TWO HAUNTING TUNES

                     

                      

Where would you go to find:  simple, beautiful, pleasure-to-listen-to, plain-ole-American tunes?

To Ken Burns, of ccourse, the producer of "The Civil War" (1990) and many others, including one of his best: "Mark Twain".  To own the sound tracks of these productions is to be blessed.

I loved "Ashokan Farewell" (by Jay Unger) from "The Civil War".  See link below.

The second haunting tune is on "Mark Twain".  "How Can I Keep from Singing" is an old gospel song. and is beautifully played by Jacqueline Schwab. The words are nice, also.

On the "Mark Twain" soundtrack, you will also like "Sweet Betsy from Pike" and "Hard Times". 

I'd like to mention David McCullough, the unsurpassed narrator of "The Civil War" production - a voice of sincerity.

Mil

"Ashokan Farewell", with Lincoln slide show: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGqBggXvtDE



"THE LESSER OF TWO WEEVILS"

The Lesser of Two Weevils (The Patrick O'Brian Sea Novels)

Two weevils crept from the crumbs. 'You see those weevils, Stephen?' said Jack solemnly.
I do.'  Which would you choose?'  There is not a scrap of difference. Arcades ambo. They are the same species of curculio, and there is nothing to choose between them.' But suppose you had to choose?'  Then I should choose the right-hand weevil; it has a perceptible advantage in both length and breadth.'  There I have you,' cried Jack. 'You are bit - you are completely dished. Don't you know that in the Navy you must always choose the lesser of two weevils? Oh ha, ha, ha, ha!"
— Patrick O'Brian

     The above joke appeared in the movie, Master and Commander, the Far Side of the World, as well as in one of O'Brian's 20 sea adventure books.  The books feature Jack Aubrey, sea captain and Stephen Maturin, his friend, ship's doctor, "naturist", and musician.  They in fact have mini concerts each night aboard ship in the captain's cabin. They dine together.

One writer said the above joke scene was the best scene in the movie.

O'Brian was a brilliant English scholar who lived much of his time in France. The sea novels were chosen for publication by The Folio Society and Easton Press (leather) among many other publishers.  They are all in the Albuquerque Public Library. The stories are based on true naval events from the early 1800 period. This, of course, is the English navy.

You will be forever enriched if you read all 20.

THE TREE OF FREEDOM

The Tree of Freedom, by Mil

The Fighting Sullivans
Reading history as I like to do can cause one to chase one rabbit after another. Something someone sent me reminded me of what Thomas Jefferson once said: "The Tree of Freedom will have to be watered periodically by the blood of its Patriots."

I thought of this story and movie which I saw as a boy in 1944 at the old Lyceum Theater in Clovis, NM. The Fighting Sullivans with Thomas Mitchell, Anne Baxter, and others.

The five brothers grew up during the depression and used to climb the old water tower in the Iowa town to wave at Thomas as he rode his train engine down the tracks each morning. The five sons joined the US Navy early in 1942, and asked to stay together.

They were on the light cruiser Juneau when it was damaged off Guadalcanal by a Jap naval shell on 13 November, 1942, and was limping to harbor when a Jap sub broke the ship in two with a torpedo. Over 800 men survived in the water but were not discovered in a timely way and only ten men survived. The five Sullivans were all lost.

In the movie, the naval officer comes to the parents door and Thomas Mitchell asks, "Which one?" The officer answers, and Thomas Mitchell says: "All....five?"

Look this story up on your computer under The Sullivans and the movie the Fighting Sullivans
and get to the film clips, TFS, 8 min. To see them enlist. And other clips. In the movie the father rides his train to work, after the terrible news, and he looks up at the old water tower, remembering his sons......but it is empty.

They estimate that that war cost the world 50 to 70 million people.

There will always be a USS Sullivans afloat in the US Navy. Anchors Aweigh.

( A similar loss of sailors occurred in 1945 east of the Philippines as the USS Indianapolis was returning to the US after delivering the first atomic bomb to Tinian. The  ship was torpedoed and sunk and thru faulty communications up and down the line, the survivors floating in the water were lost one by one and I believe only about 20% of crew survived.)

From Mil.