 |
| Most famous ship ever? |
The "Titanic" encapsulates the fear we must instinctively have. How vulnerable we are over open water. The Titanic was made of steel. Yet someone argued "she can't sink." This was in the discussion immediately following the collision with the pesky iceberg. The comment brought the retort "she can't float." And we all know the horrific outcome.
But there were survivors. Their story kept alive the whole narrative of the big ill-fated ship from back in 1912. The irony of so many rich people not being to buy their way out out of this one.
The reality of different social classes was really brought forward in the most famous of the Titanic movies. Oh but there were multiple movies. We cling to the subject with maybe a macabre fascination. Or maybe it's just a fascination with the fragility of human life.
Respect water
John Madden certainly wanted to protect his life. As for water dangers, many people under-appreciate them. We might not realize until it's too late. A fisherman wearing "waders" loses his footing in a stream. This happened with a physician out east a couple years ago. His waders stayed full of air which had the effect of tipping him upside down. He drowned. Would have been nigh impossible to appreciate this danger ahead of time.
The Titanic was a big part of the story for the big MAHS school musical. Anyone who missed this, missed a real treat. Unforgettable.
I sat there feeling inferior because I knew there was no way I could have ever memorized so much material to be in this performance. Maybe we're in Lake Wobegone where "all our kids are above average." Well that's a given, isn't it?
The full deal, yes
The kids onstage were complemented by a pit orchestra. I don't remember any such thing from when I was in school.
The only Morris musical I remember from the "old days" was "Oliver!" from back in 1970. 1970! Doesn't seem that long ago in my mind. The director was Michael Johnson. He worked closely with the choir director Judy Hjembo. The role of the lead kid was by someone last name of "Flesner." I watched this at the old now-gone art deco auditorium. Couldn't help but reflect back on that after taking in the current "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" at the MAHS auditorium on Saturday, the matinee show.
 |
| Wanda Dagen |
I just noticed I have six photos of Wanda saved on my laptop.
I imagine the MAHS band's "holiday concert" is coming up in mid-December. I'll have to put that on my calendar for sure. Andrea DeNardo directs the younger kids. She and I are regular customers of Caribou Coffee in the morning.
Some people lose interest in school activities when their own kids graduate. One of my personal traits is that I am always interested from one generation to the next. I started writing about Morris prep sports back in 1972. This was for editor Arnold Thompson at the Morris newspaper. The kids who graduated then are having their 50-year reunions now. Mine was in the 2023 summer.
After 50, is there any hope for continuing to have some excitement in life? Well I think so. The key is to thank God for every day of reasonably normal life I still have. If I can't count on the future, I'll savor the present, right now. Who knows what will happen in the United States now with MAGA in complete control? And we just cannot stop it. It's futile, in vain.
I hate to think of what the worst scenario might be. My best guess is that Trump will essentially take over the Federal Reserve, always seeking a short-term fix with the "stock market," and after that happens it will hardly matter that stock prices are going up, because we'll have hyper-inflation. Just like in Germany which is what led up to the Nazis.
Am I comparing MAGA to the Nazis? Well, we're getting there. The old order with reasonable and realistic presidents is not coming back. Their flaw was to get us into wars too often. And that was a pretty serious flaw. But now the danger is, shall we say, "existential."
 |
| Abraham Hyman |
Everyone who attended "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" was given the name of a counterpart, someone who was actually on the ill-fated vessel. We got an actual "boarding pass."
The name I was assigned was that of "Mr. Abraham Hyman." Jewish fellow of course. After the show we were asked to check with a big display in the entry area to see if our counterpart lived or died on that night in the north Atlantic.
Because my assigned person was male, I was somber. Then my eyes bugged out when I noticed he survived! Is this a good omen for yours truly? I looked the guy up on Google and he had an interesting life. He was well-known for having survived the disaster. He was a third class passenger. He was beckoned into a lifeboat, No. 14, by an officer. He reached America aboard "Carpathia."
Hyman traveled alone to Springfield MA where he had a brother, Harry.
Tragedy portrayed in cinema
I have seen all of the important Titanic movies and this includes the "Nazi" Titanic movie. That sounds strange, right? There really was a Nazi Titanic movie and it did not have the kind of sinister messages about humanity that you'd expect. Its point was just to show the quality (superiority) of German filmmaking.
The "moral" was to point fingers at the U.S. for greed. It suggested that the ship was in too much of a hurry to cross the ocean, to show off as it were. The "good guy" was a German crewmember of course who issued warnings that went unheeded. All of this was benign compared to what the Nazis might have weaved into such a story.
I heard about this movie and thought at first I'd never see it. But then out of curiosity I searched with YouTube and there it was! Could watch it for free! And so I did! It was a much better quality movie than what I expected. Maybe as good as any. I blogged about it on my primary blog "I Love Morris." I invite you to read:
The story has been re-told since. Enough to make us all resolve to stay away from the boundless seas. Just like John Madden avoided air travel. Stay on the ground y'all.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
No comments:
Post a Comment