Monday

                 Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“The Jews invented guilt and the Irish turned it into an art form.”

                                 Walter Matthau

Here is a story of a tortured but talented soul:

Back in 1955 a woman child was born in the vicinity of Norfolk, Virginia. The exact location and last name are not known by me but it doesn’t seem to matter much. Robin had a hard time growing up because of a dysfunctional family. She was very unhappy and ran away from home more than once. Soon she was in a reform school for a period of time and eventually was released at the age of 15. Her refusal to go back to her parents put her on the streets and made her a prime target for junkies and dealers. She became addicted to alcohol and heroin and did share needles. In addition to this she became addicted to music and taught herself to play the guitar and harmonica. During the next few years she played on the streets of cities like Richmond, Virginia, Detroit, Atlanta and Coconut Grove, Florida. She played on the streets and coffee houses for tips and an occasional club date. Most of the time she slept under park benches, abandoned cars or service station rest rooms, etc. She spent several years in south Florida and played mostly club dates. At the age of 34 she decided to give up the drugs and moved to Gastonia, North Carolina to get away from the drug influenced life style. She connected with a guitarist named Tony Rogers. Robin had steady work in the clubs around Gastonia and her deep, rich contralto blues notes sent chill bumps down Tony’s arms and he told her that she needed to get out on her own. So Tony and Robin were married in 1998 and formed the “Robin Rogers Hot Band” with Robin doing the vocals and occasional harp with Tony on guitar and a drummer and an upright bass. Soon after that Tony and Robin tried to get life and health insurance and the resulting physical indicated that all was not right with Robin’s liver and she was rejected. But Robin and Tony continued with their beloved blues and Robin was soon recognized as a superior blues vocalist and several tours and CD’s were launched. The sun was finally rising on Robin’s world and she and Tony basked in its warmth…until September 2, 2010. Robin began bleeding from the mouth and the diagnosis was Hepatitis C. Several procedures were attempted to no avail and the doctors reported that she could not stand surgery because of her condition. She was sent home in the care of hospice. It was not be long for this woman of soul and she indeed withered away right before our eyes. Look her up on youtube. I think she will rip your heart out like she did mine.

          This Date in History  October 10

1780 The most powerful hurricane ever recorded arrived in the West Indies, known simply as the Great Hurricane of 1780. Keep in mind that the United States was in the midst of the Revolutionary War meaning that in addition to British and French cargo ships in the West Indies there were many British and French warships dueling each other for control. As the storm approached the British warships sought safety in St. Lucia harbor and the French in Jamaica. The British and French warships were no match for this killer storm anchored or not. The British lost 8 of this squadron of 14 warships and the French lost 40 ships and both lost hundreds of sailors and soldiers. British Admiral George Radney later wrote: “There were only two houses on St Lucia left standing with the majority of them being built of stone and only the foundations left. Even the stone forts were destroyed with several of the cannon being moved several hundred feet. If someone had told me about this storm I would not have believed it. There was even bark blown off trees.” Bark being blown off trees usually means winds over 200 MPH. But it was the locals that suffered. There were 6,000 deaths on St. Lucia, 9,000 on Martinique, 4,000 on Barbados and 1,000 on Jamaica. In total there were 24,000 deaths. The next closest disastrous storm was hurricane Mitch in 1998 that stalled out over Guatemala/Nicaragua and dumped several feet of rain and about 18,000 perished in the resulting floods.

732AD On this date the first of the Carolingian kings of the Franks, Charles Martel defeats an army of North African Muslims that had him and his army severely outnumbered near Tours, France and they did it the hard way with swords, pikes, axes, and cudgels. This defeat was so complete that the Muslims never again tried to invade Europe in force again. It was Martel’s grandson Charlemagne the achieved the most fame and fortune. He was able to hack out a huge kingdom in Europe. I have not done the research but I will almost bet that Charles Martel had a lot of Viking blood flowing in his veins. The Vikings were doing a lot of raping and pillaging in Europe in that time period.

1957 US President Dwight Eisenhower issued a formal apology to Ghana’s Finance minister. It seems that the good minister was denied service in a restaurant in Dover, Delaware because of his race. Does that mean that Delaware is considered a southern state? The US government had received many complaints from both black and Asian foreign diplomats along these lines. It seems that they have been having trouble getting service in many arenas, such as restaurants, barbers shops, dry cleaners, etc. Whether you believe it or not, prejudice is guaranteed by the Constitution. No one can be forced the fraternize with anyone they do not want to. However, the local government can withhold their business with anyone that is predjucial. An example is the next county west of Greenpatch. The County Council put out a notice that they would not let any contracts to companies that hired illegal aliens. I like the way they talk. I don’t blame the illegal aliens as much as I do the greedy employers that hire them knowing they are illegal or not requiring proper proof of citizenship or a work visa.

1877 For some reason the US Army decided to disinter Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer’s remains from his grave at the Little Big Horn battleground and re-bury him on the grounds of West Point in a place of honor. Custer and most of his 7^th Cavalry were wiped out by the Sioux and Cheyenne one year before. There was no doubt that he was reckless and flamboyant at times that cost the lives of many of his troopers. Not only that, he would kill Indians even if they were no threat just to keep himself in the limelight. There was little doubt that Custer had political ambition after his retirement. I see no reason that someone that vain and uncaring about human life should get a place of honor anywhere.

Births and deaths:

1813 Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi is born. He said “I will give you the universe if I can have Italy.” It is all yours, Giuseppe, as far as I am concerned. Ciao.

1895 Chinese Writer Lin Yutang is born. He said “In order to appreciate England, one must have a contempt for logic.” I loved London. Across the street from where I was staying was the Stanhope Pub. What a great bar except they did not have many cold beers, most of them were at room temperature. But they did have Budweiser and Fosters that was cold.

Quotable quotes:

“Have any of you noticed that when those people that believed the day of their deaths are predestined always look right and left before crossing the street?”

                                  Stephen Hawking

On William Buckley’s first visit to a McDonalds he was asked what he would like to drink he said “I will have glass of your house Chablis.” Buckley was a sophisticate.

           Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow