Last month I posted on Colonel Andrea Thompson’s blog, Andrea’s Adventures, Andrea is a South Dakotan serving in Afghanistan. My niece Deb Peterson has also been blogging from across the pond and her adventures are quite interesting even if not as fast paced and important as Colonel Thompsons.

Deb’s husband is a graphic designer, programmer, and executive type with Google. I am not sure exactly what Josh does but let’s just says he’s high tech and good at it! Last May Josh was transferred to Zurich, Switzerland where Google has it office for European operations.

The Petersons have at this point have no other family other than Stella the Pug, their mutt. They love Stell because they spent nearly 3 grand to take her with them. I expect there’s another 3K involved to get Stella back to the States if they decide to return.

This is their European adventure as in four and one half months they seem to travel nearly every weekend. They have been (and this is not an all inclusive list) to Paris, Stockholm, Hamburg and other points. Several weeks ago Deb did two countries in one day (lunch in Lichtenstein and drinks in Austria).

To chronicle their adventures they are blogging at Peterthals (a combination of Peterson / Rosenthal).  It is an engaging and wonderfully presented blog. (Why wouldn’t it be? – he works on websites at Google).

Recently one of Deb’s post was picked up by another Expat’s (expatriate) blog, Onebigyodel.com, who lauded it for cleverness. It is a very good blog (certainly I am prejudiced) and I look forward to every update.

What really touches me about this blog as well as Col. Thompson’s is how geographically dispersed and occupationally diversified our children’s generation has become from our own; Both economically and culturally. Among other reasons it is because of great advances in technology resulting in improvements in transportation and communications (including the Internet, blogs and even video chats and live video conferencing). Deb live chats very often (approaching daily) over (surprise) Google Chat with her Mom and Dad.

The world has changed and continues to change (very very fast). Our challenge is to adapt with it.

Check out their blog. www.peterthals.com

Alverdezane

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The Manson Family is back in the news.

Yesterday Squeaky Fromme (whom the New York Times dignifies by referring to her repeatedly as Ms. Fromme or Lynette A Fromme) was released from Federal prison custody for her 1975-attempted assassination of President Jerry Ford. The Squeekster was a member of the (now) legendary Manson Family who carried out the Tate-La Bianca murder of 9 people in Hollywood in 1969.

While Squeaky’s parole has been expected an unexpected and far stranger story about Manson also appeared recently. Manson however will not see the outside of a cell in his lifetime.

Coincidentally sharing Manson’s digs at one of the Hotel California’s location is none other than music producer legend Phil Spector. Spector is cooling his heels for about 19 years for the murder for actress Linda Clarkson. According to Spector’s wife Rachelle, Phil told her in a telephone call that he received a note from prison mate Manson. Manson told Spector he wanted to meet with him to discuss his musical career. Reportedly the note said, “Come over to my house.” 

Manson had always harbored the desire for a musical career. The Family murdered mistakenly murdered Sharon Tate and others who were staying at a home being rented from another record producer Terry Melcher (the husband of actress Doris Day.) Manson sent his “Family” to Melcher’s home to murder Melcher after he had refused to help Manson.

Rachelle Spector reported that Phil told her he was “creeped out.” Spector also told his wife, 'I used to pick up the phone and it was John Lennon of Celine Dion or Tina Turner, and now Charles Manson is trying to get a hold of me."

Endbar – One of the greatest True Crime reads of all time is “Helter Skelter” – The True Story of the Manson Murders by prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi. I also note with some interest that Ms. Fromme was released from the Federal Medical Center Carswell in Forth Worth.

Finding a fair protocol to determine which College football team is the National Champion seems to be looking for a government solution like just about every other problem. Talk about socialism – whew!

President Obama has mentioned on several occasions both as a candidate and as President that we need a playoff system. And two weeks ago Utah U S Senator Orrin Hatchheld a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee where he lambasted the BCS system calling it a violation of the Sherman Anti Trust act and then calling for change.

Considering totally nationalizing health care, revolutionizing national environmental and energy policy (climate change / cap & trade), and a Supreme Court nomination confirmation are all on the Congressional plate, do you think our Congress might have something better to do than investigate college football championships?

Given this background and a short piece in this week’s “Sports Illustrated” I began thinking about The Big Shootout in 1969 where President Nixon took it on himself to go to the University of Texas Longhorns vs. Arkansas Razorbacks football game and award the National Championship in the winner’s locker room on live on national television after the game. Fifty Million viewers watched ABC on that Saturday afternoon.

The Longhorns of course won. Final score was 15-14. By way of background of the game following is an excerpt from the book jacket of “Horn’s, Hogs, & Nixon Coming” a social history of the game (I will be reading this soon):

”On December 6, 1969, the Texas Longhorns and Arkansas Razorbacks met in what many consider the Game of the Century. In the centennial season of college football, both teams were undefeated; both featured devastating and innovative offenses; both boasted cerebral, stingy defenses; and both were coached by superior tacticians and stirring motivators, Texas's Darrell Royal and Arkansas's Frank Broyles. On that day in Fayetteville, the poll-leading Horns and second-ranked Hogs battled for the Southwest Conference title -- and President Nixon was coming to present his own national championship plaque to the winners.

Even if it had been just a game, it would still have been memorable today. The bitter rivals played a game for the ages before a frenzied, hog-callin' crowd that included not only an enthralled President Nixon -- a noted football fan -- but also Texas congressman George Bush. And the game turned, improbably, on an outrageously daring fourth-down pass.”

If memory serves me right, going into the final week of the season the four top teams all undefeated were the Horns, Razorbacks, Penn State, and Ohio State. Penn State had already declined the opportunity to play the winner of the Texas / Arkansas game preferring to wait on a Rose Bowl bid to meet (they thought at the time) undefeated current National Champion Ohio State. It turned out that Michigan defeated Ohio State and went to the Rose Bowl. Penn State then went to the Orange Bowl. Texas then defeated Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl. This was the first appearance ever by Notre Dame in a post season bowl game who had never chosen to participate. It should be remembered than in the pre TV big money days there were only four major bowl games (Rose, Cotton, Sugar, and Orange – all played in warmer climates.)

One other factoid too good not to mention was that the game winning extra point was kicked by Texas field goal kicker (I love this name) Happy Feller.

A personal reflection – A former colleague at the Republican National committee was John Paul Hammerschmidt. Hammerschmidt was a former U S Representative from Arkansas. Besides serving 13 terms in the Congress, he also served a couple of stints as State Republican Chairman and National Committeeman from Arkansas. The Congressman is a great story teller and a man of vast experience. He was a great man to share a story with.

Congressman Hammerschmidt is best noted for defeating post Watergate in a huge Democrat year, 1974, a challenge from then 28 year old Bill Clinton who was fresh off leading George McGovern’s campaign for President in Texas.  

One of the great stories that Congressman Hammerschmidt shared with me was his trip with President Nixon to The Big Shootout.

The President took as many members of Congress from Texas and Arkansas that wanted to go to the game with him on Air Force One. The college town of Fayetteville did not have an airport that could service a plane as large as Air Force One. Consequently the President’s plane put down at a nearby Air Force Base and the President and guests were helicoptered over to the practice field adjoining Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.

The pecking order in the helicopters was strictly partisan. The Republicans rode with the President and the Democrats rode in the other helicopter. Riding with the President were Texas Senator John Tower and Congressmen George H. W. Bush and Hammerschmidt. Both Bush and Hammerschmidt were the only Republicans in the U S House from their respective States and I am guessing at the time, Texas had as many as 20 members. Even Senator Fullbright of Arkansas rode with the Dems. Hammerschmidt was a close friend of Bush’s as both started their terms in the U S House in 1967.

President Richard Nixon in the Razorback Stadium stands at the Big Shootout. At left in his row are Arkansas Congressman John Paul Hammerschmidt, also a decorated World War II pilot; and Arkansas Governor Winthrop Rockefeller. Farther down the row, facing the camera, is a very young-looking Texas Congressman, George Bush, who was (and still is) one of Hammerschmidt's close friends. If you look real hard in the row behind them, you can spot the top of Henry Kissinger's head and his glasses. (Comment taken from terryfrei.com/_wsn/page3.html )

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Additional comment on July 11^th - If you look real close at the head and brow just above Arkansas governor Rockefeller, it appears to be none other than former Speaker of the House and then Congressman from Fort Worth Jim Wright.

Straight Talk Commentary – With the mess in the Washington, the mess in the White House and seemingly no one able to figure out how to liquefy the banks, put people back to work, jump start our economy, and increase consumer confidence I often wish for a nice story or a little good news.

I read the following feature in “Sports Illustrated” over the weekend and it lifted my spirits and thought to pass it along to Straight Talk readers. It’s a nice respite from greedy government, greedy Wall Streeters, and greedy doped up millionaire sports stars. Just as I was getting ready to post I read Doug Lund’s blog What A Team. As they use to say about Coke, “it’s the pause that refreshes”. Like to hear a little good news for a change.

Brackets? Minnesota's high school hockey tournament is a purist's dream

Sports Illustrated

By: Michael Farber

March 23, 2009

THE BOYS made a pledge, like many 13-year-olds do. No contract. No blood oath. Just a promise. In 2004, five eighth-graders from Edina, Minn., teammates in the youth hockey program, committed to the same dream. Brendan Baker, Zach Budish, Marshall Everson, Connor Gaarder and Patrick Regan would not merely win the state high school hockey championship someday. They would win it together, for Edina High.

It might not have been an extraordinary pledge in other sports, but in hockey, star players have the opportunity to leave high school for prep schools, junior leagues or the national development program in Ann Arbor, Mich. The idea of playing against better competition, developing more rapidly and enhancing their value to Division I schools or NHL scouts is too seductive for many boys to resist. Stay at your high school and you'll go to your prom—but you might not go to the pros.

No matter: For kids steeped in Minnesota's puck culture some things are more important. "My heroes [growing up] weren't guys who played for the [NHL's Minnesota] Wild," says Baker, 17, a defenseman who will play for Holy Cross next year. "They were guys who played at the high school."

Of course, by pledging to stay in school Edina's Faithful Five were taking another gamble: No matter how skilled they became, their team still might not win the tournament, a feat that carries huge cultural cachet. (Miracle on Ice coach Herb Brooks always said the highlight of his hockey life was not the Olympic gold medal in 1980, but taking the state title with St. Paul's Johnson High in 1955.) Last year when the Faithful Five were juniors, the Hornets lost in the AA final to Hill-Murray, a result that crushed the boys even as it probably tickled the rest of the state. The citizens of Edina, an affluent Twin Cities suburb, have been scornfully dubbed Cake Eaters for at least 50 years. (A Marie Antoinette joke—that is old-time hockey.)

Last Thursday Edina entered the quarterfinals as the No. 1 seed, facing the unranked Spuds from Moorhead, a city of 35,000 on the Red River known for its russet potatoes and as the destination of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper on the day the music died. Moorhead, a team without a Division I prospect, had lost eight straight during one stretch of the season. Edina was going to eat the Spuds' lunch. Instead, Moorhead ate cake, 5--2.

In a postmatch press conference that bubbled with emotion, Baker was asked if he would have made that eighth-grade vow again knowing that he would never achieve his goal. A catch in his voice, he replied, "I wouldn't give up growing up with my friends for anything."

"This is what youth sports should be about," says Lee Smith, the coach of Eden Prairie, an Edina rival. "It's not about rushing your kids out of their households. They can stay back and do something within their own communities, their own schools."

Consider Eden Prairie's star, Nick Leddy, who on Sunday was named the state's Mr. Hockey and might go in the first round of the NHL draft in June. He made the same decision as the Faithful Five, resisting the blandishments of the USA Hockey development program to be, well, a stay-at-home defenseman. "When Nick comes back for his fifth or 10th high school reunion, he'll be a god," Smith says. "If he had traveled to Ann Arbor, where do you go back to when all is said and done?" Leddy weighed the option but chose to stay at Eden Prairie—because, he said in reference to the huge crowds the state tournament draws each year, "where else can you play before 19,000 people?"

He was off by a few thousand. There were 15,967 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul for the Moorhead--Eden Prairie final—a throng, incidentally, larger than that for the men's Big 12 basketball tournament final in Oklahoma City that same day.

There is the embroidery of big-time sports on the fringe of the Minnesota tournament—impressive crowds, statewide television coverage—but it has retained a dewy innocence. Juxtaposed with March Madness, it is March Sanity, a Norman Rockwell painting in which the subjects leap out of the frame and go hard to the net. There are no names on the backs of players' jerseys. The fans wear so many varsity jackets and letter sweaters that the arena looks like an Ozzie and Harriet convention. Even the cheers from the student sections are G-rated, and clever. When a Spuds player was crunched into the end boards in the final, Eden Prairie students chanted, "Mashed po-TA-toes!"

The wholesomeness, coupled with the quality of play, makes the tournament's appeal universal—or at least intercontinental. There are eight or nine fans who come from Sweden every year. (When tiny but storied Roseau High, a tournament darling, didn't get out of its sectional, the Swedes were so disappointed, you would have thought somebody had overcooked their meatballs.) Says Tim Schroeder, a 59-year-old physician's assistant and native Minnesotan who lives five hours away in Dubuque, Iowa, but takes vacation annually to attend the event, "If you like hockey, it's the best you'll ever see. Better than colleges or pros. The Wild is boring compared to high schools."

You might have missed it, but last Saturday's final will never be forgotten by the players and their towns. Leddy went coast-to-coast and snapped in an NHL-heavy 35-foot wrist shot, and Eden Prairie won its first championship, 3--0. Moorhead players were disconsolate, but the news that a celebration was scheduled for them back home the next day should have lightened their moods. "Little kids are asking us for our [broken] sticks and our autographs all the time," says Trent Johnson, Moorhead's 18-year-old captain. "They look up to us." Johnson is 5'4".

Future Spuds don't have to raise their gazes too high to see a reflection of themselves. Like the Edina seniors who gambled and lost a state championship but won everything else, the Moorhead players are a template for the valor and value of youth sports in a nation where kids' fun and games have lost their way.

America, these Spuds are for you

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Paul Harveyleft us last Saturday. This is post is not so much a testament to Paul Harvey as an acknowledgment of the passing of an Age.

I was never as enamored with Paul Harvey as a reporter as I was as a Broadcaster. He brought to an art the “News and Commentary” format. Though I listened to Harvey sporadically (depending on what station I happened to listed to at the time) through the years I never much cared for his as a news source but found him brilliant in having his pulse on the heart and minds of everyday hard working Americans.

He was brilliant in understanding the popular culture. Hell, he was the popular culture in Middle America. Nearly as impressive was his skill as a pitchman. He was one selling piece of machinery.

Harvey represented old media. Get your news at 7:30 and Noon regular as clockwork five days a week. For almost 60 years you could depend on Paul Harvey not to tell you what was going on but what was important.

Today in the Digital Age it’s more that 24/7. It’s more that newspapers, radio, and television.  For many Americans it is the PID – Personal Information Device.

In contrast: Last Saturday in the space of 20 minutes I heard of Harvey’s passing from both my children. My son heard from a companion at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville Bar and Grill on the Las Vegas strip and text messaged me the news. My daughter shortly thereafter forwarded an email of the news about Harvey that she had received from a blast email from a media industry source she gets industry updates from.

Paul Harvey has left us and will be remembered as has the structured media he so well represented.

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Straight Talk is tardy again in commenting on the passing of the notable stage and screen actor James Whitmore.

Whitmore who was probably best noted for his one man shows and impersonations of Harry Truman (Give ‘em Hell, Harry), Theodore Roosevelt (Bully: An Adventure with Teddy Roosevelt), and Will Rogers (Will Rogers’ USA); although he appeared in literally hundreds of performances on the Big Screen and on Television. His most noted movie performances were in Battle Cry, Tora Tora Tora, and musicals Kiss Me Kate and Oklahoma.

Whitmore won a Tony award for his performance on Broadway in “Command Decision.” He was nominated for an Academy Award in the movie adaptation of“Give ‘em Hell Harry.”

My favorite role was his portrayal of Slug in the movie adaptation of the Cole Porter musical “Kiss Me Kate.” One of the greatest scenes in American Musical Theatre is Whitmore singing and dancing with Keenan Wynn in the vibrant “Brush Up Your Shakespeare.”

I was unable to locate an Internet version of the wonderful if not great scene. You should go to the video store and rent Kiss Me Kate to see it. What follows is the You Tube trailer from Kiss Me Kate. A careful watch shows just a snippet of “Brush Up Your Shakespeare.”

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 Monday commemorates the 50^th Anniversary of the historic final performance by Buddy Holly at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa and the subsequent fatal airplane crash of Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens.

Carl Perkins said that Rock and Roll music has a magical ability in its beat for two or three minutes to make you forget your troubles. Perhaps truer words have never been spoken.

Rock & Roll is here to stay!

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Andrew Wyeth – Joe Hirsch - Trammell Crow

American lost some of her most accomplished Citizens in the last couple of weeks.

Andrew Wyeth one on the 20^th Century’s most popular American Artists passed away last week at the age of 91.

Wyeth was the son of N C Wyeth and brother to Henriette Wyeth Hurd. His father was a renowned artist and illustrator who had studied under the the great mentor Howard Pyle whose art style evolved into what is known as The Brandywine School. Another of Pyle’s star pupils was Harvey Dunn a favorite son of South Dakota. N C Wyeth served as Best Man at Dunn’s wedding.  

Wyeth’s sister Henriette was married to Peter Hurd, the great Southwestern artist and illustrator from Roswell, New Mexico. Hurd is my favorite contemporary American artist. In 1967 Hurd painted what would have been President Lyndon Johnson’s Official White House portrait but his rendering was not accepted. LBJ called it “the ugliest thing I ever saw.”  The painting now resides in the National Portrait Gallery. Andrew Wyeth’s son, Jamie is also an acclaimed American artist, much in the style of his Grandfather N C.

Throughout his life Andrew was somewhat controversial. In 1986 headlines were made with the release of the Helga Pictures, detailed paintings of a woman posing in landscapes. The paintings were done without the knowledge of Wyeth’s wife or Helga’s husband. In 1987 the Helga Pictures were displayed at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D C and went on a national tour. Wyeth’s most well know image is “Christina’s World” an image of a paralyzed woman in an open and treeless field looking across the landscape to a house and a barn in the distance.

From Wikipedia - Wyeth was the recipient of numerous honorary degrees. He received the 2007 National Medal of Arts from President Bush. 1963, Andrew Wyeth became the first painter to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  In 1977, he became the first American artist since John Singer Sargent elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts. In 1980, Wyeth became the first living American artist to be elected to Britain's Royal Academy. In 1987 Wyeth received a D.F.A. from Bates College. On November 9, 1988, Wyeth received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor bestowed by the United States legislature.

Joe Hirsch one of America’s great sportswriters left us on January 9. Hirsch who early in his career wrote for the New York Times, was a writer for the Daily Racing Form for almost 50 years and was their Executive Columnist.

Hirsch was often referred to as the Dean of Thoroughbred Racing writers. Hirsch was a joy to read and brought great knowledge, history, and wit to the printed page.  The press box at both Saratoga Race Course and Churchill Downs Race Course are named in his honor.

Joe and Joe - A great story of Hirsch’s life is that he was Broadway Joe Namath’s roommate for several years when Joe first arrived in Big Apple fresh out of the University of Alabama. The New York Jets owner at the time was Sonny Werblin who also owned racehorses and was a good friend of Joe Hirsch.

(Taken from the DRF obit) Joe Namath had a playboy reputation, and Werblin asked Hirsch if he would room with Namath and take him under his wing. Seemingly opposite in personality and temperament, Hirsch and Namath nevertheless roomed together from 1965 to 1976 and became lifelong friends. "We hit it off immediately," Namath wrote in Daily Racing Form when Hirsch retired.

For a more complete profile of this colorful and wonderful writer see his Obituary at the Daily Racing Form.

Trammell Crow- Legendary Dallas Real Estate Developer Trammell Crowe passed away last week at the age of 94. In 1971 Forbes magazine called Crow the largest landlord in the United States. In fact Crow was the World’s biggest real estate developer. In his lifetime he built 100 million square feet of commercial buildings.

Crow was a solid free enterprise Republican and was friends of Presidents Nixon, Ford, and George H W Bush. He in large part was responsible for bringing the Republican National Convention that nominated Ronald Reagan for his second term to Dallas in 1984.

Trammell Crow was as Big as Big D and as big as Texas. Part of Crow’s business success was his unorthodox approach to real estate. He liked to own his own properties rather than using investors and he preferred short leases. He was quoted as saying “You can get rich selling real estate but you can only get wealthy by owning it.” He liked the shorter lease because it enabled him to raise rents more frequently.

Crow was part of building many American cities in the second half of the Twentieth Century, Dallas, Atlanta, San Francisco, Charlotte, and Kansas City among others. He was an American Titan.

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Clint Eastwood’s new movie, “Gran Torino” arrives this week nationwide and most reviews proclaim it a great movie.    

Eastwood who is 78  directed and stars in the film claims it is his last movie. That is what he said about “Million Dollar Baby” in 2004 for which he won the 2005 Academy Awards – Oscar for Best Achievement in Directing and Best Motion Picture. Clint was nominated for Best Actor and lost, though his co stars, Hillary Swank won Best Actress in a leading role and Morgan Freeman won Best Actor in a supporting role.

What fascinates me (besides admiring Clint Eastwood’s grit and acting skill) about “Gran Torino” is that Clint sings (perhaps harmonizes is a better description) in this movie in a song aptly named Gran Torino. The song was written by Kyle Eastwood who scripted the entire score of the film. Not coincidentally, Kyle is Clint’s son.

In an earlier movie “Bronco Billy”, Eastwood portrayed Bronco Billy McCoy a Brooklyn born shoe salesman turned Wild West Showman. The movie is about misfit characters who find that with some determination they can find the best in themselves and take from life their desires.

Eastwood sings in the movies soundtrack as well. He does a duet with none other than Merle Haggard singing one the greatest honk tonk tunes of all times, the George Jones ballad “Barroom Buddies.” The soundtrack also includes another classic C & W barroom recital by Haggard “Missery and Gin. The other celebrated classic of the movie is “Cowboys and Clowns” sung by Ronnie Milsap.

For more on Eastwood’s music check out Eastwood Recordings.

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