The Tin Lizard

National Geographic Magazine To Become A Fossil Itself

A couple of weeks ago it was abruptly announced that the trusted, revered, venerable National Geographic Magazine had been sold to the Rupert Murdoch publishing empire.

This news came as a shock, for a number of reasons.  I hadn't heard the magazine was in financial trouble, at least not any more than any other print publication these days.  The old owners and the new seemed to be diametric philosophic opposites. It's sad to see a bit of U.S. history pass from the scene.  And of course it's always a little discombobulating to hear of the death of an old friend (because really, isn't it impossible to conceive of the magazine surviving this sale in any recognizable form? . 

My association with "National Geo" began in the mid-1950s, or perhaps earlier.  I think my first exposure to it may have been in the dusty attic of my grandmother's house in Lawrence, Kansas, where my grandfather, before his death, had stored all his copies, row upon row of them dating back to the 1890s as I recall.  On our rare family visits to "grandma's house", I often found myself pointed toward these fascinating old yellow-bordered journals as a way of keeping me occupied.

At any rate, I became a fan.  But the magazine was available only through "membership" in the Society, and was seldom seen on newsstands.  We lived in California during that period, and my dad found a newsstand in Pacific Grove that was known to receive a few copies every month.  The owner would reserve a copy for us, and Dad would drive me over there from Fort Ord to pick it up.  That didn't last long, though - this little repetitive errand was not the kind of thing my father enjoyed, so by the end of 1956, I found myself duly enrolled via a gift membership in the Society, which brought the magazine with it.  In just a few months, I will have been a member for 60 years. 

That's the sad and nostalgic part.

On the other hand, sometimes when a friend is seriously ill and you see him/her declining seriously, maybe in pain, you may feel thankful, for his sake, when he passes away.  So it was, and is, with National Geo  Dire profit/loss handwriting was on the wall, and press reports in the Washington area (home of the NGS) have credited the Society with timely businesslike thinking, in dumping a losing proposition before it was visibly decrepit.

And I had noticed quality going down.  Over the past few years I had found myself renewing only through inertia.  While the photographs that made the magazine famous * continued month after month, and topics were often interesting, the writing had become predictable and boring, each item beginning in exactly the same formulaic way.  And oddly, in retirement, I found my time for reading was less, not more.  Issues stacked up and often ended by being thrown away unread.  The renewal request has been on my desk now for at least two months, as I took care of other matters and debated whether I should bother extending.  

Now, I know what to do.

* Many people have told me over the years that they really look forward mostly to the impressive photos the magazine is so famous for.  So many, in fact, that I'm inclined to be doubtful when someone says they really groove on the articles.  What an interesting coincidence of profile with another magazine:  Playboy.  I remember that some people in my college years used to say that they bought Playboy magazine "for the articles, not the pictures," a claim that usually and justifiably would be received with doubting looks and exclamations of incredulity.         

 

Dixville Notch - Pure Political Nostalgia

I'm always intrigued by the slightly obscure stories that either bring something new to my attention, or tell me the tell me the tale of  how some event, tradition, or institution became irrelevant almost without my knowledge.

Ben Terris's report on Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, the tiny village that for many elections gained a split-second of fame by being the first locality to vote in a Presidential election, is definitely in the latter category.  For, it seems, poor Dixville Notch no longer really exists - its population has dwindled, apparently, to only two residents (down from a couple of dozen) because the local employer (an inn) closed in 2011.

It makes for fun reading, and may even have the key ingredients for a "major motion picture":  A story of triumph in its salad days; glamour (major politicos coming and going); a sad decline; a lone actor determined to reverse the downfall against overwhelming odds; intrigue (a scheming challenger in the form of another New Hampshire village seeking to edge in a claim the prize of being "first").  

But more realistically, nostalgic.  To my mind we can really only be nostalgic about things in the past that aren't coming back.  And even though Dixville has missed the limelight in only one Presidential election (2012) (did anyone miss it that year?), it's hard to imagine it making a comeback. 

Electric Dishwashers - Who Needs 'Em?

I remember our family's first electric dishwasher.  That in itself is quite a feat, since it was about 1956.  Anyway, I do remember it - the brand was "James," it was  a boxy contraption with a glass lid, into which dishes were loaded from the top, resembling to some extent the freezer in which some stores still keep ice cream bars and popsicles near the checkout register.  Further, since most kitchens at that time did not have this breed of labor-saving device, it had to be tucked away in a corner, rolled to the sink, and connected to the faucet when you wanted to use it.  Here's one in action:

 

My memory of this appliance was jogged by a web-page filler item pulled from the This Old House/Bob Vila website, entitled "Five Reasons to Quit Washing Your Dishes by Hand."  You can read the whole thing if you want but the reasons are (1) handwashing does not kill germs, (2) sponges harbor germs, (3) handwashing uses more energy, (4) handwashing wastes water, and (5) handwashing takes your time.

Reasons 1 and 2 are really the same, as are reasons 3 and 4. And each of these points is only partly true because a lot depends on your lifestyle, how you do dishes, and how you serve meals. 

So it's a curiously weak list, weak enough to make you wonder why it was written. Do you ever see articles dedicated to persuading you to buy a refrigerator or a stove?  No.  People see those items as necessary. But pity the poor makers of dishwashers, whose product has consistently been deemed the least necessary major appliance in the kitchen.  

It's really much easier to list reasons NOT to own this device.  Here are a few:

• They don't get dishes clean.  If you've heard that you can put dishes in the newer ones without rinsing, and they're supposed to come out clean, I suggest you have a few grains of salt with that advice, especially if - like most couples and singles, I suspect - you don't have enough dishes to run the machine immediately after each meal.
• We own a dishwasher and use it for everyday plates, coffee mugs, and tableware.  But we also always have dishes to do by hand after nearly every meal because many items we use regularly will be damaged by frequent washing in a dishwasher.  Crystal, glass, and china will be clouded; good knife blades will be dulled; some plastics will melt.
• Large or odd-shaped pots and servers won't fit well, or at all, and need to be hand-washed.
• Their average life, at 9 years per Consumer Reports, is far less than that of refrigerators (13) or ranges (13-15).
• If you decide to do without a dishwasher, you'll have a lot of extra space freed up for storage.

Mankind has been washing dishes for a few eons now, and we long ago learned to coexist with a few little bacteria. Meanwhile, a small subset of mankind have been making dishwashers for at least 70 years now, without having been able to perfect them or to make them seem necessary.  They are a nice convenient supplement to hand washing, but who really needs 'em?

 

 

Stevie Wonder

We recently watched a television network special celebrating the music of Stevie Wonder. It's seldom that we view this sort of pop-entertainment special, yet I had seen it advertised somewhere, remembered that I had really liked a lot of his music, and owned most of his albums, back in the day, and decided to tune in. 

The Stevie story is pretty remarkable - he composed and published songs and signed a recording contract, all at age 11 (that's how he got dubbed "Little Stevie Wonder,") and he's still at it.

But what surprised me more in the retrospective of his music was the variety of styles and moods in which he wrote successfully, and the (re)discovery that so many of the tunes that he wrote have become such standards that we may not even realize who wrote them. No one-hit Wonder, he! 

Just a few months ago, a reporter interviewed a bunch of under-50-somethings about Paul McCartney and early Beatles tunes.  Who is he? Could they listen to a recording of "She Loves Me" and identify the group? They didn't have a clue.  Perhaps the same has happened with Wonder's music - it seems to have been a little neglected of late.  But for those of us who remember, it's time to go dig out those albums and listen again. 

Miss Kitty Litter

From my newspaper today, I learned about the invention of Kitty Litter, 68 years ago last month.  It's an interesting tale, not exactly an accidental discovery, as such products often are, but one guy's recognition of a need, and realization that he had a product that could fill it.  That guy was Ed Lowe, credited as the inventor of Kitty Litter.  He died in 1995.   I guess Ed was "Mr. Kitty Litter," in that case.  But I'm always reminded of the days when Gunsmoke was still a popular TV show; the owner of the Dodge City Bar was always called "Miss Kitty" but she never seemed to have a last name.  We supplied her one: Miss Kitty Litter.

The other interesting factoid I gleaned is that the number of pet cats in the U.S. has tripled since 1970.  I feel sure the writer is correct in suggesting that the invention of Kitty Litter had something to do with that.  Even with the burgeoning numbers of cats, it's pretty rare these days, at least in some neighborhoods, to see a cat roaming around.  Obviously, the new product made it more convenient than previously to turn your cat into a total house cat.   There is a loss of freedom there for the cat but many of them don't seem to mind. 

Nicknames

A recent visit to our nation's heartland reminded me of the old-timey custom of nicknames.  At least, I assume it's old-timey because no one seems to have them any longer.

My mother-in-law had five siblings.  She herself was known in the family as "Mag."   Not so different from her real name, Margaret, so that hardly counts.  But my father-in-law was known to many as "Cy" (or maybe "Si," no one is sure) which bore no relation to either of his real names.   Also nearby in my wife's family are her uncles:  "Bud," "Doc," and "Pudgy" (who isn't).   In my own family, I had a grandfather known as "Deke" (I'm told it was short for "Deacon"), an uncle Bud; another uncle whom everyone called "Johnny" although John was not one of his given names; an aunt nicknamed "Tissy."  And we're all familiar with Ronald "Dutch" Reagan and George "Dubya" Bush.

Most of those names belong to people born in the 1920s or 1930s.  They tried to continue the tradition, I guess, but it didn't seem to stick quite as well with those born in the 40s and 50s.  My brother-in-law will answer to "Pigeon," but he prefers his real name; my grandmother called me "Governor" when I was little but nobody but her picked that up (maybe because we seldom saw her in our army-family peregrinations around the country); I have a cousin called "Skeeter" but I haven't seen him in probably 40 years and I'd be willing to bet he doesn't answer to that name any longer.

So, it's observation based on skimpy evidence, but nowadays I don't hear much evidence that anyone really has good solid nicknames anymore.   Am I wrong?

Useless fact for today:  My dictionary informs me that "nickname" stems from an old English form "eke" meaning "also" - i.e. "an eke name" yielded the word "nickname" that we use today.  (Or that our grandparents did, anyway!) 

That in turn makes me wonder whether other cultures use nicknames; in my experience, they do but perhaps not so widely as we used to.  It also makes me wonder if the practice might have something to do with fooling the devil, as in some cultures children aren't given a "real" name until they're a year old.

 

Geezinslaws

Do you ever have odd flashes from the past?  I did this morning.  Suddenly, I wondered "whatever happened to the Geezinslaw Brothers?"

They were a country duo.  I recalled them doing a tune back in the 1960s that achieved some play at the national level.  They weren't a big favorite of mine, so I have no idea why they came to mind.  When I thought about them, though, I figured they had probably been one of those one-hit wonders who stopped performing years ago.

Thanks to the miracle of Wikipedia, we can find out about these important historical issues.  It turns out they were kind of a one-hit wonder as far a "national" exposure was concerned, but they continued to perform and even put out an album as recently as 2005.  At some point they made a major name change, from "Geezinslaw Brothers" to "Geezinslaws."  

I'm guessing one of their early LPs would probably be worth a little something today to fans and collectors, but I'm not regretful, since I never owned one of their records. 

Now, my collection of the first Mad magazines, from issue number 1 through about 30, that's a different story.  Growing up as a military kid, I had to toss those magazines as "excess baggage" prior to one of our many moves from place to place.  A quick check online tells me that Issue #1 isn't currently on sale at any price; but issue # 13 could sell for over $1,000 in "near-mint" condition.  That's regretful! 

Rhee-ly Ancient

Last week I picked up the newspaper and saw a headline saying something about a new documentary film on "Rhee's record."

Why, I wondered, would anybody do a documentary on former Korean President Syngman Rhee, and who would care to watch it?  In Korea maybe, but here?   

I remembered Rhee from my childhood.  I would have been only three when he became President in 1948, but he stayed in office through the Korean War and up until 1960.  No doubt  he must have been often in the front pages of U.S. newspapers,  maybe TV newscasts (though we didn't have TV until well after the Korean War had ended) or even (dare I say it?) news Rheels.

It turned out however that the headline reference was to a different Rhee -- former District of Columbia Superintendent of Schools Michelle Rhee (no relation, I guess).  She left office only a year ago, so she was far more proximate to me in time and distance.  Yet it was Syngman who was the fresher, more immediate Rhee in my mind.  A sign of age, I suppose.

Now, speaking of vivid images of forgotten foreign politicians ...

I can also remember being fascinated by front-page photos of former Turkish Prime Minister Adnan Menderes dangling from the gallows, having been hanged for various crimes against the Constitution by a Turkish military court after a military coup.   I had to check, though, to see what year that was: 1961.   It was many years later when I worked in Turkey that I learned more about him, and that he was by no means forgotten.  Izmir's airport today is named after him.

 

Will The Real Holiday Please Stand Up?

Which statement is correct?

Last Sunday was Veterans Day in the U.S. 
Last Monday was Veterans Day in the U.S.

They both are.  When Washington calendar-manglers decided, in the early seventies, that nearly all our national holiday observations should always take place on a Monday, Veterans Day was included in that sweeping proclamation, to occur on the fourth Monday of October.

But it wasn't long before veterans' groups pushed to retain the original date, November 11, because of its historic significance as the date of the armistice that ended WW I).  That move was duly approved, and Veterans Day was officially restored to November 11.

Or not.  This year, we have the confusing situation of two Veterans Days, for no better reason than that November 11 fell on Sunday, so nobody got the day off.  Call me old school, but it seems sensible to me that a holiday with a specific date should be observed on that date.  If it happens to fall on a Saturday or Sunday, that's too bad.  Particularly since veterans specifically requested it be observed always on November 11. 

Moreover, in the case of Veterans Day, the things we normally do to observe the day can be accomplished perfectly well on a Sunday (maybe better):  parades, observances, and the like.  And even moremoreover, we already have another day honoring veterans -- Memorial Day, in May. 

The push for all these Monday holidays is/was commercially driven.  For retailers, any day off is a day that people should devote to shopping.  In all cases, it cheapens the meaning of the holiday by turning it into a fire sale.  Let's restore integrity to Veterans Day, and productivity to our economy.   

Memorably Mundane

My wife noticed a Macy's ad in the local paper a couple of days ago, offering a simple rolled carbon-steel Chinese wok at $14.99, and it was exactly the same as one we both recalled buying shortly after we were married 37 years ago.   In fact - ever the food lovers - we remember deciding we could use it, and ordering it from an American Airlines inflight catalog en route to our honeymoon destination.  So we had a nice little trip down memory lane.

Surprisingly the price is the same today as then (for some reason I recall it costing us $14 or so).  That would be a good deal - though I wouldn't be surprised if the contemporary version uses a higher-gauge (thinner) steel - but we still have, and use, the old one so we don't need a replacement.  The low-tech stuff lasts and lasts.

In the same category is a plain nylon Dopp kit I bought in a PX in Saigon the day I arrived in Vietnam.  I can't remember what I was using before then for shaving equipment and toiletries.  But I do remember the item cost $1.10, because even then it seemed cheap, and it was a strange amount - why not .99, or 1.00 even?  Here again, a trip down memory lane, wandering around the limited attractions of Tan Son Nhut while waiting for an onward flight to my duty assignment farther north in MR2. 

I still have that item too - simple and basically indestructible.  True, it's a little ragged now.  If I were traveling more often these days, I might get a new one, but where would I find such a thing?  Maybe The Dollar Store. 

I bought a camera that day too, my first SLR, I still have it and I'm pretty sure it still works but I confess I haven't used it in years. I've probably owned a half-dozen cameras since then, and these days rely more on my cell phone for photos.  Unlike the Dopp kit or the wok, the high tech stuff has a very limited life.