorothy and Ray have two sons, Earl and Allan, four grandchildren and seven great grandchildren and six great-great grandchildren.

What is their secret?  Well, Dorothy told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that it's compromise, knowing when to give in.


QUOTATIONS ABOUT LOVE

Real love is a pilgrimage.  It happens when there is no strategy, but it is very rare because most people are strategists.

- Anita Brookner (1928-  British novelist and art historian
From Women Writer Talk [1989]


Love - is anterior to Life -
Posterior to Death -
Initial of Creation, and
The Exponent of Earth -

- Emily Dickinson (1804-1881), American poet
Love - is anterior to Life


Love is mutually feeding each other, not one living on another like a ghoul.

- Bessie Head (1937-1986), South African-born writer
From A Question of Power [1973]


To cheat oneself out of love is the most terrible deception; it is an eternal loss for which there is no reparation, either in time or in eternity.

- Soren Kerkegaard (1813-1855), Danish philosopher and theologian
From Works of Love, Hong & Hong translation


Once when I was very young and true,
Someone left me sad -
Broke my brittle heart in two;
And that was very bad.
Love is for unlucky folk.
Love is but a curse.
Once there was a heart I broke;
And that I think is worse.

- Dorothy Parker
A Very Short Song


At night, there was the feeling that we had come home, feeling no longer alone, waking in the night to find the other one there, and not gone away; all other things were unreal. We slept when we were tired and if we woke the other one woke too so one was not alone. Often a man wishes to be alone and a woman wishes to be alone too and if they love each other they are jealous of that in each other, but I can truly say we never felt that. We could feel alone when we were together, alone against the others. We were never lonely and never afraid when we were together.

- Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), American writer
From A Farewell to Arms


I never knew any more beautiful than you: 
I have hunted you under my thoughts,
I have broken down under the wind
And into the roses looking for you.
I shall never find any
greater than you.

- Carl Sandburg, American poet
From The Great Hunt


Let's finish with some quotes from a couple of Frenchmen since the French like to talk about "l'amour."


People who are not in love fail to understand how an intelligent man can suffer because of a very ordinary woman.  This is like being surprised that anyone should be stricken with cholera because of a creature so insignificant as the comma bacillus.

- Marcel Proust (1871 - 1922), French novelist and critic

Proust

Nothing is sweeter than love, nothing stronger, nothing loftier nothing grander, nothing pleasanter, nothing fuller, nothing better in heaven or on earth.

- Henri Matisse French artist (1869-1954)

Matisse

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

- Joanne

The death of Whitney Houston - so many questions

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2012

On the eve of the Grammy Awards, fans around the world are mourning the death of singer Whitney Houston.  I was at a movie theatre last night when I heard the sad news.  Given Houston's struggle with substance abuse, my first thought was that she had died of a drug overdose.  The circumstances of her death, however, remain unclear pending a coroner's investigation.  An autopsy has been scheduled.

All we know for certain is that Whitney was found unconscious in a bathtub in her room on the fourth floor of the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.  Paramedics were called to the scene, but efforts to revive her failed.  She was pronounced dead at 3:55 p.m. on February 11, 2012.  Beverly Hills Police Lt. Mark Rosen declared that there "were no obvious signs of criminal intent." 

Until more information comes to light, the star's tragic demise will be shrouded in mystery.  There are just too many questions.  On the surface, things were looking brighter for the troubled songstress.  She was in the midst of a comeback and she had an ABC television movie in the works.  CNN reported that a music executive who was staying on the floor above Houston's suite had seen Whitney swimming in the hotel pool with her 18-year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown.  The music exec said that mother and daughter looked very happy.  Other news sources, however, tell a different story.  They report that two days prior to her death Whitney appeared dishevelled and confused.  She was sweating profusely and she smelt of alcohol. 

Whitney Houston was only 48 years old and she will be missed.  Born in Newark, New Jersey on August 9, 1963, she was the daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston, the cousin of Dionne Warwick and the goddaughter of Aretha Franklin.  What a pedigree!  No wonder she had such a magnificent voice.  Imagine being able to say that your godmother is "Lady Soul" herself. 

After learning of Whitney's passing, a distraught Aretha said in a brief statement, "It's so stunning and unbelievable.  I couldn't believe what I was reading coming across the TV screen."  Many others are shocked and saddened.  Through the years, we watched the painful decline of a great talent.  It was a decline that began with her disastrous involvement and abusive marriage to Bobby Brown.  She was swept into the whirlwind of his drug-addled world and she could not escape from it.

I went to a Whitney Houston concert here in Toronto back in the 1980s when she was in her prime.  It was at the old CNE stadium and I will never forget it.  What a voice!  How beautiful she was!  It's a shame that someone with so much talent had to end up in such a terrible state!  Rest in peace, Whitney.  You'll be singing with the angels.

- Joanne

Mitt Romney and The Donald

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2012

Real estate tycoon Donald Trump is supporting Mitt Romey in his bid to win the Republican nomination for president.  I've tried to imagine a phone conversation between the two men,  Maybe it would sound something like this . . .

TRUMP:  Hey, Mitt, how are you doing?  Donald Trump here.  I called to congratulate you on your win in the Maine caucuses yesterday.

ROMNEY: Thanks, Donald.  That was a much-needed win.  Santorum was gaining momentum.  Last Tuesday, he won in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado.

TRUMP:  Don't worry, my friend. You're gonna be the next president.  With me on your side, you can't miss.  I'm backing you one hundred per cent, Mitt, and Donald Trump doesn't put his money on a loser.  That's not how I became a billionaire.  Santorum's having his moment right now, just as Gingrich had his.  He'll fade away.  You'll be the one still standing when it's all over.

ROMNEY:  I sure hope so!  Thanks for the words of encouragement, Donald.

TRUMP:  My pleasure.  Just think of me as your Trump card.  Now let's repeat our favourite phrase again!

ROMNEY:  Oh, I'm so excited!  I just love repeating that phrase.  It makes me tingle all over.

TRUMP:  Okay, then.  Together now. (Romney joins in) YOU'RE FIRED!  YOUR FIRED!  YOU'RE FIRED1)

ROMNEY (sighs contentedly): Aren't those the most beautiful words in the English language?  Boy, I really feel good now.  I'm pumped!  I can't wait to take on Obama!

TRUMP:  That's what I like to hear - enthusiasm.  So what is your first priority, Mitt?  The economy?  Making war on Iran?  More tax breaks for the wealthy?  What are you thinking about?

ROMNEY:  My first priority is making sure Barack Obama doesn't get a second term.  My chances of defeating him are better if the economy doesn't do so well.  He'll get blamed and I won't.  Once I'm president, of course, my policies will improve America's economy.  I'll cut jobs in order to create jobs.  That's what I'll do!  No pain, no gain.  That's what I always say.

TRUMP:  Good for you!  This is war!  That pinko is ruining this country.  We have to return to free enterprise and fiscal restraint.

ROMNEY:  That's for sure!  The free market always works best.  We shouldn't let anything interfere with it.  That's why we have to stop Obama.  He even stole one of my ideas (ahem) - that is - before I realized how wrong I was.  I'm afraid it was a lapse in judgement on my part.

TRUMP:  Oh, you must mean the health care law you enacted when you were governor of Massachusetts.  I'm glad you've seen the light. 

ROMNEY:  Don't worry, Donald.  Once I'm president, ObamaCare will be history!  Pronto!  The sooner the better!

TRUMP:  Now you're talking!   That's the spirit!  Well, I have to go now.  I've got another business deal to work on.  But before I go, I have to make a comment about your hair.  You are so lucky to have such a full head of hair and that touch of grey on your temples looks so distinguished and presidential.  But if you start to develop some bald spots, I'll be happy to send you to my personal hair stylist.  He'll give you a great comb over.

ROMNEY:  Well, my hair is still pretty thick, Donald.  If I should start losing it, I may take you up on your offer.

TRUMP:  All right, then, Mitt.  Goodbye.

ROMNEY:  Oh Donald, one more thing before you go.

TRUMP:  What's that?

ROMNEY:  Can we say "you're fired" together one more time?

TRUMP AND ROMNEY:  YOU'RE FIRED!  YOU'RE FIRED!  YOU'RE FIRED!


- Joanne

Let's talk about mental illness

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2012

It isn’t easy to talk about mental illness. It’s a subject many people feel uncomfortable discussing and prefer to avoid. Talking about it reminds us of our vulnerabilities and evokes some of our deepest fears and prejudices. Frankly, it makes us squirm. We would like to sweep the problem under the rug and pretend it doesn’t exit – but we can’t!

The mentally ill are with us every day, suffering a torment that is just as real and just as painful as physical illness. The difference is that it is not as visible as a physical disease or a disability. Although you can clearly see a cane or a wheelchair or a prosthetic device, you cannot see the anguish that goes on inside someone’s head. This is the brutal reality that the mentally ill and their families have to live with constantly. This is why mental illness is the cruellest of illnesses and extremely stressful for all concerned.

The late Christopher Reeve was a passionate champion for those suffering with spinal cord injuries and Michael J. Fox is a tireless advocate on behalf of the victims of Parkinson’s disease. Although these two actors have been courageous and outspoken, it must be remembered that non-celebrities have also stepped up to the plate. Think of Canada’s Terry Fox and his run for cancer research or Canada’s Rick Hansen and his support of spinal cord injury research.  The aforementioned heroes have all raised awareness and collected funds to combat debilitating physical illnesses, but what about mental illnesses? Who will be the champion of the mentally ill?

Yes, we’ve come a long way, baby, when it comes to mental illness. We have better medication to control mental disease and better facilities for the mentally ill. Unfortunately, we still have a long way to go and the main obstacle remains society’s attitude toward mental disease. Just as the physically disabled continue to face prejudice and misunderstanding, so do the mentally disabled. There is still a stigma attached to both illnesses.

Nevertheless, public attitudes have improved, particularly toward the physically disabled. Gone are the days of Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States. When Roosevelt became paralyzed after contracting polio in 1921, his disability was considered an embarrassment, a sign of weakness. Photographs of FDR in his wheelchair are rare because he was careful not to appear publicly in it. In fact, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Library has only three photos of the former president in a wheelchair.




Rare photo of FDR in wheelchair with his granddaughter and dog Fala



In public, Roosevelt wore heavy leg braces and supported himself with a cane. Many people were unaware during his lifetime that FDR used a wheelchair in private. Such deception would not be necessary if Roosevelt were alive today. On the surface, we are much more enlightened. Prejudice and unenlightened attitudes toward the physically disabled still exist, of course, but they are far more subtle and more insidious. In the case of mental illness, great deal of fear and misconception remains. For example, some people erroneously believe that schizophrenics have a Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde split personality.

It is easier to cheer for someone with a physical disability. You can visualize it. You can see a valiant Terry Fox limping bravely with one leg. You can see Michael J. Fox speaking out about Parkinson’s disease as his body shakes. Their struggle is clearly and overtly visible. The mentally ill face a constant inner struggle that is often nightmarish and tortuous.  It must be emphasized, however, that mental illness is different from the usual stress and difficulties that everyone encounters for time to time.

Some celebrities and well-known personalities have been open about their struggles with mental illness. Actress Patty Duke and Margaret Trudeau, ex-wife of the late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, come to mind. Catherine Zeta-Jones has also revealed that she is battling bipolar disorder.

Yet when was last time you saw a mentally ill person portrayed in a positive way on a television program or in a film? At the moment, I cannot think of an example. That is why I have written this. I want to raise awareness to the plight of the mentally ill because 20% of Canadians will experience mental illness during their lifetime - regardless of ethnic background, education and socioeconomic status.  It's time we talked about it and this is my way of stepping up to the plate. 

- Joanne