If you test something, you must, if you want to find the limits, go beyond sanity to the breaking point.
I'm recovering from a migraine, so this post might be a bit dark. The sky is full of fire smoke, then there was the spackle sanding and finally the paint fumes that may have something to do with my sinuses being unhappy.
Ah, yes, back to testing... Per a previous post the intention was maintain a better wrist cock during the swing. But how much angle can you hang onto and how late until the swing? Can you hold it too long?
What I found today provided no answers to these questions.
But I did find that by holding the angle I could hit the ball a long way. A very long way.
Let's talk about the 14th. This is about 350 from the tees I was playing today. Normally I find myself at about the 140 to 150 yard range for my second shot. This is a tee shot of about 200 yards. I'm getting old it seemed -- last week! Ha. Today with a bit of angle I am down to the 85 yard line. I'm about 50+ yards further along the hole.
On the 13th hole, a par 5, I get to the green in two without using a driver. I won't talk about the putting as children might read this, but I got there and the 4 wood off the tee went an extra 60 yards.
And so it went. I was having problems because I was getting too close to the greens.
Did I mention the irons were going longer too? Well, they were. Take the 17th, a short par 4. I normally would hit a 5 iron to leave 120 or so into the green. Today, getting a feel for things, I hit a 6 iron. It doesn't end up 120 or even 100 out, it goes so far that it goes past the 100 yard stick and bounds into the pond. The pond that was supposed to be out of reach! (It was not all bad -- I found 3 balls in the pond fringe before I found mine.)
The 7th hole is a short iron to start with. It's a par 4. Maybe a 6 iron from today's tees. But I try a 7 and I'm 30 yards passed where I normally am. Yikes!
So my score was not great, but the potential is lighting my imagination. If these changes turn the long holes into medium ones, I may have to branch out and play other courses.
Tuesday, July 31, 2018
Monday, July 30, 2018
The End, My Friends
I've gone through all of the old stuff, you may be happy to learn. There is The Ballad of Marty, but it was printed on thermal paper and is in pretty bad shape. Too bad, as it was pretty good as I remember.
Marty was hired by Nuclear Data and worked in the service department. He had terminals for sale. These were the days before we all had terminals on our desks and if you purchased your own, you didn't have to share and could get more work done. Sounds strange these days when two or three monitors on a desk top are normal.
Now Marty had them for a good price. Monochrome of course as the color guys had not come out yet.
Sadly, the prices were too good. It seems that they were not Marty's to sell and at some point it was found out. The terminals were collected and so was Marty. This, per rumor, was not his first bout with the law. Away everything went and we never saw the terminals or Marty again.
So we must return to golf until the next bit of interruption arrives.
It is Monday as I type this and it was a play day. Which is good because otherwise we are working major miracles in the garage and it would "have killed a normal man," if I may quote Nuclear Bob. I have all these small stomach bruises due to carrying heavy, pointy objects that wanted to puncture me. They did not, but they left their attempts plainly on view. No bare middriff outfits for awhile I am afraid.
It's been hot and I am glad to escape to the great outdoor for a day. Of course upon return I am back in the garage killing spiders and spackling and sanding. I'm currently drenched in sweat and have retreated to the cool of the indoors.
The usual Monday group teed off about 9, which is usual. It was a slow day, though we are getting spoiled as it didn't take much over 4 hours.
My goal was to hit the longer clubs with same effort and long swing path as the short ones. I own the short ones and there has been diminishing returns in re distance as I move to the longer clubs. My current theory is that I am trying to help the long clubs. I hit the shorter ones with the confidence of a high priest; cool and serene that distance will be proper and the line laser like.
This pretty much worked. (Have I used those lines before? Yes, and too often it seems!) I hit the ball more solidly than I ever have. Now, this did not lead to an incredible score. The front was a mess as a couple of lines were wrong. I hit it into a pond. Some of the shots were too long. But a lot of then were very well behaved.
That led to another observation. I was not carrying a full wrist cock into a lot of shots. If one swings too quickly things that happen are that backswings are not completed and the wrist cock can also suffer.
Once that was addressed I picked up more yardage. I was getting off the tee about 10 yards longer than normal. It was all going straight as well.
I shot one over on the back nine with just a few one putts. I was getting to the greens quite easily. This is pretty exciting for me and I look forward to incorporating it into my game.
I've decided that technically I'm comfortable and I'm going to work on consistency for a bit.
The problem with shooting low scores and having no disasters is that the round is not remarkable. Pars pile up and GIRs are common and then it's over. It devolves into a putting contest, which is ok. My putting was quite good today. No three putts and I didn't miss any short ones. I finish a round and can't remember much about it. I think part of that is when it's going well you don't think much as you are playing. All the shots are normal and no heroic actions are required. Can be boring, but I'll see if I can't tread that path for a while.
Marty was hired by Nuclear Data and worked in the service department. He had terminals for sale. These were the days before we all had terminals on our desks and if you purchased your own, you didn't have to share and could get more work done. Sounds strange these days when two or three monitors on a desk top are normal.
Now Marty had them for a good price. Monochrome of course as the color guys had not come out yet.
Sadly, the prices were too good. It seems that they were not Marty's to sell and at some point it was found out. The terminals were collected and so was Marty. This, per rumor, was not his first bout with the law. Away everything went and we never saw the terminals or Marty again.
So we must return to golf until the next bit of interruption arrives.
It is Monday as I type this and it was a play day. Which is good because otherwise we are working major miracles in the garage and it would "have killed a normal man," if I may quote Nuclear Bob. I have all these small stomach bruises due to carrying heavy, pointy objects that wanted to puncture me. They did not, but they left their attempts plainly on view. No bare middriff outfits for awhile I am afraid.
It's been hot and I am glad to escape to the great outdoor for a day. Of course upon return I am back in the garage killing spiders and spackling and sanding. I'm currently drenched in sweat and have retreated to the cool of the indoors.
The usual Monday group teed off about 9, which is usual. It was a slow day, though we are getting spoiled as it didn't take much over 4 hours.
My goal was to hit the longer clubs with same effort and long swing path as the short ones. I own the short ones and there has been diminishing returns in re distance as I move to the longer clubs. My current theory is that I am trying to help the long clubs. I hit the shorter ones with the confidence of a high priest; cool and serene that distance will be proper and the line laser like.
This pretty much worked. (Have I used those lines before? Yes, and too often it seems!) I hit the ball more solidly than I ever have. Now, this did not lead to an incredible score. The front was a mess as a couple of lines were wrong. I hit it into a pond. Some of the shots were too long. But a lot of then were very well behaved.
That led to another observation. I was not carrying a full wrist cock into a lot of shots. If one swings too quickly things that happen are that backswings are not completed and the wrist cock can also suffer.
Once that was addressed I picked up more yardage. I was getting off the tee about 10 yards longer than normal. It was all going straight as well.
I shot one over on the back nine with just a few one putts. I was getting to the greens quite easily. This is pretty exciting for me and I look forward to incorporating it into my game.
I've decided that technically I'm comfortable and I'm going to work on consistency for a bit.
The problem with shooting low scores and having no disasters is that the round is not remarkable. Pars pile up and GIRs are common and then it's over. It devolves into a putting contest, which is ok. My putting was quite good today. No three putts and I didn't miss any short ones. I finish a round and can't remember much about it. I think part of that is when it's going well you don't think much as you are playing. All the shots are normal and no heroic actions are required. Can be boring, but I'll see if I can't tread that path for a while.
Friday, July 27, 2018
Flashback!
Once more we will journey back to the olden days. This ditty is actually dated and the date is February 1, 1983. Just days before the 30th birthday.
In those days there were no hard drives for smaller machines and floppies were pretty rare and they held a massive 256,000 bytes. Let's also not forget that they measured a full 8 inches across.
The mass storage device was magnetic tape. We've all seen the computers in the movies where the tape spools and going back and forth. In some ways, this was accurate.
I wrote a magtape (as it was known) driver a couple of times and if you gave it enough resources you could write 20 mega-bytes per minute. Not too shabby in its day.
The song is sung to the tune of Rawhide, a popular TV show of that era. Let's jump in and get a bit western. Don't forget to sing in a lusty voice.
Magtape
Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'
Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'
In those days there were no hard drives for smaller machines and floppies were pretty rare and they held a massive 256,000 bytes. Let's also not forget that they measured a full 8 inches across.
The mass storage device was magnetic tape. We've all seen the computers in the movies where the tape spools and going back and forth. In some ways, this was accurate.
I wrote a magtape (as it was known) driver a couple of times and if you gave it enough resources you could write 20 mega-bytes per minute. Not too shabby in its day.
The song is sung to the tune of Rawhide, a popular TV show of that era. Let's jump in and get a bit western. Don't forget to sing in a lusty voice.
Magtape
Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'
Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'
Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'
Magtape
Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'
Through the buffers flowin'
Keep those tape reels rollin'
Magtape
Noise and interference,
show my perseverance,
Allowing the bytes to DMA
All the bytes I'm savin',
Won't be misbehavin'
Allowing an accurate replay.
Queue 'em up, sort 'em out,
Sort 'em out, queue 'em up,
Sort 'em out, Magtape.
Splice 'em in, send 'em out,
Send 'em out, Splice 'em in,
Queue 'em up, Magtape.
Roll to the end of Magtape.
I'm queuin' queuin' queuin',
Though I'm disapprovin,
What's this user doin?
Magtape.
Don't ever try to append 'em,
Just buffer, queue and send 'em,
I'll be rewinding by and by.
The user's calculatin',
My files he'll be updatin',
be updatin', God knows why.
Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'
Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'
Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'
Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'
Magtape
Thursday, July 26, 2018
An Ode to Chuck
My mother has accused me of only lately becoming a bit of a writer. Well, that's not quite true and I can prove it. I've got limericks and songs and plays that have shown up as I'm pitching the remnants of early life.
For today's enjoyment I have a song written to the tune of Pinball Wizard. It's a song about Chuck, former room mate and golf buddy. This dates from about 1983. It's written on computer paper in all caps -- there was a time I was not real good with the shift keys. Ok, here we go, a walk into the past.
Sure Plays a Strong Golf Ball
Ever since I was a young boy
I've played that white golf ball.
From Elgin out to Schaumburg
I must have played them all.
But I've not seen anything like him
at any pitch and Putt.
The crazy old Chucky
Sure plays a strong golf ball.
He's a hazard wizard.
He knows all the traps.
From OB to bunkers,
He's familiar with them all.
The crazy old Chucky
sure plays a strong golf ball.
He doesn't bother with the fairways,
Always hits the rough.
If he doesn't slice it,
He'll surely pull it left.
Always finds the water,
Never seen him wrong.
The crazy old Chucky
He's just too damn strong!
.
For today's enjoyment I have a song written to the tune of Pinball Wizard. It's a song about Chuck, former room mate and golf buddy. This dates from about 1983. It's written on computer paper in all caps -- there was a time I was not real good with the shift keys. Ok, here we go, a walk into the past.
Sure Plays a Strong Golf Ball
Ever since I was a young boy
I've played that white golf ball.
From Elgin out to Schaumburg
I must have played them all.
But I've not seen anything like him
at any pitch and Putt.
The crazy old Chucky
Sure plays a strong golf ball.
He's a hazard wizard.
He knows all the traps.
From OB to bunkers,
He's familiar with them all.
The crazy old Chucky
sure plays a strong golf ball.
He doesn't bother with the fairways,
Always hits the rough.
If he doesn't slice it,
He'll surely pull it left.
Always finds the water,
Never seen him wrong.
The crazy old Chucky
He's just too damn strong!
.
Monday, July 23, 2018
How to Play the First Hole
So a bit of introduction here. I've just seen A Mid Summer's Night Dream and wanted to play around with iambic pentameter. So imagine if you will that Old Billy would write golf course instruction manuals when the play and sonnet market was soft. The game was played back in his time. I'm surprised that golf never made it into his works. Perhaps he had a wicked slice and just didn't want to think about it? (However, trying to put 10 syllables in each line is beyond my meager abilities, so it's a bit freer than the bard would do.)
How to Play The Hole Fyrst
At First you must careful select a Tee.
With White and Red and Blue and black to Choose,
This often be a chance to win or lose.
Assume it's white we'll play today,
tee the ball and swing on free.
But, hark, young golfer, be aware,
there be much danger lurking there.
Firstly a bunker deep, blocks the right -- sandy, mean, and full of fright.
Best to favor left a bit. Give the ball a powerful hit!
But not too far or you soon come around,
a pond doth lurk most leftward bound.
The right is no succor though, tall the trees in that area grow.
So center stripe must you well find. But alas there lieth another mind.
A reedy pond the center doth guard, you must be shortish or score be charred.
Water left and right trees and trap, you must be centered or in the crap!
When pass'd all this bother, a smooth fairway calls.
From there a strike to the green. Dangers lurk here, this green is mean!
A new trap on left you will find, plus another pond over the green lies blind.
A mere three traps adorn the right. One must hit the green or rue your plight!
The putting here the problems many, as this green is a bitter penny.
From Back to Front and left to right, swales the ball ungently toss.
After a final putt is holed, sheath the putter and off you go.
The second hole calls you next, it's merely twice the run and twice the vex!
How to Play The Hole Fyrst
At First you must careful select a Tee.
With White and Red and Blue and black to Choose,
This often be a chance to win or lose.
Assume it's white we'll play today,
tee the ball and swing on free.
But, hark, young golfer, be aware,
there be much danger lurking there.
Firstly a bunker deep, blocks the right -- sandy, mean, and full of fright.
Best to favor left a bit. Give the ball a powerful hit!
But not too far or you soon come around,
a pond doth lurk most leftward bound.
The right is no succor though, tall the trees in that area grow.
So center stripe must you well find. But alas there lieth another mind.
A reedy pond the center doth guard, you must be shortish or score be charred.
Water left and right trees and trap, you must be centered or in the crap!
When pass'd all this bother, a smooth fairway calls.
From there a strike to the green. Dangers lurk here, this green is mean!
A new trap on left you will find, plus another pond over the green lies blind.
A mere three traps adorn the right. One must hit the green or rue your plight!
The putting here the problems many, as this green is a bitter penny.
From Back to Front and left to right, swales the ball ungently toss.
After a final putt is holed, sheath the putter and off you go.
The second hole calls you next, it's merely twice the run and twice the vex!
When a Plan Comes Together
My newest swing vision is drop my hands about knee high then move them horizontally past the ball. The club comes along when it does; I make no attempt to square it.
Of course my hands don't get that low and there is a vertical component as I come through the ball. But the important thing in all of this is that I remain behind the ball and move the club past the ball without trying to help it.
I didn't miss a tee shot today. "You seem to have fixed your duck hook," said Rich II at lunch.
14 straight drives might be statistically significant. It is much better than 2 good ones and 12 bad ones.
Being me (or is it being I?), I applied this new swing thought to my iron game too. That worked just fine, though I did find myself over a couple of greens. Solid contact and more speed can create some interesting effects.
The new issue that showed up was when I hit pitches and chips around the green, the ball is coming out a lot softer. It left me short of where I wanted to be a number of times. I'll recalibrate that and swing a bit longer with them and it should work out quite well.
What was also different is that the holes I normally have trouble with, I easily parred today. And some of the usual easier holes were silly bogeys.
All in all it was a pretty simple round of golf. Rarely in the rough, always well off the tee. Layups on par 5s were with middle irons -- I frequently found myself about 20, 30, 40 yards closer to the hole that I was used to. It's a lot easier to lay up from 260 yards than 300.
Great news on the lunch front, Costco has fixed their frozen yogurt machine! This was broken along with one of the soda machines and also all of the machines that create some frozen fruit thing that only Anti-GMO Organic types order. It's the nice touch after the round and it was missed.
I'll probably get out tomorrow. Wednesday is an early round. More news when I get it!
Of course my hands don't get that low and there is a vertical component as I come through the ball. But the important thing in all of this is that I remain behind the ball and move the club past the ball without trying to help it.
I didn't miss a tee shot today. "You seem to have fixed your duck hook," said Rich II at lunch.
14 straight drives might be statistically significant. It is much better than 2 good ones and 12 bad ones.
Being me (or is it being I?), I applied this new swing thought to my iron game too. That worked just fine, though I did find myself over a couple of greens. Solid contact and more speed can create some interesting effects.
The new issue that showed up was when I hit pitches and chips around the green, the ball is coming out a lot softer. It left me short of where I wanted to be a number of times. I'll recalibrate that and swing a bit longer with them and it should work out quite well.
What was also different is that the holes I normally have trouble with, I easily parred today. And some of the usual easier holes were silly bogeys.
All in all it was a pretty simple round of golf. Rarely in the rough, always well off the tee. Layups on par 5s were with middle irons -- I frequently found myself about 20, 30, 40 yards closer to the hole that I was used to. It's a lot easier to lay up from 260 yards than 300.
Great news on the lunch front, Costco has fixed their frozen yogurt machine! This was broken along with one of the soda machines and also all of the machines that create some frozen fruit thing that only Anti-GMO Organic types order. It's the nice touch after the round and it was missed.
I'll probably get out tomorrow. Wednesday is an early round. More news when I get it!
Saturday, July 21, 2018
Pulling the Chain
A number of great players were told to pull down on the club. The image was not always about pulling or ringing the bell or getting the hands to beat the chest to the ball, but it amounts to the same thing.
Yesterday I was able to do this. It is a feeling that I'm not familiar with! I saw a player's discussion of the right hand action and how it pushes the club down into the ground (for compression - but I have more to say about that) as the left hand begins to rise.
I don't think the hand actions are quite correct, but the feeling of it might be accurate. I try this a bit and it looks like it will be useful for the short game.
When I try out new things, I always try to apply it to all the strokes. This seemed to be applicable for long irons, woods and the driver.
But if you are trying to push the club into the ground, then the path of the club needs be different. This is where that pull down the club stuff comes in. Because you have to be pulling down outside your right leg. How does the club get around the "corner" and to the ball? Kind of a miracle it seems, but it seems to work!
This worked quite well. My distance didn't seem to change, I was as straight as normal -- and that is awfully straight -- but the shots were coming out lower.
I'm going to embrace this new club path. I want to play a bit with ball position as that might get the ball higher in the air.
I'm pretty excited by this. I was able to hit the driver and I could see the fear in my opponents' eyes as the ball would boom out there. A drive to go with my iron game would be a bit scary.
Ok, that is all for now. Hopefully wonderful things to come and maybe move the game to a new level, which seems doable.
Yesterday I was able to do this. It is a feeling that I'm not familiar with! I saw a player's discussion of the right hand action and how it pushes the club down into the ground (for compression - but I have more to say about that) as the left hand begins to rise.
I don't think the hand actions are quite correct, but the feeling of it might be accurate. I try this a bit and it looks like it will be useful for the short game.
When I try out new things, I always try to apply it to all the strokes. This seemed to be applicable for long irons, woods and the driver.
But if you are trying to push the club into the ground, then the path of the club needs be different. This is where that pull down the club stuff comes in. Because you have to be pulling down outside your right leg. How does the club get around the "corner" and to the ball? Kind of a miracle it seems, but it seems to work!
This worked quite well. My distance didn't seem to change, I was as straight as normal -- and that is awfully straight -- but the shots were coming out lower.
I'm going to embrace this new club path. I want to play a bit with ball position as that might get the ball higher in the air.
I'm pretty excited by this. I was able to hit the driver and I could see the fear in my opponents' eyes as the ball would boom out there. A drive to go with my iron game would be a bit scary.
Ok, that is all for now. Hopefully wonderful things to come and maybe move the game to a new level, which seems doable.
Catching Up
Dear fans,
While it has been awhile, I do have a couple of things to bring up. I have been busy with clearing out a storage facility. A monumental task -- today I took my lock from the door and demanded that they cancel me from the entry gate. I'm reminded of the famous MLK quote about being free at last! It does feel good. It did suck the extra energy normally devoted to writing and golf practice. I must have lifted a ton of boxes and killed many spiders!
I'm also working on an iambic pentameter post that should amuse those interested in a bit of language play.
I've also not mentioned my best round ever. It took place a couple of weeks ago. It's kind of a braggy thing, but I managed to break par with a 2 under 70. I had a 4 footer for a 69 on the 18th, which would have been really special.
How does one break par? Well, it required a bit of magic. There were moments when it looked like it was not going to happen, but then a great shot would jump up and save the hole. Take the 9th hole, which is one of the three tough holes on the front nine for me. It requires a good tee shot or you have to lay up into a narrow fairway bordered with water and over hanging trees. If you are too far from the water the trees will block the left side of the green. There are traps on both sides of the green too. So on this special day, the drive is ok but I push or slice the ball into the right hand bunker, probably coming in from 180 yards. The sand is bad in the traps due to a flood that washed it all away a couple of years ago. I try to blast and it is bladed a bit and now I'm on the green fringe with a 15 foot sliding, fast putt. Normally three from that position, but that day I got the speed and line perfect and in it goes.
The whole day was like that. I had 10 putts on the front nine. One birdie and 8 pars. The back was better golf, i.e., more greens in regulation, 14 putts and again 1 birdie and 8 pars. It was more a round of distinction for the lack of a bogey than the final score.
I followed this up yesterday with an even par round. It required 4 birdies. I did have great birdie chances in the last three holes, made one of them, but it easily could have been below par too. The greens rolled beautifully and it so easy to make the putts.
I have some technical stuff to say about the round yesterday and will wander off to write that post.
While it has been awhile, I do have a couple of things to bring up. I have been busy with clearing out a storage facility. A monumental task -- today I took my lock from the door and demanded that they cancel me from the entry gate. I'm reminded of the famous MLK quote about being free at last! It does feel good. It did suck the extra energy normally devoted to writing and golf practice. I must have lifted a ton of boxes and killed many spiders!
I'm also working on an iambic pentameter post that should amuse those interested in a bit of language play.
I've also not mentioned my best round ever. It took place a couple of weeks ago. It's kind of a braggy thing, but I managed to break par with a 2 under 70. I had a 4 footer for a 69 on the 18th, which would have been really special.
How does one break par? Well, it required a bit of magic. There were moments when it looked like it was not going to happen, but then a great shot would jump up and save the hole. Take the 9th hole, which is one of the three tough holes on the front nine for me. It requires a good tee shot or you have to lay up into a narrow fairway bordered with water and over hanging trees. If you are too far from the water the trees will block the left side of the green. There are traps on both sides of the green too. So on this special day, the drive is ok but I push or slice the ball into the right hand bunker, probably coming in from 180 yards. The sand is bad in the traps due to a flood that washed it all away a couple of years ago. I try to blast and it is bladed a bit and now I'm on the green fringe with a 15 foot sliding, fast putt. Normally three from that position, but that day I got the speed and line perfect and in it goes.
The whole day was like that. I had 10 putts on the front nine. One birdie and 8 pars. The back was better golf, i.e., more greens in regulation, 14 putts and again 1 birdie and 8 pars. It was more a round of distinction for the lack of a bogey than the final score.
I followed this up yesterday with an even par round. It required 4 birdies. I did have great birdie chances in the last three holes, made one of them, but it easily could have been below par too. The greens rolled beautifully and it so easy to make the putts.
I have some technical stuff to say about the round yesterday and will wander off to write that post.
Sunday, July 1, 2018
A Book Report
I never saw the usefulness in writing book reports. I don't remember writing too many of them. I do remember a movie review we were supposed to write in high school. I got a note from the teacher who said that I should look at John's for the proper way to do this. As it turned out, John had copied his from the Chicago Sun Times. So I guess I did learn something with that assignment. John got an A; mine was somewhat less.
The book I'm going to report on is Life on the Mississippi, by one Mark Twain. I was under the impression when I started to read this, that I had never read it. But I think ,that I've read portions of it.
The book is autobiographical. Twain is returning to the river after 20-some years away. He's become famous and is recognized a number of times by others that he runs into while taking his return trip.
There is a lot of interesting history that is related as to the white man's interaction with the river and the towns up and down. Second longest river in the world, he tells us.
Twain did study (got learned) the river starting when he was 20. It's not clear how long he was a cub, then pilot.
He has some adventures and there is a lot to know about being a pilot and the river.
But I want to touch on a couple of things that impressed me. I've been pretty neutral in re Twain. Not sure I ever enjoyed his works. I did play Tom Sawyer in a modest production: "I'm sorry Aunt Polly. I didn't mean to do it." Or something like that. It's been a long time. And was she named Polly? Doesn't matter - not one of the discussion items.
There are a couple of paragraphs where Twain pokes fun at scientists. They were claiming that the river was shrinking at some rate, and "if this continues, by xxxx, the river will be gone!" Twain begs the question and suggests if this had always been true than the river was 1.4 million miles long not too long ago. Sadly we see this all the time today. The climate alarmist uses this on a daily basis. The earth will melt by 2100 if we don't act now! The polar caps will be gone by 2013! (Seems they missed that deadline, and a lot of folks were predicting it -- I'm looking at you Al Gore.)
What I find fascinating is that Twain was well aware of this kind of thing 150 years ago. It must have been fairly common knowledge, yet we still must correct and cajole on this very point today.
Maybe it wasn't common knowledge and Twain was thinker and got there in spite of his times. I don't know and it is what makes we tempted to read some of his other books and see what else he dropped here and there.
The next point is made by his relating a story spoken by another pilot. It is now after the steam boat era has ended. It didn't last that long! The railroads pretty much killed it. Start to finish it was about 60 years. (As a small aside, this is not much different that the cattle drives. They lasted all of 20 years, then the railroads came out to meet them and the cowboys were out of a job. It's amusing that the cattle drive has lasted a lot longer in film, TV and various media than it did in real life.)
The pilot talks of the Army Corp of Engineers, who are going to come out from West Point and "fix" the river. Twain mentions that when the water is high that the river can be 70 miles wide -- a lot of energy and water there...
The pilot does not come out and say that the engineers are total idiots, but it's pretty plain that is what he thinks. He is amused by those who are so removed from the river, know enough about it to fix it.
As far as I know the ACE is still on the job.
Reagan was correct, there is nothing longer lived than a government project. I also mention that it wasn't too many springs ago the river reclaimed a lot of territory thought safe. This is a recurring theme in the book that the river is in charge. Man's buildings, towns, and farms are not obstacles to river. Loops are cut through, cutting off towns. Towns are simply washed away. All good stuff!
But the theme that the folks/politicians/environmentalists/Washington bureaucrats know enough about anything to drive reasonable, much less correct, policy is fantasy. And, again, we see this every day today. Here's the latest law from Washington or Sacramento that will "fix" something.
There are other little bits and pieces that make the book worth reading. Sadly my ebook did not contain the appendices, I think they would have been worth reading. But the above items struck me as worthy of note.
Ah, I remember one more curious bit of lore. The book is written after the Civil war. Twain has things to say about it and how it touched the south much more than the north. Then, striking to the heart of the matter, Twain blames Sir Walter Scott for the whole thing. There would not be a south were it not for SWS! His flowery language and other trappings led to its creation and thus on to the war.
Twain remarks a number of times about writing that he runs across and provides an expert's critique thereon. Quite interesting to me. Perhaps language arts should be taught like engineering, it might have made it more interesting. But Twain was adamant that SWS was the villain in all this.
An interesting theory that I'd not heard before. I don't think of writers having that kind of power.
Ok, so that is my take on the book. Worth the read from my point of view and I was glad I took it up. I suppose I should read Moby Dick at some point, I know I've never read that one.
The book I'm going to report on is Life on the Mississippi, by one Mark Twain. I was under the impression when I started to read this, that I had never read it. But I think ,that I've read portions of it.
The book is autobiographical. Twain is returning to the river after 20-some years away. He's become famous and is recognized a number of times by others that he runs into while taking his return trip.
There is a lot of interesting history that is related as to the white man's interaction with the river and the towns up and down. Second longest river in the world, he tells us.
Twain did study (got learned) the river starting when he was 20. It's not clear how long he was a cub, then pilot.
He has some adventures and there is a lot to know about being a pilot and the river.
But I want to touch on a couple of things that impressed me. I've been pretty neutral in re Twain. Not sure I ever enjoyed his works. I did play Tom Sawyer in a modest production: "I'm sorry Aunt Polly. I didn't mean to do it." Or something like that. It's been a long time. And was she named Polly? Doesn't matter - not one of the discussion items.
There are a couple of paragraphs where Twain pokes fun at scientists. They were claiming that the river was shrinking at some rate, and "if this continues, by xxxx, the river will be gone!" Twain begs the question and suggests if this had always been true than the river was 1.4 million miles long not too long ago. Sadly we see this all the time today. The climate alarmist uses this on a daily basis. The earth will melt by 2100 if we don't act now! The polar caps will be gone by 2013! (Seems they missed that deadline, and a lot of folks were predicting it -- I'm looking at you Al Gore.)
What I find fascinating is that Twain was well aware of this kind of thing 150 years ago. It must have been fairly common knowledge, yet we still must correct and cajole on this very point today.
Maybe it wasn't common knowledge and Twain was thinker and got there in spite of his times. I don't know and it is what makes we tempted to read some of his other books and see what else he dropped here and there.
The next point is made by his relating a story spoken by another pilot. It is now after the steam boat era has ended. It didn't last that long! The railroads pretty much killed it. Start to finish it was about 60 years. (As a small aside, this is not much different that the cattle drives. They lasted all of 20 years, then the railroads came out to meet them and the cowboys were out of a job. It's amusing that the cattle drive has lasted a lot longer in film, TV and various media than it did in real life.)
The pilot talks of the Army Corp of Engineers, who are going to come out from West Point and "fix" the river. Twain mentions that when the water is high that the river can be 70 miles wide -- a lot of energy and water there...
The pilot does not come out and say that the engineers are total idiots, but it's pretty plain that is what he thinks. He is amused by those who are so removed from the river, know enough about it to fix it.
As far as I know the ACE is still on the job.
Reagan was correct, there is nothing longer lived than a government project. I also mention that it wasn't too many springs ago the river reclaimed a lot of territory thought safe. This is a recurring theme in the book that the river is in charge. Man's buildings, towns, and farms are not obstacles to river. Loops are cut through, cutting off towns. Towns are simply washed away. All good stuff!
But the theme that the folks/politicians/environmentalists/Washington bureaucrats know enough about anything to drive reasonable, much less correct, policy is fantasy. And, again, we see this every day today. Here's the latest law from Washington or Sacramento that will "fix" something.
There are other little bits and pieces that make the book worth reading. Sadly my ebook did not contain the appendices, I think they would have been worth reading. But the above items struck me as worthy of note.
Ah, I remember one more curious bit of lore. The book is written after the Civil war. Twain has things to say about it and how it touched the south much more than the north. Then, striking to the heart of the matter, Twain blames Sir Walter Scott for the whole thing. There would not be a south were it not for SWS! His flowery language and other trappings led to its creation and thus on to the war.
Twain remarks a number of times about writing that he runs across and provides an expert's critique thereon. Quite interesting to me. Perhaps language arts should be taught like engineering, it might have made it more interesting. But Twain was adamant that SWS was the villain in all this.
An interesting theory that I'd not heard before. I don't think of writers having that kind of power.
Ok, so that is my take on the book. Worth the read from my point of view and I was glad I took it up. I suppose I should read Moby Dick at some point, I know I've never read that one.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)