Queen For A Day

Back in the early Black and White days of Television there was a show called "Queen For A Day." The premise was for show host, Jack Bailey, to get women to get up and tell their story to the studio audience. The Applause Meter registered the sound level for each of the four contestants. The contestants were members of the studio audience. "Unsuspecting" she was to be "the one". It did not matter who she was. It mattered only that she would be emotional at the personal attention that she was about to get and convey her story to the audience.

Jump ahead 50 to 60 years and we have Kim Davis interviewing for the title of Queen For a Day. She reached the national radar by denying men and women marriage licenses in her home county of Rowan, Kentucky. As County Clerk she must issue and sign all marriage licenses. She personally objected to issuing a license to two men or two women. She claimed Christian Privilege as the basis of her refusal to perform the duties of her elected office. So in steps the Family Research Council and other conservative anti-civil rights organizations. She tells her sorry story and the Applause Meter began to register. "Keep going Kim, you made the needle move." She then shut down all marriage license issuance and told people to go elsewhere. "Kim, the needle is moving more. Do something dramatic." 

She then was summoned to Federal court to be told to do her job and stop discriminating. She refuse that order and was immediately taken into custody. "Well done, Kim, you'll be a martyr for our cause." So then Republican candidates for president jumped to her side and one showed up to hold her arm high in a sign of victory. "You've DONE IT, Kim, You ARE Queen for a Day." She was lavished with praise, shown crucifixes dangling from sticks in front of her face, given a bouquet of flowers and made to again weep with joy. The only thing missing from the media circus was the playing of "Pomp and Circumstances." I guess they would run into an IP issue so they pirated "Eye of the Tiger" instead.

Now you must recall that the "honor" of being Queen For a Day on the TV show was not to make the women feel better, but to sell advertising minutes and hawk the sponsors' products. The winner would get a washer-dryer, dinner for two on the town, a bouquet of flowers, a crown and an ermine lined red velvet robe, flatware, matching pots and pans, in short what every woman from 1945 through 1964 really wanted. After the it was all over for the day, she had to give back the robe and crown.

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Author's Note: The book cover images in the side margins of this blog are my own publications of eBooks available at both Amazon and B&N. Please take a moment and go to the sites and read about them. Then if you like it, buy one or two.

Make America Grate

I lay down on the sofa for a mid-afternoon nap and was quickly asleep. I had propped my head on the thick upholstered arm of the sofa and had the back of my neck directly against it. When I awakened the entire back of my head and neck were numb from the pressure. I was panicked at first. The thought of what Sarah Palin says popped into my mind. What she said was making sense. Rick Santorum was not an analpore and Donald trump had all the right answers to Make America Grate. I suddenly realized that with part of my brain asleep I was a Republican. As the blood returned to circulation in my scalp and neck it felt cool and tingly. My thinking became clear again and my Democratic leaning returned to full prominence.

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Author's Note: The book cover images in the side margins of this blog are my own publications of eBooks available at both Amazon and B&N. Please take a moment and go to the sites and read about them. Then if you like it, buy one or two.

Why Pirates Say ARRRGH!

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There is a linguistic reason that pirates say "Arrgh" all of the time. Never mind that pirate posers probably say it far more often than pirates to today, but there is a real reason.

The salty sea pirates of yon days of yore were an ignorant lot, but being of French descent they were multilingual. While their native tongue was French, all Hollywood films of pirates had sound and dialog recorded in English. In the earliest surviving films on Nitrate film stock, there was no sound recorded, i.e. they were Silent Films. Savvy editors could easily insert inter-panels of plot development e.g. "Mildred could not pay the rent and that gave the Evil Snidely Whiplash the excuse to put the moves on the fare maiden." Then the film would continue with a closeup of Snidely mouthing "Nya, tin nya nya" which no editor could ever have actually spelled on an inter-title board. We the audience knew what was being said even with our rudimentary lip-reading skills. In other spots there was essential dialog such as "Arrrgh, me maties, I'll slit ye from stem to stern if you don't take back that comment about moi Mare."

But back to the pirates. Most authentic pirates were formerly French seamen of the royal-class. They wore waist coats and tights and long perfumed wigs. After being away at sea and from the dainty damsels of D'ampierre-Au-Temple they kind of lost their air of pomposity. Rum will do that to ye.

Pirates were a drunken lot by all the official accounts. Captain Bly of the good ship Bounty discovered that fact at his peril.

Being of a chauvinistic and polite upbringing, and being expert with a foil, they were prone to keep the tradition of warning their fencing opponent to be "en guard." No self-respecting Defender of the Crown would ever think of a sneak attack on even the most formidable foe. Perry and Counter-perry would commence with an occasional Lunge that was deflected by the apt enemy.

Drunken pirate ex-French military persons started out announcing "En Guard," this was followed by the derivative "Guard, and Guarrrrd" as the heat of battle and the level of intoxication increased. Soon there was no time for the traditional fobish warning and "ARRRGH" was vocalized followed by a first strike to end the confrontation.

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Author's Note: The book cover images in the side margins of this blog are my own publications of eBooks available at both Amazon and B&N. Please take a moment and go to the sites and read about them. Buy one better yet two or I'll be forced to make ye walk the gangplank, ye Silly Buggers.