So the new George W. Bush Presidential Library, opening this week, includes an interesting feature: An interactive section that allows visitors to decide for themselves if the decisions Bush made were the right ones, based on input from virtual “advisers.” In other words, Bush’s little way of giving himself a second chance in the eyes of the public. (ht @pbump)
Obit of the Day: “Growing Up Black in Nazi Germany”
Hans Massaquoi was very disappointed when his teacher told him that he could not join the Hitler Youth. Massaquoi’s friends had all joined and he was enthralled with the uniforms, the parades, the camp-outs. But Hans’ desire to join was trumped by the color of his skin.
Born in 1926, Mr. Massaquoi’s parents were a German nurse and the son of a Liberian diplomat. He would grow up in Hamburg as the Weimar Republic was collapsing and the the Third Reich was building up.
When he was in second grade, Mr. Massaquoi was so taken with the Nazi imagery that, at his request, his nanny sewed a swastika to his sweater. Although his mother removed it when he returned home from school, a picture had already been taken. (See above.)
Mr. Massaquoi’s family lived in Germany for the duration of the war. According to Mr. Massaquoi’s memoir, Destined to Witness, he theorized that there were so few blacks living in Germany that they were a low priority for extermination. Eventually he would move: first to his father’s home country of Liberia and later to Chicago.
In the United States, although trained in aviation mechanics, Mr. Massaquoi would become a writer for Jet magazine and eventual move to its sister publication, Ebony, where he became managing editor.
Mr. Massaquoi, who passed away on January 19, 2013 on his 87th birthday, was encouraged to write down the story of his unusual childhood by his friend and author of Roots, Alex Haley.
Sources: L.A. Times and Chicago Sun-Times
(Image is from Mr. Massaqoui’s collection and copyright of William Morrow Paperbacks via spiritosanto.wordpress.com)
Fascinating story. Fascinating life. And a photo that sticks with you.
This right of privacy, whether it be founded in the Fourteenth Amendment’s concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action, as we feel it is, or, as the District Court determined, in the Ninth Amendment’s reservation of rights to the people, is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.Justice Harry Blackmun delivered the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade on January 22, 1973. (via sonicbloom11)
Obit of the Day: Playlist of the Dead 2012
It is time for Obit of the Day’s annual Playlist of the Dead. So listen to the music, read the posts, and remember some incredible talent we’ve lost over the past twelve months. (The glaring exception is the Beastie Boys’ Adam Yauch, for whom I was unable to write a post, but I did put “An Open Letter to NYC” on the playlist.)
January
Fred Milano – original member of Dion and the Belmonts
Johnny Otis – “The Godfather of Rhythm and Blues”
Etta James – Grammy winning R&B legend
February
Whitney Houston - Grammy Award-winning singer
Kathryn McDonald – member of Duke Ellington’s orchestra
Billy Strange – guitarist and songwriter, part of the “Wrecking Crew”
Louisiana Red – blues guitarist
Davy Jones – lead singer of The Monkees
March
Jimmy Ellis – backup singer for The Trammps
Eric Lowen – Grammy Award-winning co-writer of “We Belong”
Earl Scruggs – Bluegrass legend
April
Barney McKenna – last of the original Dubliners
Andrew Love – saxophonist and member of the “Memphis Horns”
Levon Helm – legend of rock and folk, member of The Band
Pete Fornatele – WNEW rock DJ
May
Charles “Skip” Pitts – bass player on “Theme from Shaft”
Donna Summer – disco legend and Grammy Award winner
Robin Gibb – member of the Bee Gees
June
Herb Reed – original member of the Platters
Graeme Bell – “The Father of Australian Jazz”
July
Jon Lord – keyboardist for Deep Purple
August
Scott McKenzie – singer, “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)”
Willa Ward – member of the gospel group, The Famous Ward Singers
September
“Sugar Boy” Crawford – writer, and original singer, “Iko Iko”
October
R.B. Greaves – writer and singer, “Take a Letter Maria”
Bil Dees – co-writer, “Oh, Pretty Woman”
November
Cleve Duncan – member of The Penguins and lead singer, “Earth Angel”
December
Dave Brubeck – pianist and jazz legend
Fontella Bass – singer of 1965 hit “Rescue Me”
You should be able to find the playlist on Spotify under “Playlist of the Dead 2012” or through my account, Josh Eisenberg.
For more Obit of the Day:
Clever idea for a playlist.
Newsweek by the numbers. Click to enlarge.
Came for the short-lived script logo, stayed for the giant numbers.
As millions and millions of children open presents under festively decorated trees in their living rooms this morning, I think we can finally declare this year’s War on Christmas at an end.
Of course, in an enormous mansion somewhere in this great country, Bill O’Reilly is sitting on a pile of money and already preparing for next year’s War on Christmas. It’ll begin just after Halloween, when the first lights go up on people’s houses and trees. And it’ll end, as every year, when the Christmas holiday is celebrated without a hitch.
Every year, Fox News goes wild with the notion that Christians somehow can’t celebrate their holiday as they choose and, every year, a sizeable group of Christians crowd into shopping malls to sit on Santa’s lap while listening to Christmas carols that are playing on a month-long loop; they buy Christmas presents to unwrap under their Christmas trees on a federal holiday that just so happens to coincide with Christmas … all the while lamenting that someone has wished them “Happy Holidays.”
So, remember what John and Yoko told you:
War (on Christmas) is Over … if you want it.
Wish we could get Bill O’Reilly and Lennon in a room together. That meeting would be a hoot.
Ravi Shankar, died yesterday at the age of 92. From the WSJ:
Mr. Shankar’s popularity in the West was boosted by his partnerships with foreign musicians, most famously Beatles guitarist George Harrison.
“When people say that George Harrison made me famous, that is true in a way,” Mr. Shankar said in a televised interview in 2009, according to this report.
But when Mr. Harrison first approached Mr. Shankar for lessons in the mid-1960s, the idea of blending Indian classical music with pop music was puzzling to the sitar maestro.
“It is strange to see pop musicians with sitars. I was confused at first. It had so little to do with our classical music. When George Harrison came to me, I didn’t know what to think,” said Mr. Shankar in Raga.
“But I found he really wanted to learn. I never thought our meeting would cause such an explosion, that Indian music would suddenly appear on the pop scene,” he added.
Mr. Harrison revered Mr. Shankar, saying he was “the first person who ever impressed me in my life.”
Mr. Harrison’s collaboration with Mr. Shankar influenced the music of the Beatles, who went on to release several Indian-inspired songs. Among them was the 1966 track “Love You To,” one of the earliest examples of a pop song incorporating elements of Indian classical music. The song was composed by Mr. Harrison, who also sings and plays the sitar in it.
Of note to more modern audiences: Norah Jones’ father. (Though that certainly isn’t all you should know about Shankar.) RIP.
It’s our 135th birthday. Here’s the first edition of The Washington Post from December 6, 1877.
That’s exactly what it looked like then, too, down to the photocopying.
Michael Jackson’s Thriller Turns 30
Billboard has an interesting history about the November 30, 1982 release of Thriller. In it, we learn of technology disruption (FM was replacing AM radio) and the audience fragmentation that occurred because of it.
We also learn about CBS Records’ concern over the album’s potential success:
Since the start of the [80s], black music had been increasingly banished from most white-targeted radio stations. This was partially due the virulent, reactionary anti-disco backlash that resulted in the implosion of that genre at the end of 1979. As the 80’s dawned, programmers increasingly stayed clear of rhythm-driven black music out of fear of being branded “disco,” even when the black music in question bore little resemblance to disco. This backlash was greatly magnified by the demise of AM mass appeal Top 40 radio at the hands of FM, which led to black artists being ghettoized on urban contemporary radio, while disappearing from pop radio, which focused on a more narrow white audience.
How dramatic was the decline of black music on the pop charts in that period? In 1979, nearly half of the songs on the weekly Billboard Hot 100 pop chart could also be found on the urban contemporary chart. By 1982, the amount of black music on the Hot 100 was down by almost 80%.
Also, and notably, MTV had just launched. But the music videos the station played were very white as it followed the playlists occurring on the FM charts. They too were very hesitant to give Jackson airtime.
[MTV executives at the time] concede that the channel initially assumed it would not play the video, as its thumping beat and urban production did not fit the channel’s “rock” image. They contend however that in mid-February, after seeing the clip—which was possibly the best that had ever come across their desks—they began to re-think things.
Good thing they did.
Billboard, Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ at 30: How One Album Changed the World.
How a legendary album got its footing.
But seriously … I am not kidding.
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Tumblr this morning. [h/t anne]
#@#$%!.tumblr.com
“Hon A B Lincoln…
Dear Sir
My father has just home from the fair and brought home your picture and Mr. Hamlin’s. I am a little girl only 11 years old, but want you should be President of the United States very much so I hope you wont think me very bold to write to such a great man as you are. Have you any little girls about as large as I am if so give them my love and tell her to write to me if you cannot answer this letter. I have got 4 brothers and part of them will vote for you any way and if you let your whiskers grow I will try and get the rest of them to vote for you you would look a great deal better for your face is so thin. All the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husbands to vote for you and then you would be President. My father is going to vote for you and if I was a man I would vote for you to but I will try to get every one to vote for you that I can I think that rail fence around your picture makes it look very pretty I have got a little baby sister she is nine weeks old and is just as cunning as can be. When you direct your letter direct to Grace Bedell Westfield Chautauqua County New York.
I must not write any more answer this letter right off Good bye
Grace Bedell”
Lincoln responded a few days later:
“Miss Grace Bedell
My dear little Miss
Your very agreeable letter of the 15th is received — I regret the necessity of saying I have no daughters — I have three sons — one seventeen, one nine, and one seven years of age — They, with their mother, constitute my whole family — As to the whiskers, having never worn any, do you not think people would call it a piece of silly affectation if I were to begin it now?
Your very sincere well wisher,
A. Lincoln”
While he made no promises about the beard to Bedell, he stopped shaving and allowed the beard to grow not long after their exchange and was elected as the 16th president of the United States a few weeks later. On his inaugural train ride from Illinois to Washington, D.C., the president-elect stopped in Bedell’s hometown of Westfield, N.Y., and asked to meet her.
This line goes against all modern logic regarding political grooming: “All the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husbands to vote for you and then you would be President.” But you know what? If a presidential candidate grew a beard, I would vote for him.
(Source: theweek.com)
According to Time’s Harry McCracken, the Lotus brand, long associated with the early era of the PC and owned by IBM, will be retired as of the next version of the two still-active flagship apps it was associated with, Notes and Domino. But if you’re not a business computing user, you know them from their once-best-of-class spreadsheet program, Lotus 1-2-3, considered the PC’s first “killer app.” *sigh* *singletear*
A True Champion: Gold medal-winning Olympic wrestler Jeff Blatnick passed away at the age of 55 on Wenesday as the result of cardiopulmonary arrest. Blatnick won his medal during the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles after being diagnosed and treated for Hodgkin’s lymphoma midway through his training period. In recent years, Blatnick has volunteered as a wrestling coach at the school attended by his two children. He is survived by his wife Lori, his son Ian, and his daughter Niki. (Photo via MMA News; ht waterman12053) source
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