Thursday: Hili dialogue

May 30, 2019 • 6:45 am

It’s Thursday, May 30, 2019, with one more day to go until we’re at the advent of June. It’s National Mint Julep Day, a drink best served on Kentucky Derby Day (now over) and made with mint and sugar syrup, muddled together in a glass, which is then filled with crushed ice and good bourbon. It’s a good tipple. In Trinidad and Tobago, it’s Indian Arrival Day, celebrating the arrival of Indians in Trinidad. Perhaps the most famous of these is author V. S. Naipaul, the grandchild of Indian immigrants to Trinidad and author of the excellent 1961 novel A House for Mr Biswas. Naipal also won the 1971 Booker Prize for his novel In a Free State.

It’s a bit of a thin day, history-wise. On May 30, 1636, Henry VIII of England married Jane Seymour, who was a lady in waiting for his first two wives.  She died in childbirth the next year, having produced an heir, Edward VI. She was the only one of Henry’s six wives to be given a queen’s funeral; one wonders why anyone would marry Henry, especially after he’d gone through a few wives.

On this day in 1806, Andrew Jackson, future President of the U.S., killed Charles Dickinson in a duel over a horse race, even though Dickinson, an attorney, was a famous duelist.  Jackson was shot in the chest first, but he fired back and killed Dickinson. Jackson survived, carrying the bullet next to his heart for the rest of his life. He was, I believe, is the only President to have survived (or even fought) a duel.

On May 30, 1911, Ray Harroun, driving his Marmon Wasp,, became the first winner of the Indianapolis 500-mile auto race. The car, below, is still on display at the Indianapolis Speedway. The time of his win was six hours and 42 minutes with an average speed of about 75 miles per hour. The latest winner, Simon Pagenaud on May 26 of this year, finished in two hours and 50 minutes with an average speed of 176 miles per hour.

On this day in 1922, the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C. And in 1958, to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery were added the remains of two unidentified servicement killed during World War II and the Korean War. There was once a “Vietnam unknown”, too, but he was identified using mitochondrial DNA, and so was removed and the remains buried elsewhere with his family. Now that we have DNA testing, it’s unlikely that there will be any future “unknown soldiers.”

Finally, it was on this day in 2012 that Charles Taylor, former president of Liberia, was sentenced to 60 years in prison for 11 counts of war crimes. He remains in prison in Durham County, England

Notables born on this day include Irving Thalberg (1899), Mel Blanc (1908), Benny Goodman (1909), Julius Axelrod (1912, Nobel Laureate), Colm Tóibín (1955), and Wynonna Judd (1964).

Blanc was immensely talented at doing cartoon voices; according to Wikipedia, here are some of his characters:

[Blanc] became known for his work in animation as the voices of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, Sylvester the Cat, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, Marvin the Martian, Pepé Le Pew, Speedy Gonzales, Wile E. Coyote, Road Runner, the Tasmanian Devil, and many of the other characters from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies theatrical cartoons during the golden age of American animation. He voiced all of the major male Warner Bros. cartoon characters except for Elmer Fudd, whose voice was provided by fellow radio personality Arthur Q. Bryan, although Blanc later voiced Fudd, as well, after Bryan’s death.

here’s a video of his demonstrating his ability.

And here is Blanc’s tombstone, one of the best ever:

Those who expired on May 31 include Tintoretto (1594), Évariste Galois (1832), Billy Strayhorn (1967), Jack Dempsey (1983),  Gaston Rébuffat (1985), Timothy Leary (1996), and Jean Stapleton (2013).

I still claim that All in the Family was the best television comedy ever, and Stapleton, as Edith, was a pivotal figure as the long-suffering wife of Archie Bunker. The acting on that show was absolutely terrific. Here’s a scene in which Gloria and Edith recount a spat to their respective husbands.

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili evinces her usual fear of strangers;

Hili: Are those children?
A: Yes.
Hili: Let’s get out of here before they grow up.
In Polish:
Hili: Czy to są dzieci?
Ja: Tak.
Hili: Chodźmy stąd zanim urosną.

From Facebook: Cats obeying commands:

Two tweets from Nilou. The first shows mountain goats. I have no idea how they can do this, and often wonder if they feel fear on such slopes. Move over, Alex Honnold!

https://twitter.com/41Strange/status/1133040230691303425

National Wine Day was May 25, but here’s a late tweet. The thread has some interesting facts about Dionysos and ancient Greek oenophlia. One fact is below:

Tweets from Grania. The ducks shown are Indian Runner ducks or “pencil ducks”, which walk almost vertically. Other ducks wouldn’t be so “arsefooted”:

I’m not sure if this is a violation of the law, as my impression was that abortion protestors at clinics had to remain a court-specified distance away from the patients. Regardless of its legality, though, the protestors are horrible people.

One dog to rule them all (sound up):

Guess what pangolins eat. . .

https://twitter.com/41Strange/status/1132010000816123904

Tweets from Matthew. Anak Krakatoa is a relatively new volcano that sprouted from the caldera of Krakatoa, which exploded in 1883, killing between 36,000 and 120,000 people.

Matthew does love his illusions. I couldn’t figure out what was happening here until I went to the link at reddit:

These are theology in jokes, and there are many. Matthew said that he didn’t understand them, but I might. I don’t. Theologically educated readers are welcome to explain:

 

 

 

27 thoughts on “Thursday: Hili dialogue”

  1. I recently read that Caligula and other emperors dismissed bitter wines, unfit for emperors,, preferring and ordering more of the sweet wine, which, of course, they obliged. Turns out they were sprinkling one of the lead salts or oxides (I’m not sure which ones) into the wine, unaware of the neurological consequences.

    1. I recall the debatable assertion that lead poisoning was implicated in the fall of Rome but had forgotten about it until you brought it up here. This is an informative article about the debate and about the Romans’ use of lead in various ways http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/wine/leadpoisoning.html. Among other things, the article details the Roman practice of boiling down must in lead vessels and using the concentrate to sweeten wine and preserve fruits such as pears.

  2. Did you ever see “Till death us do part”? All in the family was a US adapted and somewhat sanitized version. Warren Mitchell played Alf Garnett, the character Bunker was based on. It seems good chunks of it are on you tube (of course)

  3. The low video quality of the forced perspective video makes it seem like the “water” is moving. So even after knowing what is going on with the forced perspective, it is not until one realizes the low quality pixel dance that one reaches true nirvana.

  4. All in the Family worked so well because of the great chemistry amongst the cast (they seemed like a real family, not actors) plus it had the courage to deal with the big issues of the 1970s, including race and a corrupt president. Oops, the big issues of the 1970s seem like the big issues of today. Depending on my mood, I sometimes feel that the United States has not progressed very far socially in almost 50 years. In some ways we may have regressed since in the 1970s the threat to white dominance as manifested in demographic change was not apparent. It seems that any dominant social group, regardless of time, place, race, religion, ethnicity, etc., will not concede power without a fight. This should not be in the least surprising. Maintenance of social status is a prime driver of human motivation.

    1. They seem to yell a lot on that show. I prefer 30 Rock because they only yell if it’s a “power play” yell.

  6. The “fastest” time to complete the Indianapolis 500 is 2hr 41min 18.404sec or 185.981mph by Arie Luyendyk on May 27, 1990.

    I was there – my first Indy 500 in person.

    In 1996 the same Arie Luyendyk during practice set the fastest lap ever at 239.260mph.

    In 1996 Eddie Cheever set the fastest race lap at 236.103mph.

    In 2000 Gil de Ferran turned the fastest lap ever achieved on a closed circuit or track in qualifying for CART’s 2000 California 500 at the 2.0-mile California Speedway – qualified at 241.428mph.

    1. I once rode DIS on a motorcycle. Though the motorcycle course there doesn’t include the east banking it includes the rest of the tri-oval. It turns off the tri-oval just before the east banking and goes into some technical turns then goes back onto the tri-oval just after the east banking, then a chicane is also added at the end of the back straight to limit entry speed into the west banking.

      Quite different from the typical GP type motorcycle course but lots of fun and very fast. Instead of the odd momentary peak high speed of a more typical GP style track you have prolonged intervals of very high speed.

        1. The bike was a 1st generation Suzuki Hayabusa, a bike not quite suited for track riding, at least not that kind of track. I used that bike sort of on a dare. I set it up for the track as best I could by raising the rear a couple inches and the front about an inch. The main issue being that the bike is too wide at the bottom compared to a true track bike, which limits lean angle. Not to mention wheel-base and weight. Plenty of power though.

          Not sure what speed I’d hit on the back straight, but I wasn’t hitting the limiter. I’d guess around 170 mph.

          I’d come out of the chicane just before the east banking in mid 3rd gear, roll the throttle to the stop and start going up through the gears as I went around the banking. About the time I was coming off the banking down into the tri-oval I’d be bumping against the limiter, 186 mph. I’d hold that all the way through the tri-oval then have to brake hard to make a turn into the in-field just before the west banking. If I had bothered to bypass the limiter I’m sure I could have carried 200 mph through that part of the track.

          I was having a great time until I wrecked. Well, even the wreck was kind of fun.

          1. Cool.
            So the 300 Kmh limit got you eh.

            I haven’t had any experience with banking but have had several Suzuki’s.
            GSX 1100 being the biggest.
            I have done a few laps at Phillip Island on that but don’t know how fast.
            Then I did some more on a 750 GSXR and got to maybe 270.
            I have had a GSXR 1000 for a while but haven’t gone to the track.

            Never ridden a Busa but would have liked to.

            A fun wreck eh? Yep I have had a few of those too.

            Thanks for the story.

  7. It seems to me that one would need to be a Protestant theologian with an advanced degree in the history of Protestant theology (especially Anglo-American) to figure out what’s being referred to re the titles of those children’s books. And once one has figured thing out, finding the humor is an even more difficult and thankless task.

    How many people have even heard of J.N. Darby and Jacob Arminius, much less being familiar with the finer points of their theology?

    I tortured myself this a.m. trying first to learn just what was being referred to re a couple of the titles of the books vis-a-vis the theologians and once I sorta understood, I failed to find any humor in them. I suppose the reference to Arminius refers to his idea that sufficient grace was given by God to all, but one could choose to be saved; this contra the prevailing Calvinist belief in predestination.

    The reference to Darby, must have something to do with his doctrine of “dispensationalism” and “progressive revelation”; but my eyes began to glaze over, and I really don’t give a damn. Much more interesting to read about lead poisoning and the Romans.

  8. That abortion clinic video really shook me up.

    I honestly think that kind of footage would change a small but significant number of minds in this debate. It’s repulsive, truly repulsive.

    Ushering a young, vulnerable woman, about to go through with something few women ever want to do, and you have to cover her in a cloth like she’s a pedophile or a child-murder leaving court??? Running the gauntlet while people tell her she’s a murderer and that her baby is going to be “torn limb from limb”?? What is wrong with these people?

    I don’t think the people outside this clinic are simply ‘principled people whose viewpoints need to be understood and respected’ as has been claimed by a handful of commenters here. I think they’re callous hypocrites devoid of empathy and doped up on tribal righteousness.

      1. Add to that the overlap between pro-lifers and death-penalty advocates…

    2. Yes indeed.
      I despise these people.
      It made me want to go down there and yell unpleasant truths in their ears.
      (That’s the mild version)

      1. Years ago I had an attractive and busty girlfriend who was pro-choice, and who lived near a clinic that was on the way to her condo from my place.

        One day there were protesters there when we drove by. She told me to stop the car and open the moon roof. She then proceeded to remove her top and bra, exposing her breasts, stood up through the moon roof, flipped the bird with both hands, and yelled “fuck all of you!” They stood there with their jaws dropped and silent. It was priceless.

    4. Those fetus freaks are disgusting. That’s not ‘free speech’, that’s thuggery. And in any civilised part of the world the cops would move them on and chuck them in jail if they came back. I’d love to see those thugs on the wrong end of a water cannon.

      I assume that’s in one of the states-that-really-should-have-been-allowed-to-secede then you could build a wall in the right place.

      Sadly, as always, this sort of thing infects other places too – or rather, it encourages the thugs that live in other countries. Here in NZ we had a demonstration by the fetus freaks last week. (The government is proposing to remove abortion from the Crimes Act, which would make sense because the exemptions are so large we do have abortion pretty much on demand).

      cr

  10. I consider VS Naipaul one of the, if not the, greatest recent writers. I thought I had read all his books, but I discovered there are several more. Some of them, such as ‘A house for Mr Biswas’ (his debut, I think) and ‘Miguel Street’ are very approachable, I found other books, such as ‘The Enigma of Arrival’ heavy, dready reads, but his travel books, such as “the Middle Passage’, ‘Among the Believers’ or ‘India, a Wounded Civilization’ among many others, are his best.
    I’m a bit surprised he got a Nobel prize, deeply critical of Islam as he was.
    There is one sentence I can never forget, etched in the brain, and is the most typical Naipaul ever: ” It is tawdry, nothing here was fashioned with love or even skill; there is as result nothing on which the eye rests with pleasure”. How often have we not thought the same?

  11. Aaron Burr, vice-president, killed Alexander Hamilton (former secretary of Treasury) in a duel, but his career ended after that.
    I think that is as close as another duelist came to be a President.

  13. Theologians (they’re mostly pretty contrived and to my mind not very funny, but I guess the author is working under severe constraints):

    Thomas Aquinas / Thomas and Friends: I don’t think there’s any more to this than the name.

    Augustine / Peace at Last: probably a reference to something at the beginning of Augustine’s autobiographical “Confessions”: “O God, you have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you”. (And more generally to the whole Confessions; Augustine says that at the start because he thinks it describes his life.)

    Darby / Whatever Next: Darby was the founder (I think; perhaps actually only the best known exponent?) of an idea called “dispensationalism” according to which human history is best seen as a succession of different periods or “dispensations” in which God is doing different things and relates to humanity in different ways.

    Arminius / You Choose and Calvin / Just Because: Arminius was an opponent of Calvin; Calvin was a predestinationist and believed that people are saved or damned according to the inscrutably arbitrary whim of God (of course he wouldn’t have put it that way), while Arminius believed that people make their own choice of whether to be Christians or not.

    Ursinus / Heidelberg Cat: sorry, no idea at all; never heard of him. (OK, I looked him up. He lived and worked in Heidelberg and wrote a document called the “Heidelberg Catechism”, so I guess that’s it.)

    Arius / Biggest Muddy Puddle: well, Arius was a sort of proto-unitarian, but I don’t see the connection; perhaps AJW is just being rude about the famous heretic, or perhaps he’s referencing some (apparently insufficiently) famous _other_ person’s rudeness about him?

    Becket / Don’t be horrid, Henry: Becket was the archbishop of Canterbury who was murdered at (everyone believes) the command of King Henry II.

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