Mr. Pike, the colorful and beloved barber of my childhood, loved to regale us on Saturday afternoons with stories about his time with the Commandos in World War II. One point he always stressed was that the Commandos didn't leave their own, wounded, dying, or dead, behind.
"We couldn't very well abandon one of our chaps, and leave him for the Jerries or Eyeties, now could we," he paused as he adressed the seated line of children, waved his scissors for emphasis, and continued, "Not really British, now is it?"
We would agree with him emphatically, "No, Mr. Pike, it isn't!"
"That's right! Nothing British about it all, simply isn't right, it is," and Mr. Pike would go back to cutting hair and telling us more of his hair raising war stories.
I hope Mr. Pike isn't around to hear about the one left behind to die on Everest, it would have shocked and upset him, going against all his deeply held notions of decency and loyalty. I am saddened that Sir Edmund lived long enough for this: Hillary Blasts Climbers Who Left Dying Man: "Mount Everest pioneer Sir Edmund Hillary said Wednesday he was shocked that dozens of climbers left a British mountaineer to die during their own attempts on the world's tallest peak."
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Sticking to his Story
Armed robber shoots himself in the leg with his own .357 magnum, which by itself should raise a smile, but the robber claims that he was actually the victim, except there's a flaw in his story: kingcountyjournal.com - Robbery misfire: Teen shoots self in leg: "When questioned at the hospital, Hector Pelayo denied robbing the two men or shooting himself, court documents say. He claimed that one of the two men, the victims of the alleged robbery, shot him from about five feet away. ..
After the interview, according to charging papers, a Bellevue police officer asked Pelayo if it hurt when he shot himself.
He replied: ``Not as bad as I thought it would.'' "
After the interview, according to charging papers, a Bellevue police officer asked Pelayo if it hurt when he shot himself.
He replied: ``Not as bad as I thought it would.'' "
Friday, May 19, 2006
Evel Knievel Lives!
Knievel soldiers on, nursed by his 37 year old ex-wife and travels, with great difficulty, to make apperances and sign autographs. There's been a Knievel resurgence in recent years: SI.com - More Sports - Retired Knievel, 67, living in serious pain - Friday May 19, 2006 3:39PM
Irony? The Stranger?
OK, the quote is taken out of context, but only a litte. The Stranger Seattle Home: "U-District Landlord Rents House to Sex Offenders on Block With UW Frats ..."
Internet Destroys Life on Telegraph Ave.
Telegraph Ave. intersects the south side of the main Berkeley campus. Businesses on the Ave. feature college gear, novelty t-shirts, souvenirs, ethnic food, ice cream, pizza slices, beer, bongs, new and used books, comics, used and new CDs and albums, and useless hippy crap for the tens of thousands of students, instructors, and tourists strolling around campus. So why is the Ave. ailing? I've seen this in print before: it's the Internet, which as everyone knows, ruthlessly undercuts local , community based beer and pizza joints. Number 2 is something called "problematic street behavior,"Berkeley's appropriately inclusive term for the Ave.'s open air drug market and mental asylum. Which of the two reasons might really explain why shoppers have stayed away? See: BERKELEY / Mayor's plan to revive sagging Telegraph Ave. / Proposal would add police, marketing, help for homeless: "Telegraph has been facing a number of difficult challenges over the past few years, from the increase of Internet shopping to problematic street behavior,' said Roland Peterson, executive director of the Telegraph Business Improvement District. 'I am very optimistic that this package will help us turn the corner on those challenges.' "
Friday, May 12, 2006
Burglaries Rise After New Schools Open
The article below discusses how a normally peaceful neighborhood has been hit by a rash of burglaries since two new schools opened. All the break ins occurred during school hours. This reinforces my long held aversion towards living near middle or high schools. A friend of mine, a vice-principal of a Bay Area school, even told me about students who would ditch school to break into homes so that they could raise the cash necessary to buy pot. (After the students were caught, their parents held the school responsible, and caused the school no small amount of trouble.) I have to admit that this principal certainly came up with good spin. From the SF Chronic: If school's in session, so is crime: "Eric DeMeulenaere, the principal at Community High School, basically tossed gasoline on the fire when he sent neighborhood residents an e-mail suggesting the kids walking through the neighborhood could be members of the schools' volunteer programs doing good deeds in the community. "
Army Enlists Autistic
Bet there was desperate recruiter involved : "Army releases autistic recruit from enlistment contract"
Back in the day, odd and uncommunicative individuals with expensive and rare skills could count on a different Basic Combat Training experience.
There was one in our company, an overweight fellow in a perma-wrinkled uniform, who was always squinting through thick glasses. He did not drill with us, or show up to formation with any of the platoons. Just as well, as he seemed oblivious and uncoordinated. He had a room to himself--an incredible luxury to the rest of us crammed into the platoon bays--and he used one of the latrines reserved for the training cadre.
His rank was private first class, not very high on the army pecking order, but certainly two steps above we trainees. Someone made the mistake of pointing him out to our drill sergeant and asked why such an unkempt individual deserved special treatment. The questioner's answer was an order to do 25 push ups immediately. Later, we found out, from the first sergeant's clerk, that this un-soldierly soldier was highly sought after for his cryptography skills. The clerk claimed that this person's room was even off limits for inspection by the first sergeant and senior drill sergeant, and that a drill sergeant swept it out weekly for him.
While all this might have been a ridiculous rumor, we personally saw him being driven by a drill sergeant to a rifle range where this near sighted soldier received personal marksmanship training. The rest had to run several miles in the rain. The company armorer claimed that this supposed genius was not trusted to check out his own weapon, and instead a drill sergeant, assigned to him personally, carried and loaded the rifle for him. In fact, this person took the same classes we did, but always one-on-one with an instructor and protectively flanked by his drill sergeant.
We never talked to this strange person to verify these tales, partially because he ate at his own table with his drill sergeant, and partially because we were told in no uncertain terms by our drill sergeant never ever to approach or speak to this mystery soldier.
When the rest of us took a physical training test as a group under the watchful eyes of drill sergeants, our buddy took his test alone alone with his drill sergeant. We assumed he passed.
When our training was finished, he did not graduate with the rest of the company and instead was whisked away that day to his new assignment. Even the first sergeant's clerk didn't know what happened to him.
Back in the day, odd and uncommunicative individuals with expensive and rare skills could count on a different Basic Combat Training experience.
There was one in our company, an overweight fellow in a perma-wrinkled uniform, who was always squinting through thick glasses. He did not drill with us, or show up to formation with any of the platoons. Just as well, as he seemed oblivious and uncoordinated. He had a room to himself--an incredible luxury to the rest of us crammed into the platoon bays--and he used one of the latrines reserved for the training cadre.
His rank was private first class, not very high on the army pecking order, but certainly two steps above we trainees. Someone made the mistake of pointing him out to our drill sergeant and asked why such an unkempt individual deserved special treatment. The questioner's answer was an order to do 25 push ups immediately. Later, we found out, from the first sergeant's clerk, that this un-soldierly soldier was highly sought after for his cryptography skills. The clerk claimed that this person's room was even off limits for inspection by the first sergeant and senior drill sergeant, and that a drill sergeant swept it out weekly for him.
While all this might have been a ridiculous rumor, we personally saw him being driven by a drill sergeant to a rifle range where this near sighted soldier received personal marksmanship training. The rest had to run several miles in the rain. The company armorer claimed that this supposed genius was not trusted to check out his own weapon, and instead a drill sergeant, assigned to him personally, carried and loaded the rifle for him. In fact, this person took the same classes we did, but always one-on-one with an instructor and protectively flanked by his drill sergeant.
We never talked to this strange person to verify these tales, partially because he ate at his own table with his drill sergeant, and partially because we were told in no uncertain terms by our drill sergeant never ever to approach or speak to this mystery soldier.
When the rest of us took a physical training test as a group under the watchful eyes of drill sergeants, our buddy took his test alone alone with his drill sergeant. We assumed he passed.
When our training was finished, he did not graduate with the rest of the company and instead was whisked away that day to his new assignment. Even the first sergeant's clerk didn't know what happened to him.
Monday, May 08, 2006
The Feast Day of St. Michael the Archangel
Today, May 8, is the feast day of Saint Michael, the Archangel. Technically, it's the feast of the Apparation of St. Michael on Mt. Gargano. His other feast day, Michaelmas, September 29, is shared with with the angels Gabriel and Raphael, and was observed in medieval England and Wales by having hearty and fun-filled dinners with friends and family: this was the forerunner to Thanksgiving in North America.
In addition to being God's sergeant major and beating back Lucifer's slacker minions, St. Michael, by tradition, was very fond of humans, from early on, and used to look out for Adam and Eve after their fall. He taught their children to bury Eve and grieve for her, and some say that St. Michael still pulls guard duty outside Eve's tomb and awaits the day of her resurrection.
As might be imagined, St. Michael is a popular patron saint for many peoples and countries, but we like to think he has a special place in his heart for paratroopers, the soldiers with the figurative wings.
In addition to being God's sergeant major and beating back Lucifer's slacker minions, St. Michael, by tradition, was very fond of humans, from early on, and used to look out for Adam and Eve after their fall. He taught their children to bury Eve and grieve for her, and some say that St. Michael still pulls guard duty outside Eve's tomb and awaits the day of her resurrection.
As might be imagined, St. Michael is a popular patron saint for many peoples and countries, but we like to think he has a special place in his heart for paratroopers, the soldiers with the figurative wings.
Joltin' Joe and Marilyn
Thinking of Lefty O'Doul a few weeks ago started me reflecting on Joe DiMaggio, another Bay Area ball player of greater renown. A question nagged at me, a half forgotten bit of trivia: was O'Doul one of the few witnesses to joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe's wedding i1954 at San Francisco city hall? The answer is yes, and in researching this I came across Art Hoppe's description of the event.
Art Hoppe was one of the most insightful and incisive satirical columnists of the late 20th century, and even his straight news reporting of one of pop culture's greatest mythic moments bears his unmistakable style, evident from the lead sentence: "Joltin' Joe DiMaggio wedded the girl of his and many other men's dreams yesterday afternoon in the San Francisco City Hall."
Art Hoppe was one of the most insightful and incisive satirical columnists of the late 20th century, and even his straight news reporting of one of pop culture's greatest mythic moments bears his unmistakable style, evident from the lead sentence: "Joltin' Joe DiMaggio wedded the girl of his and many other men's dreams yesterday afternoon in the San Francisco City Hall."
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