Spitball Army

I just entered ANAGRAM into Google, and the search engine asked me, “Did you mean NAG A RAM?”

Card is titled: “Easton’s Bathing Beach, Newport, Rhode Island.  Photo: J.L. Goodman.  E-5918.”

Publishing information:  American Art Post Card Co., Boston, Mass.

Card circa 1943.

Connect here for a view of what Easton’s Bathing Beach (also known to Newport residents as First Beach) looks like today.

The phone vibrates. I look down.

Y R U sad, it reads.

I sit alone in my bedroom.  The ceiling fan whrrs overhead.  The curtains billow and rest.

The phone rings.  Hello.  No one replies.

I move to the sofa.  The lights are off.  The cat nestles into a pillow beside me.  The sun comes up.  I hear garbage cans being thrown, empty, into driveways.  The truck passes and turns the corner.

The door opens.  She looks past me, doesn’t move, doesn’t blink.  I sigh, close my eyes.

She is sitting on the floor, cross-legged, meditating.  She looks up.  Where are you going?

The sofa floats past her, my legs dangling.  The cat stirs, then goes back to sleep.  She rises from the floor, comes to rest beside me.  A feather.

We breathe deeply, lean into one another, glide through the window into the drifting night mist.  A cicada chorus envelops us: now as one, now not at all.

[audio:Fred_FM_playlist_080810.mp3]
Fred FM playlist (8 August 2010)

Approximate playing time: 76 minutes.

1. Clare Burson  “Love Me in the Morning”  (2005)
2. Blood, Sweat & Tears  “40,000 Headmen”  (1970)
3. The Doobie Brothers  “For Someone Special”  (1976)
4. Laura Nyro  “Emmie”  (1968)
5. Three Dog Night  “Liar”  (1970)
6. Future Clouds and Radar  “Green Mountain Clover”  (2007)
7. The Beach Boys  “This Whole World”  (1970)
8. Grand Funk Railroad  “Memories”  (1974)
9. The Ramones  “When I Was Young”  (1993)
10. Shack  “Moonshine”  (2006)
11. Evelyn “Champagne” King  “I Don’t Know If It’s Right”  (1978)
12. Michelle Shocked  “How You Play the Game”  (2005)
13. Marty Willson-Piper  “Even Though You Are My Friend”  (1992)
14. Josh Rouse  “Saturday”  (2005)
15. Toumani Diabaté  “Yamfa”  (1999)
16. The Damnwells  “Texas”  (2003)
17. John Lenehan & Rebecca Hirsch  “Arvo Pärt: Spiegel im Spiegel”  (2001)

[Written to Alice in Frankfort, Indiana.  Return addressed: Richard, Co. G, 2nd Bn., 1st Mar., c/o F.P.O., San Francisco, Calif.  Postmarked at U.S. Navy, on 20 Mar 1945 P.M.  Envelope stamped on front, “Passed by Naval Censor,” and initialed by the Censor.]

Mar. 20, 1945

Hello Sweetheart,

     I ran out of the small stationery so I’ll have to use this.  It’s all I can get at the PX.  This is the first letter I’ve written on it so we’ll see how is turns out.

     Boy, am I going to freeze when and if I get in a cold climate again.  I don’t just what the temperature is but it must be rather high.  I don’t seem to notice it much but the sweat just pours off.  Most of the day I look like I just got out of a shower and forgot to dry out off.  The only bad part is the constant dripping and irritation of this fungus I have.  The dripping is bad enough and it’s very difficult to keep my glasses dry so I can see.  The most annoying part however is the fungus.  It itches and when some part of my body touches it, it stings.  I’ve got the stuff all over me.  The only part that really bothers me though is under my arms.  It seems like I can’t do much about it though.  Enough of my troubles – – – Just wait till I get back.  Maybe I can get this stuff taken care of as it should be.  There are too many here with the same thing and the Corpsmen either don’t have the time or don’t want to take the trouble to take care of it as it should be.  It’s not exactly their fault.  They don’t have much to work with; and if they did, they wouldn’t know how to use it.  I guess the doctors know their stuff all right but you only see them if there is something seriously wrong with you.  The Corpsmen have just had a little course in first aid.  They know how to dip a swab and paint you and put on a bandage but that’s about all.  They save a lot of lives on the battle-field.  You have to give them credit for that.  They are a darn good bunch of fellows.  They are Johny “Johnny-on-the-spot” then so I am told.  Every body who has had use for them in combat hold them in high admiration.

     You know, it has been quite a while since I told you I loved you.  I’ve told you and thought it often enough but you still haven’t heard or read it, have you?  At times, Sweetheart, you have to do as I do.  You must always remember that I love you Sweetheart.  You will I know.  The letters may be rather far apart at times and I may not be able to tell or write you those words you want to hear, but you must always remember them and trust me.  I am sorry I haven’t written more often but I won’t try to offer any excuses.  I’m not being spiteful by any means.  I definitely want you to understand that.  You know I write whether I receive any answer from you or not.  Since the last time I wrote, I have received only 2 letters from you.  I’m sure you have written more but they haven’t arrived as yet.  Always keep your trust in me and love me Sweetheart.  I will do the same.  Those are two things that we will both need a lot of.  Our life is still ahead of us Sweetheart.  We’ve a long way to go yet.  There will be many hardships and much unhappiness along the way but together we can be happy.  We will be happy with our love.  It is much harder when we are apart I know, but that is just one of the many hardships that we must take in our stride.  Nothing can be done about it.  We can only promise each other to wait and to do what we can to see that the same thing does not happen again.  I know that if it is left up to me and we can do anything about, we won’t be separated a second time.  This once is sufficient for all times.  I love you so much Sweetheart.  I can’t tell you enough I know.  You like to hear it the same as I do.  It isn’t the words but the meaning.  You don’t know how much it means to me to know beyond a doubt that you are waiting waiting for me, trusting me and loving me.  I feel sorry for those who have no one waiting for them – those that have no one to love.

     After writing those last couple of sentences, I stopped in amazement and reread them.  I got to wondering why those thoughts had entered in my mind.  Then I realized why those thoughts were in my mind.  At the present I am reading a novel by Emile Bronte.  The name of it is “Jane Eyre.”  Jane is a lonely orphant girl and the author follows her through her life.  It’s a very good book and it leaves you a lot to think about.

     Well, Sweetheart, I have a little duty to preform very shortly.  It’s not exactly a duty, – more of a task or necessity.  I have to go to chow.  I would how long it will be before I change my oppinion concerning chow.  We are getting pretty decent food but I still dread the idea of going after it and eating.  If I just didn’t get hungry – .

     Good-night Sweetheart.
          I love you with all my heart.
               Pleasant Dreams
                    ‘Nite Sweeteheart
                         I love you.

Christopher Hitchens, who seems to have made a career out of frustrating, infuriating and intriguing his readers on matters of politics, history, and social culture, talks here with CNN’s Anderson Cooper about his recent encounter with, and treatment for, cancer.  An avowed atheist, he also answers Cooper’s questions about religious beliefs with an unusual (for him) amount of tenderness – religion is a topic that he has taken to task quite vehemently in the past.

I’ve been on the fence about reading his recently published memoir, Hitch-22.  There is no doubt that I will read it now.

Fascinating discussion between the two about the concept of “closure,” beginning at 4:32.

One of the first, but not the first, Elton John albums I owned was Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player. I’d first encountered EJ one early ’70s Christmas when my oldest sister was given a copy of his Honky Chateau. In the cover photograph, his eyes are rolled halfway back in their sockets, peering over and beyond his spectacles, the eyeglasses themselves resting halfway down the bridge of his nose. Not knowing any differently, I assumed he was blind. This had me marveling at his prowess on the keyboard even more. I lumped him in with Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder, whose records already received considerable spin in our house.

Compared to the tinkly jauntiness of most of Honky Chateau, Don’t Shoot Me… sounded, at the time, like a murky swamp of sound. To this day, it has that Phil Spector wall-of-sound meets half-empty music hall echoblast, even on the few quiet moments. “Teenage Idol” follows the most audacious track on the album, “Have Mercy on the Criminal,” which opens the second side of the LP with an effective, if overblown, portrait of a felon on the run from the authorities. The authorities or, perhaps, the plight of the hunted, are represented in the song by a full orchestral roar (constructed by concertmaster Paul Buckmaster) that grows in intensity until it grinds to a crashing halt when, we assume, the criminal is apprehended. In a perfect segue, “Teenage Idol” begins with a burst of noirish brass, slinkily suggesting the titular rock star creeping across the boards.

All accounts suggest that Elton John and Bernie Taupin wrote “Teenage Idol” as a tribute to glam rocker Marc Bolan of the band T.Rex. It recounts the dreams of a young boy, filled with aspirations to swaggering rock stardom; these are either what lyricist Bernie imagined Bolan’s childhood thoughts to have been or what Bolan had shared with him about his youth. In any event, the music perfectly mirrors the stomping tempos of many T.Rex songs, making it a smart complement to the boy Bolan’s inner world.

When Elton sings, “If you’re gonna boogie, boy, you got to be tough,” he appropriately sings the word “BOOgie” much like Bolan does on his recordings (boo’ jee), instead of the Americanized buh’ghee.  (You notice these things when you listen to a lot of music.)  But the line resonates in the song’s last stanza, where we find the former teen idol trying to bust out a living playing dives night after night; at which point, the repeated final chorus of “A teenage idol – that’s what I’m gonna be!” takes on a very bittersweet quality.  Ah, the glamorous music business…

This song also provided one of the first (and one of my favorite) header tags for this website: “A motivated supersonic king of the scene.” As in the song, just a dream.

[audio:Elton_John___Im_Gonna_Be_a_Teenage_Idol.mp3]
“I’m Gonna Be a Teenage Idol” by Elton John, from Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only the Piano Player (1973)

Well, there’s slim times when my words won’t rhyme
and the hills I face are a long hard climb.
I just sit cross-legged with my old guitar:
it kind of makes me feel like a rock and roll star.

Well, it makes me laugh, Lord, it makes me cry,
and I think, for once, let me just get high.
Let me get electric, put a silk suit on;
turn my old guitar into a tommy gun;

and root-toot-shoot myself to fame.
Every kid alive’s gonna know my name,
an overnight phenomenon like there’s never been,
a motivated supersonic king of the scene!

I’ll be a teenage idol, just give me a break.
I’m gonna be a teenage idol, no matter how long it takes.
You can’t imagine what it means to me,
I’m gonna grab myself a place in history.
A teenage idol – that’s what I’m gonna be!

Well, life is short and the world is rough,
and if you’re gonna boogie, boy, you got to be tough.
Nobody knows if I’m dead or alive.
I just drink myself to sleep each night.

And so, I pray to the teenage god of rock:
if I make it big, let me stay on top.
You got to cut me loose from this one room dive:
put me on the ladder, keep this boy alive.

The on-screen popup says “Your Mouse’s batteries are critical.” I open the Mouse, hold the batteries in my palm. They say nothing.

[Written to Alice in Frankfort, Indiana.  Return addressed: Richard, Co. G, 2nd Bn., 1st Mar., c/o F.P.O., San Francisco, Calif.  Postmarked at U.S. Navy, on 14 Mar 1945 P.M.  Envelope stamped on front, “Passed by Naval Censor,” and initialed by the Censor.]

Mar. 12, 1945

Hello Sweetheart,

     Well, I haven’t received any letters from you since I wrote last.  That’s not why I haven’t though.  I’ve been rather occupied lately.  I haven’t found time to write any one.  I did receive a package from you Friday.  I don’t know when it was mailed.  It contained fudge, boughten cookies, and a carton of Camels.  About half the fudge was moulded, but the rest was very good.  The cookies came at an opportune time.  We had very little dinner that day.

     Ray C—-, the property sgt., is sitting beside me now.  We are both writing to our wife wives, Alice.  Only he spells it Alyce.  We’ve been hanging around together quite a bit lately.  He’s from Chicago, about 30, slightly bald, bushy mustache, and a pretty swell guy.  We have a lot of fun.  He says he doesn’t argue; he just asks questions.  Ever now and then he will think of some question to ask me.  He says he’s just curious and that he really doesn’t know the answer.  Then we argue the question for a half hour or so and it almost always turns out that he knows more about the subject than I do.  We have a lot of fun and both end up laughing about it.  Anybody listening to us would swear that we were mad, but nothing like that has ever happened.  For an example of one of his questions, we were looking around on afternoon and he saw a ship.  Right away, out he comes with a question.  The question was, “How do they raise the anchor?”  It seems that he meant “How do they get it disengaged from the bottom?”  Well, we had a lot of fun and a very foolish arguement.  It passed quite a bit of time also.

     For the last couple of nights we have gone to the show.  Afterwards we found some comfortable seats and just talked.  One night we talked and watched the stars and talked till about 12:30.  We were both talking mostly about certain people we know named Alice and Alyce.  I told about the our little visit in Chicago and then he proceeded to tell me what we should have done.  Some of the places we should have gone and where we should have stayed.  Next time we go, we’re going to have a guide.  We had a lot of fun though, didn’t we Sweetheart?  It seems that Alyce has dragged him all through Marshall Field quite a few times.  There was something we had in common even if I had only been through once.  It seems that our views are the same when it comes to shopping, and you and Alyce seem to have similar views also from what he tells me.  I did enjoy our sight-seeing tour though Sweetheart.  In fact, I did would be very glad to do it all over again right now.  I know I would enjoy it much more at the present.  If I was home though, I would just like to see you get me out amd mess around in a store.  I can’t see that at all.  I love you Sweetheart.  I would give almost anything to be with you now.  The more I think and dream, the more I want you.  It seems like I spend most of my time dreaming.

     Sorry I left you.  I had to go to chow.  Right after chow Ray and I went to the show.  I guess we got there at 5:30 although the show doesn’t start till dark (7:15).  You have to go early to get a decent seat and we did just that.  It is now 7:50 and they still haven’t started the show.  It started raining about 10 minutes ago so I left.  I’m very unhappy.  After hurrying through chow and getting a good seat, I get soaked.  I still don’t know what the show is going to be.  It will probably be a good picture since I decided to leave.  i guess Ray stayed.  I thought he followed me out but he isn’t around.

     Have you received any more news about the apartment?  I’m getting rather anxious about it.  i want you to get moved and settled down.  Have you done any investigating on the employment situation?  Where are you going to try to work?  What do you think of the suggestions I made in one of my letters quite a while back?  Is that the type of work you would like?  What do you want?  I hope I get some word on the subject soon.  In fact, I’d be happy if I just got some mail.  That’s about all for now, Sweetheart.  I love you.

     Good-night Sweetheart
          I love you with all my heart.
               Pleasant Dreams
                    ‘Nite Sweetheart

I push the mower at dusk. Fireflies rise from the yard, oncoming headlights. I swerve, cross back, cut grass that’s already shorn.

Card is titled: “LIBERTY ENLIGHTING THE WORLD.”

The various attributes of the Statue of Liberty are pointed out in the photo:

• 12 persons can stand in torch
• Length of arm 42 ft.
• 40 persons can stand in the head
• Distance between the eyes 2 ft 6 in.
• Length of nose 4 ft. 6 in.
• Width of mouth 3 ft.
• Tablet length 23 ft. 7 in. width 13 ft. 7 in.
• There are 168 steps in spiral staircase
• Statue is composed of more than 300 copper sections (thickness 3/32 in.)
• The statue weighs 450,000 pounds
• Height from base to torch 151 ft. 1 in.

Printed on back of postcard:

THE STATUE OF LIBERTY
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
                                                       Emma Lazarus

Publishing information:  Made by Dexter Press, New York, New York.  #97287.