National Maritime Day

Yesterday, May 22nd, was designated as National Maritime Day when we honor the men and women who "go down to the sea in ships." As a young intern I had the privilege of meeting many of these mariners - some who had gone thru WWII - braved torpedoes in slow moving convoys - and several who had been captured and interned by the Japanese. The  sailors of the U.S. Merchant Marine were not included in the original G.I. Bill of Rights after WWII. With the U.S. Flag merchant fleet depleted many of these sailors are now "on the beach". Today we salute them all.

As the Googler tells me I am on the cusp of 600 postings, I am pausing for a spell in Cape May. Hope to return to the keyboard in June if I have anything to offer. Thanks for reading me. As Groucho used to say "I really must be going."
tjs

Radio Days II

Eddie Cantor came out of the lower East Side of New York, worked as a singing waiter, went into vaudeville and starred in the Ziegfeld Follies and movies and had his own radio show on Sunday evenings.  He was an all around entertainer - song and dance man - and featured prominent eyes which earned him the nickname "Banjo Eyes." As a child I recall seeing him on the big screen singing, dancing and clapping his hands. One of his big song hits was "If You Knew Susie Like I know Susie." His radio sign off went something like this "I love to spend each Sunday with you - as friend to friend I'm sorry it's through............"

Ben Bernie was born in New Jersey but affected a Southern accent. He called himself "The old Maestro." His orchestra played at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York in the early 1930s and his band was also on radio. His sign off was also a song of the era "Au revoir, pleasant dreams - think of us when requesting your themes *........yowsa, yowsa, yowsa........ cheerio -pip pip and toodle -oo. (The latter as I remember it) (* from YouTube)
tjs
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIPfKi6IHTQ

Skimmer Day

When I was sporting one in my forties I used to take it off the shelf around the fifteenth of May, dust it off and parade up Chestnut Street past Independence Hall for a business lunch.  There were horses and carriages usually parked there and I had to be careful passing them as they found straw appetizing. Having the nerve to wear such a throwback headpiece came with certain risks. One summer day I made a sales call on The Hershey Company. You could smell that company town five miles away. In the lobby all the leather chairs were chocolate brown with portraits of the founders on the brown walls. The receptionist had a jar of Hershey kisses on her credenza and I parked my straw hat next to it as I was ushered upstairs to consummate business. When I returned to the lobby and put on my hat there was a cascade of kiss wrappers descending over my ears. Someone with a sweet tooth had used it as a trash receptacle. Very embarrassing but a true story - I don't do fiction.
tjs
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Radio Days

Growing up pre-TV all we had was radio. It was a very personal medium - you felt the voice was talking just to you.  And the voices were sonorous and authoritative - particularly during WWII. On the lighter side my first exposure to opera was listening to Fred Allen on Sunday night who often did parodies of opera i.e. Carmen and The Barber of Seville with clever lyrics but the real music. The Lone Ranger played The William Tell Overture by Rossini every evening for our music appreciation along with his drama. Another unique experience was that three generations in a family all listened to the same broadcasts - and there were no bleeps. And on a cold clear night, with a twist of the dial, you could pick up a hockey game in Detroit or Chicago - and they always identified by their call letters. More later.
tjs
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PS - Tonight at 9PM EDT  PBS doing a feature on Mel Brooks - should top off your day.

Slow News Day

The crusty old editor used to badger the young cub reporter - calling him several times a day - demanding "Are there any news?" One day the young fellow replied "No, Sir, there is no NEW." So with no "breaking" news one can always turn to CSPAN and catch one of several Congressional hearings  - they will be droning on for the foreseeable future - of course, nothing to compare with Watergate but may produce a few sparks. They speak to a different kind of "drone". Have a nice weekend.
tjs
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Espionage 101

Turn back the clock! GET SMART! And catch the bizarre story in the NYT 5/15/13 about a low level person assigned to our Embassy in Moscow being arrested by the Russians and accused of being a C.I.A. agent bent on recruiting a Russian security officer. They allege they found the following in his knapsack: a wig, a compass, an Atlas map of Moscow and a large amount of cash. It sounds like something out of a Peter Sellers movie. But the Russians summoned our diplomats including our Ambassador who is only on station since January 2012, to embarrass them, which they proceeded to do.  These folks seem to have a penchant for embarrassing us when they can and their greatest GOTCHA! was in 1960 when they shot down our U2 spy plane and captured our pilot alive and Nikita Khrushchev sprung this surprise on President Eisenhower at a summit meeting and Ike was furious. Article worth reading.
tjs
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http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/15/world/europe/russia-detains-american-saying-he-is-cia-agent.html

The Preakness Stakes

This Saturday the Preakness Stakes will be contested at the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore at a distance slightly shorter than the 1-1/4 mile of the Kentucky Derby and also with a shorter home stretch. The Preakness is the second jewel in the Triple Crown of racing for three year olds. While in Kentucky they run for the roses, in Maryland it is for the "black eyed susans" a type of sunflower that blooms in  summer so that if they are late,  folklore has it that they might use black shoe polish for the centerpiece in May. Maryland has great racing traditions and several tracks operating besides Pimlico i.e. Havre de Grace and Laurel. But this Saturday we might expect to hear the Naval Academy glee club sing "Maryland, My Maryland" - a capella and there won't be a dry eye in the crowd. Let's all sing along and hopefully pick a winner.
tjs
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