Big Daddy Type 2

1950′s

bigdaddytype2 — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:51:07 +0000

I was thinking yesterday about mouton coats. Everyone I had a “car date” with in the late 1950′s wore these in the winter months. At the time I thought they were really elegant (the coats, I mean). I may have to buy one on EBay. I also thought about Bank day in elementary school. Seems like every Tuesday we brought a little money to be recorded in a bank book the teacher kept. She called us up one by one to make our deposit. I always enjoyed this time because we could do our own thing while the teacher took the money and wrote down our deposit amount. It usually took about 10 or 15 minutes. At the end of the year we got the book to take home. I saved enough through school to buy part of my first car, a 1952 Chevrolet hardtop that someone had customized with mouton-like carpet. Total cost was $795.00.

I also liked our annual field trip to Mrs. Bairds Bakery. They always gave us a piece of French bread slathered with butter at the end of the tour. As I recall, the trips to Mrs. Bairds alternated with tours to the Water Works. I don’t remember if they gave us a glass of water at the end of that tour.

I talked with Al Loftis yesterday. He was one of my colleagues when I taught at Lander College in South Carolina. When we lived there in the early 1970′s he had a female mutt named “Sally,” and we had a female Scottish Terrier named “T-Bone.” He told me yesterday that he had just gotten a Labradoodle, who turned out to be a pretty intelligent dog. I asked if his new dog was smarter than Sally. He said that the new dog was a lot smarter, that Sally was just a “country girl.”

Sad State of Affairs

bigdaddytype2 — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 18:13:17 +0000

I have complained about how grammar has deteriorated for a long time. In particular, using “ran” for “run” bugs me. I finally heard a classic. A football broadcaster said “If the receiver had run his route, excuse me, had ran his route correctly…” Just breaks your heart.

Gold

bigdaddytype2 — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 06:38:50 +0000

I don’t know about you, but you will never catch me buying gold from one of those pitchmen on the Fox Business Channel. Some of those characters look like they just got out of prison. Take a close look at the spokesperson from Merit Financial. He looks like a bad used car salesman. On the other hand, be sure to TIVO the Smithsonian Channel’s Aerial America series and CBS Sunday Morning. These are two of the best things going. Aerial America is like being a bird, flying over countryside and important monuments. I guarantee you will never get such a view by visiting those places in person. On another topic, we just got back from seeing the Bolshoi Ballet (repeat of a live performance). These opera and ballet performances at movie theatres are the best thing to happen in the world of “culture’” in a long time Unfortunately, they don’t promote themselves very well, so you have to dig to find out where and when the performances are shown. While watching tonight’s performance, my daughter Amy was reminded of high school, when a professional ballet troupe performed as part of a Christmas program. Unfortunately, one of the ballerinas got too close to a papier-mache snowman on the stage and knocked its head off! Though the audience laughed uproariously, the ballerina kept going without interruption. I wish I had been there. The contrast between the gentleness of the art and the violence of the act must have been something to behold. Oh, one final thing. I saw a great New Yorker cartoon. Someone is reading an obituary which states that the deceased is survived by a wife, two children, and 22 Twitter followers.

Jury "Doody"

bigdaddytype2 — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 20:33:16 +0000

A high point of the last few weeks was our purchase of a new “potty,” an American Standard Champion to replace the “silent flush” Kohler that was here when we purchased the house a decade ago. The salesman pointed out that he and I were not getting any younger, and that the new high models (used to be called “handicapped”) make it easier to get up and down. He then got on and off the floor model to show me how easy it was. I was captivated, but there was more. He said that the Champion model could flush five golf balls at the same time. I told him that I lived on a golf course, and often find golf balls in the back yard. But I said that I preferred to collect them and pass them on to golfers on the course rather than flush them away. He looked down but did not say anything. I tried to smooth things over by saying that such a feature would be great in nursing homes, where such a capability could really be put to the test on the “real thing.” Anyway, the conversation had pretty well broken down by that point, but I had already made my decision, so I said we should go for it. Unfortunately, when the installer came, he said that the install package did not include the removal of the old unit. He refused to take it, and left it on the front porch. I thought that it might send the wrong message to leave it there over the weekend, so I had to haul it off myself to our office dumpster. For all of you wranglers out there who might be considering a purchase, note that Lowe’s carries off the old unit, but Home Depot does not, without an extra charge. The details are buried in the contract.

Also today I got a jury summons. Included was a pass allowing me to ride the DART shuttle free to and from the downtown court. On the back was a list of exemptions. One exemption was for being OVER 70 years of age. Having just reached that milestone, I interpreted it to mean that one day over 70 would exempt me from serving, rather that having to wait until I was 71. Anyway, I signed that I was “over 70″ and mailed it back. I am arranging legal counsel in case the city tries to fight, and will take it all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary.

More Reunions

bigdaddytype2 — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 03:34:42 +0000

Had a reunion of our old elementary school a few months ago. It went surprisingly well, with about 12 members of the Carroll Peak Elementary class of 1954 in attendance. Though our youngest son said that in the class picture they looked like “cafeteria workers” I thought they were a surprisingly stable lot. We had secretaries, maintenance workers, boot salesmen, and clerks, but no druggies or criminals. We plan to do it again in a year or two. We also had another family reunion at Horseshoe Bay, with about 80 in attendance, a few weeks later. In the past, we had done it in Brownwood at the home of one of the family members (everything took place outside under trees), but this setting was better since the room we rented was large and air conditioned. Guess we will be doing it again in two years.

Root Canal

bigdaddytype2 — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 02:48:32 +0000

I went to the dentist today, and was told that I need a root canal. That brought back memories of my last root canal in 1950. Cousin Gary and I lived in a house with an open porch on the second level. One day a group of tough neighborhood kids were yelling at us from the yard below, and we decided to get ‘em. Several movies of that era had scenes where the inhabitants of the castle threw boiling oil on invaders. We decided to copy their strategy, and heated water to a boil on the stove. As Gary boiled, I took the pans and threw them off the porch at the throngs below. It was a slow process and did not achieve the intended result since they had time to get out of the way. After two or three pots were thrown I was ready with another when a well-placed rock from below hit me on the front tooth, breaking it in half. The tooth turned black shortly thereafter, and required two treatments a week apart. As I mentioned before, this was a tough neighborhood.

SUV

bigdaddytype2 — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 21:16:59 +0000

I recently pulled up behind an SUV at a red light, and was shocked to see several stickers on the back indicating that the owner of the vehicle had several children. One was an elementary honor student,and another was a junior high soccer player (I presume a good one). I don’t know if the SUV owner had any other children, but if so these two were definitely the pride of the family. What surprised me was that these stickers were on an SUV. I always thought that people who drove SUVs were rock climbers, game hunters, off-road explorers and such. According to the media, “family” wagons are supposed to be minivans, not SUVs. As the proud owner of a minivan, I have been hurt by ads that portray minivans as taxis for soccer moms. In particular I remember the ad with the muscular guy in the weight room at a local gym, and an announcement over the loud speaker advising the owner of a “tan minivan” that his lights were on. Humiliated, the guy tried to act like the announcement pertained to someone else. I fail to understand why owners of such a practical transportation solution have to endure this kind of abuse. After all, a minivan is as roomy or roomier than an SUV, better riding since it has a car frame rather than a truck frame, easier to enter and exit because it is lower, more convenient in a tight space since it has sliding doors rather than open-out doors, and more economical to operate since it is more aerodynamic. In a few years we will all be asking “What were we thinking?” As long as we are on the subject of automobiles, I am still in love with oval headlights. That is why I am hanging on to my two ten-year old E Class Mercedes Benzes. I was sorry when Mercedes got away from that headlight design concept, since I feel it was a step backward, but sadly I was not consulted. What I like about the oval headlights is that they seem so retro, and revive the feeling that it is 1940 . When I am driving one these vehicles I like to imagine myself as a high-level Nazi official, on my way to an important meeting.

What’s In a Name

bigdaddytype2 — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 21:41:29 +0000

I just read that Emma replaced Emily as the most popular girl’s name after Emily was on top for seven years. I have spent a lot of time thinking about good names that are not used, or under used. For example, as a tribute to the legal profession why not have a girl’s name like Subpoena (spelled Suppena) or Felony (spelled Fellanie). As a tribute to the commercial world how about Levitra or Neutrogena. We met a nurse who had a new welfare mother name her daughter Female, since that was written on the birth certificate. I have always thought it would be nice to pay tribute to modern technology. I can imagine Byron Inkjet Williams as a worthy name, for example. Adolph Manson Johnson would be another name sure to provoke discussion. Household supplies would also make good names. ShamWay Miller, or Babo Bennett or Tide Reese; what wonderful names!

Observations

bigdaddytype2 — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 20:08:41 +0000

Heard that some of the ticket holders to the Super Bowl who were denied entrance ( some of the seats were not completed) have sued, saying that the trauma from the experience has induced PTSD, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Has anyone noticed that in recent films in moments of high stress the actors often wash their faces. I do not remember that in older films. I used to drive me crazy in “art” films (usually French) when we had to watch every step as the protagonist made himself a sandwich or did some other mundane task. Saw in the paper that Baylor has a female basketball player named Odyssey Sims. Heard a reference on the news to someone named LaQuandria. One of the best things going these days is Live at the Met Opera performances shown at local theatres. Unfortunately the promotions are so poor that it is difficult to find when and where the performances are taking place. Just saw King Lear on the National Theatre Live series (same concept as the opera but for drama) last night, and enjoyed a stellar performance. Unfortunately it too was not well promoted. Can’t somebody do something?

Throwaway Line

bigdaddytype2 — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 21:43:30 +0000

I enjoyed the line from the recent Modern Family series where the kids find the parents in a compromising position when they enter their bedroom unannounced. Later, downstairs one of the kids asks what the parents were doing, and another responds “I don’t know, but it looked like Dad was winning.” I think that Modern Family and The Office are two of the best-written programs today. I was sad to see Arrested Development go since it was also first rate. The saddest story is the slow death of Saturday Night Live. They have tried everything to revive it, including bringing back old stars and skits, but it still reminds me of a program on life support.