Of Thee I Sing!

Sunday is the Fourth of July. Festivities will be as varied as the nation’s constituents. Our roots gravitate from every country, ethnicity, and social strata.

Far from being monolithic, our culture is an amalgam. America absorbs heritage from each huddle mass that yearns to be free and from civilizations extant prior to European pioneering. If this country is a melting pot then we, the people, are the viand – a gumbo, a pozole, a burgoo.

A fine example of this stew is old time music. Also known as folk music, hillbilly music and Appalachian music, the genre mixed Celtic, German, African, French and other traditional rhythms to create an American sound.

Originally families would play these tunes together at home. Minstrel and medicine shows took them on the road. By the 1920s, radio and records had spread the sound across the rural and urban landscape. Old time music laid the groundwork for what would become country, bluegrass, blues and rock ‘n roll.

The names of these string bands reflect the music’s creativity and humor: The Skillet Lickers, Dr. Humphrey Bate & His Possum Hunters, The Fruit Jar Drinkers, Seven-Foot Dilly & His Dill Pickles to name a few.

This weekend wherever you celebrate, in the backyard, at the beach, on the porch, on the stoop, grab a guitar, banjo, fiddle, kazoo, spoons, or whatever you have. Revel your patriotic fervor with a glorious noise. As ever - BB

“As I was walking a ribbon of highway/I saw above me an endless skyway/I saw below me a golden valley/This land was made for you and me” - Woody Guthrie

Hot Dog!

Red Hot, wiener, frankfurter, wienie, dachshund sandwich, meat slurry by any other name would still taste as sweet.

As Independence Day approaches, aficionados look to their Mecca - Coney Island and the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest. I discussed the bout for the Mustard Colored Belt last year. This year’s focus will be on the morsel itself.

Food historians relish debating the origin of the sausage. Some cite a translation of Homer’s The Odyssey that mentions the sausage; others eschew that translation. Some attribute the treat to Nero’s chef; others boil at that idea and claim it apocryphal.

By the Middle Ages many cities laid claim to the legend of the link. Frankfurt, Germany declares a local butcher created a pre-cooked sausage, ergo the Frankfurter. Craving to catch up to its rival, Vienna, Austria also alleges ancestry. Vienna in German is Wien from which comes the word wiener.

But a sausage is just that until its put on the bun. Who first matched bun and wiener? Those stories peel forth like layers from an onion. Several world fairs, sidewalk and sport venue vendors claim the bright spark of adding the bun.

One fact is certain. In 1916, Nathan Handwerker left his employer to sell hot dogs for half what the ex-boss charged. This action gave rise to an annual July 4 tradition - watching grown adults shove as many red hots down their gullet as they can in 10 minutes. That’s what this country is all about. As ever- BB

"I devoured hot dogs in Baltimore 'way back in 1886, and they were then very far from new-fangled..." - H.L. Mencken

"It's like a bromance...I'm having fun with it." - Joey Chestnut current holder of Nathan's Mustard Colored Belt

Thumbs Up

During the Depression, thousands of teenagers left home to ride the rails. Some left to escape hardship, some to find work and some seeking adventure.

I entered my teens in 1967 with a strong wanderlust and a craving for precarious thrills. By then the free transit option of choice was hitchhiking. For almost a decade, putting out a thumb and accepting rides from strangers was my principle mode of transportation.

The rides were sometimes mundane, sometimes interesting and sometimes unnerving. As the proverb says, “God watches over fools.”

During these treks, the one constant was a sense of freedom. Whether a seven-mile hop across the bridge into Philly, or a cross-country journey, the act of putting out my thumb, throwing caution to the wind and offering myself to the Moirae exhilarated me. No matter what the outcome, I had crossed the Rubicon and the die was cast. Nothing in later life has captured that sense of disenthrallment.

I have not hitchhiked in many a decade, but often think of the open road. My heart stirs to the words of Walt Whitman, “Reckless O soul, exploring.” – as ever BB

“I might be walking over to a kid's house, then of all a sudden I would just stick out my thumb and hitchhike across three states.” Rickie Lee Jones

World's Most Popular

Football, not the gargantuan of American television but the international sensation we know as soccer, is the planet's most popular sport. From June 11 to July 11, millions of excited fans will focus on the World Cup in South Africa.

Ancient Chinese and Japanese texts mention a ball game using only the feet and head. The Romans enjoyed a similar pastime. The sport's acceptance took time. In 14th century England, King Edward III outlawed the sport as a public nuisance. Queen Elizabeth I levied punishments of up to 27 days incarceration for playing football. Times changed and 250 years later, England formalized the rules of game we know today.

Gaga Marketing embraces the world's most popular sport and sponsors the Rangers FC, a 1st Division Futbol Club based in Washington, DC. As of last weekend, they are in first place with a record of 5-0!

As World Cup fever raises the temperature of fans around the globe, you don't have to endure the hassle of international travel to enjoy world-class soccer. Just check out the next Gaga Rangers game. - As ever BB

"To say that these men paid their shillings to watch twenty-two hirelings kick a ball is merely to say that a violin is wood and catgut, that Hamlet is so much paper and ink." - J.B. Priestley

Canyon Believe They're Doing This?

Mark Elmore, Gaga's arduous adventurer, along with his intrepid mates will attempt to climb down the Grand Canyon, cross it, climb up the other side, camp and then do it back again the next day. A Herculean task to say the least.

It's all for a good cause. The link below explains it better than I. Please be generous and support this noble cause.

La Bonne Chance brave champions- as ever BB

"I attempt an arduous task; but there is no worth in that which is not a difficult achievement." - Ovid

Click this link for more information

https://atl.etapestry.com/fundraiser/ConnorsHeroes/HikingforHeroes/

Senescence

Days lengthen, nights shorten, the summer solstice is nigh. My natal anniversary precedes the solstice by several days. The American male's average lifespan is 75.6 years. Statistically speaking that puts me in the game of life's final quarter.

Shuffling off this mortal coil has never concerned me. Perhaps, it's my fascination with philosophy. Why worry about the end of existence when I'm not even sure what existence is? The ontological starting point for western philosophy is Descartes' phrase, "I think therefore I am." Popeye said, "I yam what I yam and that's all I yam." What about the existence of the sweet potato?

Many Eastern philosophies believe existence is an illusion. The Buddhist concept of anatta, non-self, negates worries over material and physical being. The Buddha did not deny self, but denied the phenomenality of self. An enlightened person transforms from insignificant self to bhavit-atto (one of significant self). Try working that into a birthday card.

Many say the final quarter of a professional basketball game is the most exciting. That is what I expect of my final quarter. Life proceeds whether the Primal Bingo Caller's next ball is 2B or not 2B. As ever - BB

"Swift as a shadow, short as any dream, brief as the lightning in the collied night." - William Shakespeare from A Midsummer's Night Dream

May Day

The person issuing this distress call must repeat it three times to distinguish it from similar sounding words. The signal has nothing to do with the first of May, but comes from the French, venez m’aider - come, help me.

Across the world, labor activists, socialists and others have designated May 1 as a day to honor workers. It’s also known as International Workers’ Day, or Labour Day.

The International Workers of the World (aka the Wobblies), led by Big Bill Haywood, celebrated one of the first May Days. I have an affinity for guys named Big Bill.

• There is blues man, Big Bill Broonzy who copyrighted over 300 songs and is best known for his version of Key to the Highway.
• Gangster/bootlegger/gambler, Big Bill Dwyer owned the first professional ice hockey team and first NFL team in New York City.
• Roaring 20s’ tennis great, Big Bill Tilden helped popularize the sport in the US.
• Country music performer, Big Bill Lister toured with Hank Williams. Hank liked touring with Big Bill because they both loved to sneak away and go fishing between gigs.
• Big Bill Thompson, mayor of Chicago and minion of Al Capone, is known not only as the last Republican mayor of the Windy City, but also as one of the most corrupt mayors in US history.
• Big Bill Morganfield, blues guitar player is the son of the great Muddy Waters – real name McKinley Morganfield.

May Day, May Day, May Day! How did musings about the first of May segue into a rant on men nicknamed Big Bill?

Curiouser and curiouser, cried Alice– as ever BB

“All big men are dreamers. They see things in the soft haze of a spring day or in the red fire of a long winter's evening.” Woodrow Wilson