Mama’s boy that I occasionally am, this infamous day’s always known as my mom’s 17th birthday. Morbid must run in the family, too, as my birthday’s Lenin’s death date.
Nice try, jokester. Being one month to the day late, in a time before widely accepted C-sections and/or inducements, she always appreciated how much easier my two brothers were for her.
Free catering, free swimming pool — I thought, why leave the womb?
His father’s attitude towards him was the epitome of Anti-Dad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEJq66AxgtM
Except without the alcoholism and booze breath. And maybe the selflessness (they were well-off).
And I have a slight feeling that the final conversation would be like this:
Dad! Since you died, I have rallied a nation, saved it, stopped the Nazis, liberated Europe, won an election, forged an alliance with America, and become an honorary citizen of the US!
Hm. . . . well . . . but . . . you still didn’t take care of that watch.
Ah, Churchill. How prescient he was regarding militant Islamists.
We are fortunate to have a lovely 1934 Model 128 RCA “Shouldered Tombstone” Radio that still works! On occasion I will put on one of Churchill’s speeches and “watch” the radio and enjoy the dulcet tones of a true orator.
We have a 1915 (approx.) Victrola that sits next to my computer. Still works, though it needs to be rebuilt. No electricity. Hand-cranked and acoustic.
I have a Grundig radion in a wood cabinet from around the same time. It’s about 4 feet long, 3 feet high and 2 feet deep. The sound is fantastic. Something about all those tubes and wood… It’s got a short wave and on good days I can pick up Europe.
There is something very cool about using both; like they are time machines. Sometimes when I’m searching for stuff on the Grundig shortwave I half expect to hear FDR or Churchill’s voices coming out of the speakers. The cabinet also has a little turntable. I’ve played some modern albums on it, which seems very anachronistic, almost blasphemous.
I have a CD of Churchill speeches from a radio show fan club. Somewhere in the vaults.
Churchill is one of my favorites. A truly eccentric character who could also play politician in his spare time. When he’s not painting of course.
Besides Scott, the only who can down three bottles of champagne, port and brandy and can still dictate speeches, write history and hold policy discussions well into the night. I can’t even function on that level when sober.
That was pretty typical with the aristocracy of that time. Just put up with the kid until they’re old enough to ship off to boarding school. They were usually too busy boffing each other and practicing for the upper class twit competition.
It just seemed the father was actually hostile towards him, especially during military academy.
The watch story: Winston’s father, Lord Randoplh Churchill, gave him a watch. Now, when Lord Randolph got the watch back for some reason, it was rusted and not in pristine condition, so he sent a letter to Winston complaining and demanding an explanation. He got one:
Winston lacked good true watch pockets in his uniform so when he had to cross or swim in a lake while in uniform he lost it. He went diving into the lake several times to try and retrieve it, couldn’t find it. Got permission to DRAIN THE LAKE and then found it.
Apparently the explanaition wasn’t good enough and Randolph fixed the watch and gave it to another son.
Also, interestingly enough, it seemed that Randolph never thought Winston would amount to anything. He sent him to military academy because he felt he was too stupid to attend anywhere else. (To Randoplh’s credit, Winston failed the entrance exam twice before finally passing a third time -with tutoring aide).
Also, interestingly enough, it seemed that Randolph never thought Winston would amount to anything. He sent him to military academy because he felt he was too stupid to attend anywhere else. (To Randoplh’s credit, Winston failed the entrance exam twice before finally passing a third time -with tutoring aide).
Still, when this was the same man who was a master orator and a recognized historian who wrote a four-volume history of Britain and a six-volume narrative about WWII. An aside: Mark Twain was one of his heroes, whom he met on a tour of the US in 1904, after his exploits in the Boer War as a war correspondent gained him international celebrity.
Also, in reference to the picture: George Orwell wrote a review of the last book of Lewis’s Space Trilogy.
All 3 died the same day.
I knew Huxley and JFK….didn’t know C S Lewis,Floyd,that was a guess
Of all of them CS Lewis meant the most to me. I am a Narnian.
I have theory that you are either a George Orwell person or an Aldous Huxley person. I’m a Huxley person
I’m a Yevgeni Zamyatin person myself.
Moi?
Orwell wrote the truth about statism. And Huxley had a say in things like that to. But CS Lewis is my fav. of the group. I am a Narnian!
It’s C.S. Lewis, Aldous Huxley, and John F. Kennedy. All died on Nov. 22, 1963. Lewis and Huxley ended up on the inside pages.
One had a great mind for guiding the faithful, one had a great mind for creating dystopias*, and another had a great mind for knowing who to $%&!.
*I guessed here, Never read his books.
Off the track, a bit – anyone see this? http://hotair.com/archives/2009/11/22/video-snl-destroys-obama-over-spending/
Just about the funniest SNL skit I’ve seen in a VERY LONG time!
Mama’s boy that I occasionally am, this infamous day’s always known as my mom’s 17th birthday. Morbid must run in the family, too, as my birthday’s Lenin’s death date.
Happy Birthday Mama Porvaznik.
Happy Birthday Eric’s Mom!
Mrs. Porvaznik,
Happy Birthday. I am sorry about Eric.
Nice try, jokester. Being one month to the day late, in a time before widely accepted C-sections and/or inducements, she always appreciated how much easier my two brothers were for her.
Free catering, free swimming pool — I thought, why leave the womb?
I have to make a joke about our personal rock-nut*.
*Seriously! You and my brother could trade notes.
Just watched a series of lectures on DVD about Winston Churchill with my grandfather.
Fascinating.
What was shocking was his parents. His mother almost never saw him, his father was hostile, especially during his years in the military academy.
His father’s attitude towards him was the epitome of Anti-Dad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEJq66AxgtM
Except without the alcoholism and booze breath. And maybe the selflessness (they were well-off).
And I have a slight feeling that the final conversation would be like this:
Dad! Since you died, I have rallied a nation, saved it, stopped the Nazis, liberated Europe, won an election, forged an alliance with America, and become an honorary citizen of the US!
Hm. . . . well . . . but . . . you still didn’t take care of that watch.
Ah, Churchill. How prescient he was regarding militant Islamists.
We are fortunate to have a lovely 1934 Model 128 RCA “Shouldered Tombstone” Radio that still works! On occasion I will put on one of Churchill’s speeches and “watch” the radio and enjoy the dulcet tones of a true orator.
We have a 1915 (approx.) Victrola that sits next to my computer. Still works, though it needs to be rebuilt. No electricity. Hand-cranked and acoustic.
I have one of those too, RCA. Sounds pretty decent, depending on the record.
I have a Grundig radion in a wood cabinet from around the same time. It’s about 4 feet long, 3 feet high and 2 feet deep. The sound is fantastic. Something about all those tubes and wood… It’s got a short wave and on good days I can pick up Europe.
Guys that is awesome. I can see my Grandparents sitting around those things……..
You know what it will be my mission to find a Victrola or a Grundig. We’d enjoy that!
There is something very cool about using both; like they are time machines. Sometimes when I’m searching for stuff on the Grundig shortwave I half expect to hear FDR or Churchill’s voices coming out of the speakers. The cabinet also has a little turntable. I’ve played some modern albums on it, which seems very anachronistic, almost blasphemous.
I have a CD of Churchill speeches from a radio show fan club. Somewhere in the vaults.
Churchill is one of my favorites. A truly eccentric character who could also play politician in his spare time. When he’s not painting of course.
Besides Scott, the only who can down three bottles of champagne, port and brandy and can still dictate speeches, write history and hold policy discussions well into the night. I can’t even function on that level when sober.
That was pretty typical with the aristocracy of that time. Just put up with the kid until they’re old enough to ship off to boarding school. They were usually too busy boffing each other and practicing for the upper class twit competition.
He was actually raised by Mrs. Everest.
It just seemed the father was actually hostile towards him, especially during military academy.
The watch story: Winston’s father, Lord Randoplh Churchill, gave him a watch. Now, when Lord Randolph got the watch back for some reason, it was rusted and not in pristine condition, so he sent a letter to Winston complaining and demanding an explanation. He got one:
Winston lacked good true watch pockets in his uniform so when he had to cross or swim in a lake while in uniform he lost it. He went diving into the lake several times to try and retrieve it, couldn’t find it. Got permission to DRAIN THE LAKE and then found it.
Apparently the explanaition wasn’t good enough and Randolph fixed the watch and gave it to another son.
Also, interestingly enough, it seemed that Randolph never thought Winston would amount to anything. He sent him to military academy because he felt he was too stupid to attend anywhere else. (To Randoplh’s credit, Winston failed the entrance exam twice before finally passing a third time -with tutoring aide).
Also, interestingly enough, it seemed that Randolph never thought Winston would amount to anything. He sent him to military academy because he felt he was too stupid to attend anywhere else. (To Randoplh’s credit, Winston failed the entrance exam twice before finally passing a third time -with tutoring aide).
Still, when this was the same man who was a master orator and a recognized historian who wrote a four-volume history of Britain and a six-volume narrative about WWII. An aside: Mark Twain was one of his heroes, whom he met on a tour of the US in 1904, after his exploits in the Boer War as a war correspondent gained him international celebrity.
Also, in reference to the picture: George Orwell wrote a review of the last book of Lewis’s Space Trilogy.
Don’t anyone tell him, but this is what I got Rufus for Christmas.
http://www.zazzle.com/pd/realviewpopup?url=http%3A%2F%2Frlv.zcache.com%2Fisapi%2Fdesignall.dll%3Faction%3Drealview%26pdt%3Dshirt%26pending%3Dfalse%26pid%3D235501148008896762%26rvtype%3Dproduct%26view%3Dfront%26max_dim%3D1000%26bg%3D0xFFFFFF%26square_it%3Dtrue%26draw_relative_size%3Dtrue%26style%3Dbasic_tshirt%26color%3Dwhite%26size%3Da_l%26context%3Dmfong%26side_front%3Dvert%26group%3Dmens%26lifestyle%3Dclassic%26lifeStyle%3Dclassic%26drawareaboundingbox%3Dfalse%26drawsafearea%3Dfalse%26view_auto%3D1.4&dim=1000
I would never ascribe to a political theory that would have me as a member.
Awesome, totally awesome!