I don't normally lay out obituaries in my blog. However, there's this one obit which got published in the last week, and it's been on my mind. This old guy has passed on, and his daughter sat down and write up a personalize obit.
Normally, obituary writings are pretty serious and lay out a long life. No one ever says what's on their mind....but in this case....she pretty cleared the deck and wrote the best obit that I've ever seen. I frankly admit.....I would have liked to have met the guy. He is likely a one of a kind individual.
Harry Weathersby Stamps
December 19, 1932 -- March 9, 2013
Long Beach
Harry Weathersby Stamps, ladies' man, foodie, natty dresser, and accomplished traveler, died on Saturday, March 9, 2013.
Harry was locally sourcing his food years before chefs in California starting using cilantro and arugula (both of which he hated). For his signature bacon and tomato sandwich, he procured 100% all white Bunny Bread from Georgia, Blue Plate mayonnaise from New Orleans, Sauer's black pepper from Virginia, home grown tomatoes from outside Oxford, and Tennessee's Benton bacon from his bacon-of-the-month subscription. As a point of pride, he purported to remember every meal he had eaten in his 80 years of life.
The women in his life were numerous. He particularly fancied smart women. He loved his mom Wilma Hartzog (deceased), who with the help of her sisters and cousins in New Hebron reared Harry after his father Walter's death when Harry was 12. He worshipped his older sister Lynn Stamps Garner (deceased), a character in her own right, and her daughter Lynda Lightsey of Hattiesburg. He married his main squeeze Ann Moore, a home economics teacher, almost 50 years ago, with whom they had two girls Amanda Lewis of Dallas, and Alison of Starkville. He taught them to fish, to select a quality hammer, to love nature, and to just be thankful. He took great pride in stocking their tool boxes. One of his regrets was not seeing his girl, Hillary Clinton, elected President.
He had a life-long love affair with deviled eggs, Lane cakes, boiled peanuts, Vienna [Vi-e-na] sausages on saltines, his homemade canned fig preserves, pork chops, turnip greens, and buttermilk served in martini glasses garnished with cornbread.
He excelled at growing camellias, rebuilding houses after hurricanes, rocking, eradicating mole crickets from his front yard, composting pine needles, living within his means, outsmarting squirrels, never losing a game of competitive sickness, and reading any history book he could get his hands on. He loved to use his oversized "old man" remote control, which thankfully survived Hurricane Katrina, to flip between watching The Barefoot Contessa and anything on The History Channel. He took extreme pride in his two grandchildren Harper Lewis (8) and William Stamps Lewis (6) of Dallas for whom he would crow like a rooster on their phone calls. As a former government and sociology professor for Gulf Coast Community College, Harry was thoroughly interested in politics and religion and enjoyed watching politicians act like preachers and preachers act like politicians. He was fond of saying a phrase he coined "I am not running for political office or trying to get married" when he was "speaking the truth." He also took pride in his service during the Korean conflict, serving the rank of corporal--just like Napolean, as he would say.
Harry took fashion cues from no one. His signature every day look was all his: a plain pocketed T-shirt designed by the fashion house Fruit of the Loom, his black-label elastic waist shorts worn above the navel and sold exclusively at the Sam's on Highway 49, and a pair of old school Wallabees (who can even remember where he got those?) that were always paired with a grass-stained MSU baseball cap.
Harry traveled extensively. He only stayed in the finest quality AAA-rated campgrounds, his favorite being Indian Creek outside Cherokee, North Carolina. He always spent the extra money to upgrade to a creek view for his tent. Many years later he purchased a used pop-up camper for his family to travel in style, which spoiled his daughters for life.
He despised phonies, his 1969 Volvo (which he also loved), know-it-all Yankees, Southerners who used the words "veranda" and "porte cochere" to put on airs, eating grape leaves, Law and Order (all franchises), cats, and Martha Stewart. In reverse order. He particularly hated Day Light Saving Time, which he referred to as The Devil's Time. It is not lost on his family that he died the very day that he would have had to spring his clock forward. This can only be viewed as his final protest.
Because of his irrational fear that his family would throw him a golf-themed funeral despite his hatred for the sport, his family will hold a private, family only service free of any type of "theme." Visitation will be held at Bradford-O'Keefe Funeral Home, 15th Street, Gulfport on Monday, March 11, 2013 from 6-8 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you make a donation to Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (Jeff Davis Campus) for their library. Harry retired as Dean there and was very proud of his friends and the faculty. He taught thousands and thousands of Mississippians during his life. The family would also like to thank the Gulfport Railroad Center dialysis staff who took great care of him and his caretaker Jameka Stribling.
Finally, the family asks that in honor of Harry that you write your Congressman and ask for the repeal of Day Light Saving Time. Harry wanted everyone to get back on the Lord's Time.
Thursday, 14 March 2013
Wednesday, 13 March 2013
Those Silly Iranians
This week....the topic of Argo....the new factual movie about the six Americans rescued out of Iran during the crisis period came out....in Iran. Basically, the Iranians are a bit disturbed over the depiction of them as evil characters and they think that the bad Americans rewrote history. Some Iranian government officials believe it's time that a true movie of the entire event....be made in Iran and tell the Iranian's true story.
Some journalists from Iran talked over this commentary. They kinda pointed out.....Iran has never produced a single TV show or movie over this period and the way that the Americans were held. For over thirty years....nothing. So to them, it's a bit shocking now that the government suddenly wakes up and wants to tell the story.
You can imagine this scene....Mullah George and Ayatollah Larry....meeting up in some five-star decorated government office. They decide it's time to take the evil American's story and discard it. They need a big Tehran-style Hollywood producer to make this happen.
So Ali Perkinator comes over. Ali produced 'Five Jihads to the Wind', and 'Disco Tehran 2005'.
Mullah George starts up....this needs to be a family movie where a typical Iranian wakes up and rejoices because the evil Shah is gone, and the evil Americans are taken prisoner. Fresh fruit should suddenly appear on the street....at a highly discounted price. Gas prices drop overnight. Kids rejoice with new and fresh schoolbooks available....with Islamic themes in math and science.
Ayatollah Larry jumps up....suggesting that almost overnight, the terrible British and American TV shows stopped, and live Islamic prayers were telecast around the clock. Then he talked about the friendly nature of everyone to him from that first day on. And finally, he talked up the clean streets and freshly painted offices of the government that he toured.
Ali sits there quietly. You can sense his mind at work.
Finally, Ali asks....to make this authentic....he will need some Americans. Would Ayatollah Larry and Mullah George mind if he hired Lindsay Lohan, Martin Sheen, and half the cast of Amish Mafia. He wants this to be a combination of Islamic themes, action adventure, soap opera romance, frustrated Americans who drink and gamble greatly, and nicely tied up ending where the Iranians knew for days where the Americans were....but decided to just let the Canadians and CIA sneak them out of the country.
Mullah George and Ayatollah Larry sit and analyze the idea. Well....if you could get that Clint Eastwood guy....say Mullah George....to be the Ayatollah Khomeini...then this would all work out fine.
Ali leaves the meeting and sits in his luxury BMW....how the heck could he talk Clint Eastwood into being the Ayatollah? Then he envisions the real Ayatollah having four pistols under his robe and being fierce and confrontational. It all makes perfect sense.
Some journalists from Iran talked over this commentary. They kinda pointed out.....Iran has never produced a single TV show or movie over this period and the way that the Americans were held. For over thirty years....nothing. So to them, it's a bit shocking now that the government suddenly wakes up and wants to tell the story.
You can imagine this scene....Mullah George and Ayatollah Larry....meeting up in some five-star decorated government office. They decide it's time to take the evil American's story and discard it. They need a big Tehran-style Hollywood producer to make this happen.
So Ali Perkinator comes over. Ali produced 'Five Jihads to the Wind', and 'Disco Tehran 2005'.
Mullah George starts up....this needs to be a family movie where a typical Iranian wakes up and rejoices because the evil Shah is gone, and the evil Americans are taken prisoner. Fresh fruit should suddenly appear on the street....at a highly discounted price. Gas prices drop overnight. Kids rejoice with new and fresh schoolbooks available....with Islamic themes in math and science.
Ayatollah Larry jumps up....suggesting that almost overnight, the terrible British and American TV shows stopped, and live Islamic prayers were telecast around the clock. Then he talked about the friendly nature of everyone to him from that first day on. And finally, he talked up the clean streets and freshly painted offices of the government that he toured.
Ali sits there quietly. You can sense his mind at work.
Finally, Ali asks....to make this authentic....he will need some Americans. Would Ayatollah Larry and Mullah George mind if he hired Lindsay Lohan, Martin Sheen, and half the cast of Amish Mafia. He wants this to be a combination of Islamic themes, action adventure, soap opera romance, frustrated Americans who drink and gamble greatly, and nicely tied up ending where the Iranians knew for days where the Americans were....but decided to just let the Canadians and CIA sneak them out of the country.
Mullah George and Ayatollah Larry sit and analyze the idea. Well....if you could get that Clint Eastwood guy....say Mullah George....to be the Ayatollah Khomeini...then this would all work out fine.
Ali leaves the meeting and sits in his luxury BMW....how the heck could he talk Clint Eastwood into being the Ayatollah? Then he envisions the real Ayatollah having four pistols under his robe and being fierce and confrontational. It all makes perfect sense.
A Bullet Here or There
I spent twenty-two years in the Air Force. From basic training, until the very end....you had to maintain a proficiency in firearms. For the Air Force, this typically meant you spent three hours in a class, then practiced with fifty rounds, and then shot around forty to fifty to 'qualify'. You did that every two years generally. So I fired around 1,100 total rounds in my Air Force career.
A Marine today....getting ready for his deployment to Afghanistan or some distant land....will fire at least a thousand rounds. Some, with the heavy duty machine guns (M2HB) might fire a couple thousand rounds easily. If they stuck around for twenty years....they might fire twenty-five thousand easily, as a minimum.
I was sitting there and discussing this new directive from the Marines to their young men and ladies....to save on ammo as much as possible. My co-worker, an Army guy for twenty-odd years, will often tease me on Air Force short-comings. I usually take it in stride.
The truth is that some folks just won't ever be on the frontline operations....like ninety-eight percent of Air Force folks. That hundred-odd rounds we fired....were enough.
The other truth here is that if I was a Marine....I'd probably ask to fire three hundred rounds a week for at least six weeks before I deployed anywhere....to ensure I felt up to the task.
But there's a historical point of curiosity If you went back to 1860....you signed up with a Confederate unit or a Union unit. You might have spent two weeks in camp and going through some practice....mostly marching and forming up in columns. Total rounds fired over that two weeks? Maybe twenty to fifty shots. After that, you were considered proficient, and probably met the enemy within a few days. You lived or died, based on how quickly you could reload or your ability to stay in the back of the column.
We've changed a great deal in a hundred years.
A Marine today....getting ready for his deployment to Afghanistan or some distant land....will fire at least a thousand rounds. Some, with the heavy duty machine guns (M2HB) might fire a couple thousand rounds easily. If they stuck around for twenty years....they might fire twenty-five thousand easily, as a minimum.
I was sitting there and discussing this new directive from the Marines to their young men and ladies....to save on ammo as much as possible. My co-worker, an Army guy for twenty-odd years, will often tease me on Air Force short-comings. I usually take it in stride.
The truth is that some folks just won't ever be on the frontline operations....like ninety-eight percent of Air Force folks. That hundred-odd rounds we fired....were enough.
The other truth here is that if I was a Marine....I'd probably ask to fire three hundred rounds a week for at least six weeks before I deployed anywhere....to ensure I felt up to the task.
But there's a historical point of curiosity If you went back to 1860....you signed up with a Confederate unit or a Union unit. You might have spent two weeks in camp and going through some practice....mostly marching and forming up in columns. Total rounds fired over that two weeks? Maybe twenty to fifty shots. After that, you were considered proficient, and probably met the enemy within a few days. You lived or died, based on how quickly you could reload or your ability to stay in the back of the column.
We've changed a great deal in a hundred years.
Monday, 11 March 2013
My Neighborhood
Across the river....a good safe distance from Arlington....we had another shooting in DC last night. Cops now say that seven people (minimum) were shoot by a drive-by guy in a BMW....around 2AM Monday morning.
Reason? None.
The best they can say is that a group of folks were simply out front of an apartment complex....talking on the sidewalk area at 2AM, and the guy drove by to fire some rounds. All will survive apparently.
The thing that generally gets me....almost all of these shootings (the vast majority)....end up occurring between 10PM and 3AM. In an entire year....there might be three shootings during daylight hours. Toss in a dozen-odd shootings from 7PM to 10PM as the sun starts to set. The vast majority all happen in the later hours.
So you are left with this question....why the heck would you be out on the street at 2AM? And you really can't answer that question.
Reason? None.
The best they can say is that a group of folks were simply out front of an apartment complex....talking on the sidewalk area at 2AM, and the guy drove by to fire some rounds. All will survive apparently.
The thing that generally gets me....almost all of these shootings (the vast majority)....end up occurring between 10PM and 3AM. In an entire year....there might be three shootings during daylight hours. Toss in a dozen-odd shootings from 7PM to 10PM as the sun starts to set. The vast majority all happen in the later hours.
So you are left with this question....why the heck would you be out on the street at 2AM? And you really can't answer that question.
Saturday, 9 March 2013
The Five Great Mysteries of Bama
Over the years, there are a couple of weird events....which I tended to view, as mostly unexplainable, and more of a mystery...from the state of Bama.
First, there is the 1965 event of "Bloody Sunday"....where cops from Bama got into a mess with black marchers....going from Selma....to Montgomery. The mystery here....is how anyone could put together such a fifty mile walk....without any water stations or rest points. Over the years....I've looked at the route and am generally amazed that anyone could be talked into this....especially in March. It might have been a terrible mess in July....with the heat on....but still, March is not a great month to go walking in Bama.
In general.....you get the impression that the plan was thrown together at the last minute so no one could react to it much. The reaction by the Governor? Well....that's a mystery too. There's no state law violated, and other than looking for trouble....that's mostly all that the Governor could pause and say.
Even if you came to me today and said we need to march fifty miles over to the West Virginia border....I'd be asking questions. Where's the water and food? Where do we camp on the way? What if it rains? In this case....no one asked many questions.
The second mystery? Back in 1957, over near Phenix City, Bama....some kid found a coin in a field from the island of Sicily....dated 490 B.C. To this day....no one is saying much except wondering how it got there, and if a bunch of Italians were marching around Phenix City back two thousand years ago. The odds? Well....you just don't know. They might have checked things out....found out it was "dry" county back then, and just left looking for a place where you could get a real drink. You just don't know.
The third mystery? At the 1860 Democratic Convention in Charleston....things turned into a literal mess. Stephen Douglass was pretty much set to win, and easily beat the Republican candidate. But the Bama delegation came into play....demanded a certain platform that Douglass would not support (it'd screw up the votes in the northern states, had he gone to support slavery). So at some key point, the Bama delegation got up and walked out (led by William Yancy).
The election? The Democrats had to meet a second time...up in Baltimore. This went swell for Douglass, but the southern Democrats got all hostile (thanks to the Bama group again), and got up a Southern Democratic Party candidate.
As you can imagine....Douglass simply could not win enough votes in the north, or the south, and sat there in a mess at the end. In essence, the Bama group helped Lincoln win, and helped to start the Civil War. And for what? Just words on a platform, which typically mean nothing anyway.
Fourth? Per square mile, Bama probably has a listing of more haunted places than any state in the US. You stop any guy on the side of the road and ask for a local haunted site, and he'll likely throw three out at you...all within ten miles. Why so many hauntings? More disturbed Bama dead folks than over in Georgia or South Carolina? That's a mystery.
Fifth? Two guys walk into a Bama bar....total strangers. It only takes a mere sixty seconds for a conversation between the two to start over: (1) NCAA football, (2) hunting or fishing, (3) Baptist revivals, (4) love gone wrong, or (5) the problems of digging up septic tanks. You could put the two guys into a Wal-Mart, a Piggy Wiggly, or even a bait shop....and they'd still start talking over the same topics. Fate or mystery?
First, there is the 1965 event of "Bloody Sunday"....where cops from Bama got into a mess with black marchers....going from Selma....to Montgomery. The mystery here....is how anyone could put together such a fifty mile walk....without any water stations or rest points. Over the years....I've looked at the route and am generally amazed that anyone could be talked into this....especially in March. It might have been a terrible mess in July....with the heat on....but still, March is not a great month to go walking in Bama.
In general.....you get the impression that the plan was thrown together at the last minute so no one could react to it much. The reaction by the Governor? Well....that's a mystery too. There's no state law violated, and other than looking for trouble....that's mostly all that the Governor could pause and say.
Even if you came to me today and said we need to march fifty miles over to the West Virginia border....I'd be asking questions. Where's the water and food? Where do we camp on the way? What if it rains? In this case....no one asked many questions.
The second mystery? Back in 1957, over near Phenix City, Bama....some kid found a coin in a field from the island of Sicily....dated 490 B.C. To this day....no one is saying much except wondering how it got there, and if a bunch of Italians were marching around Phenix City back two thousand years ago. The odds? Well....you just don't know. They might have checked things out....found out it was "dry" county back then, and just left looking for a place where you could get a real drink. You just don't know.
The third mystery? At the 1860 Democratic Convention in Charleston....things turned into a literal mess. Stephen Douglass was pretty much set to win, and easily beat the Republican candidate. But the Bama delegation came into play....demanded a certain platform that Douglass would not support (it'd screw up the votes in the northern states, had he gone to support slavery). So at some key point, the Bama delegation got up and walked out (led by William Yancy).
The election? The Democrats had to meet a second time...up in Baltimore. This went swell for Douglass, but the southern Democrats got all hostile (thanks to the Bama group again), and got up a Southern Democratic Party candidate.
As you can imagine....Douglass simply could not win enough votes in the north, or the south, and sat there in a mess at the end. In essence, the Bama group helped Lincoln win, and helped to start the Civil War. And for what? Just words on a platform, which typically mean nothing anyway.
Fourth? Per square mile, Bama probably has a listing of more haunted places than any state in the US. You stop any guy on the side of the road and ask for a local haunted site, and he'll likely throw three out at you...all within ten miles. Why so many hauntings? More disturbed Bama dead folks than over in Georgia or South Carolina? That's a mystery.
Fifth? Two guys walk into a Bama bar....total strangers. It only takes a mere sixty seconds for a conversation between the two to start over: (1) NCAA football, (2) hunting or fishing, (3) Baptist revivals, (4) love gone wrong, or (5) the problems of digging up septic tanks. You could put the two guys into a Wal-Mart, a Piggy Wiggly, or even a bait shop....and they'd still start talking over the same topics. Fate or mystery?
Two Things
There were two minor stories of interest from Friday.
First, from Tennessee....there's a small town which had a number of problems with its cops....and racism. Things got out of control.....so they fired all of the town's policemen. They've gone out and hired a new chief of police. And he's ready to hire new cops for the town, but there's one stipulation. You have to take a law detector test, and prove you are not racist.
Based on two articles....it appears that there just aren't that many applicants for the jobs. Most legal experts say it's legal, but they have doubts that it really works like it is intended.
Typically with a lie detector test....if you really believe you are pure and clean....you will pass, but after you get into a conversation.....you might easily demonstrate that you are racist, but you just don't know it or believe it. So the test might be worthless.
I'm guessing some cops are just fearful they might be other questions, and get into details of their life that shouldn't be discussed in public....like doing drugs or handling stolen property.
Will it catch on? I'm guessing some people will ask more questions about the test, and discuss the idea of opening it up for real police departments. Value? In my book....less than zero. You could have a whole department pass the test, and discover that every member is Klan member tomorrow.
The second story? Up in New York state....the schools got all hot for having cops walk the beat in schools. So in the Highland Central School District....they had this episode occur. A cop was walking within the school's hallway, and his gun went off (accidentally, he says). So far, the school is in the midst of an investigation....that mostly goes nowhere.
The likely scenario? The cop probably has a gun with a safety that easily flips from safe to fire. The cop rounds a corner....bumps the wall...it flips to fire, and with a hair-like trigger....it simply goes off. Luckily, not hitting the cop or any kids. Or maybe the cop actually pulled it from the holster and was playing with it (the Barney Fife-trick). You just don't know.
What starts to get interesting now is that parents are concerned over the safety of their kids in the school. It was bad enough to worry about some nut.....but you need to now worry about some cop and his gun. You might have to actually pass a law that guns are simply not allowed in a school period....even with the cops.
First, from Tennessee....there's a small town which had a number of problems with its cops....and racism. Things got out of control.....so they fired all of the town's policemen. They've gone out and hired a new chief of police. And he's ready to hire new cops for the town, but there's one stipulation. You have to take a law detector test, and prove you are not racist.
Based on two articles....it appears that there just aren't that many applicants for the jobs. Most legal experts say it's legal, but they have doubts that it really works like it is intended.
Typically with a lie detector test....if you really believe you are pure and clean....you will pass, but after you get into a conversation.....you might easily demonstrate that you are racist, but you just don't know it or believe it. So the test might be worthless.
I'm guessing some cops are just fearful they might be other questions, and get into details of their life that shouldn't be discussed in public....like doing drugs or handling stolen property.
Will it catch on? I'm guessing some people will ask more questions about the test, and discuss the idea of opening it up for real police departments. Value? In my book....less than zero. You could have a whole department pass the test, and discover that every member is Klan member tomorrow.
The second story? Up in New York state....the schools got all hot for having cops walk the beat in schools. So in the Highland Central School District....they had this episode occur. A cop was walking within the school's hallway, and his gun went off (accidentally, he says). So far, the school is in the midst of an investigation....that mostly goes nowhere.
The likely scenario? The cop probably has a gun with a safety that easily flips from safe to fire. The cop rounds a corner....bumps the wall...it flips to fire, and with a hair-like trigger....it simply goes off. Luckily, not hitting the cop or any kids. Or maybe the cop actually pulled it from the holster and was playing with it (the Barney Fife-trick). You just don't know.
What starts to get interesting now is that parents are concerned over the safety of their kids in the school. It was bad enough to worry about some nut.....but you need to now worry about some cop and his gun. You might have to actually pass a law that guns are simply not allowed in a school period....even with the cops.
Tuesday, 26 February 2013
An Epic
Town cryers (journalists of the day) went about yelling and screaming over the evil contraptions. Focus groups would appear at the gates of the castle to demand the king rid the kingdom of such evil.
The king came out at some point, and spoke of how he would use his executive powers....to do the good of the kingdom.
But Lords and Dukes from across the kingdom....asked of the wisdom of this. If evil men came in the middle of the night....would people have the protection necessary to save their families? Town cryers yelled that this was all bogus-talk.
Eventually, towns in the kingdom sat about to tax arrows at a much higher rate than normal. Other towns told the arrow makers to up and move.....to their village, where taxes would not be dumped upon them.
The king talked of registering all bows in the kingdom, and making a ID check mandatory for any bow purchase.
Peasants eventually tired of the talk, and of the town cryers. Eventually, all settled down, and people got back to growing crops, milking cows, cutting hay, and drinking whiskey. All was well....eventually.
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