Paraprosdokians

 

The Grammatical Nerd

Huh?  Para-what?  Parapro-who?

My friend Owen, who recently relocated from Chicago to Florida, posted something about this on Facebook.  Needless to say I had never heard of the term.  But, as it was Owen, a fellow whose wit and wisdom I greatly respect and the post mentioned that Winston Churchill loved these paraphrasiological thingies, I read on.

Owen’s post, which he thanked his friend Edward for, defined a paraprodoskian as a figure “of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected.”  An internet search, revealed similar definitions, e.g.

A paraprosdokian is a figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence, phrase, or larger discourse is surprising or unexpected in a way that causes the reader or listener to reframe or reinterpret the first part. It is frequently used for humorous or dramatic effect, sometimes producing an anticlimax. ~ Wikipedia

Another internet search (dang, if blogging, the way I do it, doesn’t involve a lot of internet searches) took me to The Hindustan Times, yes, The Hindustan Times.  The author, Karan Thapar, defined paradoxolitives as “a figure of speech in which the second half of a phrase or sentence is surprising or unexpected. It can be a clever form of wit or a neat way of making a dig.”  Well my interest perked right up at the realization these paradigicalisms can be laden with sarcasm!  I love sarcasm and have tried to master two varieties of it:  sarcasm so subtle the targeted person takes it as a compliment and the exact opposite, the kind of sarcasm of obviously funny and is delivered with a huge smile on my face.  Are there other kinds of sarcasm?

No wonder Winston Churchill loved them, among his many leadership and diplomatic attributes, he could be on sarcastic SOB. 

Sometimes we do things or notice phenomena that we are not so sure about or cannot really get our minds around until we, or more likely someone else, gives it a moniker i.e., names it.  Such is the case with prespidiliations and in my previous blog Manhattanhenge.

As it turns out, I have been an admirer and user of this turn of phrase before knowing what to call them.  My absolute favorite is, “I would agree with you, but then we would both be wrong.”  For years, whenever a maître d asks if we have reservations, I respond:  “We have reservations but we came anyway.”  Another favorite is one attributed to Mark Twain (but marktwainstudies.com claims he never actually said or wrote this):  “Never argue with stupid people.  They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.”   From The Hindustan Times we have:

PG Wodehouse’s description of a fat woman is devastating: “She looks as though she’s been poured into her clothes and forgot to say ‘when’.” So, too, Groucho Marx’s parting comment to his hostess: “I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn’t it.”

In a comment on his post, Owen provided another example from the king of both dry delivery and paraprodoskians, Steven Wright:  “If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.”

Here are the presbetyricals from Owens post for your enjoyment:

1. Where there's a will, I want to be in it.
2. The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it's still on my list.
3. Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
4. If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong.
5. War does not determine who is right - only who is left.
6. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in fruit salad.
7. They begin the evening news with 'Good Evening,' then proceed to tell you why it isn't.
8. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.
9.  I thought I wanted a career. Turns out, I just wanted pay checks.
10. In filling out an application, where it says, 'In case of emergency, notify:' I put "DOCTOR."
11. I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.
12. Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street...with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.
13. Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.
14. A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory.
15. You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.
16. Money can't buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.
17. There's a fine line between cuddling and...holding someone down so they can't get away.
18. I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not so sure.
19. You're never too old to learn something stupid.
20. To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.
21. Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
22. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.
23. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.
24. I'm supposed to respect my elders, but now it’s getting harder and harder for me to find one.

Cyberattacks

 

www.itprotoday.com

Whenever anyone brings up the subject of too many annoying scam and robocalls, I always say the same thing.  “Gee whiz, if we cannot eliminate robocalls, what chance do we have solving the larger problems that face us.”  It just seems logical to me.  Sure, I understand that a lot of these calls originate from entities outside the US and software makes it easy for the perpetrators setup such call systems and hard to stop them.  I am sure it is not easy to stop these thieves and charlatans, but I cannot believe we cannot eliminate these calls if we really wanted to.

Technology has made many aspects of our lives so much easier.  But, it clearly has a dark side too.  Cybercrime is real.  This has been the year of ransomware.  We have seen the Colonial Pipeline hacked disrupting the flow of gasoline on the East Coast.  They paid $4 million to get back online and operating.  More recently, JBS, which is the worlds largest meat packaging company by revenue, was hacked.  They paid $11 million dollars to get back control of their business.  The revenue of Colonial Pipeline is $500 million and $51.2 billion for JBS.  While the ransom sums are millions, it was easier to pay than to try to fix the effects of the attack.

Ransomware is quite clever.  Once into the Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERPS) of their target, the hackers install the ransomware virus that basically encrypts or makes the all the data of the company inaccessible.  Companies these days are so dependent on ERPs to handle practically every transaction in the business.  If the data base is inaccessible, it is impossible to transact any business.  The victims gladly pay the ransom to get the key, basically a complicated password essentially impossible to duplicate, to get access to their data and hence regain control of their business. 

You would think that the system could be erased and restored from a back-up.   To do that, a company would have to store their back-ups in a way that the ransomware attack cannot infect the backup system as well.  Thus, the backup system must be physically separate from the same system.  I imagine not everyone does this.  Even if they backup their systems properly, I imagine the ransomware criminals price the ransom at a level where paying the ransom is the cheapest alternative. 

Before ERPs, business was conducted via paper transactions and inboxes and outboxes.  ERPs automated much of the paper-shuffling that was manpower intensive.  ERPs do it more efficiently with less people.  There is no going back.  Or is there?

While I have not given it a lot of thought, I have wondered why Colonial Pipeline was shut down until the ransom was paid and their systems restored.  Shouldn’t every business have back-up plans to run the businesses the old-fashioned paper-shuffling way when a ransomware attack or similar catastrophe occurs?  It seems logical, I just haven’t thought it through enough.   Operating at 70 or even 50% has to be better than being shut down for a week.

I am torn between two possibilities.  First, I wonder if we are taking these threats seriously enough.  On the other hand, I wonder if we have an Untouchables kind of cybersecurity force that has thwarted ten times the number attacks then are ever reported.  I would hope that the latter is true but suspect that we have not been taking these threats seriously enough.  A June 5^th article, Are We Waiting for Everyone to Get Hacked? - The New York Times, talked about how in 2012 then Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta, warned of a “Cyber Pearl Harbor.”  The article is a sobering and somewhat terrifying read.

 I hope we heed Mr. Panetta’s warning before a disastrous attack happens.

The Summer Solstice Revistied

 

Chicagohenge 9-20-19

On June 20, 2012, I first wrote about The Summer Solstice.  Today, I thought about writing about it not remembering I had already done it.  I was thinking about it today because I wrote about The Winter Solstice six short months ago.  Since that day in December, the days have slowly gotten longer until today, the longest day of the year and the first day of summer.  Now that we have peaked out, the days will get shorter at the same steady rate they got longer until, naturally, the Winter Solstice on December 21, the first day of winter. 

Clearly, these cosmic cycles and symmetries fascinate me and I am not sure why.  Maybe, had I lived centuries earlier, I might have been a shaman of the cosmos.  That sounds so much more appealing than being a mere peasant or serf.  No matter our technological advances, this phenomenon has been constant throughout the ages.  For us in the Northern Hemisphere, these solstices occur in the summer the North pole is pointing directly at the sun and when the South Pole is doing the same in the winter.

While I was working in New York, a summer solstice related event, Manhattanhenge, became popular.  I am guessing this happened in the late 1990s.  This is the day when the rising and setting perfectly aligns with the East-West streets of the famous Borough.  It is something to see.  I first noticed it when I was leaving work one day.  There were several photographers with tripods and expensive cameras set up at each street as I walked to Grand Central Station.  After a few blocks, I asked a friendly looking feloow what it was all about.  He said, “Manhattanhenge.”  With no further explanation, I understood what he meant.  I missed my train watching the beautiful sunset. 

I thought Manhattanhenge occurred on the solstice itself but no.  The streets in Manhattan are not perfectly East and West.  They are off by 29 degrees.  So, Manhattanhenge happens twice:  about twenty days before and after the solstice.  This year it happened on May 29^th and 30^th and will occur again on July 12^th and 13^th.  The internet credits a renown astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson, with “discovering” Manhattanhenge.  I kinda think he coined the term, though by doing

Chicagohenge 9-20-19

so and providing a schedule for when the phenomenon would occur, he popularized the event.

I never took any photos of Manhattanhenge.  But there are plenty of photos you can find by simply doing an internet search for them.  The tall building and narrow streets of Manhattan make some of the photos quite beautiful.

There is a Chicagohenge as well.  These happen a week before the vernal and fall equinoxes.  I happened to be downtown on a beautiful September day in 2019.  We were going to dinner with friends.  I had dropped everyone off at the restaurant, parked the car, and noticed the phenomenon by total accident.  I took the photos included here.

Here is a video of Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson explaining it better than I ever could.

 

 

Chidem Inch: My Israel Conundrum

 

Institute for Mideast Understanding

A cool fifty years ago, in my senior year of high school, I read a biography of David Ben Gurion and another, basically, pro-Israel book.  I was trying to make sense of the 1967 war and how Israel, surround by enemies who grossly outnumbered them, forged a nation and was able to soundly defeat, in the case of the Six Day war of 1967, Egypt.  I concluded that righteousness was on the side of Israel.  After the Holocaust, they had to create a nation for the survival of their people.  They had to have self-determination and defend themselves so as “never again” to be herded and slaughtered like sheep.

I drew parallels to the Jews and the Armenians.  We were both persecuted throughout history.   Neither of us had been independent for centuries.  Our enemies were all Moslem and wanted nothing more than to see us erased from the face of the earth.  I thought Armenia, if ever free again, would have to be exactly like Israel:  organized, fierce, and technologically superior to our enemies in weaponry and command and control.

I was both naïve and correct at the same time.

The correct part was that Armenia would have to be organized, fierce, and technologically advantaged on the battlefield.  We would have to protect our borders.  When attacked, as Israel had been and I am sure Armenia would be, we not only had to repel the enemy but take lands that were righteously ours.  We had to have that iron ladle Khirimian Hayrig challenged us to forge. 

The naïve part was Jews are simply more influential and wealthier than the Armenians.  They were able to garner and sustain the support of the US and the UK.  We were not.  We think Russia is our ally and I am not sure they ever were or will be. 

Armenians in Armenia have lived on the lands Turkey and Azerbaijan are coveting and carving up for centuries.  We are indigenous to those lands.  The Jews took lands that other people, Palestinians, who were of the belief (a good belief I now admit) that they were indigenous.  I rationalized this in my high school mind simply by believing Jerusalem and the surrounding biblical lands were Israel and belonged to the Jews.  I was actually elated when Jerusalem became fully part of Israel (looking forward to the day Armenia would repatriate Ararat, Erzerum, Kars, Ani, Van, of course Kharpert, and more).  I was actually wanting the restoration of temple where the Dome of the Rock now sits. 

Talk about naïve.

What is bothering me about Israel today is their treatment of the Palestinians.  A country founded on the ashes of the Holocaust quickly become quite adept at the practice of ethnic cleansing.  At least 1 million Palestinian have been displaced by Israel’s consolidation of land and control in what was Palestine and what is now Israel.  Since 2008, “5,739 Palestinians and 251 Israelis were killed” (Al Jazeera) which is a 23:1 ratio.  The map above shows the shift in controls of the land.  I now find this wrong, unjust, and very sad.

My views changed.  I will admit that back in high school, I really only had or only sought out pro-Israel sources.  They obviously influenced my perspective into believing the Israelis were righteous and the Palestinians were terrorists.  The lands being historically Israel and their fierce taking of it and holding it were an inspiration to how I believe Armenia should be. 

Over the years, having gotten to know and become with friends with Palestinians and has gotten me to shift my perspective.  The happenings in Armenia and Kharabagh this past year solidified the shift.  Israel supplied munitions to Azerbaijan.  Israel and Turkey battle tested their drones in Kharabagh.  We were fierce in our defense but not as organized as we should have been and most certainly, we were at a technological and command and control disadvantage.  To top it off, Israel would love to have all the Armenians in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem leave.  They are making it difficult for Armenians to stay there.  So much for any kinship between peoples that experienced genocide in the two World Wars. 

I hope a true and lasting peace can be established where the peoples can live and thrive freely together.  I want this for Armenia and Azerbaijan.  I want this for Palestine and Israel.  I do not see much chance of this happening in either case.  The world has changed in so many positive ways, I am saddened that age old animosities cannot be resolved peacefully.  Am I done learning about this... not by a long shot.

 

The Guardian

There has been a lot of buzz about Naomi Osaka in the news lately.  I really did not know much about her nor the details of why she was newsworthy.

I did know she was an athlete and if pressed, I would have narrowed it down to golf or tennis.  I also was aware that she was headline newsworthy because of suffering from depression.  That was it.  I had no intention to delve deeper and write this blog about her.

Jason Gay is a sportswriter for The Wall Street Journal.  I pretty much read everything he writes.  He has a unique and mostly humorous perspective but can also be serious and cerebral if the subject demands such.  I read him for the laughs but am even more appreciative of his craft when he is serious.  He is a very good writer.  On June 2, 2021, his column was titled Listening to Naomi Osaka.  I read it, learned a bit more about the tennis star, and found myself wanting to know more.  I then stumbled across a more extensive article about Osaka in The New Yorker:  Naomi Osaka’s Complicated Withdrawal from the French Open.  I read that as well and here I am writing about it. 

Naomi Osaka is a tennis star.  She is 23 years old and has won four Grand Slam championships, most recently the US and Australian Opens.  She is ranked #1.  She is the first Asian tennis player to have a #1 ranking.  Last year she earned more than $50 million from a combination of tennis prowess and the resulting endorsements.  Her mother is Japanese.  Her father is Haitian.  She was born in Japan but has lived in the US since she was 3 years old. 

In professional tennis, players are required to attend press conferences and are fined if they do not.  Some players that can afford to forego the press conferences and pay the fines.  Are the press conferences necessary?  I don’t know but there are lots of fans who want to hear from the stars of the game.  Do reporters ask pointed questions in a quest to create more newsworthy content, usually controversial, than might otherwise be there?  Certainly, they have a job to do and are trying to advance their own value in their profession.  I suppose it is all part of the culture of celebrity.

To me it matters not that Osaka is a woman, a tennis player, half black, or half Asian.  Race, gender, particular sport, or artistry of any kind all have a role in such a situation.  But, to me, I am more intrigued by the phenomena of being so young and suddenly becoming unbelievably wealthy and incredibly famous.  How does that not go to one’s head?  How does that not mess with one’s head?  How does that not mess with one’s head especially in a sport laden with the pressure of intense competition and an entourage of people dependent on your doing well for their own livelihoods?  I am not sure how well I would handle becoming super wealthy and famous at my current age.  At 23, wow… I couldn’t even imagine how I would have reacted.  We have seen athletes, movie stars, and musicians handle it in so many ways.  Some, spend all their money faster than they ever could have imagined, live large, and become destitute once they beyond their physical peaks.  Others handle it through self-medication and spiral downward as a result.  There are also those that handle it well and become astute managers of their lives and brands.  There are numerous movies of luminaries, fact and fiction, at both extremes.  There is a reason they have remade a Star is Born like 17 times.

When I was 23, I would have had little sympathy for Naomi Osaka.  I would have said, “What are you fricking complaining about… you made $50 million dollars last year. Suck it ip, you have it made!”  Now, I am much more sympathetic and understand that neither wealth nor fame is a guarantee of happiness or a shield from depression and other mental health issues.   

Wishing the best to Naomi Osaka and everyone battling health concerns of any kind. 

This all made me think of Plato’s quote:  Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.  It also made me recall the E. A. Robinson poem, Richard Cory, and the Simon and Garfunkel interpretation of it.

 

Richard Cory

BY EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON

 

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,

We people on the pavement looked at him:

He was a gentleman from sole to crown,

Clean favored, and imperially slim.

 

And he was always quietly arrayed,

And he was always human when he talked;

But still he fluttered pulses when he said,

"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.

 

And he was rich—yes, richer than a king—

And admirably schooled in every grace:

In fine, we thought that he was everything

To make us wish that we were in his place.

 

So on we worked, and waited for the light,

And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;

And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,

Went home and put a bullet through his head.

 

Richard Cory

Simon and Garfunkel

 

They say that Richard Cory owns one half of this whole town
With political connections to spread his wealth around
Born into society, a banker's only child
He had everything a man could want, power, grace and style

 

But I work in his factory
And I curse the life I'm living
And I curse my poverty
And I wish that I could be
Oh, I wish that I could be
Oh, I wish that I could be Richard Cory

 

The papers print his pictures almost everywhere he goes
Richard Cory at the opera, Richard Cory at a show
And the rumor of his parties and the orgies on his yacht
Oh, he surely must be happy with everything he's got

 

But I, I work in his factory
And I curse the life I'm living
And I curse my poverty
And I wish that I could be
Oh, I wish that I could be
Oh, I wish that I could be Richard Cory

 

He freely gave to charity, he had the common touch
And they were grateful for his patronage and they thanked him very much
So my mind was filled with wonder when the evening headlines read
"Richard Cory went home last night and put a bullet through his head"

 

But I, I work in his factory
And I curse the life I'm living
And I curse my poverty
And I wish that I could be
Oh, I wish that I could be
Oh, I wish that I could be Richard Cory

 

Source: https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/Simon-Garfunkel/Richard-Cory

Feliz Cumpleanos, Juan Luis Guerra

The HBO Special

 

I was surfing the TV, basically to see what else was on TV.  There were no movies that caught my fancy.  I have had little interest in the news since the denouement of the January 6^th insurrection that solidified conspiracy theories in the minds of so many and that basically solidified the divide in the Congress.

I was about to turn the TV off when I saw something on HBO Latino that brought a smile to my face and warmed my heart.  The guide showed “Juan Luis Guerra 4.40: Entre mer y palmeras.”  It was airing later this evening.  I hit “Watch Now” and popped on some headphones to really listen and enjoy.

Juan Luis Guerra?

Never heard of him? 

Juan Luis Guerra has sold over 30 million records (CDs, downloads?).  He is arguably the best musician in the Dominican Republic… maybe ever.

I had not heard of him either until the late 1990s.  That did not surprise me since my musical focus is overwhelmingly Armenian, Turkish, Greek, Arab and Persian.  But, I worked in the Latin American Division of Colgate-Palmolive for about fifteen years.  I travelled throughout the region on business and came to appreciate the culture of many of the countries.  This included language, cuisine, literature, history, art, and music.  I did not master any of it but was a serious dabbler. 

I learned to love Boleros.  There was an article in a local newspaper in Cali, Colombia about the history and popularity of Boleros.  It was the first full newspaper article I ever read in Spanish.  I definitely got the gist of the history.  Boleros are basically love songs and romantic dances with beautiful music and especially poetic lyrics.  Later that evening at a team dinner, I mentioned the article and my interest in exploring the genre.  The next day we visited a music store and I bought a CD of Boleros from the 1950s and 60s.  Basically, it was a collection of classics.  I listen to it several times a year when I am missing my travels and friends.  Bésame Mucho may be the best known Bolero of them all.

When I was in the Dominican Republic once, we were at a company celebration.  There was Merengue music and people were dancing.  I liked the dancing, but it was kind of hyper-frenetic with simply musical phrases repeated over and over again.  It was good house music for dancing, clearly, as the dance floor was full.  But, it was not so good for listening.  Again, in chatting with some colleagues I asked what if this music had folk roots.  The answer, as I suspected, was “of course it originated here in the DR.”  I then inquired what the music sounded like in the early days of this genre.  They were not understanding me, so I related the story of the Bolero and my love for the early recordings.  I asked if it was always this fast and hectic and if not, I would love to hear those versions.  The answer was “ah, ok, you need to listen to Juan Luis Guerra.”  Another visit to a music shop and I had a collection of his greatest hits.  I loved it.

Somehow over the years, I have not seen that CD since we moved to Illinois.  I kind of forgot about Juan Luis, well, until this evening.  This concert is 71 minutes long.  It is set on one of the beautiful beaches of the DR in the late afternoon.  The musicians are simply the best.  The are precise and so talented they make it look easy.  The compositions and arrangements are exquisite.  And his voice, as smooth as ever.  I had not ever really watched him on video, so this was a real treat.

Juan Luis Guerra was born on June 7, 1957, in Santo Domingo.  So, I am watching and writing about him on his 64th birthday.  He is known for his Merengue and Bachata dance music but this HBO special shows his mastery of bolero, baladas, and forays into jazz and rock.  He is a great talent that I am most delighted to have found again. 

Here is one of his songs:  La Llave De Mi Corazon

 

La Llave De Mi Corazón"

La llave de mi corazón
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yo escuchaba el otro día
Una emisora radial
Un siquiatra, Doctor Louise
daba consejo matrimonial

Marqué 305 594 1185
(three o' five, five ninety-four eleven eighty-five)
Hey doc, le llamo por una amiga que conocí en un web site
Le pido que, me de solución
pues tiene la llave de mi corazón

Yo soy de Ciudad Nueva y ella es
de San Pedro de Macorís, you know
tierra de peloteros, where Sammy Sosa lives

Le gusta beber jugo de papaya con anís
Y narrar telenovelas, her love is blind as you can see

Le pido que, me de solución
pues tiene la llave de mi corazón


Sólo quiero que me beses como besas tú.

You know I can't stop loving you, baby
I said mambo

Love me, yeah
Love me, yeah

Confirme su autoestima
make a point, you're on the air

Que usted quiere que haga yo
debo aprender español
y bailar con un pie
hasta que me dé su amor

o viajar un año luz
de Saturno a Nueva York
moving in, moving on, merengue bachata y son

Yo pido que, me des solución
pues tienes la llave de mi corazón

Dance!
Dance!
yeah yeah yeah yeah
Dance!

Que usted quiere que haga yo
Tocaré mi conga drums
y me haré un carnet
de poeta y trovador

Desempolvaré mi voz
cantaré 'la vie en rose'
Moving in, moving on
merengue, bachata y son, now

Yo pido que, mes de solución
pues tienes la llave de mi corazón

Sólo quiero que me beses como besas tú.

You know I can't stop loving you, baby

Yo pido que, me des solución
pues tienes la llave de mi corazón

You're so sweet, to me, yeah
You're so sweet
You're so sweet, to me, baby
You're so sweet, to me, baby
You're so sweet
yeah yeah yeah

Yo pido que, me des solución
pues tienes la llave de mi corazón

Sweet to my heart
ehh baby now
Sweet to my heart
Sweet to my heart
Sweet to my heart
yeah yeah yeah yeah
Sweet to my heart
yeah baby

Yo pido que, me des solución
tu tienes la llave de mi corazón

https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/juanluisguerra/lallavedemicorazn.html

 

The Key To My Heart

Yeah yeah yeah yeah

I was listening the other day

To a radio station

A psychiatrist, Doctor Louise

Was giving love advice

 

I dialed 305 594 1185

(three o' five, five ninety-four eleven eighty-five)

Hey doc, I'm calling you because of a friend I met on a website

I ask you to give me a solution

Because you have the key to my heart

 

I'm from the New City and she's

From San Pedro de Macorís, you know

A land of players, where Sammy Sosa lives

 

She likes drinking papaya juice with anise

And narrating soap operas, her love is blind as you can see

 

I ask you to give me a solution

Because you have the key to my heart

 

I just want you to kiss me like you do.

 

You know I can't stop loving you, baby

I said mambo

 

Love me, yeah

Love me, yeah

 

Confirm your self-esteem

Make a point, you're on the air

 

What do you want me to do?

Should I learn Spanish

And dance with only one foot

Until you give me your love?

 

Or travel a light-year

From Saturn to New York

Moving in, moving on, merengue bachata and sound

 

I ask you to give me a solution

Because you have the key to my heart

 

Dance !

Dance !

Yeah yeah yeah yeah

Dance !

 

What do you want me to do?

I'll play my conga drums

And get myself a license

For poet and troubadour

 

I'll dust off my voice

I'll sing 'La vie en rose'

Moving in, moving on

Merengue, bachata and sound, now

 

I ask you to give me a solution

Because you have the key to my heart

 

I just want you to kiss me like you do

 

You know I can't stop loving you, baby

 

I ask you to give me a solution

Because you have the key to my heart

 

You're so sweet, to me, yeah

You're so sweet

You're so sweet, to me, baby

You're so sweet, to me, baby

You're so sweet

Yeah yeah yeah

 

I ask you to give me a solution

Because you have the key to my heart

 

Sweet to my heart

Ehh baby now

Sweet to my heart

Sweet to my heart

Sweet to my heart

Yeah yeah yeah yeah

Sweet to my heart

Yeah baby

 

I ask you to give me a solution

You have the key to my heart

https://lyricstranslate.com

Memorial Day Reflections

The Cemetary at Gettysburg

 

This Memorial Day, I again watched the classic 1941 Gary Cooper movie, Sergeant York.  It is the third or fourth time I have watched this movie on Memorial Day.  I even wrote about it back in Memorial Day 2014.

It is classic that it depicts an America of yore, of a man working the land who became a devout Christian and a conscientious objector that managed still to fight while grappling to stay true to his beliefs.  There are many good war movies for a day when we, as a country, remember those that gave their lives for this country.  The men that fight and die in wars are young, they are just beginning their adult lives.  They, as the saying goes, had so much to live for.  Yet, they went to war, they fought for their country, and too many have died doing so.

York did end up killing.  Upon seeing his comrades cut down by machine gun fire he did kill 25 Germans and ended up capturing 132 in the Argonne Battle.  He said he was against the taking of lives as ever but killed the 25 he did to save the lives of many more of his comrades.  It is an amazing history.  While I am sure it was exaggerated some in a movie made in 1941 to help nurture support for World War.  But, the core of the story is most noteworthy for Memorial Day.

The New York Times obituary on September 3, 1964, of York’s passing elaborated on his life after his feats at Argonne.  It seemed a few groups questioned if his exploits were real and only due to his actions.  I learned that York and troubles later in life with back taxes.  The Times article noted the following:

Until this century military history has been dominated by the names of generals and great strategists.  But with the rise of the popular press the common soldier was discovered and adulated.  Sergeant York was the first in this line – a line that was continued by Audie Murphy, Roger Young and a number of other World War II enlisted men. 

I had not really thought of this.  I am not sure I buy into this view.  The heroes of history are indeed the generals, the commanders, the leaders, and strategists.   They are at the forefront because their exploits were documented by historians.  Historians tend to look at things from a more macro perspective to understand how countries and borders, peoples and culture, evolved and developed.  They want to learn from the past to help but the events of today in perspective.  As George Santayana so eloquently stated in 1905, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

I believe that exploits and valor of individuals were always the lore and legend of family and village histories.  I know individual soldiers and sailors kept diaries and wrote memoirs of what it was like to be on the frontlines or working on a war ship.  I believe these personal histories were always “adulated” locally.  We have them in our own family.  I remember my great Uncle Sisag Gavoorian telling me of his time as Antranig Pahsa’s bodyguard in the days of the Armenian Genocide and the fight for independence.  We have a few books from close friends who published he memoirs of their father’s or grandfather’s experiences in the same era.  I believe “the rise of the popular press” amplified the stories and moved the telling and retelling from a family and village level to a national and even international level. 

I do not mean to relegate historians solely to the big picture.  They do tend to study eras and people on all levels.   The want to know how the common man lived on a day-to-day basis.   Though for their broad interest and in-depth studies it is the big names and events, the heroes and villains, the big wins and losses, that make it into the history books we study in grade and high school. 

Me, I am interested in both the macro and micro view.  I watched the heroic exploits of Sergeant York and then Admiral Nimitz and Yamamoto square off against each other in the movie Midway (2019).  It is good to reflect on war, the heroes big and small, and, especially, those who gave their lives on Memorial Day.