Well-Bred & Well-Brewed

The date is May 9th, Thursday, and today I’m coming to you from Lima, Peru. 

Today is the birthday of Sir James Matthew Barrie, Scottish writer of stories and plays, better known as J.M. Barrie. When Barrie was just 6 years old, his 13-year-old brother David died in a skating accident. David was thier mother’s favorite and she completely despondent for her favorite child. Little Jimmy would carry on whistling tunes his brother had, but nothing he did seemed to attract the attention of his mother away from the child she had lost. Her only consolation was that David would always remain a boy. It’s surmised that Barrie’s unusually short stature of 5’3.5” was due to the intense stress he felt as a young child, starved for attention by his mother’s preoccupation with her dead son.

I know, said, but, Barrie did grow up. And his early love of reading and telling stories turned into a passion for writing. His play and then novel about a boy who could fly and was always a boy became an instant hit. The title of the work was Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Would Not Grow Up. Peter Pan and Wendy became household names, and Wendy became an increasingly popular name for girls. The Darling family was largely inspired by the Llewelyn Davies family. The Darling family dog NaNa was likely inspired by Barrie’s own Saint Bernard dog named Porthos. 

Barrie was a contemporary of George Bernard Shaw, Rudyard Kipling, P.G. Wodenhouse, Walter Raleigh, H.G. Wells, Thomas Hardy, and Arthur Conant Doyle, to name a few. Some made appearances on Barrie’s recreational cricket field and Arthur Conant Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, agreed to re-write a play of Barrie’s which had flopped at the theater.

Today is the birthday of William Moulton Marston, creator of Wonder Woman. In a time dominated by super-masculine and forceful heroes, Marston wanted to create one that would also be able to fight evil with “love.” When he talked to his wife Elizabeth about the idea she said the “superhero had better be a woman.”

And today is the birthday of Patricia Swift Blalock, an activist-librarian in Selma, Alabama. She was asked to work part-time at the Selma Library, also known as the Dallas County Public Library, by a friend in 1951. She ended up staying and assumed the position of Director of the Library by 1961. 

In other larger townships, there were two libraries, one for whites and one for blacks. Selma was small though, so there was only one library, and the minority community was served out of the back door of the library. Almost as soon as she became Director, Blalock began to advocate that the library be integrated. She received intense pushback from the Board of directors, most of whom were white. However, she persevered going so far as to make house calls to the board members to have discussions about the matter. By 1963 she had made it appear urgent that the board take action before the state or federal government forced the matter. They finally all agreed to go along with Blalock’s desegregation plan. Things didn’t change overnight, but by the end of the summer, people of all colors were used to entering the front doors of the library.  

[I wandered lonely as a Cloud]

William Wordsworth

 I wandered lonely as a Cloud

   That floats on high o’er Vales and Hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

   A host of golden Daffodils;

Beside the Lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

   And twinkle on the Milky Way,

They stretched in never-ending line

   Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they

   Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:—

A Poet could not but be gay

   In such a jocund company:

I gazed—and gazed—but little thought

What wealth the shew to me had brought:

For oft when on my couch I lie

   In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

   Which is the bliss of solitude,

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the Daffodils.

Thank you for listening. I’m your host Virginia Combs wishing you a good morning, a better day, and a lovely evening.

The date is May 8th, Wednesday, and today I’m coming to you from Lima, Peru. 

Today is the birthday of Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States. Truman assumed the remainder of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency when FDR passed away in April 1945. He then served the next full term after winning the election.

Less than a month after assuming the presidency, on Truman’s birthday, German forces unconditionally surrendered to the Allies, marking the end of WWII in Europe. As such, today is Victory in Europe Day, or V-E Day for much of Europe and the States. 

Harry was a bit of a man’s man. He greatly enjoyed sipping bourbon while playing poker with friends. This rubbed some Americans and staff members the wrong way, as it was a stark contrast to the habits of FDR before him.

However, the phrase “the buck stops here” which has origins in poker, became commonplace during Truman’s time. If you say “the buck stops here” you are taking responsibility for your own actions and the actions of other, rather than passing along the blame or ‘the buck’ to someone else. Truman had the phrase on a nameplate on his desk to remind him that he would be responsible for the collective victories and losses of the country.

It was Truman who authorized the atomic bomb drops in Japan to end WWII in Asia. He says it was the hardest decision he had to make in his entire life. His presidency still faces criticism about that choice, and he defended his decision in his autobiography. 

Truman retired from the presidency nearly penniless. His only income was a small pension from his service in the army. Truman was firm believer in preserving the integrity of the role of President. He felt that to take corporate positions or commercial endorsements would sully his time served. It wasn’t until he published his successful autobiography that he was back in mild financial comfort. 

Truman was not a favorite president among Americans during and immediately after his presidency. However, he is now consistently rated as one of the most important presidents in our nation’s history. His presidential Library is in Independence, Missouri where Truman grew up.

Today is the birthday of Henry Dunant (“Ahn-re Do-nan(t)”), founder of the Red Cross and co-winner of the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901. 

Traveling through Europe, he happened to pass through the Italian town of Solferino on the same day as a battle had taken place. There were 23 thousand soldiers on the battlefield either injured, dying, or dead and no sign of help for the men. Henry quickly went to the village and recruited volunteers to go out and aid the soldiers, no matter if they were friend or foe. When they ran out of supplies, which was quickly, Henry bought them with his own money and helped buy materials to build a makeshift hospital. 

Dunant published a book about his experience in Solferino and traveled Europe to promote it and his humanitarian ideas. The Geneva Society for Public Welfare created a committee to further explore the ideas in Henry’s book and that committee would become the beginning of the International Committee of the Red Cross. 

Today is the birthday of American novelist Thomas Pynchon. Pynchon’s early work is thoroughly post-postmodern, using unreliable narrators, blending fact and fiction, and often playing with layout in his books.

Not much is known about him personally, which has perhaps fuels the interest in his writing. One thing we do know is he is a big fan of Homer Simpson. He voiced a caricature of himself and refused to recite a line name-calling Homer – not because of the profanity in it, but because he was too big of a fan to insult Homer. 

Pynchon’s most well-known works are The Crying Lot of 49 and Gravity’s Rainbow. His more recent novel, Inherent Vice, was made into a movie of the same name in 2014 starring Joaquin Phoenix. 

A Musical

Paul Laurence Dunbar

Outside the rain upon the street,

        The sky all grim of hue,

Inside, the music–painful sweet,

        And yet I heard but you.

As is a thrilling violin,

        So is your voice to me,

And still above the other strains,

        It sang in ecstasy.

Thank you for listening. I’m your host Virginia Combs wishing you a good morning, a better day, and a lovely evening.

The date is May 7th, Tuesday, and today I’m coming to you from Lima, Peru. 

Today is the birthday of Mary Mahoney, born in 1845 in Boston. Mary Mahoney was the first African-American woman to be a registered nurse. Nursing school hasn’t changed much since Mahoney went to school – she and her classmates had grueling 16-hour work days for little pay with plenty of studying to do in between.  

Things didn’t get any easier after Mary completed the nursing program. Minority nurses were often lumped together with the household staff, their education and training overlooked. To distinguish herself as a professional, she would eat suppers alone in the kitchen, separate from household servants when employed at a household. As her reputation as a professional nurse and outstanding caregiver spread, Mahoney found herself with a number of private wealthy clientele.

Mary was a strong advocate for ethnic equality, insisting nurses of all colors should receive equal pay, particularly when they all had received the same or similar degrees. She also was a supporter of women’s suffrage and was one of the first women to register to vote in Boston in 1920

Today is the birthday of Robert Browning, English poet and playwright. Such phrases as “A man’s reach should exceed his grasp” and “Less is more” we get from Browning’s work. John Lennon’s song “Grow Old With Me” was inspired by Browning’s poem “Rabbi Ben Ezra” which starts with the lines: ‘Grow old along with me! / The best is yet to be”. Yoko Ono’s song “Let Me Count the Ways” was inspired by Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s sonnet “How Do I Love Thee.” (Elizabeth Barrett Browning is the beloved wife of Robert Browning.)

Robert avoided public speaking throughout his life, not a lover of the lime-light, unlike some of his predecessors in the Romantic Era. However, there does exist a recording of Browning from 1889 during a dinner party, recorded on an Edison phonograph. He begins to recite lines from one of his poems, but stops, apologizing for forgetting “me lines.” 

And today is the birthday of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer and conductor. Tchaikovsky had an aptitude for music at an early age, but for the most part his teachers and classmates didn’t see it as a precursor to the fame he would eventually achieve. His two best schoolmates said of his early piano playing “We were amused.” It really wasn’t until his late twenties, after five years of music schooling, teaching, composing, and critiquing that his compositions began to gain favor.  

Tchaikovsky hit a rough patch after a failed marriage. It only lasted 2 months, but had disastrous effects on Tchaikovsky, his social anxiety flaring up. He spent a few years traveling through Europe and composing but avoided contact with most everyone. 

In 1884, Tsar Alexander III bestowed an honorary title upon Tchaikovsky, leaving no doubt in anyone one’s mind that his work was of value. The title thrust him into new social circles and with that his social anxiety and life-long stage fright began to wane. Almost as soon as he stepped into role of conductor in the late 1880s, he was in demand all over Europe, even making a stop to perform in New York City at Carnegie Hall. 

The Nutcracker, the ballet, was first performed in 1890 in Russia. It was received with mixed review, some critics confused as to why Tchaikovsky had agreed to compose the music for it. However, two years later, Tchaikovsky had arranged a 20-minute Nutcracker Suite which was received with hearty praise. 

And lastly today is the birthday of Olympe de Gouges, a spitfire of a woman during the French Revolution. She strongly believed that women were equal in mind to men and should be allowed the same rights, such as voting and owning property, the basics. Her feminist writing, criticizing the Revolution eventually led to her demise at the guillotine. Her Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen influenced feminists from Mary Wollstonecraft in England to the women who gathered in Seneca Falls, NY in 1848 for the first Women’s Rights Convention.

Meeting at Night

Robert Browning

 The gray sea and the long black land;  

And the yellow half-moon large and low:  

And the startled little waves that leap  

In fiery ringlets from their sleep,  

As I gain the cove with pushing prow,

And quench its speed i’ the slushy sand.  

Then a mile of warm sea-scented beach;  

Three fields to cross till a farm appears;  

A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch  

And blue spurt of a lighted match,

And a voice less loud, through joys and fears,  

Than the two hearts beating each to each!

Thank you for listening. I’m your host Virginia Combs wishing you a good morning, a better day, and a lovely evening.

The date is May 6th, Monday, and today I’m coming to you from Lima, Peru. 

On this day in 1994 the Channel Tunnel rail line opened between England and France. The idea of a tunnel under the English Channel connecting France and England was proposed as early as 1802 by a French mining engineer, but it wasn’t until 1988 that a plan was approved of. The Tunnel has the longest underwater section in the world and construction ended up costing nearly twice as much as the original budget, about £9 million.

Today is the birthday of Willie Mays, Baseball Hall of Famer. Both of Mays parents were athletically gifted, his father playing baseball on a local Alabama team. Willie was playing catch by five and sitting on the bench at his dad’s baseball games by age ten. By high school he was playing on a semi-pro Negro league team, and by age 19 in he was playing in the MLB Minor Leagues. That same year on May 24th, he was called up to the Majors to play for the New York Giants, where he would stay for nearly 20 years. His final two seasons were with the New York Mets. 

His accolades, among many, include 24 All-Star Game appearances, Rookie of the Year, a World Series Championship, and a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015. 

Today is the birthday of Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis. Much of Freud’s work led to significant developments and new understandings in the field of psychology and psychoanalysis, despite large parts of his original work being disproved. Freud showed curiosity from a young age and was very fond of reading. Literary critic Harold Bloom even goes so far as to say that Freud’s love of Shakespeare impacted Freud’s understanding of human psychology. 

Freud was living in Austria at the time of the Nazi take over in Germany. He resisted leaving, despite his know Jewish origins. It wasn’t until the German takeover of Austria in 1938 that things got serious. It wasn’t until his daughter was arrested and questioned by the Gestapo, that Freud was definitively swayed to leave. By then however, the leaving proved more difficult. 

Freud had been assigned a Kommissar, a Nazi official who monitored Freud’s financial assets and his appeal for departure. Despite the Kommissar’s respect for Freud after reading all Freud’s work, there was only so much he could do. The “flight tax” was still more than Freud had at his disposal, his assets having been mostly seized by the Nazi regime. The Princess Marie Bonaparte of France, a longtime patron and friend of Freud paid the flight tax and arranged Freud’s travel plans to leave Austria.

And today is the birthday of Júlio César de Mello e Souza, Brazilian author and professor of mathematics. His most popular book was The Man Who Counted, which he published under the pen name Malba Tahan. It tells the story of two travelers in Arabia and contains a number of delightful math puzzles and curiosities in the telling. Although Júlio never traveled to Arabia himself, he was a big fan of the Arabian Nights and all the tales in it. 

As a professor he strove to come up with teaching methods that were more engaging to help students retain information better. His works on teaching theory are still praised today, and he taught and lectured to teachers up until his death in 1974 at the age of 79. 

Going Down Hill on a Bicycle

Henry Charles Beeching

With lifted feet, hands still,

I am poised, and down the hill

Dart, with heedful mind;

The air goes by in a wind.

Swifter and yet more swift,

Till the heart with a mighty lift

Makes the lungs laugh, the throat cry:—

“O bird, see; see, bird, I fly.

“Is this, is this your joy?

O bird, then I, though a boy,

For a golden moment share

Your feathery life in air!”

Say, heart, is there aught like this

In a world that is full of bliss?

‘Tis more than skating, bound

Steel-shod to the level ground.

Speed slackens now, I float

Awhile in my airy boat;

Till, when the wheels scarce crawl,

My feet to the treadles fall.

Alas, that the longest hill

Must end in a vale; but still,

Who climbs with toil, wheresoe’er,

Shall find wings waiting there.

Thank you for listening. I'm your host, Virginia Combs, wishing you a good morning, a better day, and a lovely evening.

The date is May 3rd, Friday, and today I’m coming to you from Lima, Peru. 

On this day in 1978, the USA celebrated Sun Day, led by President Jimmy Carter. Jackson Browne performed in concert on the DC Mall and Robert Redford gave a speech in New York City at the UN Plaza. Redford reminded the audience that the sun “can’t be embargoed by any foreign nation.” Jimmy Carter put solar panels on the lawn of the White House during his presidency, but President Reagan took them out when he moved in. 

Today is the birthday of Dodie Smith, author and creator of The One Hundred and One Dalmatians and the evil villain, Cruella De Vil. Smith herself had a Dalmatian named Pongo and when a friend commented that Pongo would make a great fur coat, the idea for the story was born. 

Dodie’s most famous book is certainly The One Hundred and One Dalmatians, though she wrote a number of other novels, plays, memoirs, and even screenplays. 

Today is the birthday of Bing Crosby, born Harry Lillis Crosby in 1903. As a kid Crosby was a big fan of the local Spokane comic strip “The Bingville Bugle.” A friend started calling him “Bingo from Bingville” and over time the nickname got shortened to just “Bing.” 

While “White Christmas” might be what Crosby is remembered for, he also had a hand in revolutionizing the radio industry in post-WWII America. After a number of years in radio, Bing wanted to start pre-recording his shows for broadcast. When his network NBC wouldn’t allow it, he left for the newly formed ABC. Bing had recently been rated by WWII troops as the person who had done the most for morale, beating out President Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower. ABC, therefore, gave him a long leash. 

Pre-recording not only allowed Crosby to cut out errors, but also keep ad-libs, jokes, and songs that received the most approbation from the audience. In addition, pre-recording allowed Crosby to only have to do each installment of his show once. At the time, it was common practice to do multiple live broadcasts of the same show to capture listeners in all timezones. 

Pre-recording allowed Bing to clear up his schedule considerably and enjoy more golf, of which he was quite fond. 

And today is the birthday of Septima Clark, noted by Martin Luther King, Jr. as “The Mother of the Movement.” Highly educated herself, she turned down more lucrative teaching positions after a few years in order to run workshops at the Highlander Folk School. Workshops included literacy classes to prepare African-Americans for the Jim-Crow literacy test required for voting. Rosa Parks was an attendee of some of the workshops during Septima’s tenure as director. 

When I Heard at the Close of the Day

Walt Whitman

When I heard at the close of the day how my name had been receiv’d with plaudits in the capitol, still it was not a happy night for me that follow’d,   

And else when I carous’d, or when my plans were accomplish’d, still I was not happy,   

But the day when I rose at dawn from the bed of perfect health, refresh’d, singing, inhaling the ripe breath of autumn,

When I saw the full moon in the west grow pale and disappear in the morning light,   

When I wander’d alone over the beach, and undressing bathed, laughing with the cool waters, and saw the sun rise,

And when I thought how my dear friend my lover was on his way coming, O then I was happy,   

O then each breath tasted sweeter, and all that day my food nourish’d me more, and the beautiful day pass’d well,   

And the next came with equal joy, and with the next at evening came my friend,

And that night, while all was still I heard the waters roll slowly continually up the shores,   

I heard the hissing rustle of the liquid and sands as directed to me whispering to congratulate me,

For the one I love most lay sleeping by me under the same cover in the cool night,   

In the stillness in the autumn moonbeams his face was inclined toward me,   

And his arm lay lightly around my breast—and that night I was happy.

Thank you for listening. I’m your host Virginia Combs wishing you a good morning, a better day, and a lovely weekend. 

The date is May 2nd, Thursday, and today I’m coming to you from Lima, Peru. 

On this day in 1866, the Spanish Armada assaulted the coast Peruvian town of Callao (Cai-yow) in the Battle of Callao. In an attempt to get back its reputation as a force to be reckoned with, Spain antagonized their former colonies Peru and Chile.

Cannon fire sounded from sea and from land. But the Spanish Armada was a too far out in the water for their attack to be effective. The city, not being able to move, was similarly not close enough to put a definitive end to the battle. A small Peruvian fleet of ships were able to get close enough to inflict severe damage to the Spanish Armada, and ward them off by the end of the day. The batteries in the city of Callao had run out, and were quiet as the Spanish departed. Spain called it a win, their glory restored.  Peruvians, having escaped unconquered and seen the Spanish retreat, also called it a win. A U.S. General onsite during the battle summed it up by saying it was “glorious both to Peru and Spain. On the part of Peru it will be a feast day forever, and on the part of Spain the Duke of Callao claimed his title for this victory!”

Today is the birthday of the real McCoy, Elijah J. McCoy. He was born in 1844 to fugitive slaves who had escaped to Canada. The family moved to Detroit, Michigan where McCoy grew up. 

At the age of 15 McCoy was somehow able to secure an apprenticeship learning mechanics. When he came back, he found it difficult to find work right away in his field, so he maintained a shop of his own at his own, tinkering with engines and engine parts. The tinkering paid off when in 1872 he patented an automatic lubricator for oiling steam engines. 

As his inventions improved, railroad engineers would request mechanisms that were “the real McCoy” instead of imitations made by competitors. As such, the expression came to mean something is authentic, true, the real thing.

Today is the birthday of Catherine the Great. Otherwise known as Catherine II, Empress of Russia from 1762 until her death in 1796. She was only 16 when she married the Russian heir to the throne Peter III and she quickly grew tired of him. She was not alone in her feelings of the future emperor. Peter was abrasive and a bully to whoever was in closest proximity, and Catherine made friends and lovers of Peter’s haters. 

By the time Catherine and Peter ascended to the throne in 1762, plans were already in motion to remove Peter from the equation. Six months after their pair’s coronation while away on a summer vacation, Peter uncovered and arrested one of Catherine’s co-conspirators. Catherine received a letter alerting her to the events and within a matter of days arrested her husband, forced him to abdicate the throne, and was coronated as the sole Empress of Russia. A week later Peter III died under rather mysterious circumstances. 

Catherine was immediately accepted as sole Empress. She had had nearly two decades of allying with the courtiers and politicians, and a life-education that made her almost over-qualified to rule. The country prospered under, and she was able to help Russia be recognized as a major power in Europe by the end of the 18th century.

And today is the birthday of Hedda Hopper. When Hedda’s career as an actress in Hollywood fizzled out, she took on a job as a gossip columnist. Her acting contacts allowed her to get a leg up on stories, even if they weren’t all true. She was hated by most of Hollywood, but read by tens of millions of readers in the 1940s and ‘50s. While her work wasn’t going to win any Pulitzers, gossip columns about the rich and famous certainly persist to this day in a variety of consumable media. 

Rhapsody

William Stanley Braithwaite

I am glad daylong for the gift of song,

     For time and change and sorrow;

For the sunset wings and the world-end things

     Which hang on the edge of to-morrow.

I am glad for my heart whose gates apart

     Are the entrance-place of wonders,

Where dreams come in from the rush and din

     Like sheep from the rains and thunders.

Thank you for listening. I’m your host Virginia Combs wishing you a good morning, a better day, and a lovely evening. 

The date is May 1st, Wednesday, and today I’m coming to you from Lima, Peru. 

On this day in 1930, the Lowell Observatory released the name for “Planet X.” The Lowell staff voted on three possible names and the vote was unanimous: the new planet would be called “Pluto.” 

The name came to the team rather by accident. An ocean away from the Arizona observatory, in the United Kingdom was a young girl spoke to her grandfather about Roman mythology. She suggested the new plant should be named “Pluto,” the Roman god of the underworld.  Her grandfather thought it was an excellent idea, and passed along the name to an astronomy professor in Oxford. The astronomy professor wired the idea to his peers in the US. When the name was announced, the grandfather gave his granddaughter, named Venetia, £5 as a reward.

Today is the birthday of Anna Jarvis, the founder of Mother’s Day. Anna was always close with her mother. As a young girl, she declared to her Sunday-school class after being particularly moved by the lesson that “I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will found a memorial mothers’ day commemorating her for the matchless service she renders to humanity in every field of life. She is entitled to it.”

Mother’s Day was always an idea niggling at the back of Anna’s mind, but it wasn’t until her own mother passed away that she buckled down and began a campaign for it, seeing traction in 1908 Anna felt that white carnations captured a mother’s essence best. Of the ivory carnation she said: “Its whiteness is to symbolize the truth, purity and broad-charity of mother love; its fragrance, her memory, and her prayers. The carnation does not drop its petals, but hugs them to its heart as it dies, and so, too, mothers hug their children to their hearts, their mother love never dying.” 

For those of you wondering, Mother’s Day this year is May 12th. Plenty of time to plan a sentiment for your own mom and mom-like ladies in your life. 

And today is the birthday of Calamity Jane, frontierswoman and teller of tall tales. [She’s a bit of a mythical figure and the stories she told about herself are thought to be heavily embellished.] She was born to dysfunctional parents as Martha Jane, the eldest of six kids. On the family’s way through the Western frontier, her mother died en route, and just a year later he father passed away. Martha Jane at the age of 14 was left to care for her five younger siblings. She packed up the family covered wagon and took her siblings to Piedmont Wyoming to find employment. 

She was considered very pretty in her youth with deep dark-eyes and dark hair. But with a temper and drinking problem, it’s possible that the nickname evolved from men warning each other that to pursue her was to “court calamity.” 

The Painted Ceiling

Amy Lowell

My Grandpapa lives in a wonderful house

  With a great many windows and doors,

There are stairs that go up, and stairs that go down,

  And such beautiful, slippery floors.

But of all of the rooms, even mother’s and mine,

  And the bookroom, and parlour and all,

I like the green dining-room so much the best

  Because of its ceiling and wall.

Right over your head is a funny round hole

  With apples and pears falling through;

There’s a big bunch of grapes all purply and sweet,

  And melons and pineapples too.

They tumble and tumble, but never come down

  Though I’ve stood underneath a long while

With my mouth open wide, for I always have hoped

  Just a cherry would drop from the pile.

No matter how early I run there to look

  It has always begun to fall through;

And one night when at bedtime I crept in to see,

  It was falling by candle-light too.

I am sure they are magical fruits, and each one

  Makes you hear things, or see things, or go

Forever invisible; but it’s no use,

   And of course I shall just never know.

For the ladder’s too heavy to lift, and the chairs

  Are not nearly so tall as I need.

I’ve given up hope, and I feel I shall die

  Without having accomplished the deed.

It’s a little bit sad, when you seem very near

  To adventures and things of that sort,

Which nearly begin, and then don’t; and you know

  It is only because you are short.

Thank you for listening. I’m your host Virginia Combs wishing you a good morning, a better day, and a lovely evening. 

The date is April 30th, Tuesday and today I’m coming to you from Lima, Peru. 

On this day in 1883 New York State Governor Grover Cleveland passed legislation that would allow for the creation of the first state park in the United States, Niagara Falls State Park. The bill approved the “selection, location and appropriation of certain lands in the village of Niagara Falls” and in 1885 the Park was officially opened. The landscape architect Frederick Olmsted had been a big proponent of the bill, believing that the area should be preserved for its obvious natural beauty and open for the general public to enjoy. 

And on this day in 1997, “The Puppy Episode” premiered on ABC toward the end of season 4 of the TV sitcom Ellen. In the episode, Ellen Morgan, played by Ellen DeGeneres, came out as gay. It might seem common place now to have TV show characters of all different sexual orientations, but just 22 years ago, it was a big deal. Despite protests and boycotts of the show in certain towns, it was the highest rated show of the series with 42 million viewers. 

Today is the birthday of Carl Friedrich Gauss, a German mathematician and physicist in the first half of the 19th century. 

Gauss’s mother, being illiterate, did not record the date of little Carl’s birthday, but Carl, intrigued to know later in life, discovered his day of birth by coming up with a formula for calculating what day of the year Easter is both in the past and future. The only detail his mother remembered about the day is that Carl was born eight days before the Feast of the Ascension, which is always 39 days after Easter. Quite a juicy little math puzzle if you know the variables.

His efforts really shone in geometry where he was able to turn geometric principles and surfaces into algebraic equations. Perhaps the most well know of his findings is the Theorem Egregium otherwise known as Gaussian curvature or the Bell Curve. 

Gauss, who said “It is not knowledge, but the act of learning…the act of getting there, which grants the greatest enjoyment.” was slow to publish his findings. Colleagues would sometimes complain that he did not publish more, but Gauss was a perfectionist and refused to publish his conjectures, though many of his thoughts and notes have since been proven by other mathematicians. 

And today is the birthday of Cecily Lefort, female spy for England and France during WWII. She and her husband opened their home in Brittany, northwestern France, to the French Resistance. As Cecily spoke both English and French, she was recruited for the Jockey Network and tasked with gathering information on the enemy. 

She was arrested by the Gestapo in 1943 and unfortunately did not survive the concentration camp she was sent to. She is listed as Killed in Action and received a posthumous Croix de Guerre.

Today is also the birthday of Luigi Russolo, Italian painter and maker of instruments. His noise instruments were called intonarumori and to be honest, sound pretty weird. He composed songs for the instruments and the few concerts he held were met with outrage and rioting, which he predicted. Jury still out on whether they were outraged because the noise music struck a cord or if it was because they had paid to see it. 

Having listened to intonarumori, I can attest it’s kind of odd. Interesting, but odd. (You can listen to a modern day reproduction of it here.) The noises are akin to sounds of Industrial Revolution Era streets, though some ears say it’s a precursor of the synthesizer. Russolo’s early noise music is quite different from the noise music that is around today. 

A Drop fell on the Apple Tree (794)

Emily Dickinson

A Drop fell on the Apple Tree -

Another - on the Roof -

A Half a Dozen kissed the Eaves -

And made the Gables laugh -

A few went out to help the Brook

That went to help the Sea -

Myself Conjectured were they Pearls -

What Necklaces could be -

The Dust replaced, in Hoisted Roads -

The Birds jocoser sung -

The Sunshine threw his Hat away -

The Bushes - spangles flung -

The Breezes brought dejected Lutes -

And bathed them in the Glee -

The Orient showed a single Flag,

And signed the fête away -

Thank you for listening. I’m your host Virginia Combs wishing you a good morning, a better day, and a lovely evening. 

The date is April 29th, Monday and today I’m coming to you from Lima, Peru. 

Today is International Dance Day for all member countries of the United Nations. It’s a day of celebrating dance and recognizing it’s importance as a part of all cultures. The International Theatre Institute, in partnership with UNESCO holds festivals on this day to encourage participation in dance, even if you have two left feet. 

Today is the birthday of animator Iwao Takamoto. He was born in 1925 in Los Angeles to first generation Japanese immigrants. As a teen during WWII, he was sent to an internment camp with his family in Manzanar, California to wait out the war. While there, he received some rudimentary lessons on drawing and animation from a few fellow internees. 

With no official portfolio at the end of the war, Takamoto took a sketchbook to Disney and applied for a position as an animator. He ended up working under one of the “Nine Old Men” at Disney and was an animator and character designer for Cinderella, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, and 101 Dalmatians. He then moved to Hanna-Barbera productions, creating characters such as Scooby-Doo, and Astro on The Jetsons. He also became a producer while with Hanna-Barbera, overseeing and directing TV shows and a few animated films. 

In 2005, after 50 years in the animation field, the Animation Guild honored him with their Golden Award. He passed away in 2007 at the age of 81, his wife of 44 years by his side. 

And today is the birthday of Duke Ellington, winner of 14 Grammy, nominated for more. Duke was a major part of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s and ‘30s and continued to compose and conduct his jazz orchestra until his death in 1974. 

Duke’s birth name was Edward Kennedy Ellington. Growing up in Washington DC, Duke’s mother Daisy made a point of surrounding young Ellington with strong polished women so that he would learn how to behave properly and with grace. As a result, his friends felt he was very dignified and gave him the nickname “Duke.” 

Both of Duke’s parents played the piano and often played in the evenings. At first Duke was not thrilled about his own piano lessons, preferring baseball instead. As a young teen however, he began taking an interest in his lessons after noticing the talented pianists at the pool hall he often snuck into. 

The band stayed strong through the mid-‘30s, and were able to adapt to the swing craze, though did not enjoy as much success as they had seen prior over the previous decade. A few long-time band members shuffled around during the intervening years, some leaving and coming back. 

In 1956, Duke and his band saw a revival in interest after a performance at the Newport Jazz Festival. They brought down the house with a rendition of “Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue” toward the end of the night, the evening lasting much longer than the festival organizer had intended. 

As conductor, Duke rarely held a baton to direct his band. Instead he conducted from the piano, using intonations in his playing and gestures to conduct. He was also generous, sharing the spotlight with his bandmates, writing music to play up their strengths. 

In addition to a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a Star on the Walk of Fame, Duke was honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom, an Honorary Ph.D. from Berklee College of Music, a Legion of Honor from France, and a posthumous Special Pulitzer Prize. 

Lastly, today is the birthday of comedian Jerry Seinfeld. Seinfeld is known for his TV series of the same name, the show “about nothing” that ran for nine seasons. He saw the first signs of what was to come after performing on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1981 and from there performed regularly for similar late-night shows. He released a one-hour live special on HBO in 1987 and the next year teamed up with Larry David to create the eponymous show. 

Seinfeld has been involved in plenty of projects since Seinfeld ended in 1998, his current project being the series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, which you can find on Netflix. 

Recuerdo

Edna St. Vincent Millay

We were very tired, we were very merry—

We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry. 

It was bare and bright, and smelled like a stable—

But we looked into a fire, we leaned across a table, 

We lay on a hill-top underneath the moon; 

And the whistles kept blowing, and the dawn came soon. 

We were very tired, we were very merry—

We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry; 

And you ate an apple, and I ate a pear, 

From a dozen of each we had bought somewhere; 

And the sky went wan, and the wind came cold, 

And the sun rose dripping, a bucketful of gold. 

We were very tired, we were very merry, 

We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry. 

We hailed “Good morrow, mother!” to a shawl-covered head, 

And bought a morning paper, which neither of us read; 

And she wept, “God bless you!” for the apples and pears, 

And we gave her all our money but our subway fares.

I’m your host Virginia Combs, wishing you a good morning, a better day, and a lovely evening. 

The date is April 26th, Friday, and today I’m coming to you from Lima, Peru. 

Today is Arbor Day across most of the northern states. Arbor Day is celebrated not on one day nation-wide, but on a day that is best for each state to plant tree saplings.  The first Arbor day was celebrated in 1872 in Nebraska, led by J. Sterling Morton and it’s estimated one million trees were planted. In 1907, urged on by Native American conservationist Major Israel McCreight, Theodore Roosevelt gave an “Arbor Day Proclamation to the School Children of the United States” calling for schools include the importance of trees and forestry in their curriculum. 

Today is the birthday of John James Audubon, ornithologist and painter. His major work The Birds of America, first published in 1827 was a result of a lifetime of observing and documenting birds in their natural habitat throughout a young American nation. 

Originally born in the French Colony of what is now Haiti in 1785, his French father moved the family to France in 1791 as tensions rose in the colony. Audubon was fond of birds and plant from a young age, his father often pointing out the different feathered fowl and their particular habits on walks on their estate in France.

Audubon’s father however had his own ideas of what his son should do and sent a 12 year old James to a naval military school. Audubon soon discovered he was highly susceptible to seasickness and found the math and navigation studies boring. He failed the officer qualification test and was glad to get back to long walks in forests and fields. Jury’s still out on whether he purposely failed the test or not.]

Although Audubon was born with a bit of a silver spoon, his pursuit of sketching and chronicling birds left him living paycheck to paycheck for most of his life. He traveled to America in 1803, fell in love, got married, had kids, and started and stopped various side ventures to support his family while he took trips around the country to observe and document birds.

He was determined to have his drawings and paintings be more lifelike than any other ornithologist before him. He would often burn his work in order to spur him to create an even better version the next day. A spendy habit in the first decades of the 1800s.

In 1841, Audubon travelled to England to get his book printed. It was incredibly expensive, as the pages measured 39.5 inches by 28.5 inches wide. A little bigger than modern day movie posters. The illustrations were all hand colored. Birds were drawn life-size and so larger birds were often in bent postures, with smaller birds perched on branches with flowers. 

Audubon was able to tap into the Romantic movement happening in Europe, capitalizing on the interest in nature and the ‘wildness’ of America. For those that had ‘subscribed’ to the book, they would receive sets of five pages every four to eight weeks. The book was never bound in a single copy – there were 435 pages in total. 

There are numerous parks, places, and museums named after Audubon and the National Audubon Society is named in his memory as well. 

And today is the birthday of Anita Loos, author, playwright, and screenwriter. She was known for her humor and wit, particularly in early silent movie subtitles. Loos who said “Fate keeps on happening.” was the best-selling author of the book Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Loos wrote the book after watching a highly intellectual gentlemen friend fall head over heels for a ditzy blonde. 

First circulated in Harper’s Bazaar as multiple short stories about a blonde woman, Lorelei, the book version sold out overnight at its first release in 1926. It was then adapted first for the theater and for film, a few decades later, with Marilyn Monroe leading. After a successful career playwriting and screenwriting in New York, she moved back to Hollywood, lured by a substantial contract deal. 

Loos wrote articles for Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, and The New Yorker throughout her life and was often the go to writer for fixing poor scripts during her time in Hollywood. She moved back to New York at the end of her career, leaving behind her drag of a husband in Hollywood and rejoining the social circles she had missed terribly during her time away. She remained active, writing up until her passing in 1981 in her beloved New York City.

The Heart of the Tree

Henry Cuyler Bunner

 What does he plant who plants a tree?

   He plants a friend of sun and sky;

He plants the flag of breezes free;

   The shaft of beauty, towering high;

   He plants a home to heaven anigh;

      For song and mother-croon of bird

      In hushed and happy twilight heard—

The treble of heaven’s harmony—

These things he plants who plants a tree.

What does he plant who plants a tree?

   He plants cool shade and tender rain,

And seed and bud of days to be,

   And years that fade and flush again;

      He plants the glory of the plain;

      He plants the forest’s heritage;

      The harvest of a coming age;

The joy that unborn eyes shall see—

These things he plants who plants a tree.

What does he plant who plants a tree?

   He plants, in sap and leaf and wood,

In love of home and loyalty

   And far-cast thought of civic good—

   His blessings on the neighborhood,

      Who in the hollow of His hand

      Holds all the growth of all our land—

A nation’s growth from sea to sea

Stirs in his heart who plants a tree.

Have a good morning, a better day, and a lovely weekend.