The View From Down Here

(I know this post is a little dated, but it has taken me some time to compose my thoughts on the subject).

Who are your heroes? Do they deserve it?

We’re a little bit over a year from the passing of two of my personal heroes: Steve Irwin and Maynard Ferguson. Odd, you say? Why would these two be among personal heroes? To tell you truth, I’m not exactly sure why I picked them… you might say just because I thought they were interesting. Steve Irwin was a symbol to many and Maynard was a “god” to the trumpet players everywhere. Obvious enough?

No, but it’s more than that. I’ve never been much into hero worship, but I honestly admired these men and that puts them in a very small group of people. So I did some comparison of my fallen heroes:

Steve Irwin was nearly a caricature with his khaki clothes and jungle boots, jumping about on my TV every week to spread information about animals and his conservation mission.

Maynard was an over-the-top blow-hard (heh), who could be a bit garish clothes wise, blasting away with his stratospheric riffs.

They don’t seem much the same do they? But, I’ve found they share a common message. The lessons they taught went way beyond the TV shows they made or the charts they recorded.
First, have fun. Both these guys loved their job with a capital ‘L’.
Second, master your field. Strive to be the best at what you do.
Third, don’t be afraid to be larger than life (this is a hard lesson).
Fourth, maintain your focus and intensity. Shrug off criticism with a smile and keep the dream.
Fifth, teach what you know.

It’s interesting, but the old saw “those who can’t do, teach” didn’t cut it with these two. Both of these men were astounding pedagogs. They not only “did”, but they taught as well. Their legacies will live forever in the minds of their students, and I can’t really think of a better epitaph for either of them.

I'm accepting trade offers for Boy Scout and Order of the Arrow patches.

I'm particualrly interested in flaps with fish or other marine life on them.

OA Flaps I'm looking for:
Older 354 Mayi flaps (not the common Mayi flaps - I mean the old older ones)
Red Borders 335 Ump Quah
Older 168 Kuskitannee
90 Canalino blue water and pre-FDL
Pre-FDL 566 Malibu
257 Agawam (f1 especially desired)
158 Nanepashemet
Anything else with a fish or sea life on it that I don't have. Several lodges have put sea animals on their flaps from time to time, even if it is not their regular totem. What do I have? Too much to list - ask me to find out.

BSA CSPs
I will trade your current CSP for my current Sam Houston Area council CSP. I also have some other local Texas CSPs if you don't want Sam Houston.
Also looking for older CSPs from Michigan and Texas.

Either leave comment here or email hatejunkmailsfens2000@yahoo.com for trades. Remove the first 12 letters from that email and there you have it. That email has an agressive spam filter and I don't even look at what goes in the junk box. It's not worth your time or mine, so just don't. OK, that being said, legit emails sometimes get scrubbed also. If I don't answer, try again.

Ever feel like you’re burning the camera, err… candle at both ends?

That’s what I take out of the new Spiderman installment.

The film will not disappoint in the action department, nor in the graphics department, not even in the story department – how could it with four major comic plot lines running the 2 hour and 36 minute gauntlet that is Spiderman 3?

Let’s see, you’ve got the Sandman, Hobgoblin, the Alien Suit, and Venom. Oh, yes, there’s also the ongoing story of Peter Parker’s life: proposing to Mary Jane, taking care of Aunt May, getting good grades, you know… everyday stuff. I guess that makes it five plot lines total – how does Spiderman do it? He must feel his life is like a crazed rollercoaster, running too fast… no time… can’t slow down… just gotta hang on a… bit… longer…

In truth, that’s what the film feels like, too… on the verge of collapse, a catastrophe just a momentary lapse in attention away. I think Sam Raimi (director) managed to balance all the twisting plot lines well enough, but he didn’t do justice to any of them. Each seemed to get short shrift. Too much to do, too little time.

Perhaps, though, this was a glimpse at what life is really like for Peter Parker. I mean, try to imagine balancing school, girlfriend, friends, family, and saving the city on a daily basis? Throw in an alien symbiote and Peter Parker’s life doesn’t just feel like an out of control roller coaster – it is out of control. It never stops, day after day.

I have always admired the Spiderman films (and the comic for that matter – or at least the better years of it) for their application to everyday life. Spiderman was always the hero of the people... the everyman hero who identified with the common denominator in us all. He’s hated and loved, powerful and weak, always late but just in the nick of time, the best friend you can’t count on, unknown yet famous, and he wins the day despite his flaws. A lesson in contradictions, his story is our story.

Forget the superficial moralizing in the film. This film is about American life – running, never slowing, got to do it all, damned if I’ll stop American life. Spiderman is the single mom, the father working two jobs, the fireman, the teacher, the soldier, the student (and even the evening law student).

You know what? Spidey always comes through alright. We will too. Keep fighting the good fight. Don’t stop.

Oh yeah, don’t forget to hang on... the ride can get a little rough.

Study for finals!
Learn now before it's too late.
Cramming hurts my head.

What's a Trade Secret?
Secret information with
Business value.

Will 102(b)
Bar my patent? One year rule.
When was it published?

Ha! This is funny.
I wonder if it will help
Me learn anything.

Maybe I'm just bored?
The mind plays terrible tricks
With too little sleep.

Now, the guy next to
Me is wondering why I
Am counting fingers.

One, two, three, four, five.
Sylables: five... seven... five.
Count the haiku out.

Maybe I'm crazy.
It's OK to admit it.
Where's my padded cell?

Do you remember the best friend you had when you were five years old?

Are you still friends? Why not?

One of our neighbors has a little grandson who is just a bit older than my son. Sometimes, when he stays at his grandparent’s house, they bring him by to play with my son. It’s fascinating to watch the dynamics between these little kids. Neither of them speaks and yet they play together, share toys, and even give each other hugs.

I remember when I was little and used to go to the park and make a new friend in an instant just by playing on the see-saw. A friendship founded in the brevity of “Hi, what’s your name? Let’s go swing!”

I could not make that sort of friend today - no way. I meet new people everyday with whom there is no “let’s swing” connection, nor will there ever be. They are nothing more than distant others – a backdrop to whatever all important, singular task I’m performing at the moment so that I can move on to the next all important, singular task.

It’s a problem of perception, I think. All truth is perception (a flaw of truth) that is filtered by our senses, minds, prejudices, and predisposition to view the world. Even if I were to try to make a friend like I did when I was five, it wouldn’t work. I’d cross someone’s safe boundaries, their definition of space, sense of propriety, or idea of good-sensed behavior. Their filters would block my attempt, and that would be the end of it.

I think this is what happens to kids as they grow up. They try to form that five-year-old connection with adults and fail. Incoming connection filtered out. Eventually, they learn not to try. Their filters form, in turn, and the cycle repeats.

End result, we can’t connect. That’s a shame. Without connection, we will never understand.

Do ghost towns creep you out?

Not me, I find them fascinating. One of my favorite things is to take road trips and stop at abandoned towns. Not the revitalized, “artsy” ghost towns, mind you, I mean the really abandoned ones. They are getting hard to find, but there are still some.

There is something about the desolate stillness of these places. It’s not the peacefulness of a wilderness setting – not the gentle stirring of feeling you get in a natural setting. No, it’s an emptiness. Perhaps a longing. A feeling that things have simply stopped, and maybe, maybe if you close your eyes they might start up again when you open them. The energy of the place, once thrumming, is lying still: a potential just out of reach of mind and sense.

There is one of these towns that I have long wished to go see, but I can’t manage to get there: Cheniere au Tigre. Even the name is fascinating, mysterious. Why can’t I get there? Simple: no roads go there. Of course, the lack of access makes it all the more fascinating to me.

My research indicates that it is small island (probably the tip of salt dome like High Island) way down on the south Louisiana coast in Vermillion parish. The island was inhabited off and on during the settlement and revolutionary periods. Continuous habitation began in the mid 1800’s and even included a resort. Habitation waned in the 1930’s and ended when the island was struck by a hurricane in the 1950’s. I have seen some reports that the island is still used as a remote fishing camp location.

One of the most curious things about Cheniere au Tigre, however, is its prominence on the internet. Try this: do a search for Cheniere au Tigre on Google. Seriously, try it. I’ll even make it easy for you. Hundreds of hits, right? Some of the hits are historical data, some are about a coastline preservation program, and still others are references to an autonomous weather station that must be placed there. The hits that strike me, though, are the ones advertising hotels, pharmacies, and other businesses nearby as if the town were some sort of modern vacation destination. There is even one hit to a self-hypnosis site in the UK that advertises being very easy to get to from Cheniere au Tigre. Somehow, I doubt the true ease of that trip since I can’t even seem to get to Cheniere au Tigre, and I live on the same continent. Soon, I suppose, the google search will even link to this blog post. That's OK, at least this post is on topic.

So there you have it, my first entry in the Lost Places Index: Cheniere au Tigre. I have always longed to go there. One day I will. I let you know all about it when I get back.

Have you heard that 1/3 of the people in Washington D.C. are illiterate?

Those numbers astound me. The idea seems so incredible that I begin to wonder by what standards are they judging literacy.

So I begin to wonder, what are we teaching our kids? In theory, they attend school for 10 or more years. How does this happen? Is it just a series of so-called ‘social promotions’ that keep putting the kids into the next grade when they haven’t mastered the material from the first?

I don’t know. I won’t pretend to have any answers on this issue. I’m no educator, nor do I have any school age children. However, I can make some comments on the nature of children’s pre-kindergarten educational programming based on personal experience.

1. Sesame Street
I used to watch this show myself. I’ve even noticed that some of the short sets are the same from the ‘70s when I was a kid (Just the other day, I saw the short set featuring the song ‘Everybody Sleeps’, or something like that. Just like it was when I was a kid.). Some things are different though. I don’t see a lot of letters and numbers anymore - not as much counting. My memory may be fuzzy from 30 years of intervening life, but I remember Sesame Street being all about counting (e.g. “One! One peanut butter sandwich! Two! Two peanut butter sandwiches!”) and sounding out words (e.g. “C… at. Cat.”). Now the show seems to focus heavily on social issues. Here’s a case in point: one of the single adult characters on the show recently adopted a child from a foreign country. Much time was spent on this. It doesn’t matter what you think of that social issue, the only thing I’m pointing out is that it is no longer a show primarily about counting and spelling. Add to this the character Elmo. He’s fantastically popular and (albeit disgustingly) cute, but here is a major character that does not even speak proper English. The Elmo character just doesn’t use personal pronouns (i.e. he says, “Elmo wants… blah blah.” Instead of ‘I want…”). Not only does this grate on an adult’s nerves, I question having a popular character speaking in such poor grammar and possibly, by example, teaching it. Perhaps, one of the adults should finally teach Elmo how to speak properly and his speech rehabilitation can figure into the show. You think I’m kidding.

2. Thomas the Tank Engine
I really enjoy watching this program with my son on Sundays. It’s cute, but have begun to notice a recurring theme: the importance of “usefulness” to society. I know, that doesn’t sound too obnoxious, but the way it is presented in the show bothers me. The engines are always being judged on their usefulness to their society (in isolation of other norms) and those that are not useful are punished, scolded, or ostracized from the group until they mend their ways. The reasoning that is given for an unreliable engine being punished never has to do with outcome and consequences of their actions, but is purely that they have not been "useful". Free thinking, independence, and exploring options always seem to result in the engine failing in usefulness to the group.

Although it is important to be a productive member of society (and kids should be raised to be become such), I find this apparent message in the show that one's worth is based solely on usefulness to the group a bit disturbing.

The show is British in origin, I wonder if that has anything to do with it. Maybe I'm misunderstanding a cultural connotation.

3. Caillou, Curious George, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Dragon Tails
These are all cute shows. Here again, though, these are all shows that focus on teaching social mores or are just pure entertainment. Not a single one teaches reading, counting, etc.

All of the shows listed above make up almost the entirety of the PBS children’s programming (I refuse, personally, to watch Barney and Teletubbies, so no comment there). Only one of them, Sesame Street, teaches any sort of reading skills, and Sesame Street seems to be slacking off.

I went to kindergarten with the ability to do simple reading, counting, arithmetic, and understand simple science principles. I learned it from shows like the Electric Company, 3-2-1 Contact, Reading Rainbow, and (the older) Sesame Street. These shows and their ilk don’t seem to be on TV anymore. Why have they gone? Why do all the existing shows focus on teaching social mores?

I don’t know. But it bothers me.