My life in electronics

1981: My kindergarten teacher brings a black and white TV into our classroom so that we can watch the space shuttle Columbia blast into space.

1983: My Dad purchased a stereo at Shreveport Refrigeration. it featured a turntable for vinyl albums and a cassette deck. We were excited about the ability to record albums to cassettes--a much easier format. While purchasing the stereo the salesman showed us a new contraption called the "CD Player." The cost was near prohibitive, but he assured us that one day everyone would have one and unlike the vinyl albums the CDs would last forever.

1992: I got my first CD player for Christmas and began a CD collection.

1998: I got my first computer and a dedicated modem line. I was able to continually listen to something call louisianaradio.com It was a free Internet radio station that played all sorts of indigenous music.

2003: I got married and the wife and I would sometime listen to music. She did not like my Cd holders and made me get some boxes from some place like Pier One in which to house them.

2005: First baby was born. We stopped listening to music in part because the Cd player broke and because we spent all our time taking care of the baby.

2006: I got an XM radio for the car and my commute. I really enjoyed it, but after a year let the subscription lapse due in large part to the fact that reception was spotty to and fro work.

2008: Neila gave me an i-pod for Christmas. My life has changed for the better. All my all friends from the CD's are back in my life....Lucinda, Neil, Van, and Willie. They're all back. I am so glad. It's been like five years since we all got together. I will be so glad to get them on my little i-pod and listen to them in the kitchen whilst I cook. Seriously, what else is there? I mean a tiny little device that plays high quality movies. Watch out here come the flying cars!

Colbert '08!

Well, it's official. Congressman Tom Tancredo of Colorado has officially ended his Presidential bid. Who will I vote for now? I was pleasantly surprised this morning while watching Joe Scarborough (he and his show is really growing on me, but certainly has not replaced Imus in my heart) when Senator Barack Obama appeared and offered an unsolicited and seemingly genuine "Merry Christmas!". He then went on to say that he was proud to be a Christian. Somehow that part of his background has gotten lost in this race. A couple of years ago when Obama was elected to the senate there was lots of publicity about how he was a church going man and how he was going to be the one to lead the Democrats back to faith and away from whoremongering godlessness.

So, where is that dialogue? I can tell you where it is. The Clinton hit team has silenced the issue and will drag Obama through the mud until they win. Same way Rove ruined McCain in South Carolina in 2000. Same way Rove made John Kerry into something other than a war hero. Okay, I need to stop, but let me just say something. I think Mike Huckabe is genuine. I think he is serious about his faith. I'll say the same about Obama. But let's do this, let's take the baby Jesus away from the politicians. No more Merry Christmas commercials with giant crosses in the background, except for Giulani's because it was so unintentionally funny. Oh and another thing Senator Hillary Clinton is a despicable whore. Will her despicable machinations ever catch up with her or will she win the nomination?
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Where I come from we call it the "The-Ater"

I was able to get out of the house this afternoon to go see a movie. I had to do extra babysitting and husband duties to honor this privilege. Let me tell you, it was worth it. I went from being a person who went to see movies all the time to being one who never does on account of the kids. I invited several friends, but none accepted the offer, but that's okay. I used to go see movies all alone all the time and I loved it and as of today, still do. I actually got to go see one a while back, sometime before Andrew was born. I went to see Michael Mann's big screen version of "Miami Vice". It was really interesting seeing how Mann, who created the TV version, adapted it to the big screen version which was so different, no pastels and no white sports coats. Please feel free to contact my Mom about my white sports coat when I was 10. Let's just say I was a huge Miami Vice fan. Many, many Friday nights we would go to the 7:00 movie at the new twin cinema in Mansfield (that's two screens) and get home in time to see Miami Vice.

"No Country for Old Men" was outstanding. The Coen brothers fantastically captured the West Texas small town vernacular just as they did with the Upper Midwest in "Fargo." What the hell do I know about West Texas or the Upper Midwest? So maybe they didn't, maybe it was just as bad as the countless renditions of southern accents that we've seen on the big screen over there years. Well, I think they got it down. There were so many subtleties that I loved, that I will have to watch it again for to enjoy. Tommy Lee Jones was on his game as always, but perhaps showing a little more vulnerability and a little less bad ass. Barbara Streisand's stepson Josh Brolin was fantastic. This guy JavierBardem, he creeped me out so much the entire film. I was so freaked out by him that I was nervous. I don't know if he needs an Oscar, but his skill was so honed that I'm still a little freaked out. Even his hair was terrifying. There will be hype about his performance and Brolin's, but as much as I enjoyed them I really liked the deputy sheriff ("Looks like we got some managerials here"), the border crossing agent and the mother in law ("It's not often you see a Mexican wearing a suit"). Oh, and the exchange between Bardem and the country store owner was just incredible--the tension, the fear and the confusion were so palpable( I can refer to something in a movie being "palpable" because I'm not a professional movie reviewer). Men go see it, but you should probably leave the ladies at home. It's graphic and violent, although there was little foul language and no nudity, just good old fashioned killing.

The first time I ever went to see a movie that I really remember was "Song of the South" when I was five. I remember talking about it all day at school the day that we were to see it. I had no idea what it was. My Mom took me after school to the old theatre in Mansfield and I think I loved it. Unbeknownst to me, there is a huge controversy over this film due to the fact that it has racists over/undertones from the Jim Crow South. I wouldn't have noticed that as a five year old anymore than a five year old today would notice any potential atheistic undertones in "The Golden Compass". That's the adults for you, always screwing stuff up for the kids. I think the problem is probably that Uncle Remus is portrayed as enjoying his servitude to the white plantation owner. The Br'rer rabbit stories factor in and I do believe that they originated with slaves at Laura Plantation in St. James Parish. Anyone from St. James Parish want to confirm that? Furthermore Laura burned a couple of years ago and has undergone major renovations and rebuilding. The owners have allowed tourists to visit the ongoing construction site as a means of illustrating period construction practices. Can you imagine if Disney would release this 1946 classic on home video or at the theaters ? Can you imagine what it would do for the rebuilding effort at Laura? Can I get a shout out for more unintended historic preservation plugs on my blog? How about a big ol' politically incorrect, "Zipp-A-Dee-Doo-Dah"?

Sometime ago I found a picture on the Internet of the old Mansfield Theatre. It was posted by Joby Bass a high school buddy of my brother's who now teaches at the University of Texas. It's a picture of his parents in front of the theatre. I don't know why he put it where he put it so that I found, nor do I how I found it, but I do now know why I've kept it so long...to be able to insert it in this particular blog detailing my love of movies and where it all began. Footnote: I also remember seeing "Raiders of the Lost Ark" at this joint. Footnote to footnote: This theatre was replaced by the new twin cinema referenced above.

Here's a little shout out to Peter Travers at Rolling Stone magazine. I don't read Rotten Tomatoes or any of those other sites because I am so on the same page as him with respect to movies. If he likes it I do too. If he says it sucks I don't go see it. Here's his review of "No Country for Old Men" and "The Golden Compass". I couldn't find a review of "Song of the South" but here's a wikipedia entry. I'm sort of like the local news when they let you know that if you have any interest on the days news stories to go to their website to learn more.

http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/14706943/review/17163450/no_country_for_old_men

http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/6222233/review/17575261/the_golden_compass

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_of_the_South

Oh and another footnote cocnerning the Bucky Dome:

http://www.225batonrouge.com/blogs/red-stuck/2007/nov/28/redstuck112807/

"What's the Deal With Blogging?"

The deal with blogging for me is to sort of memoralize a thought, reflection, observance or rememberance. My hope is to be a bit creative, to remember what it was like to be creative. Work and kids and bills and all that adult stuff leaves little room for creativity. And so even though you enjoy work and kids and adult stuff sometimes you look up and say to yourself, "Can't I be creative anymore?" or "Didn't I used to get drunk more often?" One big problem is that I really want it to be perfect. The grammar, the syntax, the vocabulary, the images, all of it is just wanting to consume me, but.......the work and kids and all that adult stuff only leave a very small amount of time and so its incredibly imperfect. I can't write something particuarlay well without lots of drafts and there ain't no time for drafts in blogging. In the brevity lies a terrific challenge--get out a quality thought, reflection, observance or rememberance. It's like "Iron Chef" with words and sometimes you get a little grease on yourself, whatever that means. So, for the few blogs I have done thus far I try and do them in my head and then quickly compose.

The other day before I started doing this I wondered aloud to myself what fun creative things I do that sort of say who I am and I thought, "oh, I like to work in the yard and I'm really good at it." Then I thought of our "new" house and how the beautiful lawn I inherited died upon our moving in and how the new side yard was atrocious and how I didn't have a garden spot yet and so what about at the old house. Well, my plan was to revamp the front of the old house this summer, but then we moved and so well the front of the old house was very lackluster and unimpressive, so what sort of yard working, creative person am I? Then I remembered the backyard at the old house and while it wasn't where I wanted it to be, I thought it was probably a pretty good example of what I like to think I'm good at. See the backyard when we first moved in:

And here's what it looked like about the time we moved. You will not really be able to notice the 9 cubic yards of gravel that I brought in via wheelbarrow. My old out of shape body couldn't do that now. It's not looking so good for the new yard. Anyway, here's the old yard after I had a couple of years with it:

Interesting footnote: I took a cutting of the pink rose pictured above before we moved. I brought it to the new house in a pot and planted it on the fence. It's up the fence and starting to hang off the other side. So, that's a good start and that's the deal with blogging.

Hail!Hail! Rock-N-Roll

In 1986 there was a legendary documentary film about Chuck Berry called, "Hail!Hail Rock-N-Roll!" In that film there is a very heated exchange between rock music icons, Chuck Berry and Keith Richards concerning Richards' lack of perfection playing a certain note. As I recall, Berry may have hit Richards or tried to hit him. Based on this recent Internet photo of Richards I think that Berry was really trying to slay a vampire. Scary.

A Country Boy Can Survive

.................well, now that's a bit of a stretch. It's an enormous stretch, but this weekend Dad did bring me a truck load of firewood which is awesome because the only place I can find firewood in BR is at Albertsons and it's horrible wood. This firewood comes to us courtesy of the honorable Judge Charlie Adams in Keatchie Louisiana. In keeping with my unintended historic preservation theme, Keatchie is a shinning example of historic preserveation. It is known for it's three "country gothic" churches. The Methodist Church is pictured below, there is also a Baptist and Presbyterian Church. Keatchie is also home to the only surviving greek revival store in the state. Keatchie is also the birthplace and boyhood home of Frank Ransburg, who is a Southern University Political Science Professor. Professor Ransburg is a nationally recognized LBJ expert. We have a mutual friend, Pres Kennedy. Pres told me that Professor Ransburg would hop on trains as a boy in Keatchie and often find himself on the mail car loaded with east texas (Keathcie being perhaps a mile from the Texas border) newspapers featuring LBJ and thus his interest was born. Pres has told me that Robert Caro, author of "Means of Ascent" and the others in the series of LBJ biographies is coming to town at some point and I will get to go to lunch with him and Professor Ransburg. Caro is a two-time Pulitizer Prize winner. I am sure I will add a lot of depth to the conversation should it ever happen.

Subsequent to Pres telling me about all of this I was at a CLE out at LSU and it was mentioned to the audience that I was from Mansfield. I did the obligatory stand up routine, "Can I get a ride home?" No one laughed. Afterwards a lady came up to me and said, "You're from Mansfield? My Dad is from Keatchie. I'm Ursula Ransburg, my dad is Frank Ransburg." Small world.

More country boy surviving this weekend was Dad butchering a deer in our kitchen. A client brought me some deer as I requested. I thought I was getting a backstrap and some ground meat. I got home and opened the ice chest to find enormous pieces of.......venison.....roast.....of sorts. Thank goodness Dad was in town because he knew what to do with it all. He took out his Boker( http://www.boker.de/us/) pocket knife and start cutting it up. I now have mangeable size quality cuts of meat in my freezer.

Time marches a bit faster

It took me a while to get that first post up. I wrote it on the 12th, but am just now getting it up on the 29th. In that short time, another architectural gem was totally demolished. The "Bucky Dome" in North Baton Rouge, a geodesic dome designed by architect and inventor, Buckminster Fuller was razed by KCS. Recently, the Foundation for Historical Louisiana had placed this structure on its top ten most endangered list. Fuller was featured on a U.S. Postal Stamp a few years ago. The dome is featured in architecture textbooks all over the world. It's gone now. I was so pissed that I fired off an e-mail to all members of the Louisiana Public Service Commission asking them to come down hard on KCS for their covert demolition of an internationally important structure. It's been a while since I've sent a letter or an e-mail like that, but watch out because my city councilman is next. Oh, and then I got a nice response from one of the commissioners' assistants who reminded me that they no longer regulated the railroads (probably quit that around the time Huey Long became governor). I was very embarassed to have not realized that. Oh well, it was just a building, huh. I just have regret for never having even driven by it as it was essentially on my way to work. So I say to you, go see Jerry Lee Lewis at the Casino, go see Henry Gray at the Westmoreland Picadilly on Sundays, go see an old friend, and go see some old cool building somewhere, because one day they'll be gone and as my Dad says, "Life is the sum total of all your experiences."

I got a nice card from Levetta's family and it referred to the "celebration of her homecoming". What a truly nice way to refer to one's passing away. If you are a real Christian and believer that's what it is. The evangelicals and fundamentalist and Black Southern Baptists have gotten that part of it right, I think.

Time Marches On

Two bits of sad news came out of Mansfield in the last few days. First, my Dad called to tell me that Levetta died. I knew it was coming. She had been in poor health for sometime, a broken hip, a stroke, high blood pressure, all of these things speed a person's demise. The last time I went to see her she was rehabbing in the nursing home in Mansfield, she was asleep so I left without speaking. When I was six months old my Mom went to work and in those days daycares were not in vogue, old fashioned domestics were. God knows the pittance that my parents paid Levetta, but I suppose it was one of the few jobs she could have found and I was pretty cute.

Levetta kept me until I was about three or four and went off to pre-school. After that she would come when I was sick, when my parents had parties to go to and so forth. It was only in retrospect that I realized what an exceptional kind and loving person she was. For over 20 years no matter where I was in life I would get a birthday card with $2, $5, $3 in it, first from 913 Johnson Street and then 925 Jacobs Street, both addresses located in Mansfield's housing project. I remember before she lived in the "Projects" in a green house on Gibbs Street with a Cedar Tree in the front yard. i can remember a couple of occasions when I stayed there with Levetta and her family during the day and the later at the 913 Johnson Apartment, which at that time was quite modern and new. Why I stayed at her house, I don't know. She had no car and as far as I know couldn't drive. Neila and I went to see her shortly after we married and she knew everything about my life having kept up through her daughter who knows my Dad. She wanted to know if I still liked my egg yolks runny so as to sop it up with toast. I assured her I did. She laughed her laugh, which was so soulful. I wish I had it recorded somewhere. So, it is sad that this gentle creature has passed away, but it gives me comfort to know that she had five kids of her own that were very good to her and took good care of her, she was never alone, which is more than lots of old folks can say.

The second bit of sad news is probably sad only to a nostalgic, history and architecture buff like myself. I read in the Mansfield Enterprise that the old Mansfield Elementary will be demolished. The re-routing of Hwy. 171 as been scheduled for some time to run through the middle of the two structures comprising the school, the plan having been for it sometime to thread the two buildings which would remain standing and vacant. The DeSoto School Parish Board in its infinite wisdom unable to be concerned with any historic issues has arranged for the highway department to demolish the buildings. The original school was built around 1911, I believe. The only picture I have of it is this one, which is of one of the architectural features on the side. I believe this shield is made of alabaster or perhaps limestone or even marble. My second grade class was in this building. Hopefully I can take a couple of pictures of this building before it gets demolished. The best features of this building are the two enormous porches on the back that feature enormous brick arches. This is where we would line up before and after recess.

In 1930 something the High School building was added. I have lots of pictures of it below. Three of my four grandparents graduated from High School here. In 1960 it became an elementary school like the adjacent building. I went to third grade here. My class was the "top group" meaning that we were "tracked" according to our IQ's and/or test scores. With this was the responsibility that we got to sit on the front row of the balcony of the auditorium during assemblies. The balcony didn't make it into this picture, but notice the paladin windows and the enormously high ceilings. When I was a senior in High School my speech teacher felt that the acoustics of this auditorium were vastly superior to those of our 1960 High School, so we had our play here---my one and only acting performance, "The Love Life of Herbert Packenstack".

Well, I suppose time marches on and the school board won't have to worry about any liability anymore. I suppose I will be the only one to mourn the loss of a wonderful example of neoclassic architecture that once was the norm for public institutions. Three generations of my family were educated in these two buildings and I guess by American standards, that's about right. There's now talk about replacing the 1960 High School where my Dad was the first class to start and finish in the new school. Of all the historic structures in Mansfield, the house that served as a hospital during the 1864 Battle of Mansfield that is now Ivey Lumber Co., the three story mansion that became the Piggy-Wiggly, the house that was home to the famous playwright, Josh Logan, that became a vacant lot and now the new Post Office, of all those idiotic decisions, this one makes me the saddest. Perhaps it's because it's one of the last institutions of old Mansfield that can connect so many people, perhaps it's because I went to school there, perhaps it's because the architectural styling are so to my liking, perhaps it's that enormous portion of my personality that drives my love of history and architecture----that obsession I have with recycling and reusing stuff. These building could have had so much more life in them, had someone or some group ever thought to care to save them. You might wonder how does a town die? How does it ignore the things that made it great that gave it its identity, allow them to go by the wayside allow the rise of vacant lots and metal building, junk trailers and discount tobacco stores? A lot of it has to do with the war. The Confederacy won the Battle of Mansfield, but of course lost the war. So while the rest of the Faulknerian South mourned the loss of their towns and the defeat of their government, Mansfield for a hundred years or so reveled in its victory, never burned or burdened by Reconstruction, the citizens lived like a lottery winner that didn't invest his fortune only to wind up penniless. Soon, Mansfield will be that much closer to being a mere piney pasture at a highway crossroad--- what it was long ago.