Who lit the match?

     I've been goaded  to come out of my catatonic stupor and write something.  There are a ton of topics I'd like to address, but I'm trying to stay away from the dismal condition of America and the ominous paradigm shifts we are seeing on the world stage.  If I state what I really think, my house would be destroyed by a drone.

            Sometimes refuge can be found in the contemplation of bigger things. I've always had an insatiable cosmological curiosity, i.e. questions regarding the origin and nature of the universe from a philosophical perspective.

            How did it all begin?  And why?  Do we exist by design or are we here by accident, magic, or the result of an ambitious amoeba in a primordial mud puddle?  I've always thought that if a human being woke up to find himself or herself on a deserted island the first thing that would come to mind would be "Where am I?  How did I get here?  Why am I here?"  Yet people jump in their cars and head off to work, come home, crack open a beer, and turn on the TV considering nothing more consequential than if Kaeperrnick will hold his job with the Niners.

            So how did it all begin?  There seems to be agreement that there was nothing prior to what many believe was the big bang.  The idea is that the original configuration of the universe was a state of infinite density where all mass, space, time and energy were contained in a single mathematical point with no dimensions.  That's easy for me to say, but to completely comprehend it is above my intellectual pay grade.

            Then came the big bang and the universe exploded into time, space, matter, and motion. This means that the universe had a beginning.  If my memory still works, I think Einstein said that without matter and its motion there could be no time and space.  So time didn't exist prior to this explosive event.

            I've learned not to put all my money on scientific consensus,  because science is constantly changing.  New information can change a hypothesis.  For example, we are told that man-made climate change is "settled science," but those words are never spoken by a true scientist for the reasons I just stated.  There is no such thing as  "settled science." I think the "settled science" sometime around the '70s was that the world was headed for another ice age.

            Prior to Galileo scientists and religious leaders had a geocentric view of the universe.  That's the belief that the earth was the center of our galaxy.  As you know, Galileo paid a price for his heliocentric view that the sun is the center of our solar system. Many more thoughtful scientist  today understand that the sun and other factors control climate more than an SUV or outdoor barbeque.  Climate has been in flux since that big bang or whatever kicked off the program.

            So what caused the big bang?  And why? How did that initial configuration come into existence? Philosopher Bertrand Russell, who was an atheist, took the easy way and stated that the universe was just there and that's all there is to it.  More importantly to many is the idea that science has usurped the biblical account of creation.  Or has it provided a scientific explanation that fits perfectly with the creation account?

            Another thing I've learned is that where it appears that there is a conflict between science and the Bible,  it is due to an incorrect interpretation of the words in the Bible or changes in science. 

            Perhaps the most common error many people make is to take every word in the Bible literally.  The writers use metaphors throughout the Bible in order to communicate to readers at every intellectual and educational level.  For example, is it logical to think that God came to our planet in a physical form, dug around in the mud, made a "mud man" called Adam, blew air in his nose turning him into a living person, then ripped out a rib and turned it into a woman?  (If a man told his wife that she had the value of one of his ribs, the guy would be banned from her "Garden of Eden" and relegated to the couch.)

            We're talking about the Creator of this vast universe.  If He created the universe by His word, why would He need to become human and get muddy? Or is it more accurate to take that story metaphorically?  The conclusion is the same.  The first thing we need to do is to get rid of the notion that science and the Bible are in conflict.  The more we learn, the more they seem to reinforce each other.

            This article was meant to look at theories from science and religion regarding how we got here, but the debate moderator is indicating my time is up and I've barely started.  If there is any interest in this stuff, I'll pick it up next time.  And if you have ideas or questions send a note to me at higgins@digitalpath.net.   

Olivia

Olivia de Havilland

            Recently Gayle and I watched a documentary on the making of "Gone with the Wind."  Gayle is into old films, especially black and white movies. She likes the old "film  noir" stuff.

            She looks at these films through an artist's eye.  She's interested in scene composition, the use of light, shadows, contrast, and other subtleties found in black and white films.  She  believes that color covers imperfections in films.  In addition, with the absence of graphic sex,  violence,  and profanity, the old films put the emphasis on plot, acting, dialogue, and artistic quality.  I'll admit, I'm beginning to enjoy the old films for the same reasons.    

            What goes on behind the scenes in movie-making always intrigues me, so I found the making of the classic 1939 film, "Gone with the Wind" by producer David O. Selznick very interesting.  (The "O" in his name was only added by Selznick to create a certain rhythm to his full name.)

            More people in the world have seen "Gone with the Wind" than any other movie in history.  The year 1939 was called the "Golden Year" for films. "The Wizard of Oz," "Gone with the Wind,"  and John Wayne's first staring role in "Stage Coach" were just three of many classics that were born in 1939.   

           

           Since a former Los Gatos High School graduate played the role of Melanie Hamilton in "Gone with the Wind", my interest in the film increased significantly.   Olivia de Havilland had only been out of high school five years when she was chosen for her role in "Gone with the Wind."  She and her sister Joan Fontaine both attended Los Gatos High.  Both sisters had moved with their mother to Saratoga, California, after their British parents divorced in 1919. 

            Olivia de Havilland is now 100 years old and has lived in Paris, France, since the mid-fifties. Some interesting facts:  Her sister and she were both nominated for Oscars in the same year. She lost an Oscar to her sister in 1941, which caused problems in their relationship that were never resolved. 

            Olivia had a "thing" for Errol Flynn, which was reciprocated, but neither was aware of their mutual feelings. She had romances with James Stewart, Howard Hughes, and John Huston back in the thirties. Olivia also received the National Medal of Arts award from President Bush in 2008.

           
            Gayle took the photo of Olivia at the Los Gatos centennial celebration, where she was the featured speaker.  She was 72 years old in the photo and still a pretty woman. 
 
            My memories of Olivia go back to when I was in the six or seventh grade.  I was actually in a play. I didn't volunteer. They needed a trumpet player and somehow I was conscripted and I'm sure I went kicking and screaming.  The play was "Macbeth",  directed by Olivia de Havilland and performed in the high school auditorium, if my memory is correct.

            The fact that Olivia would direct a play for the Los Gatos community when she was at the peak of her fame, demonstrates her loyalty and attachment to her Alma Mater and the town of her youth.  I think she had taken a break from acting to raise her children during that particular time.  I can't find any record of that play and am writing what I remember.

            Back to the Macbeth - I was asked to play a fanfare on my trumpet and announce the entrance of some king.  I had to be dressed for the period, so I had to wear leotards as part of the costume.   I looked like a court jester and was more concerned with my skinny legs than the play.  I was also in some of the group scenes, but always in the back. That was my one and only experience as a thespian.  Even the word scares me.

            I had no idea who the Director was and thought her to be old, but very kind and encouraging.  She was in her mid-thirties, but to a pre-teen I guess that's old.  I only learned who Olivia de Havilland was when I was much older. This is one of many times I wish I could go back in time.  

            Occasionally while watching TV I'll say to Gayle, "Did I tell you that I was once 'directed' by Olivia de Havilland?"  Sometimes she'll patronize me and say something like, "Oh, really?  Did you get an Oscar for blowing a fanfare?"  

            I think she's heard so many of my stories from the past that while listening to me tell one she's heard, she'll just hold up the appropriate number of fingers for the times she's heard the story.  She says nothing.  She just holds up the fingers.  As the late comedian Rodney Dangerfield would say, "I don't get no respect."

                                                                                                                     

The Perfect Analogy

The following was evidently written by a UAL Captain.  I haven't changed a word.    

Think of this in the context of Obama's statement prior to his first election when he stated that he would dramatically change America.  He is succeeding by going around Congress, the Constitution, and the people.  It's not ineptitude or incompetence, as many believe.  It's something much worse. 

This article is worthy of serious thought no matter where you stand on the political spectrum.  Unfortunately half the country is oblivious to anything beyond a cell phone and social media.   But they vote.

..................................................................

The PERFECT analogy!!!!

LOCKED OUT OF THE COCKPIT

From a former Navy fighter pilot and a retired UAL Captain

"We are all flying on the Germanwings plane, with a twisted pilot at the  
controls.  Will we just wait, and assume the "Crash Position"?

"The 'real' pilot was locked out of the cockpit.

"That set of circumstances finally revealed the full horror of the crash  
of Germanwings flight 9525.  Co-pilot Andreas Lubitz waited for the  
pilot to leave the cockpit, then locked the door to prevent his  
re-entry. Then Lubitz, for reasons unknown and perhaps unknowable,  
deliberately steered the jet into a harrowing 8-minute plunge ending in  
an explosive 434 mph impact with a rocky mountainside.  150 men,women and children met an immediate, unthinkably violent death.

"Lubitz, in his single-minded madness, couldn't be stopped because  
anyone who could change the jet's disastrous course was locked out.

"It's hard to imagine the growing feelings of fear and helplessness that  
the passengers felt as the unforgiving landscape rushed up to meet  
them.

"Hard ... but not impossible.

"Because America is in trouble.  We feel the descent in the pits of our  
stomachs.

"We hear the shake and rattle of structures stressed beyond their  
limits. We don't know where we're going anymore, but do know it isn't  
good. And above all, we feel helpless because Barack Obama has locked us out.

"He locked the American people out of his decision to seize the national  healthcare system.

 

"Locked us out when we wanted to know why the IRS  was attacking conservatives.

 

"He locked us out of having a say in his decision to tear up our immigration laws, and to give over a trillion dollars in benefits to those who broke those laws.

"Obama locked out those who advised against premature troop withdrawals. 

"Locked out the intelligence agencies who issued warnings about the growing threat of ISIS. 

"He locked out anyone who could have interfered with his release of five Taliban terror chiefs in return for one U.S. military deserter.

"And, of course, Barack Obama has now locked out Congress,the American people, and our allies as he strikes a secret deal with Iran to determine the timeline (not prevention) of their acquisition of nuclear weapons.

"Was Andreas Lubitz depressed, insane, or abysmally evil when he decided to lock that cockpit door and listen to no voices other than those in his head?  Did he somehow believe himself to be doing the right thing?

"The voice recordings from the doomed aircraft reveal that as the jet  
began its rapid descent, the passengers were quiet.  There was probably  
some nervous laughter, confusion, a bit of comforting chatter with  
seatmates, followed by a brief period in which anxiety had not yet  
metastasized into terror.

"It was only near the end of the 8-minute plunge that everyone finally  
understood what was really happening. Only near the end when they began to scream.

"Like those passengers, a growing number of Americans feel a helpless  
dread as they come to the inescapable conclusion that our nation's  
decline is an act of choice rather than of chance. The choice of one  
man who is in full control of our 8-year plunge.

"Lubitz was a nutcase.  But now we are on a 'plane' piloted by a  
narcissistic megalomaniac who has locked everyone out of his cockpit.

"It is very sad that our first African American President will be judged  
in history as the most inept, corrupt, wasteful, subversive,  
destructive, and divisive President ever. A man twice elected because  
of the color of his skin rather than the content of his character.

"Electing the former First Lady as president, who also happens to be a narcissistic megalomaniac, because she is a woman will likewise result in the continued practice of semantics over substance and deception over reality."  

A Futile Attempt at Political Correctness

     I was accused of being “judgmental” by my wife today.  I made a politically incorrect and insensitive statement about someone in a “protected” group. I deserve to spend the rest of my life in a prison cell. 

            I guess I’m politically incorrect by nature.  I will admit that I find a certain joy in flaunting society’s arbitrary and irrational restraints.  After a certain age you can do that. (If challenged, just act confused.) 

            We've been told over and over that it isn't nice to discriminate and saying the wrong words can be even worse.  So I decided to experiment.  I will try to be politically correct for a week.  

            I'll avoid words that are considered offensive - things like "master bedroom,"  "policeman,"  "freshman," anything with "man" in it.  The rarely used word,  "niggardly"  caused an uprising in the black community when it was used by a black speaker.  The word means "miserly, stingy, cheap," but ignorance won out and the speaker was forced to apologize for using a legitimate word that had nothing to do with race.  We have to be very careful.

            Anyway, my anti-discrimination program began today.  After my shower I went to my sock drawer.  This was my first test.  I had planned to wear white socks with my tennis shoes, but a wave of guilt washed over me and I realized I was discriminating based on color, so I picked a black sock for my right foot and a white sock for my left. For more inclusion, I settled for brown dress shoes.  It didn't look right,  but I wanted to be politically correct.

            Upon reflection, I think I've discriminated all my life.  In fact, I can't think of an instance when I didn't discriminate.  I discriminated against men when I picked a wife and I discriminated against women when I chose football over being a flag girl. 

            I discriminate indiscriminately.  Every time I look at a restaurant menu, I discriminate.  Whenever I buy a car, I discriminate.  When I back Israel over Hamas, I discriminate.   When I prefer anyone over Hillary, I discriminate.  There is very little one can do during a normal day that does not involve discrimination of one sort or another.

            To avoid appearing bigoted I'll try to be ethnically inclusive when picking food for dinner this week.   One day it will be chow mien, then tortillas and beans, then fried chicken, collard greens, and watermelon, then paella, followed by shish kabob, spaghetti, and curry goat.

            We can't discriminate, but the government can.  This government discriminates against the coal industry, oil producers, gun owners, Christians, white males, traditional marriage, small business owners, to name a few.  Obama’s  terrifying wife put a hex on cheeseburgers and candy in schools. Elementary school kids are ecstatic about having carrots and broccoli on a sheet of lettuce for lunch.   

            If you own a business, when hiring you are not allowed to discriminate on the basis of genotype or phenotype, age, color, height, weight, language, sexual orientation, or "trans" anything.

            If you own a bakery and your religion is against gay marriage, you cannot refuse to build a cake for a gay wedding.  There are exceptions.  A restaurant owned by Muslims would never be forced to serve pork chops at a homosexual wedding. But, of course, a Christian baker is unlikely to behead you.

            If you are a 110 pound woman you must be considered for a firefighting job, which may involve hauling a 260 pound unconscious victim down a ladder from a ten story building.  Even the military has lowered physical requirements for women in combat. The logic of physical standards for these jobs evidently pales in comparison to gender equality.

                                                                                                                        

            Homosexuals serve openly in the army, which makes the shower room for the "chosen ones" the equivalent of a Muslim being greeted in heaven by 72 virgins. 

            Colleges allow both sexes to use the same bathroom. You would think that would have a dampening affect on promiscuity, but that doesn't seem to be the case. 

            Then there’s the Washington Redskin controversy and wimp announcers who refuse to use the term “Redskins.”  I’m losing interest in football, which was a passion before the NFL became politically correct and feminized.

            The thought police now determine the opinions we are allowed to hold and the language we are allowed to use.  The entire country is being told what is acceptable speech.  This is devastating to a "free" society. 

            The woman who is posting the cartoon of Muhammad is being threatened, but if she is forced to stop, we will have succumbed to Sharia law - not our Constitution.    

            Makes you wonder if anti-discrimination and censored speech are motivated by compassion or are they actually motivated by fear?  I don't know if it was Thomas Jefferson or John Adams who said, "Only a government that is afraid of its citizens  tries to control them." 

            When we lose freedom of speech America is gone.  After more reflection, I've decided to cancel that idea of becoming politically correct, even for a week.  I'm obviously not very good at it, as this article demonstrates, but mainly because the Bill of Rights allows us to be politically incorrect.   

           

Family, Friends, and Calamari

 

            I didn't want to start using my blog as a diary, where I "share" our personal life with our kids, grandkids, and friends and blather about what I had for breakfast, how Gayle was fixated on the Triple Crown Saturday and our latest vacation adventure.  Well, I'll skip breakfast and just touch on the horse race and our latest "vacation."

            As everyone knows, American Pharoah (misspelling is intentional) won the Triple Crown Saturday.  He's the first horse to pull that off since Affirmed did it 37 years ago.  It's assumed that this great horse has the ability to earn hundreds of millions in stud fees. But there's concern that an injury could jeopardize such a glorious future. You may remember what happened to Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro at the Preakness in 2006.

            Thoroughbreds love to run. Gayle and I owned a couple once. If the choice were left to Pharoah, would he trade running around an oval for a pasture full of mares?  I know that's not how the stud thing works, but it's still a heck-of-a-retirement program.  The latest news indicates that Pharoah will run a few more races before he retires.

            The day prior we drove the six hour trip back home after attending grandson Seth's graduation and spending a week with our families and friends.  We knew we were almost home when a chubby little bear cub shuffled across the road just ahead of us.

            On one of the days Gayle and I had lunch with my brother Tom and his wonderful wife Sharon at Aldo's on the wharf in Santa Cruz.  We spent much of the time bragging about our grandkids, but I won't subject you to a re-run of that.  Needless to say, our grandkids are all perfect.

            As mountain dwellers, years removed from the bay area, we are always amazed at the frenetic bee hive of activity in civilization; the race tracks that are called freeways, the crowds and traffic jams that are considered normal.  The scene reminds me of San Marco Square in Venice, Italy, where pigeons blanket the pavement and flock to the corn tossed by tourists.  Kids sprinkle corn on their bodies and within seconds they are clothed in hungry pigeons. This frenzied activity of human beings is similar to those pigeons frantically fighting for kernels of corn in San Marco Square.  The corn in Silicon Valley is money. 

            I spent most of one day in Carmel and Monterey with my old buddy of almost 70 years, John Chaffin on his birthday.  We hit a favorite restaurant on the wharf for lunch.  I ordered an appetizer of deep-fried calamari and the main course of calamari steak.  How's that for a diary entry?

            I had a lot of catching up to do on my consumption of calamari.  I had calamari for dinner once in a Los Gatos restaurant.  I had calamari for lunch on the wharf in Santa Cruz.  I had the calamari appetizer plus a calamari steak in Monterey.  I think I had another dose of calamari somewhere else, but I can't remember where at the moment.  For some reason I became fixated on calamari last week.

            I have yet to taste any calamari that can match what I used to get at the Race Street fish market in San Jose 50 years ago.  Maybe that's why I keep searching and tasting.

            The combination of calamari and the Monterey bay brings back memories of the good old days when we fished using squid as bait in those ocean waters.  Now squid has become calamari and is known as a "poor man's abalone."  When I was a kid, my dad dove for abalone and we had stacks of abalone for dinner.  We had so much, we piled it like pancakes and actually tossed abalone to the dog.  Today it's rare.

            All my experiences with calamari or squid are not positive.  I may have told this story before, but I remember well one day of fishing with some buddies when the sea was rough and the fog obscured the horizon - a lethal combination when fighting sea sickness.  Beginning to turn green and fighting to hold my breakfast, I grasped the rail searching for a glimpse of the horizon.

            Just when it looked like I might win the battle, my late prankster buddy, Glen Dennee tapped me on the shoulder.  I turned to see a squid, dripping slime, hanging out of Glen's teeth just inches from my face. That was all it took.  I sent a stream of everything I had eaten since the third grade in a straight-line trajectory at least a half-mile out to sea.   

            Despite that experience, I still like to eat those strange creatures.  Is this rambling what they call a stream of consciousness?  I sure got off the subject.  I don't think I had a subject. Once I start typing, I never know where it's going.  This stream of consciousness, like most streams, is obviously going down hill.  I'm going to quit while I'm ahead.