Missing Ancestors

THE BRIGHT EDGES OF THE WORLD
~ ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS ~

Pioneers of the West, 1934
Helen Lundeberg, 1908 – 1999

********************

"Beautiful surroundings . . . those light-hearted mornings of the desert, for that wind that made one a boy again. He had noticed that this peculiar quality in the air of new countries vanished after they were tamed by man and made to bear harvests. Parts of Texas and Kansas that he had first known as open range had since been made into rich farming districts, and the air had quite lost that lightness, that dry aromatic odour. . . . one could breathe that only on the bright edges of the world, on the great grass plains or the sage-brush desert."

from Death Comes for the Archbishop
Book IX, chap 3, pp 272-73
by Willa Cather

Cather's characters stand in awe of the stunning landscape; their courage is astounding, and the distance they cover -- without aid of plane, train or automobile -- nearly unfathomable. First of all, Father Jean Marie Latour and Father Joseph Vaillant travel halfway around the world, from Rome to Ohio, then from Ohio to New Mexico; and finally, a solitary round trip for Latour from Santa Fe to Mexico City:

"One afternoon in the autumn of 1851 a solitary horseman, followed by a pack-mule, was pushing through an arid stretch of country somewhere in central New Mexico. He had lost his way, and was trying to get back to the trail, with only his compass and his sense of direction for guides. . . . On a long caravan trip acros Texas this man had had some experience of thirst . . . But he had not suffered then as he did now." (17 - 18)

"The traveller was Jean Marie Latour . . . No one in Cincinnati could tell him how to get to New Mexico — no one had ever been there. Since young Father Latour's arrival in America, a railroad had been built through from New York to Cincinnati; but there it ended. New Mexico lay in the middle of a dark continent. The Ohio merchants knew of two routes only. One was the Santa Fé trail from St. Louis . . . [the other was] to go down the [Mississippi] river to New Orleans, thence by boat to Galveston, across Texas to San Antonio, and to wind up into New Mexico along the Rio Grande valley. This he had done, but with what misadventures! (20 - 21)

"So, having travelled for nearly a year to reach Santa Fé, Father Latour left it after a few weeks [on Diocesan buiness], and set off alone on horseback to ride down into Old Mexico and back, a journey of full three thousand miles.

"He had been warned that there were many trails leading off the Rio Grande road, and that a stranger might easily mistake his way. For the first few days he had been cautious and watchful. Then he must have grown careless and turned into some purely local trail. When he realized that he was astray, his canteen was already empty and his horses seemed too exhausted to retrace their steps. He had persevered in this sandy track, which grew ever fainter, reasoning that it must lead somewhere." (23)

Reading of Latour's predicament, and the vast distance that he had undertaken to travel alone, I was reminded of my distant first cousin, thrice removed, Joseph Blair Lindsey, who traveled from Ohio to Oklahoma in 1876, then on to Texas in 1881.

The Samuel Lindsey Homestead in Ohio.

Joseph Blair Lindsey was Samuel's grandson,
as was my great-grandfather James Sankey Lindsey.
Joseph's father John and James' father Robert
(my great-great-grandfather) were brothers.

Did my great - grandfather James Sankey Lindsey know his first cousin Joseph Blair Lindsey? I don't know. Did my Grandpa Paul J. Lindsey (my mother's father) know this story about his father's cousin? I don't know. I only learned of it a few years ago, long after my grandfather's death (1983). He told me many family stories but never this one. How I wish he were here now to impart his knowledge and wisdom concerning Joseph's fateful journey. What I have learned from various scraps of paper is this:

Joseph Blair Lindsey
~ 28 November 1852 - 3 December 1881 ~
from Antrim, Ohio
son of John Work Lindsey and Margaret Blair
grandson of Samuel Lindsey (my great-great-great grandfather)

brother of Mary Martha, Samuel Elmore, William Martin,
Robert Luther, James Henry, John Work, Adela Jane, Margaret Ellen

Taught Indian School, 1876 - 1881
Tishomingo, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma)
Murdered abut 250 miles from Laredo, Texas, while
Traveling Alone

Anecdotal history, recorded by one of Joe's nephews: "When Uncle Joe was a young man he taught himself to play orchestra instruments, organized the young men of the town (Craig and Billy Knouff, Trimble and several others), he wrote the score for each instrument. After he went to Indian Territory, he sent a parlor organ home, and wrote that to the sister who played the best he would give the organ when he got home -- but he never came back.

"He taught in Tishomingo College (where William "Afalfa Bill" Murray may have gone to college at the time). He published the first newspaper in that part of the Southwest. Driving a team he started farther south for his health, gave a stranger a ride, and was murdered by him as he sat at breakfast. The diary he kept described the man, who was soon apprehended and hung. Uncle Will [his brother, born 25 May 1855] went down there and remained in the West for some time.

"Mother [Mary Martha Lindsey, b 4 March 1848] mourned bitterly for her young brother, lamenting the manner of his death. One evening as she walked in the orchard weeping, she said he seemed to speak to her, out of the peaceful dusk, and say he was happy."

Chickasaw Nation Capitol Building
Tishomingo, Oklahoma
Completed in November 1898

The oldest view I could find of the streets of Tishomingo,
approximately 20 years after Joseph lived there.

I keep going back to that fateful last line on Joseph's index card in the family record:
"Traveling Alone"
Sadly, so little information. What were the health issues that impelled Joseph to depart from Tishomingo, where he seemed to be thriving? What cure was he seeking farther south? Did William have his brother buried in Texas or Oklahoma, or bring his remains back to Ohio? [No luck so far on find - a - grave.] So on goes the saga -- begun in my previous post "Missing, Presumed Dead" -- of loved ones lost without a trace, disappeared, presumed taken -- or worse, known dead.

The irrefutable knowledge of death may be the worst; however, it provides closure, whereas some life - endings remain forever unknowable, especially when "traveling alone." Or -- in the case of one of my 3rd great - grandfathers on my father's side -- with a 12 - year - old son. In 1879, Frank (born in 1830 or '31) went on the road with his son Robert (born in 1867).

Though no tombstone has been photographed, Ancestry.com indicates that Byrd Franklin "Frank" Brumfield, Jr. died in 1886 and was buried in Bucklin, Missouri; but my Uncle Gene Carriker (my dad's brother) tells it a different way. According to Gene, 1886 is most likely the date -- 7 years after their disappearance -- that Frank and Robert were declared "missing, presumed dead" by the authorities in Bucklin, Misouri:

"Rather sad story about Frank Brumfield, and also a huge ancestor puzzle. According to the family lore, he took his 12 - year - old son, Robert Lee Brumfield, and traveled from the Bucklin, Missouri, area to Arkansas sometime in the year 1879 to look for land to buy on which to settle. I wonder what the urge was to move to Arkansas? Was it just another example of the "gypsy syndrome" that seemed to affect so many of our ancestors? Did they keep right on going to South America, never to return?

"Sometime during the trip, they seem to have both died under unknown circumstances, for they never made it back home to Bucklin, Missouri. Their death location and burial site remain unknown. Inquiries to the Bureau of Vital Statistics in Little Rock for death certificates or notices came up empty.

"A couple of guesses can be made as to their deaths. One piece of unsubstantiated family lore is that they died of cholera from drinking bad water on their trip. Another one -- pure speculation: if they were indeed looking for land to buy, they may have been carrying a rather large sum of cash; it's conceivable that if this became known, they were murdered for their money."

The family could verify their departure, but never knew why they failed to return. No one was able to go and bear witness to their demise or demand justice on their behalf, as Joseph Blair Lindsey's brother William did. Much like Willa Cather's characters, Father Jean Marie Latour and Father Joseph Vaillant (in real life: Jean-Baptiste Lamy and Joseph Projectus Machebeuf), my Cousin Joseph, my Great-great-great Grandfather Frank and young Uncle Robert Brumfield set out from apparently stable homesteads in pursuit of "the bright edges of the world." In the end, untimely though it was, did they feel they came close to their vision? Did they seize the day? Carpe! If only it was not too late to hear the stories of their quest and learn the end.

Yet again more mysterious is my missing 5th great-grandfather Jacob Miller who totally left without saying farewell. A little is known: he was born perhaps mid - 1700s, took a bride -- first name unknown -- with the last name of Huber and begat Abraham (b late 1700s?), who begat Jacob (b 1811), who begat Henry (b 1834), who begat Anna Mary (b 1862), who begat Rovilla (b 1891), who begat Mary Beth (b 1931), who begat Kitti (b 1957). Much is unknown: we have no account of his departure or whereabouts, no return, no date of birth, no date of death. The written record simply states: "Disapppeared around 1800."

And then there's Great-great-grandfather Charles Gordon Hartman who suddenly disappeared in 1850 and amazingly reappeared ten years later, with six new children in tow, ready to resume his prior life with his prior wife. More on this mystery next time . . .

Next Fortnightly Post
Wednesday, August 28th
Between now and then, read

THE QUOTIDIAN KIT
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com

Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogsppot.com

Missing, Presumed Dead

BABES IN THE WOODS
~ ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS, SAD ~

Additional llustrations
by Randolph Caldecott (1846 – 1886)

Babes in the Woods
[Variations]

My dears, do you know
how a long time ago
Two poor little babes
whose names I don' know
Were stolen away
on a bright summer day
And left in the woods,
so I've heard people say.

And when it was night,
how sad was their plight,
The sun it went down
and the moon gave no light.
They sobbed and they sighed
and they bitterly cried,
And the poor little things,
they lay down and died.

And when they were dead,
the robins so red
Brought strawberry leaves
and over them spread,
And all the day long,
they sang them this song:

Poor babes in the woods,
poor babes in the woods!
And don't you remember the babes in the woods?

I used to wonder (as does author Marilynne Robinson in her novel Home): Why did my dear grandmother so often sing me this sad sad lullaby?

Could it be that the old folk song resonated because Babes in the Woods -- abandoned, recovered (or not), lost, left for dead -- was not such an uncommon tale in real life? Some hard truths may be lurking there just beneath the surface of the sentimental lyrics. Google the phrase, and you will soon learn that "Babes in the Woods" has become the name of numerous heartbreaking cold cases, such as the 1934 murders of the Noakes sisters, Norma, Cordelia, and Dewilla, in Pennsylvania. Or the 1947 murders of the D'Alton brothers, Derek & David.

My grandmother must have heard the stories of children disappearing, not only into the deep dark woods but also from the wide open plain, as recounted by contemporary poet Jim Barnes in this distressing tale of a curious, adventurous child, playing out - of - doors, all day long, innocently yet to his peril:

For Roland, Presumed Taken

By the time we missed you dusk was settling in.
The first reaction was to think
of drowning, the deep hole just north of the house
that the spring flows into
out from under the sycamore.
You had played there earlier in the day
and had wanted to wade the still water
after minnows schooling the shadows.

We tracked you back to the spring, and I died
with fear that you would be floating
among the lilies, white as the ghost of fish.
But your tracks veered left
toward the valley where the cattle grazed,
then vanished in the flowing grass.
I blew the horn that called the cattle in.
You knew the sound and loved the way
the cattle came loping up at feeding time.

Roland, still, today, you cannot hear the sound of the horn,
cannot holler back up the mountainside
to let us know in your wee voice you are safe and found.
Why you walked off into the green of that day
we can never know, except the valley
and the mountain beyond must have yielded a sudden
sound or flash of light that took your eyes away.
And you were gone.  It is as if

eagles swooped you up, leaving
not one trace to tell us the way you went away.
Nights I imagine the beat of drums,
the clanging of toy swords,
rocking horses neighing
on their tracks.
In another age
I would offer
up my glove
to God
to have you back.

Now, we have packed away your life
in boxes we store
in case the memory
we hold is swept away
by chance 
or the slow years.

~by Jim Barnes (b 1933)
~from The Sawdust War (see also)

Every time I read this poem, the bleakness of young Roland's unknown fate rends my heart. Barnes' poem came immediately to mind not long ago, when I was watching the crime drama Dublin Murders. The series, set in 2006, begins with a flashback to 1985: "As dusk approaches a townland near Dublin in the summer of 1985, mothers begin to call their children home. But on this warm evening, three children do not return from the dark and silent woods. When the police arrive, they find only one of the children gripping a tree trunk in terror."

As the series progresses, several crimes are revealed and solved, but never the whereabouts of the other two children. Sadly, their disappearance has become something that their parents -- and the audience -- have to accept, no matter how cruel. Their outcome remains unchanged, unknowable. The only conclusion: "presumed taken."

When I mentioned this connection to Jim, he explained further:

The allusions to "The Song of Roland" took a goodly day to place in the poem at just the right junctures. I rather think the poem would fall flat with sentimentality without them.

Kitti: Jim, I get it: the horn, and the jousting, the glove, the bargain. Not sentimental -- just the stark reality of loss with no explanation.

Jim: "Stark reality of loss" exactly abstracts it.

More poetry from Jim Barnes on this blog,
on my Quotidian blog, and on my Book blog.

Next Fortnightly Post ~ Missing Ancestors
Wednesday, August 14th
Between now and then, read

THE QUOTIDIAN KIT
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com

Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogsppot.com

Cultural List - eracy, Part 3: Master Class

CULTURAL LITERACY
~ ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS ~

Learning Curve . . . including Biblical allusions!

"I literally have a better understanding of
who killed Kennedy, than I do, what is offside."
The Mirror
I like what The Wall Street Journal (2021) has to say about Ted Lasso, because it's exactly what I've been saying recently about the informative genre of cultural list sing - along songs: "Watching 'Ted Lasso' is like taking a master class in cultural literacy. References to history, politics, music, film and sports are peppered throughout the dialogue." The series is also rich in literary allusion, including a moving segment on the novel Johnny Tremain.

Likewise for Family Guy
-- not that it's about Ted Lasso, but . . .
a treasure trove of intertextual puns!

Just the right podcast:
Reluctantly Charmed by Ted Lasso,
an interview with Nadia Bolz-Weber

Even when a podcast is perfect,
I still prefer a written text.
If I find one, I will add it here.
For now, you'll just have to listen.

Also -- not that it's about Ted Lasso, but . . .

Happiness Hacks
is a very readable list from Pastor Nadia
that feels like a cultural awareness raiser.

***********************

Another Fun List
If you haven't totally lost your sense of humor (if so, understandable)
in these troubled times, this one is bound to make you laugh!

James Taylor & Stephen Colbert:
I've Seen Fire & I've Seen Rain

As Taylor explains to Colbert in 2015, so much had happened in the world since he wrote Fire and Rain in 1970, initially a song of loneliness and loss, not a cultural list. With whimsical absurdity, Taylor parodies his original and pokes fun at popular culture in the newly modified lyrics. Despite the silliness, go ahead and google the ones you don't know; you'll learn something!

(JAMES)
Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain,
I've seen the rise and fall of the Beanie Babies trend,
I've seen man buns, Myspace, and the Baja men,
But I never thought I'd see a new Star Wars again.

(STEPHEN)
Once I looked down and saw some sneakers
That had wheels built in the heel.
I've seen grandmas read "50 Shades Of Grey"
I've seen rainbow suspenders, and Taco Bell fourth meal,
And Gluten-free Brown Sugar Special K.

(JAMES)
Oh I've seen snakes upon a plane,
I've seen shampoo with conditioner built right in.
I've seen Al Roker's body go from fat to thin,
And I kinda hoped to see Left Shark again.

(STEPHEN)
Saw a strange pizza pie and it caught my eye, it was folded into a pouch.
Lord knows what you call those, I should've asked the pizza guy.
Well there's Bud Light Lime, and there's cybercrime, and flavor-crystal gum.
Quidditch teams and skinny jeans cutting blood off from my thighs.

(JAMES)
Oh I've seen toast that's multigrain,
I've seen almost every episode of "Friends."
I've seen adult diapers, I think they're called Depends.
But I never saw that show with the Olson twins.

(STEPHEN)
It's called "Full House."
How many more verses are there James?

(JAMES)
About 75.

(STEPHEN)
We've gotta go to commercial.

(JAMES)
Oh, I've seen Seinfeld and Elaine . . .

In conclusion, my son Ben asked ChatGPT for thoughts on the kind of cultural literacy songs that we have been discussing the past few weeks. I was pretty impressed with this AI summary:

"Songs and poems that feature long lists of cultural references and iconic items are a popuar and engaging way to capture the essence of different eras, events, and societal changes. These works use lists and references to create a rich tapestry of meaning, reflecting the complexities and vibrancies of their respective times and contexts."

Could I have said it any better?

Earlier in This Series
Everything You've Been Waiting For

Cultural List - eracy,
Part 1: Make Your Own List

Cultural List - eracy,
Part 2: From Prime Time to Internet
Next Fortnightly Post
Sunday, July 28th
Between now and then, read

THE QUOTIDIAN KIT
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com
~ Everything You've Been Waiting For

Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogsppot.com

Cultural List - eracy, Part 2: From Prime Time to Internet

CULTURAL LITERACY
~ ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS ~

"One wonders sometimes where Watt thought he was.
In a culture park?"(77)

from the novel Watt (1953)
by Samuel Beckett (1906 - 1989)

What's one good way to encapsulate the popular culture of an era: write a long list of world events, social conventions, inventions, historical figures, keywords, and so forth; make it rhyme, set it to music, and all systems are "go" for cultural transmission! Last month, I posted "Your're the Top" by Cole Porter (1934), "Do You Remember These?" by the Statler Brothers (1972) and "Reasons to be Cheerful" by Ian Drury (1979) -- and before that "I Am Waiting" by Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1958) -- four long literary lists of cultural highlights.

Here are three more sing - along lists: "Prime Time" by Don McLean (1977), "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel (1989), and "Welcome to the Internet" by Bo Burnham (2021) -- storing knowledge, making it accessible, and encouraging us to memorize the words and sing along. Interestingly, Steve Ettinger's point about "We Didn't Start the Fire" applies perfectly to all of these songs:

Billy Joel captured the major images, events, and personalities of this half-century in a three-minute song . . . It was pure information overload, a song that assumed we knew exactly what he was singing about . . . What was truly alarming was the realization that we, the listeners, for the most part understood the references.

Do we remember these? Yes we do!

For a decade or so (circa 1967 - 77) each evening during television's prime time, when the viewing audience was the largest, Americans of all ages (yes, even children such as myself) were stunned by the Viet Nam Era nightly news, as it plunged every few seconds from the truly terrifying to the ridiculous. Don McLean's "Prime Time" (1977) illustrates this jarring juxtaposition of tragedy and inanity.

In a 2019 interview, McLean explains that he was "trying to capture the insanity of America. . . . I’m not a political person in the sense that I’m a believer in any politician — I don’t trust any of them. But I am a believer in America and very interested in America, and so I tried to capture that insanity."

Prime Time

Well this is life, this is Prime time
This is livin' in the U. S. A.
Well this is life, this is Prime Time
This is livin' the American way

I was ridin' on the subway in the afternoon
I saw some kids 'a beatin' out a funky tune
The lady right in front of me was old and brown
The kids began to push her, they knocked her down
I tried to help her out but there was just no way
A life ain't worth a damn on the street today
I passed the ambulance and the camera crews
I saw the instant replay on the evening news

Well this is life, this is Prime time
This is livin' in the U. S. A.
Well this is life, this is Prime Time
This is livin' the American way

Well will you take the car, or will you take the trip?
Remove annoying hair from your upper lip
What's it really worth? Does she really care?
What's the best shampoo that I can use on my hair?
Hey what's the real future of democracy?
How're we gonna streamline the bureaucracy?
Hey, hey, the cost of life has gone sky-high
Does the deodorant I'm using really keep me dry?

Well this is life, this is Prime time
This is livin' in the U. S. A.
Well this is life, this is Prime Time
This is livin' the American way

Well spin the magic wheel and try to break the bank
Think about your life when you fill in the blank
Here's a game that's real if you wanna try
One spot on the wheel that says you must die
American roulette is the game we play
But no-one wants to have to be the one to pay
You get to pass "GO"and you get to pass away
But before we start our show, here's our sponsor to say:
"Well this is life, this is Prime time
This is livin' in the U. S. A.

Well this is life, this is Prime time
This is livin' in the U. S. A.
Well this is life, this is Prime Time
This is livin' the American way"

Well down in Mexico, the laundry's on the line
There's where you can go if you land on the nine
Canada is nice if you're fond of ice
If you land on the two then we'll send you there twice
We interrupt this game for a news release:
A man has gone insane and been killed by police!
Now back to the game, that's a dangerous play
'Cause if they see you in C-U-B-A you must pass away

Well this is life, this is Prime time
This is livin' in the U. S. A.
Well this is life, this is Prime Time
This is livin' the American way

My supper's on the stove, the war is on the screen
Pass the bread and butter while I watch the Marine
The shot him in the chest -- Pass the chicken breast!
The general is saying that he's still unimpressed.
"We had to burn the city 'cause they wouldn't agree
That things go better with democracy!"
The weather will be fair, forget the ozone layer,
But strontium showers will be here and there

Well this is life, this is Prime time
This is livin' in the U. S. A.
Well this is life, this is Prime Time
This is livin' the American way

Well livin' in the country watchin' shadows fall
My reception ain't too good in a power stall
Bombers in the air, missiles in the sea
Chemicals in everything, including me
They don't keep their promise in the promised land
It's getting mighty hard to find an honest man
But coming very soon, a show you'll die to see
It's called "The End Of The World" on channel "C"

Well this is life, this is Prime time
This is livin' in the U. S. A.
Well this is life, this is Prime time
This is livin' in the U. S. A.
Well this is life, this is Prime Time
This is livin' the American way

Don McLean (b 1945)
See also American Pie & Magdalene Lane


In 1989, twelve years after "Prime Time," Billy Joel was bold enough to query: who started the fire? And who tried to fight it? Here's a visual and verbal explanation behind all 119 historical references, ranging from 1949 - 1989, included in the song.

We Didn't Start the Fire

Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio
Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television
North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe
Rosenbergs, H-bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, "The King and I" and "The Catcher in the Rye"
Eisenhower, Vaccine, England's got a new queen
Marciano, Liberace, Santayana, goodbye

We didn't start the fire
It was always burning, since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No, we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it

Joseph Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev
Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc
Roy Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, Dacron
Dien Bien Phu falls, "Rock Around the Clock"
Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning team
Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland
Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Krushchev
Princess Grace, Peyton Place, Trouble in the Suez

We didn't start the fire
It was always burning, since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No, we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it

Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac
Sputnik, Chou En-Lai, "Bridge on the River Kwai"
Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California baseball
Starkweather homicide, children of thalidomide
Buddy Holly, Ben Hur, space monkey, mafia
Hula hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go
U2, Syngman Rhee, Payola and Kennedy
Chubby Checker, Psycho, Belgians in the Congo

We didn't start the fire
It was always burning, since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No, we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it

Hemingway, Eichmann, "Stranger in a Strange Land"
Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion
"Lawrence of Arabia," British Beatlemania
Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson
Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British politician sex
JFK – blown away, what else do I have to say?

We didn't start the fire
It was always burning, since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No, we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it

Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again
Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock
Begin, Reagan, Palestine, terror on the airline
Ayatollah's in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan
"Wheel of Fortune," Sally Ride, heavy metal suicide
Foreign debts, homeless vets, AIDS, crack, Bernie Goetz
Hypodermics on the shore, China's under martial law
Rock and roller, cola wars, I can't take it anymore

We didn't start the fire
It was always burning, since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
But when we are gone
It will still burn on, and on, and on, and on, and on . . .

Billy Joel (b. 1949)


How did we keep up with "anything and everything" before the internet? Well, as the above songs attest, before the internet, there was Life Magazine, the Top 40 Countdown, and Prime Time Television. Then, along came the 21st Century; and, twenty years in, along came COVID. In 2021, serving as a sinister tour guide of internet craziness, Bo Burnham offered this task list of on-line options for getting through the pandemic:

Welcome to the Internet

Welcome to the internet
Have a look around
Anything that brain of yours can think of can be found
We've got mountains of content
Some better, some worse
If none of it's of interest to you, you'd be the first

Welcome to the internet
Come and take a seat
Would you like to see the news or any famous women's feet?
There's no need to panic
This isn't a test, haha
Just nod or shake your head and we'll do the rest

Welcome to the internet
What would you prefer?
Would you like to fight for civil rights or tweet a racial slur?
Be happy
Be horny
Be bursting with rage
We got a million different ways to engage

Welcome to the internet
Put your cares aside
Here's a tip for straining pasta
Here's a nine-year-old who died
We got movies, and doctors, and fantasy sports
And a bunch of colored pencil drawings
Of all the different characters in Harry Potter fucking each other

Welcome to the internet
Hold on to your socks
'Cause a random guy just kindly sent you photos of his cock
They are grainy and off-putting
He just sent you more
Don't act surprised, you know you like it, you whore

See a man beheaded
Get offended, see a shrink
Show us pictures of your children
Tell us every thought you think
Start a rumor, buy a broom
Or send a death threat to a boomer
Or DM a girl and groom her
Do a Zoom or find a tumor in your
Here's a healthy breakfast option
You should kill your mom
Here's why women never fuck you
Here's how you can build a bomb
Which Power Ranger are you?
Take this quirky quiz
Obama sent the immigrants to vaccinate your kids

Could I interest you in everything?
All of the time?
A little bit of everything
All of the time
Apathy's a tragedy
And boredom is a crime
Anything and everything
All of the time

Could I interest you in everything?
All of the time?
A little bit of everything
All of the time
Apathy's a tragedy
And boredom is a crime
Anything and everything
All of the time

You know, it wasn't always like this

Not very long ago
Just before your time
Right before the towers fell, circa '99
This was catalogs
Travel blogs
A chat room or two
We set our sights and spent our nights
Waiting
For you, you, insatiable you
Mommy let you use her iPad
You were barely two
And it did all the things
We designed it to do

Now look at you, oh
Look at you, you, you
Unstoppable, watchable
Your time is now
Your inside's out
Honey, how you grew
And if we stick together
Who knows what we'll do
It was always the plan
To put the world in your hand

Hahahahahahaha

Could I interest you in everything?
All of the time
A bit of everything
All of the time
Apathy's a tragedy
And boredom's a crime
Anything and everything
All of the time

Could I interest you in everything?
All of the time
A little bit of everything
All of the time
Apathy's a tragedy
And boredom is a crime
Anything and everything
And anything and everything
And anything and everything
And all of the time

Bo Burnham (b 1990)


Each of these songs unto itself provides a short course in American history; study all three and you've got a semester's worth of research, worthy of 3 - hours credit. If you looked up all the people, places, and things listed here, the connecting search threads would keep you occupied endlessly. Taken all together -- my last post, this one, and the next -- you will not only be culturally literate; you will have a B.A. in Popular Culture, and be really good on Jeopardy!


Previously:
Tuesday, March, 26th
Everything You've Been Waiting For
Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Tuesday, May 28th
Cultural List - eracy, Part 1:
Make Your Own List
E. D. Hirsch, T. S. Eliot,
Cole Porter, The Statler Brothers, Ian Drury,
Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Next Fortnightly Post
Sunday, July 14th
Cultural List-eracy,
Part 3: Master Class
Ted Lasso, Steven Colbert & James Taylor

Between now and then, read
THE QUOTIDIAN KIT
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com ~ Listing / Listening, Part 2

Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogsppot.com

Quick Summer Break

NEW OCTOPUS BOOKBAG FROM BEATA
~ ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The family, that dear octopus
from whose tentacles we never quite escape,
nor in our innermost hearts, ever quite wish to.
~ Dodie Smith ~
From her play Dear Octopus

Also lovely: her novel / movie: I Capture the Castle

Taking a couple of weekends off
to visit friends & family.
'Tis the season!

A poem to capture the essence . . .

Family Reunion

Outside in the street I hear
A car door slam; voices coming near;
Incoherent scraps of talk
And high heels clicking up the walk;
The doorbell rends the noonday heat
With copper claws;
A second's pause.
The dull drums of my pulses beat
Against a silence wearing thin.
The door now opens from within.
Oh, hear the clash of people meeting —-
The laughter and the screams of greeting :

Fat always, and out of breath,
A greasy smack on every cheek
From Aunt Elizabeth;
There, that's the pink, pleased squeak
Of Cousin Jane, out spinster with
The faded eyes
And hands like nervous butterflies;
While rough as splintered wood
Across them all
Rasps the jarring baritone of Uncle Paul;
The youngest nephew gives a fretful whine
And drools at the reception line.

Like a diver on a lofty spar of land
Atop the flight of stairs I stand.
A whirlpool leers at me,
I cast off my identity
And make the fatal plunge.

by Sylvia Plath (1932 - 1963)

Next Fortnightly Post
Friday, June 28th

Between now and then, read
THE QUOTIDIAN KIT ~ In My Bookbag
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com

Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST ~ In Art As It Is In Heaven
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogsppot.com

Facebook Photo

Cultural List - eracy, Part 1: Make Your Own List

CULTURAL LITERACY
~ ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS ~

Cultural Literacy:
What Every American Needs to Know

or better yet

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy:
What Every American Needs to Know

"Cultural literacy is not about elitism; it is about ensuring that every individual has the tools to navigate and contribute to our complex world. . . . the glue that holds a society together. . . . the only road to genuine equality and opportunity in our society."

Back in 1987, it was practically a party game -- like a round of Jeopardy! -- to thumb through Hirsch's massive alphabetical list, testing what we had learned and retained or what had been sadly omitted from our cultural education. When was Victoria queen (1837 - 1901), what was the span of Shakespeare's life (1564 - 1616), how about a priori and posteriori: that sort of thing.

Hirsch's project reminded me of T. S. Eliot's Notes Towards the Definition of Culture (1948), which I had been required to read and analyze as an undergraduate. The assignment (this was way back in pre - Google 1978) was to look up any of these items with which we were not already familiar:

"Culture includes all the characteristic activities and interests of a people: Derby Day, Henley Regatta, Cowes, the twelfth of August, a cup final, the dog races, the pin table, the dart board, Wensleydale cheese, boiled cabbage cut into sections, beetroot in vinegar, nineteenth-century Gothic churches and the music of Elgar. The reader can make his own list."

T. S. Eliot (1888 – 1965)

Eliot is skewing British here, but even in Missouri we knew about "Pomp and Circumstance," pickled beets, and boiled cabbage. Some of the others weren't as relevant to North American college kids, but that's okay, because, as Eliot himself concluded: "The reader can make his own list."

Happily, witty American composer Cole Porter had already done just that -- 14 years prior to Eliot's suggestion -- in his song from the 1934 musical Anything Goes. You're the Top is a light - hearted bit of fun, but it is also a short course in cultural literacy:

You're the Top

At words poetic, I'm so pathetic
That I always have found it best
Instead of getting 'em off my chest
To let 'em rest unexpressed
I hate parading my serenading
As I'll probably miss a bar
But if this ditty is not so pretty
At least it'll tell you how great you are

You're the top
You're the Colosseum
You're the top
You're the Louvre Museum
You're a melody from a symphony by Strauss
You're a Bendel bonnet, a Shakespeart sonnet
You're Mickey Mouse

You're the Nile
You're the Tow'r of Pisa
You're the smile
On the Mona Lisa
I'm a worthless check, a total wreck, a flop
But if, baby, I'm the bottom
You're the top

You're the top
You're Mahatma Ghandi
You're the top
You're Napolean brandy
You're the purple light of a summer night in Spain
You're the National Gallery, You're Garbo's salary
You're cellophane

You're sublime
You're a turkey dinner
You're the time
Of the Derby winner
I'm a toy balloon that's fated soon to pop
But if, baby, I'm the bottom
You're the top

You're the top
You're an Arrow collar
You're the top
You're a Coolidge dollar
You're the nimble tread of the feet of Fred Astaire
You're an O'Neill drama, you're Whistler's mama
You're Camembert

You're a rose, You're Inferno's Dante
You're the nose on the great Durante
I'm just in the way as the French would say
"De trop"
But if, baby, I'm the bottom
You're the top

You're the top
You're a Waldorf salad
You're the top
You're a Berlin ballad
You're a baby grand of a lady and a gent
You're an old dutch master, you're Mrs. Aster
You're Pepsodent

You're romance
You're the steppes of Russia
You're the pants
On a Roxy usher
I'm a lazy lout that's just about to stop
But if baby, I'm the bottom
You're the top

Cole Porter (1891 - 1964)

Almost 40 years after Porter's hit, the classic country Statler Brothers had a 1972 hit with their nostalgic ode to growing up in the 1950s, filled with numerous references to the popular culture of the time:

Do You Remember These?

Saturday morning serials
Chapters one through fifteen
Fly paper, penny loafers, and Lucky Strike Green
Flat tops, sock hops, Studebaker, "Pepsi, please"
Ah, do you remember these?

Cigar bands on your hands
Your daddy's socks rolled down
Sticks, no plugs and aviator caps, with flaps that button down
Movie stars on Dixie cup tops and knickers to your knees
Ah, do you remember these?

The hit parade, grape truaide, the Sadie Hawkins dance
Peddle pushers, duck tail hair, and peggin' your pants
Howdy Doody, Tootie Fruitie, the seam up the back of her hose Ah, do you remember those?

James Dean, he was "keen", Sunday movies were taboo
The senior prom, Judy's mom, rock 'n roll was new
Cracker jack prize
Stars in your eyes
"ask daddy for the keys"
Ah, do you remember these?

The boogie man, lemonade stand and taking your tonsils out
Indian burn and wait your turn and four foul balls You're out!
Cigarette loads and secret codes and saving lucky stars
Can you remember back that far?

To boat neck shirts and fender skirts and crinoline petticoats
Mums the word and dirty bird and double root beer float
Moon hubcaps and loud heel taps and "he's a real gone cat"
Ah, do you remember that?

Dancing close, little moron jokes and "cooties" in her hair
Captain Midnight, ovaltine, and the whip at the county fair
Charles Atlas course, Roy Rogers horse, and "Only the Shadow Knows"
Ah, do you remember those?

Gables charms, "froggin" your arm, loud mufflers, pitching woo Going steady, Veronica and Betty, white bucks and blue suede shoes

Knock, knock jokes
Who's there?
Dewey
Dewey who?
Dewey
Remember these
Yes we do!
Oh do we?
Do we remember these!

Written by Don Reid, Harold Reid, and Larry Lee Favorite
[And a list from the cowboy culture!]

In 1979, seven years after "Do You Remember These," along came "Reasons to Be Cheerful," from British musical artist Ian Drury. Drury's mostly optimistic, slightly sarcastic "shopping list" ranges from landmark achievements to any number of whimsical tidbits that add joy to the day:

Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3

Why don't you get back into bed?
Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3, 1, 2, 3

Summer, Buddy Holly, the working folly
Good golly, Miss Molly and boats
Hammersmith Palais, the Bolshoi Ballet
Jump back in the alley and nanny goats
Eighteen wheeler Scammells, Dominica camels
All other mammals plus equal votes
Seeing Piccadilly, Fanny Smith and Willie
Being rather silly and porridge oats

A bit of grin and bear it, a bit of come and share it
You're welcome we can spare it, yellow socks
Too short to be haughty, too nutty to be naughty
Going on forty no electric shocks
The juice of a carrot, the smile of a parrot
A little drop of claret, anything that rocks
Elvis and Scotty, the days when I ain't spotty
Sitting on a potty, curing smallpox

Reasons to be cheerful, part three
Reasons to be cheerful, part three
Reasons to be cheerful, part three
Reasons to be cheerful, one, two, three
Reasons to be cheerful, part three

Health service glasses, gigolos and brasses
Round or skinny bottoms
Take your mum to Paris, lighting up a chalice
Wee Willie Harris
Bantu Steven Biko, listening to Rico
Harpo Groucho Chico
Cheddar cheese and pickle, a Vincent motorsickle
Slap and tickle

Woody Allen, Dali, Domitrie and Pascale
Balla, balla, balla and Volare
Something nice to study, phoning up a buddy
Being in my nuddy
Saying okey-dokey, sing-a-long a Smokie
Coming out of chokie
John Coltrane's soprano, Adie Celentano
Bonar Colleano

Reasons to be cheerful, part three
Reasons to be cheerful, part three
Reasons to be cheerful, part three
Reasons to be cheerful, one, two, three
Yes, yes, dear, dear

Perhaps next year
Or maybe even now
In which case

Woody Allan, Dali, Domitrie and Pascale
Balla, balla, balla and Volare
Something nice to study, phoning up a buddy
Being in my nuddy
Saying okey-dokey, sing-a-long a Smokie
Coming out a chokie
John Coltrane's soprano, Adie Celentano
Bonar Colleano

Reasons to be cheerful, part three
Reasons to be cheerful, part three
Reasons to be cheerful, part three
Reasons to be cheerful, one, two, three
I don't mind
I don't mind, don't mind, don't mind, don't mind

Sung by Ian Dury and the Blockheads
Written by Charles Jeremy Jankel, David Stanley Payne,
Ian Robins Dury, Stanley Payne David
See also Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick

In conclusion, not forgetting the Beat Poets,
with Ginsberg's 1955 compilation of
"the best minds of his generation,"
but even moreso Ferlinghetti's 1958
wishlist: "I Am Waiting."


MORE CULTURAL LISTS
Friday, June 28th
Cultural List- eracy, Part 2:
From Prime Time to Internet
Bo Burnham ~ Welcome to the Internet (2021)
Don McLean ~ Prime Time (1977)
Billy Joel ~ We Didn't Start the Fire (1989)

Sunday, July 14th
Cultural List-eracy, Part 3:
Master Class
Ted Lasso, Steven Colbert & James Taylor
Next Fortnightly Post
Friday, June 14, 2024

Between now and then, read
THE QUOTIDIAN KIT ~ Listing / Listening, Part 1
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com

Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogsppot.com