Laugh It Up

We should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh.

Nietzsche
*******************
In Eugene O'Neill's play "Long Days Journey Into Night" James Tyrone wants to know what his young son Edmund is laughing about and he says he's laughing at life because it's so funny.

Ancient Greek theatre was a very vibrant, powerful and important one. There would be a festival at which four plays were presented all by the same author. The plays were based on ancient Greek history or legend. It often took a year to prepare them. The acting and the writing needed to be spectacular to hold a Greek audience for that length of time, and they were. Many of those plays still exist and the few famous ones, Oedipus the King, Hecuba, Medea, sometimes show up in regional theatres and Off-Broadway.

Though the plays took their plots from stories everyone knew the themes were relevant to life and portrayed the tragedies and dramas of human existence. While the first three plays in the festival were tragedies and high dramas the fourth play was a comedy. It was a parody, a satire on the same topic as the first three plays. After the audience had been put through the thunder dramas of life they were allowed to laugh about it.

Many of those ancient plays have been lost. But, and here a classical scholar, if there is one reading this, can inform me further if I'm mistaken, as far as I know only one of those final satires still exists: The Cyclops by Euripides, based on the Ulysses story.

There is a great lesson here. There isn't anything in life, no matter how dramatic, tragic or terrifying it may be that doesn't deserve to be laughed at. My developed and cherished sense of humor allows me to poke fun at everything about life, except other people. People change, life doesn't. To make fun of people is a bad way to get a laugh. I don't listen to people like Limbaugh, Leno and Beck. They take delight in putting other people down by scorning them and trying to make me laugh at them. It's cheap. low level. decadent humor and a total waste of my time.

DB
*******************

SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)

In your opinion what is the most amazing thing that could happen during this decade? Make it as outrageous as you want but keep it within the realm of what you consider a possibility.

14 responses so far.

Answers will be published the first day of Summer.

Thank you.

dbdacoba@aol.com

DB - The Vagabond
*******************

Weekend Puzzle Answers

Easy Weekend Quiz
FOUNDING FATHERS
How many names do not fit on this list, who are they and why.

John Adams
Benjamin Franklin
Alexander Hamilton
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
George Washington
(Good luck)
DB
*******************
I was expecting someone to say Franklin and Hamilton since all the others were Presidents. But instead I got two different answers and both of them are correct.

First from Paula of the Email Lions for: Only Adams, Franklin, and Jefferson signed the Declaration of Independence.

Shortly after that came Val for the Blogspot Tigers with: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson weren't present at the writing of the Constitution.

So now I have two grand winners and only one grand prize. I would hate to cut it in half. So I'll just offer my congratulations to both of you and keep the Bill Of Rights Beach Towel for another day.

DB

Inventing Art

Success is a journey, not a destination.

Arthur Ashe
*******************
I used to say that I reinvented the art of acting with every new role I got. I was half joking but there was some truth to it. Naturally I would bring my skill and my accumulated experience into rehearsal. But there was always a new landscape, a new fabric to the event.

There was q totally different character to portray and give life to, with a different constellation of mental, emotional and psychological elements to him. Perhaps there was an unfamiliar playwright who presented a language to that character that I had to get used to and master in order to express him properly. Or there was a director new to me and hence getting accustomed to a different way of conducting rehearsals. And maybe there were other artists in the production I had never met before. That meant adjusting my way of working with other's ways to create a harmonious whole. And sometime it was an unfamiliar theatre building itself that I needed to learn how to work in. So there was a lot of starting from the beginning.

"A good reputation may get you to the pitchers mound, but it won't win the game."* A few times I witnessed famous actors, stars, come into rehearsal with the attitude that their fame would play the role for them. After all, they evidently thought. people would come to see them anyway so all they needed to do was show up. I vowed that if I ever became famous, which I didn't, I would never let that attitude control my earnest desire to knuckle down, conquer the role and really act it. I owed that to the audience, to the author, to my fellow artists and to myself.

Since I had set about reinventing the art, every time I finished a production I came away knowing a little bit more about acting than I did when I went into it. Almost every actor can say the same if they conscientiously do it. So can every tennis player and every ball player.

Success is not the end of the road. Success is doing it, doing it well and doing it better next time.

*Bate

DB - The Vagabond
*********************

Bits And Pieces

Be open to your dreams, people. Embrace that distant shore.

David Assael
*****************
When I woke this morning I looked around my apartment and said "What a mess!" The vacuum cleaner is still in the middle of the floor, there are papers on my desk I've forgotten about, checks have to be written, the kitchen range needs cleaning, there's laundry on the floor, an unfinished painting, an unfinished story. I managed to take the trash out yesterday (GOOD!) except for the small bag I forgot about. As I have often said and written "Life is unfinished business."

Pitifully, some people never roll up their mental sleeves and take on the task of understanding themselves. It's the most difficult of all obligations we have, and when shirked empties one's life of all inherent possibilities for happiness.

So why do I live in chaos? Because the accumulated bits and pieces of the unfinished business are all pointing in the same direction. But there doesn't seem to be a single path for getting there. The more complicated life becomes the more difficult it is to define the simple overall goal of it. I have said that the main purpose of life is to stay alive. But that poses a big question. Why?

I would admire to be so free of life's duties that I had nothing else to do but to figure myself out, if that's possible to do. But I have to focus my admiration on a man like Johann Sebastian Bach. He was the most prolific composer who ever lived. And yet he had a regular job, he lived in a home with no electricity, no central heating, no indoor plumbing, a quill pen and a house full of kids. How did he do it?

I suppose it would be great if we all had some sort of exuberant genius like that. Maybe we do in our own simple ways but just haven't found it. Bach evidently walked, ate, breathed, slept and dreamt music. Music came out of him like an exhalation. He came from a musical background and left behind some sons who were also excellent composers. It seems there was no doubt or chaos about it.

But why does it seem to take a lifetime for some of us to figure ourselves out? One could say that in spite of his primitive early 18th Century life style, he had lots of advantages and that's probably true. But it's also true that he made the most of them. He must have enjoyed composing music so much that he did it non-stop in spite of the obvious difficulties and interruptions. He probably never asked himself why.

There is a "why" attached to every bit of unfinished business in my life. I often wish I had come upon some early understanding of myself that would have led me into my life's destiny and my life's work which I would have pursued without looking back. To some extent I did that in the entertainment business. But now, retired, I am looking back. But more than that I'm looking forward, to what the possibilities are, to what my future is, to what I can become, to who I really am. I am trying to embrace that distant shore. I ask myself over again "What was it I really wanted way back then?" Every now and then I think I know. But then I'm not sure, and so there is unfinished business.

I didn't start out today to write an essay about Bach or an essay about me. It just turned out that way. I sometimes hold up my own experience as a metaphor for other people's lives and to help me grasp my own.. That makes me read self-centered and self-important. I don't mean it that way.

There is a dream. It's still alive. I am grateful for the time and opportunity to lead myself to the open door of that dream.

May you find your own dream and pursue it, non-stop, to that distant shore.

DB
*******************
*******************

Weekend Quiz

Easy Weekend Quiz
FOUNDING FATHERS
How many names do not fit on this list, who are they and why.

John Adams
Benjamin Franklin
Alexander Hamilton
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
George Washington
(Good luck)
DB
*******************

Act Your Age

I think you should be a child for as long as you can. Don't rush into adulthood, it isn't all that much fun.

Bob Newhart
*********************
I'm not suggesting that anyone should go through what Shakespeare calls "second childishness" but I believe it is a healthy thing to hold on to one's childhood, and hold it up on a silver platter in one's heart. Not the past errors, wrongs, sorrows and pains of early life, but the spirit of what one was and, in fact, still is.

I am for finding inside the boy or girl you were and are. Recover the unlost sense of curiosity, wonder, adventure and surprise. You are still a kid, even if it doesn't show on the outside. There are a lot of things about you that don't show on the outside. If you saw me walking down the street you would think "There goes a doddering old relic, What a wretched wreck. He's probably a drunk." You would never know that the doddering old wreck was the writer of peppery posts and baffling blogs.

I often say to youngsters "Don't grow up too fast." They never like to hear that. I usually get a poker faced silent response. They want to be grown ups, immediately. That youth is wasted on the young is an old saying and a true one. But it isn't wasted on those for whom their youth is still a present quality in their lives. With age comes experience, knowledge and, hopefully, some wisdom. It doesn't have the innocence and preciousness of youth. Too many tears, too many disappointments, too much pain make old age hard on folks. But even if the physical vigor abates why does the mental vigor have to go?

I don't look in the mirror often, but when I do, yes, I see the wrinkles and the gray hair and I wonder who or what I'm looking at. I'd rather look at the future, to look at possibilities, adventures and discoveries. I'd rather see the boy I've always been. Who knows, someday I might grow up. But I don't think so.

DB, Vagabond
*********************
SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)

In your opinion what is the most amazing thing that could happen during this decade? Make it as outrageous as you want but keep it within the realm of what you consider a possibility.

14 responses so far.

Answers will be published the first day of Summer.

Thank you.

dbdacoba@aol.com

DB - The Vagabond
*******************

Crumbs Of Praise

As a single slab of rock won't budge in the wind, so the wise are not moved by praise, by blame.

Dhammapada
****************
People in the arts, especially the performing arts, have their work judged by critics in the media. Strange, since no one writes critiques of congressional speeches, class lectures or sermons. Perhaps they should.

Early in my career I determined that most critics are just people, usually without much knowledge of what they are seeing, expressing an opinion. So I paid no attention to what they wrote until after the show closed when the producers would pass out a folder containing pictures, a contact sheet and copies of the reviews. Then I would look at them. If I got a good review I would extract from the review what was said about me and attached it to my resume. If I got a bad review I would crumple it up and throw it away. In neither case did I pay much attention to what was written.

The shameful fact is that some critics, particularly New York critics and especially the New York Times critics, can close an excellent production and keep a mediocre one running just by expressing their opinions.

I knew actors who would rush right out and buy the papers after opening hoping to find some tid bit, some crumb of praise about themselves. I felt certain enough about my work not to need those crumbs.

I knew a Japanese man, a director/choreographer, who came to New York with a theatre piece he had developed and toured in Japan to great acclaim from the Japanese critics. It opened at an Off Broadway theatre in the city. I went to the opening. I found it confusing, difficult to understand, not because of the language, there was no spoken language, it was all mime, dance and music.

After the performance he and I and a few other people went out to a restaurant for dinner. A friend brought the reviews from the early editions of the papers. Across the board they were bad reviews. No critic had anything good to say about his production.

He read them all and became enraged. "Who are these people? What do they think they know? Why did they say these things?" I tried to assuage him by explaining something about New York critics and why he should pay no attention to them. His show was going to run through it's contract anyway. It didn't matter. But he was deeply hurt, shocked and angry.

I have a big box in my apartment and in it is a large envelope containing reviews I've received for my work over the years. They all have nice things to say about me. I don't remember the nasty things because I threw them out.

Moral: If you believe in yourself and what you do it doesn't matter what anyone says about you. Or as Nehru put it "What we really are matters more than what others think of us."

DB - The Vagabond
******************

SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)

In your opinion what is the most amazing thing that could happen during this decade? Make it as outrageous as you want but keep it within the realm of what you consider a possibility.

13 responses so far.

Answers will be published the first day of Summer.

Thank you.

dbdacoba@aol.com

DB - The Vagabond
*******************

Visiting The Mountain Tops

I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought or grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world and am free.

Wendell Berry
***********************
I don't remember if I wrote about my hike across the Moat Mountain Range. I may have, I probably did, but so what, it's time to revisit the memory. The Moats, North Moat, Middle Moat and South Moat, are part of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. These are small mountains comparatively. No Mt. Everests here. There are taller mountains around but the Moats is a range by itself. So one Autumn, on a day off, I decided to do the whole range.

I parked my car on a back road at the base of South Moat, rode my bicycle to the base of North Moat and hid it in the woods. The trail up North Moat was steep and relentless. It was a difficult climb through the forest and when I finally came out above the timber line I was exhausted.

I sat to rest and considered turning back, The view was breath taking but when I looked up behind me all I could see was rock. Considering how I felt I thought summating would be too hard for me. But I also recalled other climbs when at the point I wanted to quit I was much closer to the top than I thought I was. So I got up and continued on and it was, indeed, another 15 minutes or so and I was on the summit.

The top of North Moat is small compared to other summits, but I felt I was on the top of the world. I stayed briefly to enjoy the view then headed down to the ledge toward Middle Moat. On the way I was hit with a great fright. I had startled a grouse who came flapping out of the bushes with a terrifying noise. Once I saw what it was I recovered and kept going. Also along that ridge there are a few scary places that require some mountain climbing experience. I managed them and got at last to Middle Moat.

Middle Moat is the shortest of the three but the timber line is quite close to the base, so it makes for a wide open few of sky. I stayed there for awhile and took in the sight.

The hike to south Moat was fairly easy and without event. When I got there I found a wide summit with a dirt floor, green things growing and rocks jutting out. When I looked down from there I saw the tower of the radio station I worked for looking like a tiny colored toothpick stuck in the ground, the winding string of the road I traveled every day to get to work and my community, small dots of shops and houses.

I sat with my back against a slab of rock, had my sandwich and my banana and thought, "I never want to leave this place. Right here, on the top of this graceful mountain, is where I want to live, forever."

But I had to be at work the next day. I was the morning DJ at that same radio station and was responsible for waking people up, giving them the news of the day and getting them going. Besides it would soon be night and I wasn't prepared for it. So I started down and, in fact, darkness came when I was a few hundred feet from my car. When I got in the car I checked the time. The hike took 9 hours.

When I got to work in the morning, I told everyone about my day on the Moats. My boss was fascinated. Who knows, I may write about it again sometime. It was one of the happiest days of my life.

DB - The Vagabond
***********************
SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)

In your opinion what is the most amazing thing that could happen during this decade? Make it as outrageous as you want but keep it within the realm of what you consider a possibility.

12 responses so far.

Answers will be published the first day of Summer.

Thank you.

dbdacoba@aol.com

DB - The Vagabond
*******************

Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out

Knowing how to endure is wisdom. Not knowing is to suffer in vain.

Lao Tzu
*********************
There is a word in English, "casting," which has many meanings. One of them is to throw something down or away. Among the more obscure uses of the word refers to giving up on an extreme state of physical exertion. The first time I heard it used in that context was from a circus performer. He was a tight rope walker. He performed up high, above the heads of the audience. He had developed a number of tricks that made his act very exciting to watch.

But there was something else going on the audience couldn't see. Casting. He referred to it as "the devil's voice." Whenever he was out on the rope the devil would whisper in his ear to give up. "It's too hard, you're working to hard, it hurts. Let go. There's a net down there to catch you. There's nothing to worry about. You're safe and you won't have to do this any more. Why are you putting yourself through this misery? For applause? For a pay check? Just lean over and fall into the net. You'll feel much better. No more pain."

He said that the more difficult and dangerous the act the more the devil will talk and the louder. He also said every circus performer who does dangerous acts like his, the trapeze artists, pole and rope climbers, are all tempted by the same nasty voice. "Just let go. Everything will be alright."

I've been told that competitive marathon runners also get the same satanic visitor, especially later on in the race. "There's the grass and a shady spot, just go lie down and rest. Stop the pain." Having been a runner myself for a time I can understand it.

Casting. The fact is that some rope walkers fall and some long distance runners stop. They fall victim to the suggestion even, sometimes, without realizing it. They forget or else can't answer the question "Why?".

Another thing the circus fellow told me is that it always sounds like your own voice, your own idea, your own suggestion. A wise person knows not to pay attention to it or claim it as his own.

So how many dangerous ledges and exhausting, painful trials can life put us through? And how often do we hear the voice that says "Just give up. Cast yourself down and out. You'll feel much better."? And how often have we accepted that voice as our own thought and given up when victory, applause and, yes, maybe even a pay check, was lost.

Wisdom is knowing how to endure. It's knowing how not to heed the "devil's voice," loud and long, telling us to quit, to cast ourselves down and out.

DB - The Vagabond
*************************

SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Let's go folks.

In your opinion what is the most amazing thing that could happen during this decade? Make it as outrageous as you want but keep it within the realm of what you consider a possibility.

11 responses so far.

Answers will be published the first day of Summer.

Thank you.

dbdacoba@aol.com

DB - The Vagabond
*******************

The Roads We Take

One's appreciation, admiration for another's abilities, means that there is a place inside the admirer that has the same ability.

Barry Pearl
(Thank you Barry)
****************************
I'm not a great sports fan, but when I watch a ball game I'm always impressed when I see an expert athlete adroitly carry out a play that gains a point or some advantage. What man hasn't imagined himself at least once stretching to swing the bat and smash the ball into outer space or flying across the ice to fling a puck into the net at the speed of light, or some similar activity.

In school I was a runner and a very good discus thrower. I might have had a scholarship to some university throwing the discus. Now I enjoy watching the Olympic athletes do it. That was not the road I took.

I also enjoy watching NASA TV. Besides seeing astronauts float around, listening to Houston give esoteric instructions to the on board computers and news conferences, they frequently show scientific programs where some NASA scientist explains important things about his or her specialty. Watching them I learn a lot about geology, astronomy, robotics, physics, climatology, aeronautics and so forth. In school I took a geology course and was fascinated by it. I loved going out in the fields and analyzing the rocks and formations. I even thought of majoring in it at one point. But that was not the road I took.

I have always loved music. While in school I played in an orchestra as a percussionist. I enjoyed it very much and wanted to be better at it, to knuckle down adn really learn music Today, when I go to a concert I admire the musicians, both soloists and ensembles, especially as I know what they are doing. I could have been one of them. But that is not the road I took.

There's a old, tired joke about actors. "How many actors does it take to change a light bulb?" "50. One to change the bulb and 49 to say 'I could have done that better.'" As a young actor I was fascinated watching actors work. While others got involved in the plot, the story, I was watching how the actors developed characters and steered their way through their scenes. The older, more experienced actors were showing me what could be done. As I grew older and more experienced myself I learned to tell the difference between good acting and bad acting, good ball playing and not so good ball playing, good science and silly science, great music and sloppy music.

Today I can still enjoy peering at rocks, beating a drum and if I had a discus I could show you how to fling it. Could I have been a good athlete, a good scientist or a good musician? Probably. But the road I took as an actor brought me into a career for which I have no regrets.

DB, Vagabond
****************
SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Come on, Folks! Summer is a-commin' in!

In your opinion what is the most amazing thing that could happen during this decade? Make it as outrageous as you want but keep it within the realm of what you consider a possibility.

Only 10 responses so far.

Answers will be published the first day of Summer.

Thank you.

dbdacoba@aol.com

DB - The Vagabond
*******************

Sad Times

Friends, I'm feeling very blue at the moment. I guess I have given the impression to some that I'm a miserable old cripple who can't take care of himself, a wretched wreck of a man. Some people I know are angry with me that I'm not taking better care of myself. I talk about hobbling in pain to the market, climbing three flights of stairs to my apartment and other things. Well, it's all true but it doesn't mean I'm miserable. I don't need Meals On Wheels. I'm able to feed myself. It's true I have a tough time keeping the apartment clean but I do it. Now they want me to check in to the old actors home in New Jersey. I'm sure it's very nice there. I don't know why I don't want to do it. Sign over my retirement income and move in with a bunch of actors. No doubt I am entitled to some help for seniors from around here. I haven't found anything about that. One of them called me stubborn. I'm independant. Always have been. Does that make me stubborn? Maybe. Is it that I don't want to accept being old? Well, I don't. Pardon me for all this alas and woe is me. I just had to sound off a little bit.

The Vagabond

Nice Me

However lonely or sad one may be, one can exist alone.

R. D. Laing
//////////////////////
I and some other people I know, some of them perhaps reading this bit of writing right now, live alone. Aloneness and loneliness are not the same thing. But when you are in a place where there is no one else around certain things like loneliness can seem like a suffocating shroud around your life. It is difficult and takes courage to face the darker side of life when you are alone with it.

In my younger years I must have had a desperate need for company because I would seek out the presence of others and try to insert myself into a group that sometimes didn't particularly welcome me. I know I often made myself obnoxious and I regret that.

I spent my life in a collaborative art form. It is true that when I went to my permanent or temporary home I was usually alone. But when the morning came I was thrust into a group of people, most of them pleasant people, who were all busy doing something that was related to what everyone else was doing. Not like an office with everyone tucked into cubicles, but right out there where everyone else could see what was going on. There was almost no possibility of aloneness and so no need to feel lonely.

It's a great feeling to be part of an energetic group who are all focused on a certain objective and are working toward it with mutual dependence and respect. Yes, sometimes there are prima donnas around who think everyone should defer to them, but I think those people are by nature alone and lonely.

So now I'm retired because I have to be and I live alone. I have no family that will call and visit and I have no friends that I can pop in on. No pets to amuse me. Illness keeps me from trekking out into the world looking for adventure. I have my books and my music, a few pieces of furniture and a quiet house.

So what do I do when the sorrow strikes? I'll tell you a few things I don't do. I don't compare myself with other people. And I don't compare myself with other times. "Cheer up, it could be worse!" It's been worse. "Cheer up, things will get better!" They've been better. I don't accept the dark shroud of unhappiness as my own and wear it with self indulgence. I used to do that. No more. If I have moments of tears or rage I know it's the shuffling off of the misery that's trying to claim me as its own. Then I can find the light and live in it. My life is not perfect. It's not easy and it's not sweet. But it's my life. Every morning when I wake up I continue living it. It takes me quite a while to get up to speed, but after a little reading, a little fussing with the papers on my desk and something to eat I'm ready to face whatever the day's duties and surprises are, be they nice or nasty. By the time the late afternoon and evening come, I'm writing, I'm painting, I'm thinking, I'm planning.

A few days ago I wrote a niche blog (I'm told that's the proper term) called Let Me Shake My Hand about getting to know myself and learning what a great guy I am. So why should I live in doom when I have the right to shake it off and get on with life?

It's not easy. Nobody who has a brain ever said that life was easy. But it's crucial, possible and admirable, even if you have to go it alone as I do.

DB - The Vagabond
**********************
SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)

In your opinion what is the most amazing thing that could happen during this decade? Make it as outrageous as you want but keep it within the realm of what you consider a possibility.

10 responses so far.

Answers will be published the first day of Summer.

Thank you.

dbdacoba@aol.com

DB - The Vagabond
*******************

Nasty Me

I think it is a miracle that I laugh every day and walk through my life with pride.

Camryn Manheim
**********************
It is indeed a miracle that I can laugh. I carry sorrows with me every day. The recent loss of my only brother and sister, leaving me the only remaining member of my immediate family. The loss of beloved pets. A career cut off too soon by sickness. Living in a strange place with no friends. In serious debt. Partially crippled. What have I got to laugh about? And yet I laugh.

Indeed it is a miracle that I can walk with pride. I can think of all the rotten things I've done, the people I have betrayed, the good things I didn't do, the selfishness, the laziness, the failures, the scorn and ridicule I've given out toward those who didn't deserve it. What have I got to be proud of? And yet I walk with pride.

I was hobbling down the street today with my cane and thinking that I am never going to make it through another winter here. But I have to, because I won't be out of debt until next year. So I will. And I will laugh at myself.

I spent the week wrestling with Facebook, and it turns out to be a lemon. Like bringing home a TV that won't work. I didn't grow up in one place so I have no childhood buddies to find. I have no old friends except the ones I'm still in touch with. I hoped it would help me find my only child, but it failed to do that. I hoped it would get me readers who shared similar interests, ideas and issues, to open a discussion with them, but every time I post something it disappears only to show up on my own page, so I can read it. Oh good!

I hear the various pontiffs of America sounding off with remarks that make no sense at all. There are a lot of opinions but no one seems to have the facts. The news network the advertises just the facts has fewer facts and more opinions than the others. The others ask silly questions like "What went through your mind..."(when your parachute didn't open, when you found the gold bricks in your basement, when you were crossing the finish line)? Why not ask "What went in one ear and out the other?"

Has the world gone crazy, or has it always been crazy and I am just realizing it more? Why are we returning to racism, sexism and exclusivity. Why do people want to throw more rocks into hornets nests? Why are pornography and illegal drugs the most lucrative enterprises in the country? Why are more and more of our trusted elected officials being found in bed with the wrong girls or boys?

In the 1960's we had a revolution of gentle people. In spite of the fire hoses and tear gas and a few other heinous acts of subhuman atrocity, we remained gentle. And we pointed out what was wrong with the country and what was right about it. We did it with reason and persistence. It is the gentleness that ends wars and prevents them. And we changed things. That was 50 years ago. A half a century. Now why are people trying to turn back the improvements made. Where are the gentle revolutionaries of today. The rock and rap singers? Hardly. The Tea Party? That's a joke. The DNC? Another joke. The Wall Street Yuppies who let their kids throw food on the restaurant floor and ram into people on the sidewalk with their tricycles? The future road ragers? Is it the entitlement to be obnoxious and antagonistic to anyone else's welfare, to kidnap children, to hack into your computer, to produce unhealthy products and then recall them when someone finds out, to plunder the poor and middle class through excessive interest charges, to create violence in sports, to disrupt air travel, to start wars, to lie, to hate, to put the reasoning mind to sleep?

I'm only 71 years old. I will walk through the garbage strewn alley and hold my head up anyway. And no matter what trash life throws at me I will laugh.

Maybe I should post this on Facebook. I might get a response. Nah.

DB
************************

Unknown Places

With the aid of basic experience we must leap bravely into the future.

Russell McIntyre
**********************
I am an uneducated man. No, I really am. The last thing I learned in a class room was in high school when Mr. Bush taught me that a writer very carefully chooses the words to express an idea or describe an event. That words are precise things was a mind opening thing to me, and it also taught me that the mansion of education, knowledge, wisdom and experience was an infinite one and I was only a beggar at the door.

One of life's lessons is about learning "the ropes" not just about things, but about people. I took a temp job one summer for an organization that raised money for a college. My boss showed me how she wanted the job done. So I went to work. I soon found a faster and more efficient way of doing it. She came by to look and snapped at me for not doing it her way. So I went back to it. Two days later she came by and snapped at me for not finding a betterm way of doing it. I learned that some people are just plain irrational and that's that. Fortunately I didn't have to stay there long.

When I started to work full time in theatre I was an apprentice. I learned the ropes, how to build and paint scenery, to hang and focus lights, to run a patch panel, to collect and fix props, even to repair costumes. When I became a union actor I no longer had to do that work and could settle down into the task of learning the craft of acting which I continued to do up until the day I retired, and perhaps I'm still learning it.

As an actor I again discovered the use and value of words. But as the words had to be backed up with thoughts and feelings I was also becoming acquainted with the spinning worlds behind the words, the worlds of the characters who spoke those words. I learned there was more to every human being than what appeared.

My experience as an actor taught me the dangers of artificiality, superficiality and exclusivity. I learned the power of ideas and how rational humans carry those ideas from year to year, from century to century.

Best of all, I learned that when we reach the limits of our experience and the wisdom gained from it we are standing at the entrance to a dark jungle or the edge of a sheer cliff. There are more ropes to learn. We must know there is something beyond that cliff even though we can't see it. We must have the faith to know that if we step off there will be something there that holds our feet. Armed with our individual experiences and life lessons we must go bravely on into a future for which we don't yet have the wisdom.

DB - The Vagabond
********************
SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)

In your opinion what is the most amazing thing that could happen during this decade? Make it as outrageous as you want but keep it within the realm of what you consider a possibility.

Only 8 responses so far.

Answers will be published the first day of Summer.

Thank you.

dbdacoba@aol.com

DB - The Vagabond
*******************

to Pacifica

Pacifica, it's 5:38 p.m. EST and the gold is coming down the Rhine again right now. And I'm a happy old dog.

DB

Let Me Shake My Hand

If you make friends with yourself you will never be alone.

Maxwell Maltz
********************
Many years ago I knew a woman, I won't tell you her name, who had definitely made up her mind, with no encouragement from me whatsoever, that I was going to be her next husband. I found her neither interesting nor attractive. Besides a woman who lines up husbands like pictures in a hallway is suspicious to most men anyway.

She hung around the theatre where I worked making herself obtrusive and obvious. Romance was certainly on her mind. It wasn't on mine. When her advances were met with no reaction from me I know she got frustrated. One day she said "Don't you ever get lonely?" To which I replied "No" which wasn't true of course. Who doesn't get lonely? One can be lonely at a dinner table full of family and friends. I went on to say "I keep excellent company with myself. I agree with almost everything I say. I don't bitch at myself for leaving dirty dishes in the sink or clothes on the floor. And when I come home everybody there is glad to see me."

There are advantages to living alone, as I do. For one thing you can be your own best friend. I get very angry with myself when I do a stupid thing, much angrier than I would get with someone else. But I can quickly forgive myself and hold no grudge.

I can plan all sorts of exciting adventures and set wonderful goals for myself, but my friend listens quietly and then says "Sure, sure, Buddy. You're just dreaming. Forget about it."

If I do something good I'm the first one to step up to congratulate myself for it.

If I'm having bad memories my friend convinces me to stop thinking about them. If I'm having good ones he shares the experiences with me. If I forget to take the shopping list, like today, he's right there to remind me what was on it. I my heart is broken he heaves a big sigh and weeps for me.

All in all he's a good guy. I'm glad I know him.

DB - The Vagabond
************************
SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)

In your opinion what is the most amazing thing that could happen during this decade? Make it as outrageous as you want but keep it within the realm of what you consider a possibility.

Only 8 responses so far.

Answers will be published the first day of Summer.

Thank you.

dbdacoba@aol.com

DB - The Vagabond
*******************

On The Head

If the only tool you have is a hammer you tend to see every problem as a nail.

Abraham Maslow
******************
I have been so tied up trying to unravel the mysteries of Face Book I haven't been reading your blogs much, but I will get back to it.
------------------------------------------
"Give it a light touch." That note was given to me one day by a director and it subsequently led me to a very important acting lesson.

I thought, as many young actors do, that I was a great tragedian. I could wail, rage and moan in the throes of death with the best of them. I never gave anything "a light touch." Heavy handed was my style. Give me a role and I'll nail it down, I'll pound it into the stage with a sledge hammer.

Well, I had a lot to learn. I wanted to do what Shakespeare said not to do, "tear a passion to tatters" and there I was being asked to "give it a light touch." What to do, what to do?

Fortunately I had three sources to draw from to find the answer. One was Shakespeare himself, the greatest acting teacher that ever lived. In the same speech he wrote "use all gently." I don't know. Was I capable of gentleness? I didn't consider myself a gentle fellow. I, after all, was a great tragedian. so I kept searching.

Another major influence and trail guide on my search was my teacher Edward Thommen, about whom I have often written. One of the fascinating things about him as a director was his ability to always know where the light source was coming from. Without light you have dark and darkness on the stage is boring. But with light you can have shadows and that's where the drama is. Just as in a landscape or still life painting it's important that the artist knows exactly where the light is coming from, so in theatre there is some quality in the scene that is casting the shadows.

Which brings me to the third lesson, one I learned from Michael Shurtleff, another acting teacher, who said 4 simple words "Look for the humor." There is at least one touch of humor in every scene, as there is in life, even the most tragic ones. Once I started looking for the humor, sometimes a shadow humor to be sure, every scene took on more dimensions and hence so did the character I was playing.

So with those three lessons under my wig I could leave my hammer in the wings, go onstage with an open hand and not a clenched fist, find the light touch and appreciate the irony of life as I roared into the final grasp of death.

DB - The Vagabond
****************************
SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)

In your opinion what is the most amazing thing that could happen during this decade? Make it as outrageous as you want but keep it within the realm of what you consider a possibility.

Only 8 responses so far.

Answers will be published the first day of Summer.

Thank you.

dbdacoba@aol.com

DB - The Vagabond
*******************

Learning To Talk Good

. Reason has always existed, but not always in a reasonable form.

Karl Marx
*******************
There is a vigorous movement in this country to make English the truly official and only language of the United States. That seems like a reasonable request. After all, if people can't understand each other when they speak they would have to carry a translator around with them wherever they go. That can get very expensive.

So let's see. First I would suggest establishing a bureau to determine what proper American English should be, perhaps a cabinet post, Secretary of Language and Verbal Communication presiding over the Department of Language and Talk, (DOLT).
Soon a Dictionary of American English should be published and every American citizen and immigrant should be required to carry one at all times and to consult it immediately if there is any doubt about proper American expression. Incorrect use of our language and any lapsing into foreign terms will be a felony.

Then, under the benevolent guidance of DOLT we will begin eliminating all strange words from our vocabulary. No more saying "adios" to a Mexican or "bon jour" to a French Canadian. No longer saying "bravo" at a concert or "mazel tov" at a wedding. Such utterances will be illegal. If you aren't careful you may find yourself in the clink.

Americans will no longer live in "haciendas," ride "burros" or do anything
"pronto." A "Ford" is acceptable, but not a "Chevrolet."

Now let's talk about food. That thing you had with breakfast was a "crescent roll" not a "croissant." Get it? Don't go to a restaurant expecting or order "fillet mignon," chicken "cacciatore," pork "lo mien," "wiener schnitzel," "moussaka" or "pizza."

If you go to the bar you can have a Guinness or a Harp, I suppose, though you're better off with Budweiser or Miller. But don't try ordering Heineken or Lowenbrau. And for heaven sake, don't ask for a "martini." The cops will be there in a minute.

Now about wine (that's "wine" not "vino." See?). There's California wine, New York State wine and, I don't know, Florida wine, whatever. But we have to get rid of these alien French names: "Merlot, Chablis, Chardonnay, Beaujolais, Champagne." Stick with "wine" or "sparkling wine." That's the American way.

We will no longer have to go into "bistros" or "boutiques." There will be no more "yachting,," "snorkeling" or "apres"skiing.

Some states will have to change their names to conform to the true blue American language. States like "Vermont," "Illinois" and "Colorado." Those are much too foreign sounding.

Various publishers will, of course, be important in shaping our language. For one thing they will see to it the all foreign language references are removed from their books. The Greek, Latin and French quotes will be rendered in American English only.

Music publishers will do away with references such as "Presto," "Andante" and the very suspicious "Allegro Ma Non Troppo."

Along with the new American English Dictionary will come words that every true American should know, such as "biker," "dogged," "ho," "yo," "y'all," "red neck" and "yuppie." Plus the real American pronunciation of certain words like "lieberry," "Febyooary," "stoopit," "nucueler." "punkin" and "presperation."

And finally, we should have an all-American dialect. It's a shame that a man from New Hampshire and a man from Mississippi can't understand each other. And we certainly don't want to speak English in the strange way the English do. So, as a New Yorker, I suggest we conform our dialectic to the way they speak in Da Bronx. It seems to be the most articulate of them all.

I look forward to the day when every sign, every book, magazine and newspaper, and every word I hear spoken on radio, TV and on the street is the true, red, white and blue American language: Inglish.

DB
******************

Present Mirth

You don't stop laughing because you get old.
You get old because you stop laughing.

Anonymous
*******************
There was a joke yeas ago that I liked. An American journalist went to spend some time in The Soviet Union in the 50's. While there he visited a Russian farmer and his family. He asked the farmer "What do you think of Nikita Khrushchev?" The farmer stood up, opened the front door and looked around, then peered out of the windows. He motioned for the journalist to follow him as they went out to the barn. At the back of the barn there was a small room with a door. The farmer opened the door, lit a candle on the small table, then closed and bolted the door. The two men sat across from each other at the table and finally the farmer leaned over and whispered "I like him."

I was doing a play in Boston. There is a place there called The Common where people can stand up and make a speech about anything they consider important. One afternoon between performances I went out there and found a guy standing on a box and declaring that Khrushchev should not be allowed into the country. Niki was coming to speak at the UN, and this fellow was trying to prevent it. According to him no Russians should ever be allowed to come to the USA as it would give legitimacy to their "evil communist society."

It was pointed out to the gentleman that Khrushchev had a right to speak at the UN since his country was one of the main and founding members of it, that the only way he could get there was by landing a plane at a New York City airport and getting in a limo to be driven through our sacred streets. Furthermore he was reminded that the Soviet Union had a consulate in the city and a permanent group of representatives there. So much for not allowing the Russians in. It wasn't long before people were chuckling and shaking their heads in approval of what the others were saying. It's no doubt The Cold War was a serious matter for the world, but this man's objections were laughable.

Today, when I see or hear some authority, whether a pseudo Christian or otherwise, get up on a stage and start lecturing in simplistic terms about what's wrong with the world, the country or anything, I have the same response. They deserve to be laughed at. It's a clown show. Nothing more. It may stir up a lot of people who also lack the humor to see the show, but in the long run it will accomplish nothing else.

Khrushchev came, spoke, hung around for a while and then went back to Russian. Our country survived it. We weren't invaded nor did we fall into the "evil" embrace of Communism. The irony of it all is very funny.

So now the doomsdayers are up again and blaming the government. There's nothing new about that. They've been doing that since the 18th Century.

One of the advantages of having been an actor all my life is that I can recognize bad theatre when I see it, and that's what I see. It may fool a lot of people. But it can't fool anyone who can still laugh.

DB - The Vagabond
***********************

SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)

In your opinion what is the most amazing thing that could happen during this decade? Make it as outrageous as you want but keep it within the realm of what you consider a possibility.

Only 7 responses so far.

Answers will be published the first day of Summer.

Thank you.

dbdacoba@aol.com

DB - The Vagabond
*******************

Invitation To The Dance

I can't imagine anything more tedious than a perfect person.

Hugh Mackay
****************
Once upon a time there was a girl named Seal. She was not ugly, nor was she pretty. She was overweight and not popular. But she had a good attitude about things most of the time and was rarely without a smile on her face. Her family was poor and her parents were totally uneducated. She didn't have much of a future.

Seal was a classmate of mine in elementary school. We hardly ever spoke to each other that I can recall. One day when I was about 9 or 10 I happened to see her by herself against a chain link fence. She called to me to help her. She had caught her foot underneath the fence and the sharp links at the bottom were wedged into her foot. She couldn't reach down to free herself. So I went over and got her free.

When we were in the Sixth Grade the last thing that happened on Friday afternoon was a dance class. The teacher would play some music on a record player and we students would choose partners and dance with each other for an hour. Then we would leave for the weekend.

When the time came, the boys would line up on one side of the gym room and the girls on the other. Whichever boy got the highest grades for the week got to choose who to dance with, then the one with the next highest grades and so forth. (Feminism had never been heard of in this school.) There were 2 more girls than there were boys, so 2 of the least popular girls would end up dancing with each other.

There were two very pretty and very popular girls in the class, one blond and one brunette, Sandy and Carla. They both had boys after them all the time and were always the first to be chosen in the line up. Whenever I was the smart kid of the week I generally chose one of them. But the 4 or 5 boys who wanted to be their dancing partners were always jealous.

The day came when it was the end of the school year. The next day would start the summer vocation and the boys were eager to stake out some territory with Sandy or Carla, to make some arrangements for the summer. This was 6th Grade, so there wasn't anything particularly salacious about the arrangements, just some childish romance of some kind.

Seal would get in line with the other girls, standing at the end looking at the floor because she knew she wasn't going to be picked.

It so happened that I came out first in the "smart kid" category that week, so I got to choose first. I could feel the tension in the room and see the looks of concern on several faces. Being a budding entertainer even back then, I played the scene as much as I could. I pointed my finger back and forth across the row of girls a couple of times and finallysaid "I......choose(long pause).....Sea!." She looked up in surprise. "Well Seal? You want to dance with me?" "Yeah" she said with a big smile and stepped forward.

We knew there was no romance happening. And we were both awful dancers, but it didn't matter. For the next hour we laughed and had a good time.

I never saw Seal again except one day years later when she and her Mom were walking down the street together. We stopped and talked. Seal had made it through high school somewhere and had a job. She was still smiling.

Thank you Seal.

DB
******************

Man Against Beast

Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.

Eleanor Roosevelt
******************
So Thursday evening and most of Friday I spent wrestling with the Hydra headed monster known as Face Book. There are shattered spears, broken swords, open wounds and blood in the dust, but the fight is on.

How do I describe the conflict?

It was like waking up in the morning and finding out that while I was asleep someone replaced all the furniture in my room. I couldn't recognize anything.

It was like buying a fancy new piece of machinery. It came with an instruction book telling me all the wonderful things it can do, but there were no instructions on how to put it together.

It was like one of my weekend puzzles. If you can solve this you win the grand prize of a catalogue of silly comments on your "wall" from your "friends."

I should have some prizes to give out to a few people from here and there who have been very helpful in explaining things and offering to help: Beth, Jennifer. Barry, Joann, all with far from silly comments.

So do I fight on, mount another cavalry charge, send another sea of arrows flying, ckimb the walls, lay siege to it and make it do, or quit the field, leave it to the trolls and gremlins and do without? What do you think?

DB
*******************

Eat, Sing, Mingle and Enjoy

You can miss most of New York’s street fairs but you can’t miss this one.

Unknown
*******************
This coming weekend is the 9th Ave. Food Fair. When I lived in New York it was my favorite festival. The reason is that it is truly an international event. There are no prerequisites. You don't have to be Irish, or Puerto Rican or Gay. It is just a grand mixture of New Yorkers having a good time. And so it is a mirror of what America can be, and is in some enlightened minds and enlightened counties.

I lived on the corner of 9th Aveune and 57th Street so when the horns started honking I knew the barricade was up and the fair had begun.

EXTRA EXTRA -- READ ALL ABOUT IT

DB
Saturday May 15 – Sunday May 16 (9:30am – 6:30pm)

The Ninth Avenue International Food Festival in May has become a favorite weekend for New Yorkers since it began in 1973. From 37th Street to 57th Street, Ninth Avenue closes to cars and the festival takes over. More than a million people visit the festival each year. It’s unique and amazing, celebrating the joys of ethnicity through food, entertainment and every kind of street fair stall.

Most street fairs in New York all look the same but this one stands out. The food is the big draw, but the festival is a fabulous expression of the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood – teeming with ethnic food shops and fine restaurants and offering an eclectic global smorgasbord of national and regional foods. Outside venders participate as well, but the Ninth Avenue merchants and restaurants and the community organizations of Hell’s Kitchen are out in all their neighborhood glory.

Come for Argentinian, Brazilian, Cajun, Chinese, Cuban, Dominican, Ethiopian, French, German, Greek, Haitian, Indian, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Mexican, Moroccan, Pakistani, Polish, Puerto Rican, Peruvian, Senegalese, Sicilian, Southern, Spanish, Thai, Trinidadian, Turkish, Ukrainian and Vietnamese food – and more!

Working up from the south end of Ninth Avenue, you will be enticed by:

chorizo sandwiches – from Esposito Pork Shop, at 38th
the best sausage and pepper hero ever – from Giovanni Esposito & Sons at 38th
clams and oysters on the half shell at the seafood stands (Central Fish and Sea Breeze) around 38th Street
soupy, spicy gumbos, crab cakes and chicken curry – from Chantale’s Cajun Kitchen near 38th
suckling pig and quail stuffed with fresh Greek spices and feta cheese – from Ninth Avenue International Foods, near 40th
peppery crisp squid – from Siam Grill, near 42nd
iced coffee and iced cappuccino – from the Empire Coffee & Tea Company near 42nd
bourbon ham sandwiches, Texas chili with corn bread, mango barbecue wings and macaroni and cheese – from Good And Plenty To Go, at 43rd
carrot cake and apple pie – from the Little Pie Company at 43rd
chicken salad made with corn, black beans and jicama, and barbecued pork tostadas – from Zuni, at 43rd
meatball hero – at The Holy Cross church stand on 43rd
corn fritters gently flavored with shrimp, crisp spring rolls and nasi goreng – from Bali Nusa Indah, near 45th
spanakopita and tiropita surrounded by the most delicate phyllo pastry that you will ever find, and then baklava or strudel – from Poseidon Greek Bakery, near 45th
breads, brownies, cookies and cinnamon-raisin, garlic, rosemary or black olive fresh bread twists – from Amy’s Bread, near 47th
jambalaya – from Delta Grill at 48th
pork in mole sauce, wrapped in a corn tortilla – from Tacocina at 49th
huge, inexpensive portions of Brazilian foods like bolinho bacalhau, a fried salt-cod casserole – at Rice ‘N’ Beans, near 50th
Greek barbeque, octopus, lamb and chicken souvlaki – from Uncle Nick’s, near 50th Street
pad thai, dumplings – from Wondee Siam, at 54th
roast pork – at Ned Kelly’s bar on 55th
And somewhere along the way you will also come across:
alligator, shark, lobster, shrimp and catfish nuggets
burritos, jerk chicken and curried chicken
cheescakes – from Martha Francis
french pastries
fried elephant ears
full pigs rotating on spickets over an open fire
grilled corn on the cob
kokoretsi (lamb livers and sweetbreads wrapped in intestines)
paella
soft shell crab
steak sandwiches
turkey drumsticks
Even at the Ninth Avenue Food Festival, there are the standards – mozzarepas, zeppolis, funnel cakes, and egg creams – but this is one street fair where they are outnumbered by fabulous foods that you actually don’t see at other fairs.

There will be a stage with live entertainment of international music and dance at 55th Street on Sunday. You will see Egyptian belly dancing, German folk dancing, and Arabian scarf dancing, Midori & Chad performing Lindy Hop, Charleston, Peabody, Blues and Salsa routines, the New York Celtic Dancers sharing the traditional dances and music of Scotland – plus other performers and many local bands.

There are also over 200 street fair vendors selling inexpensive clothes, sunglasses, accessories and socks. If you like jewelry, there are always rings, bracelets, earrings, and pendants available. You’ll also find the Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market vendors selling their various wares down 39th Street.

Bring a big appetite, wear comfortable shoes and loose-fitting clothes. If you need to offset your gluttony-guilt, remember: the Ninth Avenue Food Festival is held to raise money for the community groups in Hell’s Kitchen.

The festival takes place each year the weekend after Mother’s Day. There is no admission fee and the festival extends from 37th street to 57th street. It starts at 9:30 am and ends at 6:30 pm. You can miss most of New York’s street fairs but you can’t miss this one.

(from wikipedia)

*******************************************

Face Book

I went back on Face Book tonight and I think I'm going right off again. If I can't make it work for me what's the point. I don't need the frustration.

DB

Make It Work

Some of the world's greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible.

Doug Larson
*******************
I have written in the past about Mr. O' Conner, the elementary school science teacher who scorned me in class by strongly and authoritatively announcing that man could never fly to the moon or even into outer space.

Then there was Mrs. Coleman, the sixth grade teacher who called me a liar in front of the whole class because I said I liked to watch the UN proceedings on TV. If the UN was in session channel 13 in New York would broadcast it with no editorializing and with the simultaneous English translation when needed. I found it fascinating. And I learned a lot of things about other countries and the world. But a mere 12 year old boy could not possibly prefer to watch the UN instead of Howdy Doody. Right? I think I saw Howdy Doody once, maybe twice. That was enough for me.

If the UN was not in session there was the Buster Crabbe playhouse and that meant Buck Rogers and Flash Gorden (speaking of outer space). And on Saturday afternoons I listened to the opera broadcasts. (Hey, Mrs. Coleman, I must be lying about that too, don't you think?)

I can't remember learning anything from elementary school, which isn't strange considering. I learned more from my friends. Bobby and I put together a puppet theatre and made puppets and marionettes out of found objects. We went around to playgrounds and other schools putting on shows even though we were told we couldn't.

One day I climbed a brick wall because a friend said it couldn't be done.

There's a well known anecdote about Orson Welles when he first went to Hollywood. It's seems a lot of the film artists and technicians lined up to work for him, for as one of them put it, he didn't know what he couldn't do. There's a famous sequence in one of his films where the camera pans through a window that is being rained on into the room below. It couldn't be done. Welles was obviously not smart enough to know that. So the film crew did it.

Search for the invisible. Listen for the inaudible. Imagine the unimaginable.
Do the impossible.

DB - The Vagabond
***********************

SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)

In your opinion what is the most amazing thing that could happen during this decade? Make it as outrageous as you want but keep it within the realm of what you consider a possibility.

Only 7 responses so far.

Answers will be published the first day of Summer.

Thank you.

dbdacoba@aol.com

DB
*******************

Worship

When I do good, I feel good, when I do bad, I feel bad, and that is my religion.

Abraham Lincoln
******************
Well, the National Day of Prayer sure has got the cauldron bubbling.

US District judge Barbara Crabb of Wisconsin issued a ruling saying that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional, and that has a lot of people with their knickers twisted. They think she's saying it's illegal. But all she means is that the Constitution does not allow for a religious celebration to be a national one.

We have some national celebrations, most of them holidays, such as the 4th of July and Thanksgiving. And we have others that are not national holidays such as Halloween and Christmas.

We are, thank goodness, a multi national, multi lingual, multi religious nation. We have the right to worship, but not the right to impose our religious beliefs on the rest of the nation. The right to pray is a constitutionally confirmed right, but it is not a national obligation.

But the United States is a Christian country, founded on Christian principles. Oh? The founding fathers, those that were religious, were Christians by default. They came from Christian countries. To say the nation was founded on Christian principles the fathers would have had to deeply investigate and seriously consider all the world's religions and then decide on Christianity as the basis for American government. But they didn't do that.

Let's say we are a "Christian" country. We have to round up everybody and find out what God they worship. Do you worship Yahweh, Allah, Jesus, Buddha, Shiva, the Copper Woman, Zeus, Quetzalcoatl, Osiris, Astarte. Satan? Are you a deist, an atheist, anti religious, areligious, animist, agnostic? Are you a monotheist, a pagan?

Alright, now we have separated the Christians from everyone else it's testing time.
How many believe Jesus was God? How many don't?
We've lost half of them. But the testing goes on.

On which day did God create the beasts of the field?
What did Adam do to earn the Lord God's curse?
How long did the flood of Noah last?
Who built the tower of Babel?
How many children did Jacob have, what were their names, in what order were they born and who were their mothers?
Who first said to "love they neighbor as thyself"?
How many of Jesus' disciples were fishermen?
How many beatitudes are there in the Sermon On The Mount and what are they?
What is the Mother of Harlots?

Well what do you know? There are a few true Christians who actually know the answers to those questions. Now one final question.

Do the few of you that are left go forth every day to "heal the sick, raise the dead, cleans the lepers and cast out devils"?

I thought so. Well, that more or less does it for our "Christian" nation.

There is a difference between a Christian and he who is trying to become one. And so it is with anyone on an earnest spiritual quest, whatever his religion.

The Vagabond
***************************
SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)

In your opinion what is the most amazing thing that could happen during this decade? Make it as outrageous as you want but keep it within the realm of what you consider a possibility.

Only 7 responses so far.

Answers will be published the first day of Summer.

Thank you.

dbdacoba@aol.com

DB - The Vagabond
*******************

Approval Rating

Anyone's life truly lived consists of work, sunshine, exercise, soap, plenty of fresh air, and a happy contented spirit.

Lillie Langtry
******************
One of the trickiest things about retirement and agedness is the tendency to hold on to a needless sense of responsibility. Just because I can take care of something doesn't mean I have to, especially if there are younger people around with more energy, mobility and resources to take care of it.

It isn't a matter of shirking my responsibility. If I am the only one who is available to do something than naturally I will attempt to do it. But all my life I have been one to try to take charge of circumstances, devise plans to accomplish things and carry them out. Sometimes my attempts have been futile, sometimes not. But lately I've discovered that there are people who can do things that I can do and sometimes do them better. I've come to the point where I'm willing to get out of the way and let them take on the tasks.

One of my motives in the past has been to earn love, in the forms of encouragement, approval and congratulations. But in the overall cosmic scheme of things the only and best approval I can have is from myself.

I didn't retire to stop working. So now I work in my apartment instead of on a stage. It won't matter if one of my paintings does not show up in the Museum of Modern Art or if one of my stories does not win a Pulitzer Prize. It would be very nice. But my time is coming to be spent with the sunshine, the fresh air, listening to the birds and seeing the earth grow up around me.

That I approve of my work and my work approves of me is more necessary than anything else for a contented spirit.

DB
====================
SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)

In your opinion what is the most amazing thing that could happen during this decade? Make it as outrageous as you want but keep it within the realm of what you consider a possibility.

Only 7 responses so far.

Answers will be published the first day of Summer.

Thank you.

dbdacoba@aol.com

DB - The Vagabond
*******************

Your Library

The writings of the wise are the only riches our posterity cannot squander.

Walter Landor
*****************
The way I see it, everyone's life is worth a biography. But almost no one will ever have one written, at least not in a book that sits on a shelf. In fact everyone's biography is written in what they have done with their lives. Sometimes those deeds have been left as tangible results to the ages and sometimes not. But no one lives without having an effect on the world. There's a saying I like: "When an old man dies, a library burns down." It's not a library of books, of course, but volumes of wisdom and life experience.

But sometimes the volumes are tangible things: the dialogues of Plato, the music of Bach, the plays of Shakespeare, the operas of Wagner the drawings of Da Vinci, the paintings of Van Gogh, to touch the summits. In the midst of my career as a theatre actor I became aware of the fact that, other than some important memories in people's lives and some good influence on young actors, I was not leaving anything tangible behind to posterity to enjoy or attempt to squander, if they so choose.

I started to learn how to paint and as my studies developed I became more and more impressed at how great the master painters were. I went to an exhibit of paintings by Van Gogh at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, strode into a large room with his pictures all around and I was stunned. Each picture was competing for my attention. I wanted to never leave that room.

There are many riches left to us to enjoy and not squander: the intricate never repeating dialogues of Bach's music, the surprising discoveries in Shakespeare, the grand eloquence in Wagner, the magic of Mozart.

Upon retiring I began to read the philosophy, history and fiction I never had time for. Now I write and hope that I can think and write one quarter as well as those authors did. I don't consider myself a wise man, certainly not in comparison with the wisdom at my disposal, but I have my own library of experience and an affectionate desire to leave some of it behind me as I pass along the way.

The Vagabond
*****************
Weekend Puzzle

No contestant and so no winner.
What a shame, here I went and made a special Mother's Day cupcake to give away. Well, I'll just have to eat it myself.

ANSWERS

1. AHSZUO- NATURE
2. BZPPHUF - HUBBARD
3. HAF SBO GHGHT - AND THE PAPAS
4. KLH - MIA
5. QW LAIOASLQA - OF INVENTION
6. SOUOTH - TERESA
7. TZGOULQU - SUPERIOR
8. VLCZQU - JONES
9. YQAOT - LIQUOR

Beautiful Dreamer

Nobody wants to read the small print in dreams.

Ann Landers
********************
I think every important dream, and maybe every dream is important, has a prologue and an epilogue.

Last night I dreamt I was living in an unfamiliar community in a city. There were buildings all around and one block up at the top of a hill was a church. I think it was an Episcopal church, but I'm not sure about that. Since I hadn't been in a church for many decades I decided to go inside. So I climbed the hill and went through the door. I was greeted briefly by someone at the door. I expected to find pews and an alter but instead it was a large room, empty except for a few tables and chairs spread around. A few people were sitting by themselves in some of the chairs. Others were standing in small groups talking. A couple of people looked at me with suspicion because I was a stranger. One person came up and welcomed me and then went back to her group. In the center of the room there was a small table with a chair next to it. I went and sat in the chair. In a moment the pastor came by. We had a short, amiable conversation about nothing I can remember. After a while I got up and left. The follow at the door said to come back again. I asked him when the services were. He referred me to a list on the door and I saw that I had been at one of the services listed. I woke up.

Simple analysis: I went to church, nothing happened so I left.

Fine print: I went out on a quest and out of curiosity entered a realm where I expected to find an answer and instead found things I didn't understand or appeared to be without understanding.

More fine print: Faced with the dilemma of my own strange existence I attempted to elevate my thinking to a level above my immediate objects of understanding and found open space in my mind with nothing but solitary bubbles of reality.

Finer print: After painful effort, I entered the existential universe of disconnected ideas with benignly indifferent authority, and still with unsatisfied curiosity trying to connect with the unconnected and unconnectable.

Still finer print: Returning to "fine print" I went looking for something to please me and left without pleasure.

Prologue: Whereas Thursday was a day of surprise and pleasure. Friday was a day of pain. I had to make a painful walk to the market. Then my jaw was acting up with pain that clouded everything I did. I remember sitting on my bed wishing there was a prayer that would heal the pain in my jaw, the illnesses of my wretched body and the thorny doubts in my mind. So I dreamt of going where the prayers are and finding nothing.

Epilogue: Today, Saturday, the pain in the jaw was less so I could think more clearly about things, and I wondered and thought about the times in my life when I was happy.

One of them was when I was hiking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. It was a solitary journey through the tangled concepts of nature, following a trail of thought to surprises and discoveries.

Another happy time was with various theatre companies, specifically the Circle Rep Lab in New York City. Even though people were there to rehearse, perform and witness. to work, there was plenty of down time and during it we were entitled to discuss plays, events and ideas. It was a place of communication among people who were creative thinkers and doers. It was a place of friendship, humor and mutual respect. And so I had dreamt of a place where that was not happening to cause me to think about it.

Be aware of dreams. They walk among us.

DB - The Vagabond
********************
Weekend Contest

Alright, snce the answer to this weekend puzzle came popping up almost immediately I have a new one for Sunday. But first the results. The Grand Prize of a plastic White House bonnet (certified copy) goes to Salemslot9 of the Blogspot Tigers. Second place, close on her heels, comes Val, also of the Tigers.

Who are these first ladies?
(Match each of these ladies with the names of their gentlemen friends below.
Do as many as you can before you start to cheat.)

1. Ellen Axson
2. Edith Kermit Cardow
3. Nancy Davis
4. Julia Dent
5. Frances Folsom
6. Hannah Hoes
7. Elizabeth Kartright
8. Lucretia Rudolf
9. Margaret Mackall Smith
10. Claudia Taylor
======================
Grover Cleveland
James Garfield
Ulysses Grant
Lyndon Johnson
James Monroe
Ronald Reagan
Teddy Roosevelt
Zackary Taylor
Martin Van Buren
Woodrow Wilson

And the answer is:
1. Ellen Axson=Woodrow Wilson
2. Edith Kermit Cardow=Teddy Roosevelt
3. Nancy Davis=Ronald Reagan
4. Julia Dent=Ulysses Grant
5. Frances Folsom=Grover Cleveland
6. Hannah Hoes=Martin Van Buren
7. Elizabeth Kartright=James Monroe
8. Lucretia Rudolf=James Garfield
9. Margaret Mackall Smith=Zackary Taylor
10. Claudia Taylor=Lyndon Johnson

Now for today's nasty puzzle. It's a cryptogram. Lucky you.

1. AHSZUO
2. BZPPHUF
3. HAF SBO GHGHT
4. KLH
5. QW LAIOASLQA
6. SOUOTH
7. TZGOULQU
8. VLCZQU
9. YQAOT

Good luck.
DB
****************

Idols Of Doom

Worry is the darkroom in which negatives can develop.

Unknown
*****************
"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them."

My mother was a worrier, and extreme worrier. She was also a controller. She would decide how long my brother could stay out and when he wasn't back when she expected him she would begin to pace the floor and declare out loud that she knew something terrible had happened to him. When he finally did come home, even if it was ten minutes later, she was in such a state of fear and anger that he was not warmly welcomed. And I, who had to listen to her pacing and ranting, was not much better at greeting him. If, heaven forbid, the phone rang during her parade of worry, it would strike a chord of greater fear in her. She would pick it up expecting to hear the dire news. I learned to answer the phone for her. It was usually one of her friends who wanted to chat. Too bad. She had to worry instead.

There were reasons for my dear mother's condition: the sudden tragic loss of her husband at an early age, a subsequent nervous breakdown and continuous financial insecurity and impoverishment. But her imagination was so active that even when there was no danger to any one of us she held on to the pictures of disaster, they became engraved on her thinking and she worshipped them without realizing that's what she was doing.

Visiting the temples of our doubts, fears and failures, burning incense to our worries and letting them bow us down to a negative life is a fruitless activity. Today there are people who dwell in the world of doom, who hold in thought all the things that could go or might go wrong. And some of them are very active in trying to prevent what they have imagined and engraved on their own thinking. There are those who try to convince others of the dire consequences of life, whose thrust of conversation and action is against not for. Goethe called the devil "the spirit of negation."

It would have been possible for my mother to turn her head around and start having trust and faith that her kids were able to take care of themselves and that life wasn't so bleak and tragic.. She never did.

It is possible for the negaters of the world to start having the same faith in the future, working and speaking in a positive way to that future and erasing the engravings of doom from their thoughts. Will they do it?

DB - The Vagabond
********************

WEEKEND CONTEST

One day an ardent fanatical feminist told me I should never refer to a woman as a "lady." No "Ladies and Gentlemen" no "Ladies Room" no "Ladies First" no "Everyday Is Ladies Day With Me"? Well, I'm not an anti-feminist by any means but, nonsense, I say. Here's your contest.

Who are these first ladies?
(Match each of these ladies with the names of their gentlemen friends below.
Do as many as you can before you start to cheat.)

1. Ellen Axson
2. Edith Kermit Cardow
3. Nancy Davis
4. Julia Dent
5. Frances Folsom
6. Hannah Hoes
7. Elizabeth Kartright
8. Lucretia Rudolf
9. Margaret Mackall Smith
10. Claudia Taylor
======================
Grover Cleveland
James Garfield
Ulysses Grant
Lyndon Johnson
James Monroe
Ronald Reagan
Teddy Roosevelt
Zackary Taylor
Martin Van Buren
Woodrow Wilson

Good luck.
DB
*************

Shoot The Actor

In order for an actor to play a scene he has to know in which direction the scene is going and he knows in which direction it's going because he decides.

DB - The Vagabond
*******************
In almost every important scene an actor has he has at least one secret. A secret is something that gets revealed. It may not get revealed until the end of the play, unless it is revealed to the audience earlier.

In the thousands of years of dramatic literature some of the greatest scenes ever written are the scenes between Iago and Othello when Iago, starting from nothing but a simple question: "Did Michael Cassio, when you woo'd my lady, know of your love?" gradually plants a seed of suspicion in Othello's mind. Thereafter, taking advantage of every opportunity and chance encounter to insinuate his lies into Othello's perturbed mind while pretending to be his friend, he finally drives Othello into a state of blind rage and murderous jealousy "Arise, black vengeance, from the hollow hell!"

The beginning is simple, the end is horrifying, but all the subtle steps along the way, the dimensions, colors, pauses, latitudes, perspectives, leverages and twists are up to the actor and if the actor makes the right decisions about how the scenes progress the result will be tragic in the fullest sense possible.

There's a show business story about a production of Othello that was playing out west many years ago in which the actor playing Iago was so good some pioneer type in the audience took out his pistol and shot him. The actor wasn't killed, fortunately, but it sure stopped the performance.

I never played either Othello or Iago, but I did play Cassio, the innocent soldier that Iago blames it on and so I got to witness that scene every night played by Clayton Corbin and Charles Kimbrough. Since both actors had made strong decisions they had very powerful directions in which to go.

So much of acting is following directions. The playwright gives you directions, the director and the production give directions. But in the end it's the actor's own directions that make the role. No one else can act the part.

Another interesting aspect to Iago's role is just how and how many of his secrets he reveals as the play goes along. We have a macabre fascination watching that friendly guy destroy Othello and a few other people along the way. Our reaction to him is going to depend partly on how much of himself he reveals to us. If his decisions are right we can't help ending up hating him. But leave your pistol at home.

DB
********************

Pacifica

Dear Pacifica62. Thank you. I am overwhelmed.

May all the best spirits in the universe bless you every day.

I am truly and humbly grateful.

DB
***************

Business Of The Day

Only by putting an end to delusions can we get rid of the dust.

Wu Ch'eng
****************
In my young man days, as soon as I reached drinking age I went at it with "gusto" as the old TV commercial used to say. I enjoyed drinking beer with my buddies. I loved my beer, especially during Summer Theatre. We would get out of work at about eleven and have two hours before the bar closed. We'd get there and everyone would order a pitcher. A mug of beer cost a quarter, a pitcher was a dollar. Can you believe that? Well, it was in the 60's on Cape Cod. I could easily down two pitchers before closing time.

I could drink buckets of beer. I never passed out or got uncontrollably drunk. I would just climb into a state of advanced alcoholic jollity.

Along the way I learned an important lesson and finally made a vow to myself. The vow was: "Never do anything you decide to do when you've been drinking." I've kept that vow all my life and it has saved me a lot of trouble.

Now, in my senior years I hardly ever do any drinking. They have closed the local bar to build condominiums, which of course they aren't doing. The nearest liquor store is impassibly far away even if I could afford something harder, which I can't. So today my liquor of opportunity and choice is coffee. I love my coffee and it doesn't keep me awake.

So now I have another vow I have made for myself. "Never plan to do anything you decide to do when first waking up." In that semi-somnambulate state between half awake and half asleep my mind conceives of the most grandiose plans for where I'm going to go and what I am going to do. I can map out an exciting and adventurous future for myself starting as soon as I get out of bed. But it doesn't take long after I stagger to the stove to start the kettle, stagger to the bathroom and back and sit down with my first mug of coffee to realize that the great heroic act is not going to happen.

So I waste no more time on it. I vow not only not to plan it but also not to think about it. I put it right out of my head, and then, in a soberly manner, I begin with the business of the day.

DB - The Vagabond
***************************

Ensembles

Young man! (I repeat) be fond of your work.

Immanuel Kant
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's not hard to find a prima donna. There is usually one around somewhere. They come in all ages, genders and sexualities. One hopes the prima donna is not the one in charge.

When a prima donna appears in a theatre or film production the rest of the company just ignores it, works around it and shares the ridicule and disgust. I always visualize a prima donna as a gremlin, sitting on a toad stool with a grumpy and unhappy look on its face, surrounded by nobody.

One of the things I always enjoyed the most about working in the theatre was the ensemble aspect of it, a bunch of people, cast and crew, working together to bring off a successful production. Crew people are particularly important. They are there to change the scenery, hand the actor a prop or to help him with his clothes if he has a quick change. And I know that good crew people are fond of their work because they have told me so.

One night I was sitting in a bar in the theatre district of New York. At the bar were a group of stage hands. I was fascinated to hear them talk about the problems and successes of their various productions and also about what was going on in other theatres, which they knew from talking with other stage hands. They all knew each other you see.

I had to do crew work when I first started out and hence I never took crew people for granted. Prima Donnas usually do, but the crew are there with their jobs well done anyway.

When I was doing "Twelfth Night" in Norfolk, Virginia I had less than 10 seconds to go off stage and get a sword during one of the scenes. At every performance there was a young man standing there with the handle of the sword pointed toward me so I could easily grab it and get back on stage. I never knew his name but I always said "Thank you."

I enjoy watching NASA TV, especially when they show the activities of the astronauts on the shuttle or the space station. They frequently mention the thousands of people who are responsible for doing all the other jobs and doing them right that make the space flights safe and successful. A lot of people are fond of their work.

DB - The Vagabond
*******************
SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)

In your opinion what is the most amazing thing that could happen during this decade? Make it as outrageous as you want but keep it within the realm of what you consider a possibility.

Only 7 responses so far.

Answers will be published the first day of Summer.

Thank you.

dbdacoba@aol.com

DB - The Vagabond
*******************

Get On With It

Tragedy is a tool for the living to gain wisdom, not a guide by which to live.

Robert Kennedy
****************
I don't know why I keep going, except that there's a sign at the entrance to my brain which reads "Never Give Up."

I have lost so much of myself: my health, my career, my friends, my family. I live in a town where no one knows me and no one seems to want to. I stagger when I walk and I have to walk because I have no car. I don't get enough to eat, I can only eat what I don't have to chew, and that's not much. I don't feel fear these days, just discouragement and futility.


I did a major role in "A Delicate Balance" by Edward Albee. The director noted that at the of the play the night was over, the morning sun promised a new day, a cleansing of fears and a beginning. The leading actor in the play disagreed and said that it was only a reaffirmation of all things that were wrong, another day to face the same old troubles over again. I can't tell you how much I disagreed with that actor. He went on to become the director of that theatre and two years later it closed.

I wish I had a comfortable chair. I used to have one, a big soft easy chair, but when I moved up to the third floor it didn't fit through either of the doors so I had to give it up. I have two chairs of the fold out, aluminum, plastic lawn and beach variety. I have to prop them up with hard pillows and towels to reach the keyboard. It's very uncomfortable. I have a bed which I bought from the Salvation Army for $10. If I need to rest I sit on that.

Edward Albee was in many ways a product of the ancient Greek playwrights. The Greek dramas were almost exclusively tragedies, but they were not pessimistic. The Greeks taught us catharsis, a cleansing, the painful effects of revenge and the healing of it, purification. Friedrich Nietzsche wrote about: "how the Greeks put pessimism behind them, - how they overcame it...Tragedy in particular proves that the Greeks were not pessimists." It was that Dionysian spirit of forward looking, forward living that I came to believe was what my work as an actor was providing.

I wish I had a bath tub. I had one in New York. It wasn't big but it was sufficient to be a blessing for me. I haven't had one since I moved here.

I wish I could afford a nice big bottle of Motts apple juice.

That actor was wrong. Why go on the stage and portray negativism? Why throw fog in the face of the morning sun? The nihilist sees mud, the biologist sees life developing and growing.

I mailed the rent check today. It's a long, painful walk because the post office took away the mail boxes that were near me. Then I went to the market. I avoided buying the eggs and the beans, They can wait until Wednesday.

Like a good landscape painter, my director friend always knew where the light source was coming from, in every scene of every play. Without the light source there are no shadows. That actor only wanted to play in the fog and the mud.

I wish I had a good Ring, a Solti, Levine or Furtwangler Ring. But such as thing would cost hundreds. Maybe some day.

One good thing about living alone is that whenever I come home every one here is glad to see me. I have no audience now except the grinning moon to watch me. So I grin back, take my solo bow in the dark and silent night and wait for the morning sun so I can get on with life.

DB - The Vagabond
*******************
SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)

In your opinion what is the most amazing thing that could happen during this decade? Make it as outrageous as you want but keep it within the realm of what you consider a possibility.

Only 7 responses so far.

Answers will be published the first day of Summer.

dbdacoba@aol.com

Thank you.

DB - The Vagabond
*******************

The Culture War

When power corrupts, poetry cleanses.

John F. Kennedy
*********************
A few years ago a new CEO of a major international company was quoted as saying he never gives money to cultural causes and he's proud of it. Imagine the Chief Executive Officer of a large corporation not liking cultural events of any kind.

Well now, let's think about it. We would certainly save a lot if we dispensed with the symphony orchestras, opera houses and ballet companies in the country. They cost a lot of money to maintain and they certainly don't pay for themselves. Not only that but a lot of the time orchestra musicians sit around and do nothing. A dead waste of labor.

The publishers send out stacks of poetry and novels. Poetry is just a waste of time. Nobody reads that gunk and novels are just fiction, stories that have no value to real life whatsoever. Let's close down those glorified printing houses if they can't do better.

What's next? Well how about all those university and college departments: fine arts, music and drama (which are the devils workshops). Do you know there are classes where a person, usually a young good looking girl, maybe even your daughter. stands in the middle of the room absolutely stark naked while other people sit around and pretend to draw while they gawk and ogle. Disgusting!. Let's close down those nests of sin.

Art museums are another thing. What a waste of space. Nobody ever goes in them. Some of them are so big they could easily be converted into a sports arena or a factory warehouse.

Now about ballet. Have you ever been to a ballet dance. The boys all prance around with their bulges showing while the girls have skirts so short you can practically see everything. And modern dance? You never can tell what's going to happen with one of those. Those dancers are all homos anyway.

And actors? Don't get me started. They all just want to show off, sometimes with their clothes on, sometimes not. And those theatre companies all over the place are eating into our tax dollars something fierce. Films are the only things that actually make money and look at the junk Hollywood turns out. We should close down some of those studios, pronto.

Jazz, there's another waste of time and money. Who wants to listen to all that honking and rattling. Then there are the folk and pop singers. I say, if someone wants to play his guitar and sing let him sing gospel music and stop wasting my time.

And speaking of works of the devil, it's past time that we rid this hallowed land of the worst garbage that has ever been strewn on our pure paths. I'm speaking of that ear splitting, dope selling, promiscuity breeding, rebellion making, gang forming, dementia causing outrage know as rock and roll. If there ever was a reason to put our national foot down on the freedom of expression, those rock and roll (I hesitate to call them) musicians have sure provided us with more justification than we need.

No, I want to jog down the street in quiet and when I go to the football game I want to hear the high school band play Stars and Stripes. Now that's culture.

DB
****************
I'm glad to say that "Buffalo Gap" Part Two of Brian and Christine is now finished and posted on The Brian Saga, http://thebriansaga.blogspot.com/ I love my story.
*******************
Only one winner of the Weekend Contest
Paula of the Email Lions wins the autographed map of the world beach ball. for guessing the Secretaries General Of the United Nations.

1. T___ L___ Trygve Lie
2. D___ H___ Dag Hammarsjold
3. U T___ U Thant
4. Kurt W___ Kurt Waldheim
5. J___ P___ d___ C___ Javier Perez de Cuellar
6. B___ B___-G___ Boutros Boutros-Ghali
7. K___ A___ Kofi Annan
8. B___ K___-m___ Ban Ki-moon

Better luck next time. If there is one.
***********************