Thursday

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

“It is good to celebrate success but it is much better to learn from our failures.”

                                                    Bill Gates

I was thinking about my younger years and couple of people came to mind. One was a bar owner that later on owned a flooring company. I will call him Dave. He is remembered because of his toughness. He and his girl friend went on a cruise with a friend of mine and his wife. While on the cruise my friend said that his color changed and he was not as chipper as he normally was. A couple of days later he was unable to get out of bed and the ships doctor came and examined him. He found that he had had a heart attack...about three days before but absolutely refused to admit it and ruin the cruise for the others. He was a ferocious street fighter and he had plenty of practice primarily because of one man. This guy had the tenacity of a wolverine and I will call him Joe. Joe was a street fighter and would not admit that he could not beat Dave in spite of being put in the hospital by Dave a couple of times. The last time that Joe got out of the hospital and recovered for a period of time he came looking for Dave once more. Dave refused to “step outside” this time, locked himself in his office and called the cops. Dave later said that he was afraid he might kill Joe. The cops came and Joe wanted fight them. That's right, y'all, he went back to the hospital. Some people just do not learn. That was a long time ago and I do not know what ever became of either Dave or Joe but I thought y'all would enjoy knowing that such people exist here in the buckle of the bible belt.

This Date in History April 23

1934    On this date the FBI thought they had the John Dillinger gang cornered at Little Bohemia Inn in central Wisconsin. As you might suspect, there was the mother of all shoot-outs when the gang chose to fight their way out. Among the gang was George “Baby-Face” Nelson. Nelson had a pistol in each hand when he ran from the Inn toward a car he was going to use for escape. Two agents tried to intercept Nelson and he yelled “I know you wear bullet-proof vests so I will shoot high and low” and fire away he did. He was successful in reaching the car after killing FBI agent H. Carter Baum along the way. Nelson led what would be called a “normal” childhood but upon reaching adulthood he decided on the ways of the gun. He started of as a member of Al Capone’s gang in Chicago. The only problem here was that Nelson was so mean and brutal that he scared other members of the gang and he was kicked out. Can you imagine being too mean for Al Capone? He preferred to be called “Big George” Nelson but because of his juvenile appearance he was called “Baby Face” but not to his face. You would risk annihilation if you did. This man hated to be called “Baby Face”. Anyway after splitting with Capone he joined with some California bootleggers then he met his mentor, John Dillinger. He accompanied Dillinger on two bank robbing trips to Iowa and South Dakota with Nelson killing a bank employee in each. Dillinger perfectly understood Nelson’s rage and said nothing to him about it. However with Nelson killing someone at every stop, Dillinger finally had to put a stop to it. When Dillinger was killed in an ambush by the FBI in Chicago, Nelson became # 1 on the FBI’s most wanted list. Nelson was spotted in Illinois and two FBI agents cornered him on a remote dirt road. Nelson hid behind his car and the agents hid behind theirs and they blazed away at each other. Finally Nelson got fed up and jumped out from behind his car, Tommy gun in hand, and charged the two agents like John Wayne. He was successful in killing both of the agents and staggered back to his car. The next morning the FBI found the dead agents and the body of George “Baby Face” Nelson in a ditch beside his car. He had 17 bullet wounds. I guess the agents called him “Baby Face”.

1564  It is on this date and on this same date in 1616 that most historians name as the date that William Shakespeare was born and died. Shakespeare was born in Stratford-on Avon, England. When he was 18 he got married to Anne Hathaway and 6 months later a daughter was born. It appears that William was doing more than writing plays. Anyway, he wrote most of his comedies in his younger days and his tragedies in his later years. In any event he became a member of one of the most envied acting troops called “Lord Chamberlain’s Men” and moved to London and acted and wrote many plays. He did the greatest majority of his acting in the Globe Theater (been there) in London. There was a move afoot that it was impossible for a man of less than noble birth such as Shakespeare to have authored so many gems of plays and sonnets. They suggest it was a man of more noble birth like Sir Francis Bacon that chose to remain anonymous. The elitists can kiss my ass; I will take the beloved Bard of Avon every time.

Born today:

1524 English playwright William Shakespeare. He said “Many a good hanging stops a bad marriage.” William, methinks thee are a bit harsh.

1791 US President James Buchanan. He said “I like the noise of a democracy”. Me too, like “Off with his head!”

1818 English historian Edward Froude. He said “The superstition of science scoffs at the superstition of faith.” Hey Ed, how can science be a superstition, it does not require a leap of faith.

1928 US actress Shirley Temple Black. She said “I quit believing in Santa Claus when I was six. My mother took me to a department store to see Santa and he asked for my autograph.” The weight of notoriety is a heavy burden.

1936 US musical legend Roy Orbison. He said “I may be a living legend but that does not help when changing a flat tire.”

1954 US film maker and political activist Michael Moore when speaking of President George “Dubya” Bush he said “When the Pope and The Dixie Chicks are against you, your time is up.” Michael Moore is full of shit.

Died today:

1616 English playwright William Shakespeare. He said “I am basically not an honest man, but I am that way sometimes by mistake”. I love you, Bill

               Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow