custer's last stand June 25,1876

In some respects, especially since the US is a comparatively young nation, 137 years is ancient history,to a midwesterner the Indian wars were a million years ago. To a westerner, the memories may be recent, while an easterner might ask, What Indians?

Growing up in St. Louis, the mythology taught to innocent children in the '50s and '60s surrounding the battles was completely wrong, the Cardinals were not playing the Cubs that day. The battle was fought on a Sunday, and the professional baseball leagues then observed the Christian sabbath.  

The St. Louis Brown Stockings (later the Perfectos then the Cardinals) didn't play on June 25, 1876. They played the Philadelphia Athletics on June 24 (won 8-3) and the New York Mutuals on June 27 (won 7-1). 

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last war

When do wars really ever end?  War time communications are unreliable and combatants are always suspicious, battles, skirmishes and deaths continue long after a war's outcome is thought to be settled.  The US Civil War was no exception.

Several days ago, June 19th, was the anniversary of Federal troops returning to Texas, two and half months after Appomattox, and almost a month (May 26) after General Smith surrendered his Trans Mississippi troops.

 Today is the anniversary of the 1865 surrender of the last large contingent of Confederate troops, The First Cherokee Mounted Rifles commanded by Brig Gen Stand Waite, Chief of the southern Cherokee Nation.  Waites troops were accomplished guerilla fighters, especially active in southern Missouri, eastern Kansas  and Northern Arkansas.  Gen Waite's troops surrendered near what is now Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

The Confederate warship CSS Shenandoah, which fired the last shot of the war and fearing capture as pirates, surrendered in Liverpool England on November 6, 1865.

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Gorgeous Gussy

Getty Images

In anticipation of next week's start of the 2013 All England Lawn Tennis Club tennis championship let us remember Miss Gertrude (Gussie) Moran.  In 1949, an era when female tennis players, especially at the All-England Club were expected to maintain decorum at all times, the American tennis ace Ms. Moran scandalized the club and the hoi polloi when she arrived on court for her match wearing a short tennis dress, along with ruffled lace trimmed knickers.  The press photographers had a field day (see above).

Margaret Osborne duPont 1949

The other girls dressed more demurely, gaining attention for their play rather than their attire.  Gussie, however was talented and a beauty. Too bad she preceded the television era.

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juneteenth

On June 19, 1865 two months after the surrender of Gen. Robert E. Lee ended hostilities between the US and Confederate states, US General Gordon Granger and his troops landed in Galveston, Texas, restoring Federal control to Texas . Upon arrival, Granger issued 3 general orders to the people of Texas. The third begins:

“The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and free laborer.”

During the war,  Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in rebellious states, however in practice, slaves were not freed until Union troops arrived to enforce their freedom, and the US Army was singularly unsuccessful fighting in Texas. The EP had almost no effect on Texas slaves or their owners.

Upon Granger's order the newly freed rejoiced, and most celebrated the anniversary of Gen Granger's decree, known as Juneteenth, for the rest of their lives.  By the turn of the 20th century, with many of the former slaves dead,  enthusiasm for and education about Juneteenth ended. By the Great Depression, annual observances had practically come to an end.   It took the leaders of the 1960's civil rights upheavals to remind the younger generation of the struggles of their ancestors, for Juneteenth festivities to be renewed.

Today, 27 states and the District of Columbia celebrate Juneteenth along with Texans.  

sir paul

The third book of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy has this to say about today's birthday boy Sir Paul.

"Night had now fallen on ancient Krikkit... a small group of people... were walking home across the hill towards the town... actually singing a song about how terribly nice everything was... Arthur could almost imagine Paul McCartney sitting with his feet up by the fire one evening, humming it to Linda and wondering what to buy with the proceeds, and thinking probably Essex...

Arthur saw that a couple of members of the party were now singing a different song. It came lilting back to them through the soft night air, and was a sweet romantic ballad that would have netted McCartney Kent and Sussex and enabled him to put in a fair offer for Hampshire

"The middle eight bridge, which would have had McCartney consolidated in Winchester and gazing intently over the Test Valley to the rich pickings of the New Forest beyond, had some curious lyrics."

"From somewhere at the back of the crowd a single voice started to sing a tune which would have enabled Paul McCartney, had he written it, to buy the world."


Could you tell that Douglas Adams, the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, was on the receiving end of a lawsuit from Paul?

Happy Birthday Paul, and thanks for the memories

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Be careful what you wish for Part 1 of 2

Lately, I had been giving thought to how to cut the time I spend staring at my computer screen. For better or worse, time online is time not watching television, but still, I feel I'm wasting my life away. So the gods intervened.

Ten days ago, I was talking to #1 son during a violent storm when our phone went dead. It stayed dead, along with very intermittent internet service until yesterday afternoon. For the first few days I was like a crack addict needing his next fix. Gradually, I came to terms with life off line. By mid week life took on the rhythm of what I remember life was like once upon a time, and I truly enjoyed it.

Five minutes after the repairman left the tranquility of life off line vanished forever. It's good to be back, I missed you. Now I have a lot of catching up to do.

PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND

In New Orleans you can count on 2 things. You will see a famous face in a crowd and know the locals aren't going to press. Of course it's expected that kings, queens and notables would be there, they get hungry too.

My favored people watching site is the venerable Preservation Hall, which celebrates its 52nd anniversary today. Preservation Hall hasn't changed much in the 40 plus years since my first visit to the French Quarter. The Hall is still a fire trap and still doesn't serve alcohol, but now the musicians are younger than I, and not always local. The music is, as always, top notch.

As with most New Orleans traditions, the past few years have been difficult for Preservation Hall. The touring Preservation Hall Jazz Band has been the savior, not only for the hall, but for the musicians as well. It's one of the best paying musical gigs going. Should they appear in your town adjust your busy calendar, take the kids and make it a must see.

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The Happy Couple

Some of us, perhaps too many, have that one kid you fear will never straighten up and fly right.  They are a lifetime of toil and trouble, but fortunately, especially if the pain in your side is a son, it likely works out in the end.

My youngest, the one time forest fire fighter, and Portland, Oregon denizen telephoned last evening to tell us he and his beloved have become engaged and are actively planning their wedding.  I am over the moon with happiness.    

Mrs. T and the happy couple

I always prayed the right woman, willing to take on a project, would come along, and that he would have the wisdom not to resist.  My prayers have been answered a thousandfold.  Best of all, some of you may recall my buddy Finn,?  He is about to become my bonus grandson, how cool is that?

Let us give thanks

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What is the question?

The television program Jeopardy presented this final Jeopardy answer several weeks ago.  None of the contestants answered correctly can you?

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Odds and Ends

Before spring returns to the midwest and while waiting to learn who will become the Doctor I felt need for a bit of levity.  The Telegraph regularly publishes a segment called The Best of Sign Language.  The snaps are a collection of amusing public notices taken around the globe.  In the style of "best of the empire", the funniest notices are ironic, and often self evident.  One wonders at the thought processes.  

All photos from The Telegraph

Gmail goodie

Sporting my NOLA sun bonnet.

Do you use GMAIL?  If so there is a new feature that you may have missed.  Click the settings icon (the gear on the upper right).  Half way down it says "configure in box".  If you click that, gmail will automatically sort your inbox into Primary (for your serious email) Social (for Facebook/tumblr.etc mail) and (for ads).  Sort the wheat from the chaff.

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Annmarie's gift

If she hadn't died of cervical cancer last March, Tuesday would have been Annmarie James-Thomas 45th birthday.  Her husband found, among his wife's effects, her handwritten note of 20 points on how to live a happy life that she left behind for her 4 children.  Her children gifted her note to the world for her birthday.  They are worthy of your consideration. From The Telegraph
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The 20 point plan is as follows:
What you put out comes back all the time - no matter what.

You define your own script. Don't let others write your script for you.

Whatever someone did to you in the past has no power over the present. Only if you give it power.

When people show you who they are, believe them the first time.

Worrying is wasted time. Use the same energy for doing something about whatever worries you.

Whatever you believe has more power than what you dream or wish or hope for. You become what you believe.

If the only prayer you ever say is 'Thank you' then that will be enough.

The happiness you feel is in direct proportion to the love you give.

Failure is a signpost to turn you in another direction.

If you make a choice that goes against what everyone else thinks, the world will not fall apart.

Trust your instincts. Intuition doesn't lie.

Love yourself and then learn to extend that love to others in every encounter.

Let passion drive your profession.

Love doesn't hurt. It feels really good.

Every day brings a chance to start over.

Doubt means "don't". Don't answer. Don't rush forward.

When you don't know what to do, be still. The answer will come.

Trouble doesn't last always.

This too shall pass.

I will act with the intent to be true to myself.
-Annmarie James-Thomas

A confession

For years I have preached that straw boaters were appropriate for men only after they begin to collect full social security benefits. A hat that went out of fashion upon the death of John Dillinger (1934) is not for the young. Verily it's true, gravitas is necessary to keep the hat from wearing you.

Well, rules are meant to be broken, and I have broken mine...sort of.



I spent parts of several days searching for my copy of Mike, the Vanity Fair print shown above. I searched unsuccessfully, but looking at Mike's photo reminded me of my father, in the late '50's, taking me with him when he bought his boater. Passing that same shop last week, I stopped knowing I was leaving with a skimmer of my own.

Now that it's here I have come to several conclusions. First, I am surprised at how dressy it feels, it makes me stand up straighter and take notice. A skimmer needs a coat and tie to keep from becoming a cartoon hat. Next, I like it. It is cool, comfortable and feels good on. Finally, I have been right all along. Like love, it would be wasted on the young. Of course my bride hates it, and so the hat and I are going to age gracefully until our time comes.

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Thank you

To the gold star families whose loss we honor and commemorate today, a grateful nation thanks you.

Miles Davis- Birth of the Cool

Today we celebrate the birth of the man who gave us the Birth of the Cool, Miles Davis.  Miles, in spite of his demons, oozed cool.

Instead of recreating the wheel I present in full a post from one of my favorite sites A Hymn to Intellectual Beauty:Creative Minds and Fashion.  by the inimitable Deborah Parker:
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Miles Davis

...behind a mask that seemed incapable of expressing anything, one sensed sensitivity and strength as well as a deeper level of expressivity. Small gestures, no matter how studied, expressed their awareness of their bodies and drew attention to their provocative sexuality, together conveying a new form of American naturalism.

These gestures, the relaxed posture, the studied inarticulateness, a calculated detachment, a certain angle of descent, merge with elements of the cool, a powerful metaphor for twentieth-century life. John Szwed, So What: The Life of Miles Davis.

I was changing my attitude about a lot of things, like the look of my wardrobe. I was working all these clubs where there was a lot of smoke, and it would get in the fabric of my suits. Plus, everyone was starting to dress a little looser at concerts, at least the rock musicians were, and that might have affected me. Everybody was into blackness, you know, the black consciousness movement, and so a lot of African and Indian fabrics were being worn. I started wearing African dashikis and robes and looser clothing plus a lot of Indian tops by a guy named Hernando, who was from Argentina and who had a place in Greenwich Village. That’s where Jimi Hendrix bought most of his clothes. So I started buying wraparound Indian shirts from him, patch suede pants from a black designer named Steven Burrows, and shoes from a place in London called Chelsea Cobblers…I had moved away from the cool Brooks Brothers look and into this other thing, which for me was more what was happening with the times. I found I could move around on the stage much better. I wanted to move on stage, play in different places, because there are areas on stage where the music and sound are much better than other places. I was starting to explore for those places. Miles Davis. Autobiography of Miles Davis with Quincy Troupe.

Before his performance, Mr. Davis will wear a single-breasted (one button) beige pongee suit, combining the French and Italian influence on pants and jacket. When Mr. Davis is playing on stage, he will be wearing a double-breasted gray imported silk (two buttons) featuring only two pockets to create an extra slim line. After his performance, Miles will relax in a pink, single-breasted seersucker jacket with matching pants, hand-made loafers of doeskin, and white sports shirt worn with a pink silk square. Press release for Randall Island Jazz Festival, 1961.

I wish I had a photo of Davis from the Randall Island Jazz Festival. The details of the top center photo are notable: the way the scarf is tied, the wide leather bracelet, the woven belt, and the snake-leather pants. Miles Davis has long been hailed as a fashion icon. The creator of Birth of the Cool has been placed on innumerable Fashion Hall of Fame lists. His style has ranged from Brooks Brothers prep to African-inspired dress. In April 1961 GQ chose Davis as “Fashion Personality of the Month; Esquire named Davis one the best dressed men in America in 1960. No one played the trumpet like him, no one embodied cool with such throwaway ease. Listen to some of his classic pieces.

Deborah Parker

Before Facebook

Once upon a time, before Facebook turned status declarations digital  it was a custom amongst teens for the guys to give their class ring to their steady girlfriend as a public demonstration that they were a couple, which often as not p***** off the girl's mother.  Naturally, the ring never fit her and ingenious ways were created to make it fit.

Having the ring resized was not an option, so some girls purchased a ring guard, which was placed around the shank of the ring.  If memory serves it rarely worked, so the next best option was to wear the ring on a necklace.  Most girls however settled for a strip of athletic tape wound through the band.

I have never removed my wedding band, and I rarely take off the signet ring. However, on 3 occasions since Friday my wedding band has slipped off, twice I didn't notice it gone but Mrs.T did, fortunately quickly.  I will have it professionally resized, just not yet.  In the meantime I've stocked up on tape.

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John Tyler

Once out of office American Presidents are pretty much forgotten about.  Students may be required learn the   presidents names and the order they served, but that sort of info is forgotten immediately.  As adults we can recite the names the first half dozen, skip to #16 (Lincoln) then jump to Franklin Roosevelt.  There is even one, John Tyler of Virginia, our 10th, whose death was never formally acknowledged by the US government.

Born in 1790, Tyler was elected in 1840 as Wm. Henry Harrison's vice president.  Tyler became president when Harrison died one month after his inauguration, serving 1 term. A fervent Virginian, Tyler was elected to the Confederate Congress at the start of the Civil War, but died before taking his seat in the new congress. Then at war with the Confederacy, the US pointedly ignored his service to the US at the time of his death.

In the early 21st century president Tyler is known for 2 things.  His administration worked hard to have Texas admitted as a US state, and his 15 children by 2 wives (8 and 7).  The 5th child of wife 2, Lyon Gardiner Tyler (1853-1935), served 30 years as president of William and Mary College.

 Harrison Ruffin Tyler

Two of his sons, Harrison Ruffin Tyler and Lyon Gardiner Tyler Jr are still alive. Harrison lives at President Tyler's Virginia plantation, Sherwood Forest.  In 2001 his family donated $5 million to William and Mary's Lyon Gardiner Tyler Department of History.

Lyon Gardiner Tyler, Jr.

Lyon and Harrison Tyler, now each in their 80's are grandsons of a man born in 1790.  A remarkable feat.

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Victoria Day

Happy Victoria Day to our friends and neighbors to the north.

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Lindbergh enroute

May 20, 1927 was a big day for Mayberry.  Charles Lindbergh, in his Mayberry funded "Spirit of St. Louis" airplane, took off from Long Island, New York's Roosevelt Field headed north then southeast towards Paris, France.  Jimmy Stewart made it look easy.

Over time St. Louis  forgot Lucky Lindy, but one artefact remains.  Perhaps the worst airport in North America may be ours, Lambert International.  The airport, named for Mr. Albert Bond Lambert, a local nabob interested in flying and the scion of the creator of Listerine Mouthwash was Lindbergh's primary financial backer.    

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Lawrence

Today is the anniversary of the 1935 death of Col. Thomas Edward Lawrence DSO,CB, Croix de Guerre, Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford and a long time hero of mine.

In August 1922, in an attempt to evade his celebrity Lawrence enlisted in the RAF under the name John Hume Ross.  His enlistment officer believing Ross an alias, challenged Lawrence to come clean.  Lawrence admitted he lied and was dismissed from the service.  Later that day Lawrence along with an RAF messenger returned to the enlisting officer where the messenger delivered an order for Lawrence's enlistment.  It was during this RAF enlistment that Aircraftman Lawrence wrote The Seven Pillars of Wisdom.



Lawrence's notoriety caught up with him the following February when the Daily Express exposed his serving as an enlisted man causing a public embarrassment for his superiors.  Lawrence was promptly discharged by the RAF.

Later that year he changed his name to TE Shaw and joined the Royal Tank Corps, which he hated and repeatedly petitioned to rejoin the RAF, which finally relented under pressure from the PM in 1925.  The RAF hustled him off to a remote corner of India for the next 2 1/2 years.

HT Lawrence Tender

Upon his return to England, Lawrence was transferred to the RAF Marine section where he helped to develop a series of fast tenders used to ferry passengers to flying boats, fire tenders and rescue boats. His work saved many downed aircrew during the Second World War.

May he rest in peace.

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