Wild Weekend

So what do Mr. & Mrs Troutbirder do on a dreary, cold weekend in March in Minnesota? If cabin fever has taken over and they are bored silly? They head off to the Twin Cities for some fun and excitement, by visiting their good friends, Gary & Rosie.
We motored north. It’s about a two hour drive from the middle-of-nowhere to Apple Valley. Arrival meant catching up on family news and recent activities. Then we got going on summer vacations and travel ideas. We’ve camped all over the lower 48 with this couple and even did a six week trip to Alaska and back with them.

This has been going on since before kids. In other words, we’re compatible. A year ago, besides Minnesota outings, we went together, birding and Twins spring training watching in Fort Myers, Florida. With many options for this year explored, we grabbed a quick bite and headed off to the Sports Pavilion on the University of Minnesota campus.
The renamed pavilion was an old familiar venue from my college days at the U. Then it was the Golden Gophers men's hockey teams arena (Women’s college hockey hadn’t been invented yet.) Now, refurbished. it houses men's and women’s gymnastics, men’s wrestling and women’s volleyball. We were there for men's gymnastics. What fun to watch these most athletic of any athletes. The Gophers were taking on the hated Hawkeyes from Iowa and the Nittany Lions of Penn State.
Of course, getting in the collegiate spirit, after the meet we adjourned to another local establishment featuring adult beverages. Needless to say, Troutbirder and Co. stayed up much later than his usual appointed bedtime.
The next day found the crew attending a more age appropriate activity. It was a community concert featuring the Velvet Tones and starring friend Gary himself. They were in concert with the local elementary school choir. The groups consists of seniors 55 and up who just plain love to sing.

That's my "best man" Gary a few decades later, back row, far right singing his heart out. Non-profit, theVelvet Tones appear in various settings throughout the Metro area and even did a gig on the stage at the Guthrie theater in Minneapolis. They "rock" in surprising ways, doing contemporary as well as traditional music. The highlight of Sunday's performance was listening to the energetic seniors combine with the equally energetic elementary students in singing "Why We Sing. Great!".

Generals In Blue and Gray

Wilmer L Jones has written an introduction to the Civil War. After thousands and thousand and thousands of books on the subject he is introducing it? Indeed! Let me explain. This volume uses biographical sketches of twenty-one Union generals to tell the story of the Civil War and examine the implementation of Northern strategy. Among these generals are prominent figures like Ulysses S. Grant, George McClellan, and William T. Sherman, as well as Daniel Sickles, whose actions sparked intense controversy at Gettysburg, and the lesser known John McClernand, a congressman who lobbied for his own appointment. In Wilmer Jones's accounts, which focus on character, personality, leadership ability, military skill, and politics, each general comes starkly to life.
This well written volume might appeal to two widely differenct categories of people:
(1) the total Civil War novice. That is the person who was more focused on the opposite sex in 10 grade history, feel asleep there or only recently came to the realization that it could be interesting and worthwhile to know about. The book is like looking over the cast of character description in an play before you see the play. Who are these people?
(2) the total civil war buff and expert. That is the person who has read hundreds of books on the subject, can describe in detail strategy, details and consequences of nearly every battle that was fought. The interest would be in finding out where these people came from, their family background, education, romantic interests and what happened to them after the war was over. Also when they died and where they were buried, in case you want to visit any or all of the cemetaries.
Would you believe believe I read every word? And plan to check out Volume Two: Davis's Generals.
Your right. I'm a Civil War buff. It's an obsession.

Red Hatters - A Secret Cult Revisited

It has been brought to my attention recently, that a group of possible extremists may be hiding their nefarious social plots beneath the guise of a flamboyent lifestyle. Who are these people and what are they up to? On the surface they appear to be local collections of grandmotherly types. But research reveals that they have "cells" scattered all across the nation.

Yes, I have a personal connection to this suspicious group. Last summer I was invited by Mrs. T. herself to "go along" for the afternoon to a local fishing hot spot. There number of ladies wearing red hats showed up and quickly commandeered the pontoon boat moored to the dock. The hapless husbands were enticed to remain behind on the deck by coolers full of beer and other adult beverages. "What gives here", I thought, when I noticed not a single female entering the pontoon had brought a fishing pole with them. It soon became evident that they were heading off to a secretive rendezvous. Perhaps to meet others of their own persuasion?

When the group returned, some hours later, they appeared to be in a frivoulous mood. It was then that I noticed several had brought binoculars with them. Again to what suspicious purpose? During the lighthearted conversation that occured during the beer and brats picnic that followed, someone let slip that the next meeting of the group might be at a casino in Iowa, a state known for its radical corn growing and hog raising types. Obviously these women were now prepared to take great gambles in their endeavors. I tried to imagine what this was all about, but couldn't draw any definite conclusions.

It was a fellow blogger who first spotted and then photographed , for the first time, one of their semi-secret headquarters, tucked away in the hills of southeastern Minnesota. A large silo like building, gaudily painted in purple, with a red roof on the top. A secret signal, no doubt. Extreme, yes, but brazen as well. This cult must be gaining quickly in self-confidence, whatever their plans are!

Warning by Jenny Josep,

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple

With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.

And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves

And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.

I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired

And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells

And run my stick along the public railings

And make up for the sobriety of my youth.

I shall go out in my slippers in the rain

And pick flowers in other people's gardens And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat

And eat three pounds of sausages at a go

Or only bread and pickle for a week

And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes

.But now we must have clothes that keep us dry

And pay our rent and not swear in the street

And set a good example for the children.

We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?

So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised

When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

My Losing Season - Part 2

Pat Conroy wrote best sellers like the Prince of Tides, The Lords of Discipline, and The Great Santani. Some were made into popular movies. And then their was My Losing Season, a memoir of his year playing on a losing basketball team, at the Citadel, a military college in Charleston, South Carolina. He will tell you in that book, that winning is easy. Sure enough. That Americans love winners. That losing is hard.... and that it saved his life. That last part got my attention and interest.
This is not a feel good jock book. It is, though, about basketball, which I coached and love. It’s also more about growing up, and a family where the father, an authoritarian, tyrannical Marine colonel, beat his wife and children. And a son, who finds athletics his escape and avenue into adulthood. It’s describes life in a military school and the "plebe system" common to all schools of that type. It was the most demeaning type of "character building" education you could imagine. Pat is front row, second from the left, on the team picture.

There is much in this book that I found truely appalling and ordinarily would not even consider reading. The authors writing style is often over the top, with plenty of seemingly exaggerated adjectives. There is also basketball jargon and "insider" talk. And yet, it was one of those books I couldn’t put down. Perhaps, it was my curiosity as to the bottom line. Where did all the physical and mental abuse at home, in school and on the practice floor lead ? Were there any redeeming qualities in this story? How did a boy with such a background become a world renowned writer? What happened to the men, whose promising team, was broken by another authoritarian and insensitive character, their college coach? That’s why I stuck with it to end. Was it worth it? Yes. Or as Conroy claims, loss is the experience that teaches us the most about dealing with life itself. I believe that...

My Losing Season

This is a book review. It's about author Pat Conroys book, My Losing Season. It also gets personal. It's about some of my own experiences in coaching high school athletics. I'll start with that.... Small rural school districts, like the kind I taught in for nigh 40 years, often have a hard time keeping coaches. Ther are lots of reasons for this, starting with community gripes against "losing coaches & records", and parental complaints on the "fact" that my all star son or daughter doesn't get to play enough. That's always been there but the recent trend toward scapegoating public education for all the ills of modern society hasn't helped either.
When I was a young teacher, I was determined to separate myself from the image of history and social studies teachers as "jocks." Although I loved football, basketball and tennis, I wanted to focus purely on academics. I'm not even sure where that came from. But it was there and so for twenty years that's what I did. I had even turned down higher paying jobs and promotions because I was unwilling to coach.
Then, when my sons were mostly grown up and out of high school, I was ready to do something new. Our athletic directer, unable to find male teachers to coach, asked me to consider taking football & basketball. "Well if you want somerone to install a single wing offense on the football team, (that system was big in the 30's thru the 50's) I'll consider it," I replied. He laughed. I decided to take the basket ball job, of which, I knew even less of the modern game.
My reasoning was quite simple. Athletics was also under fire especially in the era of public budget cutting in education. I knew from my own experieces and that of my sons, how valuable sports could be to young people in growing up. That is, in terms of building self confidence, character, teamwork and friendships. I also was looking for a new avenue to relate to the boys in my classes. It was perfect for that. And so, halfway through my teaching career, I decided to become a jock... well sort of. This was after most of my friends and contempories had given the trade up.
I learned the modern game, in all its complexities and got, I must say, pretty good at teaching it. More important, I knew kids, their ups and downs, their families, and their hearts from classroom experiences. I shuffled them all in and out of games ,in situations where they could be successful and be the best they could be as a team. I'm often reminded by parents of games and situations they witnessed their sons grow and learn. Like the young man, of limited ability, but was a decent free throw shooter, who was sent into a game against an arch rival with a couple of seconds left. Our team was behind ( it was always "we" not I) by a single point. We set up a play inbounds under our offensive basket. Our best player got the ball and was swarmed by two defenders. He passed the ball ( as planned) to our twelfth man standing alone in the corner. That boy broke along the baseline to shoot, as instructed, gots fouled and in the final second made two freethrows to win. To this day, his mother reminds me of this and says it was the highlight of his school days.
It was so much fun. Yes, one year we lost every game. On a couple of occasions, after foul outs we had only four players left on the floor. And yet, I have fond memories of that team. They never quit. They never complained or blamed each other. It stood them well later n life. In more recent years , with several very talented teams, we won 57 straight games. And those teams played with class and humility. Which, in my roundabout way, of thinking leads me to a book about basketball and growing up. About coaches and fathers. About a military college (The Citadel) and the "plebe system." Above discipline and love. About failure and redemption. About heart and soul. Best selling author, Pat Conroy tells it all in My Losing Season. It's told in the language of athletics but it's really about life. I"ll tell you what fascinated, stunned and even appalled me about this intruiguing book.
Next......

Seabiscuit

I read and reviewed Laura Hillenbrands smash bestseller, Unbroken, here several weeks ago. I was so impressed by that true and remarkable story of survival, I decided to go back ten years in time. Hillenbrands first success was another true story, this time about a super athlete..... a horse. Seabiscuit was under sized, unappreciated and an underdog, until a few men recognized his true worth and gave him the chance to be a champion.

One little tidbit, in l938, this racehorse drew more headlines, articles and ink that Franklin Roosevelt and Adolph Hitler. If as a child you enjoyed " I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. I know I can." — Little Engine That Could , try this one for a grown up version.

Seabiscuit. Yes, I saw the movie ten years ago. The movie was good. The book is great. Including a description of the greatest race of all time - Seabiscuit versus War Admiral. I loved it

Here’s how famed sports writer Grantland Rice captured the race in his prose.
"The drama and melodrama of this match race, held before a record crowd keyed to the highest tension I have ever seen insport, set an all time mark.
You must get the picture from the start to absorb the thrill of this perfect autumn day over a perfect track. As the two thoroughbreds paraded to the post there was no emotional outburst. The big crowd was too full of tension, the type of tension that locks the human throat.
You looked at the odds flashed upon the mutual board–War Admiral, one to four, Seabiscuit two to one.Even those backing War Admiral, the great majority of the crowd, felt their pity for the son of Hard Tack and Swing On [Seabiscuit], who had come along the hard way and had churned up the dust of almost every track from the Great Lakes to the Gulf, from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
After two false starts,they were off. But it wasn’t the fast-flying War Admiral who took the lead.It was Seabiscuit, taking the whip from Woolf, who got the jump. It was Seabiscuit who had a full-length lead as they passed the first furlong. The Admiral’s supporters were dazed as the ‘Biscuit not only held this leadbut increased it to two lengths before they passed the first quarter.
The ‘Biscuit’ was moving along as smoothly as a southern breeze.And then the first roar of the big crowd swept over Maryland. The Admiral was moving up. Stride by stride, Man o’ War’s favorite offspring was closing up the open gap. You could hear the roar from thousands of throats“Here he comes, here he comes!”
And the Admiral was under full steam.He cut away a length.He cut away another length as they came to the half-mile post–and now theywere running head and head.The Admiral looked Seabiscuit in the eye at the three-quarters but Seabiscuit never got the look.He was too busy running with his shorter, faster stride.
For almost a half mile they ran as one horse, painted against the green, red and orange foliage of a Maryland countryside. They were neck and neck — head and head — nose and nose.
The great Admiral had thrown his challenge.You could see that he expected Seabiscuit to quit and curl up." .......

And then.... well, Hillenbrand tells the rest of the story.

Parade

The Grands. Ethan (Fargo, North Dakota), Leonard (Kilgali, Rwanda), Tensae (Ethiopia)

Washington's Crossing

Just another book about the revolutionary war? Not really. Top gun historian David Hackett Fischer won the Pulitzer Prize for Washington’s Crossing. There must have been something special about it. There was.
Professor Fischer follows General Washington as he led the crossing of the iced Delaware River during Christmas 1776. On the surface, it seemed insane to cross to the other side to face an alleged much superior force of professional enemy soldiers. However, the author shows that the overwhelming odds were in reality not quite so insurmountable. During much of the year, the American rag tag army developed a new form of hit and run fighting. It was suited to the Americans capabilities and resources. It also lacked rigidity of the British troops and their Hessian mercenaries. Some myths that Professor Fischer debunks include the Hessians were not drunk, but bone weary from constant assault from guerillas and the weapon differential between the two forces was not even close to the legends
Thanks to modern computing and research methods, we know more about the past than ever before. This allows the best historians to present fresh insights in long ago events.
More importantly Washington's Crossing is a nonfiction book that reads like fiction. It represents the best of modern American history writing. Original, insightful, well researched , and best of all, so well written as to be what is called in the book trade, a page turner. Really!

The King's Speech

The King’s Speech is a wonderful, heartwarming movie. Yes, I know some might be less than sympathetic to the notion that the King of Great Britain and Emperor of India and points in all directions, would have a serious problem with a speech impediment such as stammering. I mean, how tough can it be if your King, and have a beautiful Queen and two darling daughters? Well, think about it. We’re all human, king or not.

Really, if you’re an embarrassment to your parents and yourself, even a patient and super supportive wife might not be enough.
The Duke of York never expects to become King until his brother decides to marry a twice divorced American, who has had previous "experience" in China and the job falls in his lap. Then, there is Hitler looming on the horizon. And all previous attempts to "cure" his affliction have failed. That is, until his wife makes an appointment for him to seek help from a specialist, who doesn’t even have proper credentials. The plot is set..... and the movie is actually great. It’s a rare thing these days to see a real "adult" movie. That’s adult in the best sense of the word. Characterizations that ring true to the circumstances. Relationships that exist, change and develop in plausible ways. No gratuitous sex or violence. Leaving the theater and saying "that was a great movie." I liked it.