Mil'S READING SUGGESTIONS FOR THE NEW YEAR

These are presented after much thought: (Note, in each case, GOOGLE for complete info.)

(1) Vera Brittain (12/29/93 to 3/29/70) Famous English writer, books covering period of World War I to circa 1950. I have read these twice, and was captivated.

"Testament of Youth"
"Testament of Friendship"
"Testament of Experience"
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(2) Victor Klemperer (10-09-81 to 2-11-60) German Jewish Professor of the French Enlightenment... His terrible experiences under Nazis...This set might have to rank in my TOP TEN of all books ever read. Published late nineties, probably out of print.

"I Will Bear Witness: A Diary of the Nazi Years, 1933-41"
"I Will Bear Witness: To the Bitter End, 1942-45"
"I Will Bear Witness: The Lesser Evil, 1945-59"

Victor was a second cousin of the actor, Werner Klemperer, of "Hogan's Heroes" TV Show.
He was posthumously awarded in 1995 the Gerschwister-Scholl-Preis for his work, " Ich Will
Zeugnis Ablegen Bis Zum Letzten, Tagebucher, 1933-45."

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(3) Erik Larson (1-03-54) is a fine author and splendid researcher.

 "Isaac's Storm" - I read his book about the Galveston hurricane (the most destructive in human life in US history) a number of years ago.

"The Devil in the White City" great info re the Chicago World Fair (called The Columbian Exposition--
after the 400th anniversary of Columbus' 1492 voyage) The 800 or so acres of the fair were filled with buildings--all painted white....Katherine Lee Bates before penning her patriotic hymn, " America, the Beautiful" had visited the fair; thus her lines "Thine alabaster cities gleam, undimmed by human tears..."


"In the Garden of Beasts"- American Ambassador to Germany, William Dodd and his beautiful 23 year old, philandering daughter, in Nazi Germany, 1933-38. They knew Hitler.
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(4) Lynne Olson- One of our finest writers...

"Troublesome Young Men"- The book is about politics in Britain in the 30's and 40's, Churchill's rise to power, urged on by his young supporters...interesting insights. A splendid book, a joy to read, a must read. Get one while they're still out there..
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(5) Leo Marks- son of the Benjamin Marks, owner of the famous 84 Charing Cross Road bookstore, Marks & Co., was a twenty- three year old genius code expert in charge of female spies operating in Europe.

"Between Silk and Cyanide"- Marks has a great sense of humor and writes self-effacingly. The
story of these attractive British and French women spies, many of whom never came back-- is most interesting...and sad.
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(6) Lauren Hillenbrand--author of the best-selling "Sea Biscuit," has done it again.


"Unbroken"--story of a WWII B24 bomber which crashed somewhere south of Hawaii. The bombardier, Louis Zamperini, world-class runner, floated in the ocean for days, was finally captured by the Japanese and tortured and abused for years by the Japs, notably the hateful guard nicknamed "The Bird." On returning home at the end of the war, Louis became a Christian, due to his wife's prayers and example.
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(7) Jeannette Walls-- These two slices of Americana, I wouldn't have missed!

"Half-Broke Horses"
"The Glass Castle"--you won't forget this one!
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(8) Patrick O'Brian--English writer, lived much of his time in France. Has given us twenty historical sea novels, based on English naval history in the period circa 1815. He has the same ship's captain and ship's doctor in every novel. A movie was made, "Master and Commander-the Far Side of the World." These are great books.
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(9) Henning Mankell--Swedish playwright and novel-writer; in my book, one of the best detective/mystery writers. Police Inspector Kurt Wallander is one of the most-real and interesting heroes I have read about.  Mankell deals with the surroundings, the weather, what the hero is thinking, his frailties and shortcomings; Wallander gets toothaches, stomach problems, forgets his gun, hates shootings, always behind on his laundry...there is none like Wallander; start with "Faceless Killers."
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(10) Lee Child--former British TV producer who became a writer in 1995. He has about 16 or 17
books out there. I read them all this year, 2011. A most fascinating writer, and no small part due to his GREAT hero, Jack Reacher, 6'5" tall and weighing in at 240 or so. Reacher considers a fight unfair if six guys come at him...that is-- unfair for THEM. The general word from a Child reader is: "I got hooked... on such and such Reacher novel." I, personally got hooked on "Die Trying." The first book in the series is: "The Killing Floor".There is a Reacher movie in the works starring 5'9" Thomas Mapothers Cruise, at, I judge 175 pounds.  Where oh where is Ray Stevenson when you need Him?
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May I wish you the best of reading in 2012.  Send me a little writeup on two or three of your favorites and I will print your note anonymously.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
By Mil


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I HATE THE "WHITE ELEPHANT" GIFT THING, DON'T YOU?

Now that Christmas is over, can we talk? Can you think of anything worse than a forty-five minute speech? In my opinion, there IS one thing worse. A "White Elephant" gift party. Such parties are particularly favored by groups of school faculties, clubs, classes, and church groups.

One thing about them is that they never advertise in advance: "CAUTION--party may last interminably. BYOP, bring your own pajamas." Never, other than speeches, as noted above, have I ever found anything so boring.  Here are some objections:

(1) For one thing, this is the time when all notorious "re-gifters" come out of the woodwork.
Unwanted gifts from previous years, or decades, surface and make their appearances. Defenders of WEG parties will say that the above is well and good; it is a "side benefit" of the party. You see, changes of ownership and cleaning out the closet is of benefit to society and the larger cosmic scheme of things. Good to know.

(2) And I always get my heart broken: that worthless thing I really wanted and held in my very own hands for a short time...is appropriated by someone else.

(3) Yes, by that one who comes...with a leer, smug, clever-looking, self-righteous--not just walking--but sashaying, traipsing, even prancing...so proud of themselves...and I, with no recourse, no appeal, no remedy...have to give up my neat, beloved, and worthless re-gift.

(4) And how about a WHOLE school faculty White Elephant party with 45 people, seated in a seemingly never-ending circle of chairs? Just close your eyes and imagine this event. Let's also understand that some of them are "feeling no pain," (if you get my drift). I mean, when is this ever going to end? And have you ever heard the word: CACOPHONY? This is IT!

This goes on interminably. Things that were hilarious during the first hour-and-a-half and first twenty-five people are starting to wear a little thin. It's repetitive. What? Are they starting over?!
FOREVER, it goes on. Announcement: "Break out your pajamas if you have them."
(Me: "zzz-zzz-zz"); (Wife: "Honey, it's over, let's go home, it's 2 a.m."); (Me: "Hooray! What did we wind up with.?") (She: "Oh, it's cute- a glass manatee with a hole in the top that you fill with water, and people put out their cigarettes in it!"); (Me: "Just wonderful.")

So dear friends, do you get my point? Okay, you might convince me, if you are a proponent of the WEG party, and you have a small one--say four or six people. Soon it's OVER AND DONE---I'm GONE; sayonara, adios, hasta luego, BYE BYE. See you next year for caroling, (I hope!)

But, really, a White Elephant Gift party--not for me. A silly idea. Thanks, but I'll pass. Never again.

Unless I'm invited.

----30----
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"JOY TO THE WORLD, THE LORD IS COME!"

Isaac Watts, (1674-1748), writer of hymn texts, who came to be known as "The Father of English Hymnody", did not write "Joy to the World" as a Christmas hymn; he was merely pursuing his main purpose of converting the Psalms in the Bible into "singable" hymns. The result of his treatment of the 98th Psalm is what we sing at Christmas.

As the story goes, it came about something like this. Around the year 1686, twelve year old Isaac and the Watts family were returning home from church. He was complaining to his father about the hymns in the church service--the Psalter and the Psalms they had sung. Isaac's father reportedly said:"Well, if you don't like the hymns, why don't you write something better?"

That is exactly what Isaac did, and his hymn was used in the church service the very next Sunday. History tells us that he wrote one new hymn a week, for two years, many based on the Psalms, and most of them were used in the church services. We are not told what the hymn tunes were, but it was common in those days to "re-use" older tunes from other hymns, if the meter matched.

Let us note here that as a very young lad Isaac had shown literary genius. From five to thirteen years old, he learned Latin, Greek, French, and Hebrew. Besides hymn writing, he was also a student of theology and philosophy. He wrote significant volumes which had a powerful influence on English thinking. We are not told what these volumes were.

He eventually published 210 hymns in a collection entitled "Hymns and Spiritual Songs."  Most of his hymns were very good. He did, of course use the language of the time, some of which hymnal committees have chosen to update somewhat, as in the gospel song "At the Cross." The original wording was "Would he devote that sacred head for such as worm as I?" Committees in the 20th Century changed it to "for sinners such as I?"

He went on to write over 600 hymns and rightly earned the title, "The Father of English Hymnody." Without Isaac Watts, Christian worship would be the poorer. In my much-used Baptist Hymnal, 1957 edition, I count seventeen hymns by Isaac Watts.

As stated earlier, "Joy to the World" was not specifically written as a Christmas "carol." It was Watts' interpretation of the 98h Psalm in plain English. It is not verbatim. Note: " Let the sea roar;" "Let the floods clap their hands;" "Let the hills be joyful together." Henceforth, when we sing this great hymn, may we not merely repeat words mindlessly, but let's be aware that we are joining all creation in singing to our Heavenly Father.

The tune is thought to be an arrangement by Lowell Mason, (1792-1872), an excellent tune-writer of the period; the arrangement was based on themes from Handel's "The Messiah."  Mason, an American choir director, composer, and educator gave us dozens of fine tunes, 23 of them appearing in the Baptist Hymnal of 1957.

I want to point out, as I wrap this up, that two other of our greatest hymns were written by Isaac Watts, "O God, Our Help In Ages Past," and "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross." The first captures the eternality of God more than any hymn I know. Read the words to these two. They are not used often, unfortunately.

This Christmas season, let's all join with Isaac Watts, our friends, and all Creation, in singing:

Joy to the world, the Lord is come,
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing!
While fields and floods,
Rocks, hills, and plains,
Repeat the sounding JOY!!!
---30---
Merry Christmas...from Mil

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"WONDERFUL BIRTH, TO A MANGER HE CAME"

During this Christmas season, with the nip of winter in the air, and with the goodwill, excitement, bright lights, and music of the season, I find myself thinking of a song from by-gone college days. The writer was in two quartets--the "Campus Quartet," and the "Varsity Quartet," as well as the Hardin-Simmons University A Cappella Choir. This was one of our favorite selections.

This song which has always meant so much to me, because of its message (and I am sure because also of past camaraderie), is not thought of necessarily as a Christmas song, but it does fit in nicely in the season. It was composed in 1939 by A.H. Ackley, a talented gospel hymn writer of the period, and copyrighted by Rodeheaver.

As you will see, as you read the text further down, the words have a certain poetic movement to them. As a general rule in singing, the words should have a smooth flow as they are sung, with attention given to accented and unaccented syllables from a poetic standpoint, and if well-wedded to the tune, these will coincide with the accents of the music.

This is true of this gospel hymn. Trained singers should have the breath control necessary to sing long phrases and hold at the end of the phrase if needed. Ensembles, through much practice, can sing every syllable, word, speed-up, slow- down---all members right together. That's what makes this an excellent song for a quartet. In fact I have never seen it in a SATB songbook or hymnal.
Not only does it speak of Christ's birth: ("Wonderful birth, to a manger he came..."), but of the whole Divine Redemptive plan. Read the Gospel message below:

Wonderful birth, to a manger he came,
Made in the likeness of man, to proclaim
God's boundless love for a world sick with sin,
Pleading with sinners to let him come in.

Wonderful life, full of service so free,
Friend to the poor and the needy was He,
Unfailing goodness on all He bestowed,
Undying faith in the vilest he showed.

Wonderful death, for it meant not defeat,
Calvary made His great mission complete.
Wrought our redemption, and when he arose,
Banished forever the last of our foes.

Wonderful hope, He is coming again,
Coming as King o'er the nations to reign;
Glorious promise,His word cannot fail,
His righteous kingdom at last must prevail!

Chorus:
Wonderful name he bears,
Wonderful crown He wears,
Wonderful blessings His triumphs afford;
Wonderful Calvary, wonderful grace for me,
Wonderful love of my wonderful Lord!

If you can find an old Rodeheaver or Lillenas songbook, you will enjoy playing this tune.
By Mil

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"BASEBALL'S SAD LEXICON"---TINKER TO EVERS TO CHANCE

Have you always wanted to know just what is meant by the famous expression: "Tinker to Evers to Chance?"

Here is the story, in brief: It was a Chicago Cubs double-play team---short-to-second-to-first or second-to-short-to-first, in the year 1902 and after. These three Chicago Cubs players first appeared in a game together on September 2,1902. They turned their first double-play the next day. This famed trio would never have existed if Cubs manager, Frank Selee had not done some serious juggling to his team's roster. He decided that back-up catcher Chance would be better at first base. Chance moved to the new position "kicking and screaming" but soon forgot his objections.

Tinker, originally a third baseman, shifted to shortstop. And Evers, who was originally a shortstop was switched to back-up second base. However, in the September 2, 1902 game the second baseman broke his ankle and Evers replaced him---from then on.

There is some sentiment among baseball experts that, as good as this combo was, they may have gained much of their fame from a most-famous poem by newspaper sports writer Franklin Pierce Adams titled "That Double-Play Again," in the July 12, 1910 New York Evening Mail. Three days later the same paper reprinted the poem under the title we know today: "Baseball's Sad Lexicon." The poem can be sung to the catchy French ditty "Viva La Compagne."  Here is Adam's poem:

These are the saddest of possible words:
"Tinker to Evers to Chance."
Trio of bear cubs, and fleeter than birds,
Tinker and Evers and Chance.
Ruthlessly picking our gonfalon bubble,
Making a Giant hit into a double---
Words that are heavy with nothing but trouble:
"Tinker to Evers to Chance."

Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, and Frank Chance were all a part of the Chicago Cubs World Series-winning teams in 1907 and 1908, as well as the pennant-winner in 1910. All three players were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946. Some baseball experts have thought their inductions--particularly Tinker and Evans-- were based more on the fame generated by Adam's poem, than by their playing ability.

(Writer's note: a "gonfalon," in line five of the poem meant a pennant or flag--in this case the
League Title.)

Now, after all these years, I know what "Tinker to Evers to Chance" actually means!
By Mil
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MIL'S LIST OF "BOOKS READ" IN 2011

Writer's note: a number of my readers have written me or asked in person: "What and how much do you read?" Several others have said: "You ought to write a book!" (Bless you, but what about and who'd read?) Anyway, it seemed an appropriate time, here in the wrap-up days of Old 2011, nearly gone, for better or worse---and I hope it's been better for ALL of you--- that I might just print my list of books-read, as maybe a matter of interest to you.

In my younger days I tackled long historical works like Halberstam's book on the Korean War and lengthy, heavy stuff like that, but you will notice now I am doing a lot more fiction. The fact that a book appears on my list does not indicate a recommendation necessarily---or that you should "try it at home." LOL.

At any rate, I do feel that my mind has been expanded, and we should remember that "not reading" is almost as bad as "can't read."

JANUARY
1. Cross Fire- Patterson
2. Deal Breaker-Coben
3. Die Trying- Lee Child
4. Without Fail- Lee Child
5. Unbroken- L. Hillenbrand
6. Persuader- Lee Child
7. Nothing to Lose- Lee Child
8. 61 Hours- Lee Child
9. Tripwire- Lee Child
10. Running Blind- Lee Child
11. The Enemy- Lee Child
12. The Killing Floor- Lee Child
13. Echo Burning- Lee Child
14. The Hard Way- Lee Child


FEBRUARY
15. Bad Luck and Trouble- Lee Child
16. Gone Tomorrow- Lee Child
17. One Shot- Lee Child
18. Worth Dying For- Lee Child
19. We Die Alone- Norwegian
20. Touch-Elmore Leonard
21. Dead or Alive (955 pages)- Tom Clancy
22. Worst Case- Patterson/ Ledgwidge
23. Next Time You See Me- K.T.
24. Vera Atkins: A Secret Life- Helm

MARCH
25. Vera Atkins: Spymistress-
26. Morning of Fire- (History of Pacific explorations) Scott Ridley

APRIL
27. Between Silk and Cyanide - Leo Marks
28. Half Broke Horses- Jeannette Walls
29. The Fifth Woman- Henning Mankell
30. Faceless Killers- Mankell
31. Malta Spitfire Pilot- Burnham
32. The Dogs of Riga- Mankell

MAY
33. One Step Behind- Mankell
34. The White Lioness- Mankell
35. The Man who Smiled- Mankell
36. The Man From Beijing- Mankell
37. Side-Tracked- Mankell
38. Firewall- Mankell
39. Lost in Shangri-la ( WWII, C 47 crashes New Guinea, WACS lost)- Zuckoff
40. Before the Frost- Mankell

JUNE
41. Rat King- Dibdin
42. Dragon 9 - Michael Connelly
43. The Overlook- Connelly
44. The Pyramid- Mankell
45. The Lighthouse- P.D. James

JULY
46. The Brass Verdict- Connelly
47. The Lincoln Lawyer- Connelly
48. Shattered- Michael Robotham
49. Reversal- Connelly
50. Empire of the Southern Moon ( Quanah Parker's life)- Gwynne

AUGUST
51. Suspect- Robotham
52. The Art of Reading ( The Great Courses)- Dr.Timothy Spurgin
53. Lost- Robotham
54. Ancient Egypt, Volume One ( The Great Courses)- Dr.Bob Brier
55. Area 51- Connie Jacobsen
56. Ancient Egypt, Volume Two (The Great Courses)- Dr. Bob Brier
57. Lost Light-Connelly

SEPTEMBER
58. The Cathedrals (The Great Courses)- Dr. William Cook
59. A Darkness More Than Light- Connelly
60. Experiencing Rome (The Great Courses) Volume One- Dr.StevenTuck
61. Wreckage- Robotham
62. Night Ferry- Robotham
63. Experiencing Rome (The Great Courses) Volume Two- Dr. Steven Tuck

OCTOBER
64. The Troubled Man- Mankell
65. City of Bones- Connelly
66. The Art of Writing: Building Greater Sentences (The Great Courses)- Dr. Brooks Landon
67. The White Road- Connelly
68. The Art of Writing (The Great Courses) Volume Two- Dr. Brooks Landon
69. Evolution (The Great Courses) Edward J. Larson
70. In The Garden of Beasts- Erik Larson
71. The Day I Ate Everything I Wanted- Berg

NOVEMBER
72. The Nostradamus Secret- Joseph Badal
73. The Affair- Lee Child
74. Michelangelo (The Great Courses) Volume One- Dr. William A. Wallace
75. The Devil in the White City- Erik Larson
76. Michelangelo (The Great Courses) Volume Two- Dr. William A. Wallace
77. Don't Blink- Patterson/Roughan
78. The Hypnotist- Lars Kepler
79. Michelangelo (The Great Courses) Volume Three- Dr. William A. Wallace

DECEMBER
80. Ancient Egypt- (The Great Courses) Volume Three- Dr. Bob Brier
81. Ancient Evypt- (The Great Courses) Volume Four- Dr. Bob Brier
82. The Source Field Investigations- David Willcock

Here's wishing good reading to all of you in 2012! I also hope for you a meaningful Christmas season!
Thanks for being a loyal reader!
By Mil

Sent from my iPad