Hazel, TV Show of the Past

"Hazel" started on NBC in 1961 and was shown in black and white, but it then changed to color thereafter. The show's fifth and last season saw the comedy transfer to CBS, with some cast changes. "Hazel" was about a maid, played by Shirley Booth, who worked for the Baxter family.: George Baxter, played by Don DeFore, was a lawyer, his wife Dorothy, played by Whitney Blake, and their son Harold, played by Bobby Buntrock. Shirley Booth always reminded me of my paternal grandmother, and so in many ways, I suppose, I associate Hazel with my grandmother (see a few lines down about what character Mr. Griffin said about Hazel in the show). Hazel was a down-to-earth, strong willed, highly opinionated person, who helped more than a little in managing the Baxter household, often bringing her into some conflict with George, whom she called "Mr. B," but who usually came to see Hazel's wisdom after a bit of a tussle, and he also knew she had his and the family's best interests at heart. George also needed Hazel beyond her reliability and common sense, as she was able to soften his most important client, hard-nosed and difficult businessman Harvey Griffin (played by Howard Smith), who fawningly would say, "She reminds me of my mother." Hazel's great cooking also helped soothe Mr. Griffin's cantankerous personality, and he loved being invited to dinner, so much so, that at times he pretty much invited himself. Hazel gave advice to any and all, including other maids in the neighborhood, and to Barney the mailman. She was a good bowler and she got along well with everyone, except George's snooty sister, who would occasionally try to get Hazel into trouble. 

The show just wasn't the same when it switched to CBS, and that's because both Don DeFore and Whitney Blake were dropped by CBS, and the audience dropped "Hazel." In a post-show tragedy, Bobby Buntrock was killed in an automobile accident on a bridge just a few years later. Shirley Booth lived to be 94, passing away in 1992, followed a year later by Don DeFore at the age of 80, and by Whitney Blake in 2002 at the age of 76.

Photo is from the 2006 Sony Home Entertainment First Season DVD set (now sold by Shout! Factory)

WORD HISTORY:

Can-This is the noun for "a metal container." It goes back to Indo European "gann," which meant "container, vessel for drinks." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "kanna/kanno," which followed the same meaning of "vessel for drinks, cup." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "canne" (the ending "e" pronounced "eh/ah"), with the same general meaning. The word remained as such until much later when it was eventually spelled "can," and it was not until the mid 1800s that the meaning of "metal container for preserved food," became widespread, as such a container had been more commonly called a "tin," before that, and even by some long after "can" came to be applied to the container. The verb, meaning "to store and preserve food in a container, either glass or metal," came into use in the mid 1800s. By the way, it does not seem that "can" is related to "canister," which originally meant "wicker basket," but it had its meaning later altered by the influence and similarity of "can." The other Germanic languages have retained the "container for liquids" meaning, which is now archaic in English: German "Kanne," meaning "coffee or tea pot, jug," Low German Saxon "Kann," meaning "jug," West Frisian "kanne," meaning "jug, pitcher, tea/coffee pot," Dutch "kan" meaning "jug, pitcher, crock," Danish "kande," meaning "jug, pitcher," Norwegian "kanne," meaning "pot, jug," Icelandic "könnu," meaning "pitcher, tea/coffee pot," and Swedish "kanna," meaning "pitcher, jug."   

Some Favorite Television Shows Of The Past, Sanford and Son

The success of "All In The Family" had producer Norman Lear haul out another groundbreaking show, "Sanford and Son." Based on a British television show, "Steptoe and Son," the new comedy began on NBC in 1972 and quickly soared in the ratings. The show had Fred Sanford, played by Redd Foxx (whose real family name was Sanford), as a sort of a black Archie Bunker. Fred was a junk dealer in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, and he was cantankerous as hell. He frequently called his son, Lamont, played by Demond Wilson, "dummy," but he saved his sharpest barbs for his sister-in-law, Esther, played by Cleveland-born LaWanda Page. The battles between Fred and Esther were hilarious, especially in one episode where a very drunk Fred stared up at Esther and shouted, "Call the zoo! I just captured a gorilla-faced ugly-opotamous!" Fred also had a fit when a goat-owning Puerto Rican, named Julio, played by Gregory Sierra, moved in next door, and he blared out every imaginable insult and stereotype he could think of. Then there was Aw Chew, played by Pat Morita, a Japanese neighbor, who also endured Fred's ethnic insults. There were other fairly regular characters in the show during its six seasons, including Lamont's friend Rollo, other close friends of Fred, Bubba and Melvin, Fred's girlfriend Donna, a black and white LA police duo, Smitty and Hoppy, with Hoppy being the white cop who constantly messed up the urban lingo, but who also used such complicated language when talking to Fred and Lamont, they would have to turn to Smitty, the black cop, for a translation into speech they could understand. The next to last season saw long time Beverly Hillbillies' co-star Nancy Kulp become a tenant of Fred and Lamont, as May, policeman Hoppy's mother.

There were some really great episodes, and the show tried to convey how people of all races, but especially black and white Americans, needed to get along and work together. In one episode Fred is using crutches, so Lamont hires a housekeeper through an employment agency. When the woman shows up, Fred is stunned that she's white and his bigotry takes over, in spite of her telling Fred that people are people and that she didn't care about race. In a reverse of a good many real life situations from those times, where whites tried to score points with blacks by being patronizing, Fred tells the housekeeper he thinks former 1920s white world heavyweight boxing champ Jack Dempsey could have beaten Joe Louis, the 1930s and 1940s black world heavyweight champ. When Fred forces Lamont to get rid of the housekeeper, just as she goes out the door, she turns and tells Fred something like, "And I think you're wrong Mr. Sanford, Joe Louis could have beaten the hell out of Jack Dempsey."

Redd Foxx became well known for his acting as if he were having a heart attack when Lamont talked of leaving home or Julio's goat got loose and wandered into Fred's house. He'd grab his chest and look to the heavens to speak to his late wife, Elizabeth, and shout, "I'm coming to join ya, Elizabeth." 
  
The show was not without real life controversy, as Redd Foxx walked out for a time in a salary dispute, leaving Whitman Mayo, who played Fred's friend Grady Wilson, to run the house and trade insults with Esther, who frequently answered Fred's and Grady's insults with, "Watch it sucka!" She also often referred to Fred as, "You beady-eyed old heathen." In perhaps the best episode of all, a long time friend of Fred and his family in St. Louis arrived in LA to announce that he was Lamont's real father. This declaration brought Fred and Esther together, temporarily, as allies, with Esther even shouting, "Fred, let's you and I beat the hell out of him!" If you've never seen the episode or if you've forgotten the outcome, I won't spoil it, but you won't be able to hold back the laughter, or perhaps even a tear or two, when Lamont makes a statement about the whole "father" situation.

Photo is from "Sanford And Son, The Complete Series" DVD set, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 2008

WORD HISTORY:
Harken (also spelled "hearken")/Hark-"Harken" and "hark" are both closely related, so I will cover them both here, and they are both related to "hear." They go back to the Indo European root "khous/kous," with the meaning of "hear." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "hauzijanan/hausjanan," and "perhaps" even a variant, "heorskjanan," meaning "to hear." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "heorcian," meaning "to hear, to listen." This then became "herken," before the more modern "hark," with the meaning, "listen closely, attentively." The Germanic form also produced Old English "heorcnian," meaning "to listen." This then became "hercnen," before "harken." "Harken back/hark back, seems originally to have meant "to go back to a place and listen" while one was hunting, but in more modern times it simply means, "go back to a particular place or point, to recall something." The other Germanic languages have: German "horchen" (to listen, including to listen secretly; that is, eavesdrop, also listen attentively, harken), Low German Saxon "horken" (to listen, to harken, and was once also used by Dutch), West Frisian "harkje" (harken, listen). The other Germanic languages ceased using forms directly related to English "hark/harken," but all have forms directly related to the closely related English word, "hear." 

Beyond Our Own Feelings, Empathy

Empathy can be a difficult thing for some people to experience. Those who are very self centered (narcissistic) can especially have trouble feeling empathy; that is, the ability to place one's self into the emotional shoes of another person, so to speak.

We've seen Republican Rob Portman change his views on gay issues, after his son told him he is gay. Similar happened with former Vice President Dick Cheney, whose daughter is a lesbian, but Cheney's supportive views go back further than most politicians, who have tended to hop onto the bandwagon as public opinion raced ahead of them on the issue, but at least they hopped. Some prominent Democrats, on the other hand, like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, also evolved on the issue, although they hadn't expressed outright opposition to gay marriage, but rather took the more nuanced position of favoring "civil unions," before fully embracing equality. Vice President Joe Biden stated his support for marriage equality right on national television during an interview, getting out in front on the issue, even before President Obama. In fact, there was speculation that Biden's stance forced the President to publicly commit before he may have been fully prepared to do so. Whatever the case with any of those I've mentioned, or others, progressives need to embrace people who come to our side, not find fault with why they chose their course. They evolved, and we should be supportive of that evolution. I shudder to think that I would be forever bound to my views on a given subject from 20, 30 or 40 years ago, or maybe even last week. Being supportive on specific issues doesn't mean you agree with all of their views, as I most certainly DO NOT agree with many of the views of Cheney or Portman. Many people detest Dick Cheney, especially in the progressive ranks, and I'm no fan of Rob Portman, but these men took positions on marriage that ran counter to the opinions of many members of their own political party, including the spewers of hate, whose names I needn't recount. They chose to be fathers FIRST, before being politicians, and Portman's change of heart was very touching, as he talked about his love for his son. That was a father talking.

Similarly, John McCain has spoken out about torture and he has opposed the use of such tactics by anyone, including Americans. He has come into conflict with Dick Cheney and others on the political right, who have claimed that valuable intelligence information has been gotten by the use of various torture tactics, including waterboarding. McCain was a prisoner in North Vietnam for six years, during which time he was tortured by his captors. There's no question that McCain's personal experience at the hands of his captors has made him an outspoken critic of torture, as he can empathize with those suffering the treatment, no matter how despicable they might otherwise be.

Franklin Roosevelt contracted polio in the early 1920s and there's no doubt in my mind that his personal struggle against this affliction, and its crippling aftermath, made him empathize more than ever with America's downtrodden, making him the almost perfect president to deal with the economic hardship of the Great Depression. During those times, so many Americans developed a major connection to Roosevelt as a man who was on their side, in spite of the fact that FDR was a man of wealth. It was a connection perhaps typified by the story of a man present as FDR's coffin arrived by train in Washington, D.C. When asked if he knew FDR, the man answered, "No, but he knew me." What a tribute!   

Do we have to experience suffering ourselves in order to understand the suffering of others? I'm not a psychologist, but I assume they would likely answer, "No, but it helps." How do we convey to Cheney, Portman, McCain and others the need for understanding and empathy for those who are struggling in matters other than those matters they have experienced themselves, either directly or through family members? How do we get them to see the fallacy of giving billions of dollars to people who already have billions of dollars, while so many are treading water or sliding down the economic ladder?  

WORD HISTORY:
Empathy (Pathos)-This is a fairly recent borrowing (early 20th Century) from Ancient Greek "empatheia," which meant "passion, emotional condition." The term was used by English psychologist Edward B. Titchener to translate German "Einfühlung," the German translation of the Ancient Greek word. It comes from Greek "en," meaning "in," and "pathos," meaning "feeling, emotion," with the underlying notion of "suffering." It was used to describe one's ability to put themselves into the feelings of another person. "Pathos" comes from "pathsko," meaning "suffer, endure," which goes back to Indo European "kwenth," which meant "to suffer." In more modern times, the Greek word's meaning took a dramatic turn, although still connected to emotion, as it means "animosity, hatred."  

After We're Gone and East Of Eden

Updated with "Word History" January 18, 2015 from the original article of November 25, 2007 (thus the reference to uninsured Americans)

If you've never read John Steinbeck's "East Of Eden," I sure hope you will. Many people think right off of the movie from the 1950s with James Dean, but while the movie is good, it only covers about the last third or so of the book. In my opinion, far better is the television mini-series of the early 1980s, which gave a boost to up and coming actress Jane Seymour. The mini-series covered the ENTIRE book, and it is available on DVD.

The book is pretty large, like 500 to 600 pages, depending upon format, but don't be intimidated, as it is well worth reading. Tucked away in Chapter 34 are Steinbeck's real ideas about mankind. Interestingly, it is the shortest chapter in the book, covering only two to three pages, but in it, Steinbeck tells us that humans search for love and understanding from our fellow beings throughout our lives; however, we seldom, if ever, get to know the outcome of our own fortunes, because others don't truly judge us until we're gone. As he explains, once we pass on, any jealousies held by others tend to pass on too, as we're no longer a threat to anyone. That's when people's true feelings can come out.

I know I've read that studies have shown human beings do think about their own "funerals," and what people will say about them at that time and afterward. Do we want to be remembered for having "saved" the current American medical system, which has left 45-50 million without coverage? Do we want to be remembered for having run up the price of energy products to the point where many people can't heat or cool their homes properly, can't drive to their jobs without putting a strain on their pocketbooks, or can't afford the escalating price of many products because of the price increases due to soaring transport costs? Do we want to be remembered for having stood by while the very wealthiest Americans continue to siphon off the life-blood of the nation's workers? When told of our death, do we want others to feel relief instead of grief?

This picture from the cover of the 1995 Book-of-the-Month Club edition, by Viking Penguin/Penguin USA, Inc. 

WORD HISTORY:
Mentor-This word "likely" goes back to the Indo European root "men," which meant "to think." The idea is, that a causative form^ of that root provided the basis for a character of the name "Mentor" in Greek mythology, who shared his knowledge with a young, inexperienced character in the story. English borrowed the word from the Greek character name in the mid 1700s with the meaning, "knowledgeable adviser." The verb form was derived from the noun.

^ A causative form simply means that it causes an action to take place. Causative forms often have a second verb; for example, "The father let his son have the car."  In the case of the root "men," above, the meaning "to think" of the root "men," gave a causative form meaning "to cause someone to think." In Greek mythology, "Mentor" caused his charge "to think," and thus, "to learn," by the knowledge he, Mentor, imparted.   

"Gilligan's Island," Fun With the Castaways

At my age, I’ve seen lots and lots of television shows dating back to the 1950s, and some of those shows I loved, and still love, through various DVD sets. I loved “Gilligan’s Island” when it premiered way back in the mid 1960s, and likewise “Get Smart,” and “The Beverly Hillbillies.” "Gilligan's Island," which aired for three seasons on CBS, was about seven people shipwrecked on an uncharted Pacific island. The initial season was filmed in black and white, before the change to color. Bob Denver played Gilligan, who had a great heart, but who just couldn't do anything right. Alan Hale, Jr. played the Skipper, a big guy who had owned the S.S. Minnow, the tour boat which had carried the seven people to their island fate during a severe storm. The other castaways looked to him for leadership, including his sole crew member from the boat, Gilligan. Mr. Thurston Howell III was played by Cleveland's own Jim Backus, who grew up on the East Side and was actually taught a class or two in grade school by Margaret Hamilton, another native Clevelander, who was a teacher before her acting days. She is best remembered for being the Wicked Witch in "The Wizard of Oz." Thurston Howell was the equivalent of a multibillionaire in today's money and he was a business tycoon who couldn't help himself when it came to money, even once selling the Skipper a clock to be used for a timer on a bomb needed to help thwart the eruption of a volcano. He relished his ruthless reputation, but inside he was an insecure man, who slept with a teddy bear and downed all sorts of pills, but he also showed occasional bursts of compassion. The delightful Natalie Schafer played Mrs. Howell, a true blue blood, who was always concerned with social etiquette, including the proper apparel, even if she thought she was about to die, "What does one wear for an explosion," she might ask. The other cast members never knew until years later that Natalie Schafer was far older than she seemed, but still she supposedly also had a clause in her contract that prohibited close ups of her. Russell Johnson played the Professor, a man with several degrees, and the person the castaways turned to for the knowledge to help them survive, which included his many inventions to give them some comforts, besides survival. Tina Louise played Ginger Grant, a beautiful actress longing to get her big chance for stardom. Dawn Wells played Mary Ann, a farm girl, whose skimpy outfits (for those times), brought worry that the censors would demand edits of some of her scenes. While seen as silly today, back then the producer had to be sure her shorts, for it was a tropical island, were high enough so that her navel wasn't showing during filming. Both she and Tina Louise also had to be careful with their outfits so they didn't display too much "cleavage."

While many network execs thought of "Gilligan's Island" as a children's show, the comedy actually had appeal beyond kids, and from comments I've seen over the years, many adults viewed the show too, although "perhaps" some did so under the guise of "watching it with my kids." After the series ended, the cast found it difficult to get work, as the public strongly identified them with their characters from "Gilligan's Island." While actually quite a public tribute, the need for food and shelter left some of the cast embittered. As time passed, the cast members found much public love for the show, the reruns of which were red hot on television stations around the world for the next three or four decades! The kids of the 1960s were able to sit and watch the show all over again, but with their own kids, and then with their grand kids. In the interim, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, three full-length movies were made about "Gilligan's Island." All of the original cast participated, except for Tina Louise, who remained embittered about how the show had prevented her from getting other roles. Also, the declining health of Jim Backus left him to make only a short appearance in the third movie.

Little by little time began to claim the beloved performers, with Jim Backus dying in the summer of 1989 at the age of 76. Alan Hale, Jr. followed in early 1990, age 68, and Natalie Schafer passed away at the age of 90 in 1991. Bob Denver died in 2005, age 70, and Russell Johnson passed away in January 2014, age. 89. You just know they're all waiting on an uncharted island for the rest of us to join them, as we all came so far together.      

Photo is from the Turner Home Entertainment/Warner Brothers' Complete First Season DVD Set

WORD HISTORY:

Voice-This word goes back to Indo European "wek," which meant "to speak, to say." This gave Latin "vox," meaning "speech, voice." This then gave Old French, a Latin-based language, "voiz," with the same basic meaning. This was carried to England by the Normans and was borrowed by English as "voice" circa 1300. 

The 'Thyme' Of My Life

I love herbs of all kinds, but my favorite is thyme, followed by sage and rosemary. If you aren't much of a gardener, or if you live in a situation where you don't have access to a little plot of soil to plant your own herbs, it has been fairly easy to find fresh herbs for a number of years now, as supermarkets carry them in the produce section in small plastic containers. Of course, dried herbs are good too. For some good recipes using all sorts of herbs, fresh and dried, check out: "Fresh Herb Cooking" by Linda Dannenberg, with photographs by Ellen Silverman, published by Stewart, Tabori and Chang, New York, 2001. Whether the book is still for sale, I have no idea, but it may be available from your local library.

This is my own recipe for herb butter, developed after trying various recipes over the years. It's great on chicken or beef, or just on some good bread.

2 sticks of softened butter, preferably unsalted, but the world won't stop turning if you use salted butter, but with unsalted, you can control how much salt you then want to add
3 tablespoons of fresh thyme, finely chopped
3 tablespoons of fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
a pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
1/2 teaspoon of salt, if you use unsalted butter, but if you use salted butter, I wouldn't add anymore salt

You simply mix all of the ingredients together, cover the dish and let it sit out for about a half hour, then refrigerate for at least an hour, preferably a couple of hours, to allow the butter to firm up and absorb the flavors. Then, as the great Julia Child used to say, "Bony Aperteef," or whatever the hell she used to say.

Herb butter on a half roll, along side liverwurst on a half roll, some blue cheese stuffed olives (larger) and some anchovy stuffed olives and tomatoes. 

WORD HISTORY:
Thyme-This common herbal plant name, distantly related to the word "fume," goes back to the Indo European root "dhu," which had the notion of "to cause a cloud of smoke, dust, vapor." This gave its Greek offspring "thuein," meaning  "burn, burn as an offering." This produced Greek "thumon" for the plant name, as the Greeks burned it as incense. Latin borrowed the word from Greek as "thymum," and this gave Old French, a Latin based language, "thym." English then borrowed the word in the late 1300s.

All-Powerful Deities Don't Need Your Help

To the religious fanatics of ALL faiths: If you believe your particular deity is all powerful, then that deity does not need your help by you committing atrocities against people you do not like. Plain and simple, you are going against the laws of most religions by killing and maiming others. You are murderers, not martyrs. We may not like some of the views of others, but the inability for us to deal with differing points of view shows weakness, not strength.

WORD HISTORY:
Deity-This word, related to "Tuesday," ^ and to Greek "Zeus," goes back to Indo European "deiwos," which meant "god." It was derived from Indo European "deyw/dyeu," which had the notion of "bright, shining," and by extension, of "sky," which led to the idea of "deiwos" meaning "god," as many gods were thought to live in the sky, also known as "the heavens." This gave Latin "deiuos," which then produced "deus" (god). This then gave Latin "deitas," meaning "godly way, divine manner." This gave Old French, a Latin-based language, "deité," with the same meaning. English borrowed the word from French in the 1300s, but the meaning eventually altered to become "god."  

^ For the history of the word "Tuesday," this is the link:  http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2010/05/word-on-tuesday.html 

Some Memories of Germany, Rüdesheim, Part 9

I went on a bus tour from Frankfurt to the town of Rüdesheim in the late 1980s. They are about 40 miles apart. Rüdesheim is in the state of Hessen in a vineyard region along the Rhine River, and it is also known by its extended name of "Rüdesheim am Rhein," the addition meaning "on the Rhine." The town is known for its old style architecture and for its wine bars, especially in the "Drosselgasse," * a very narrow pedestrian street, or we might say, "alley" ** (see photo below), lined with wine bars, many of which have live music while you guzzle, I mean sip, your wine or beer. The tour included a lunch break in Rüdesheim, but I can't recall the name of the place. Our tour guide was a man from Brazil, I believe it was, but one of his parents was German, and he was fluent in German and English, as well as a couple of other languages. By chance he sat at my table during lunch, along with about 5 or 6 others, all but two of whom were Americans, if I remember correctly, and those two were Canadians. The guide asked everyone some questions, like where we were from and a few other things, which I just don't remember anymore. When he got to me, among other things, he asked if I was German. I explained my German heritage and he said, "Boy, you sure look like 'em." I never forgot that, but I have lots of English and Scots-Irish, too, besides bits of other European heritage. I think he was contrasting me with himself, as his appearance obviously favored his South American side, as he had black hair and a darker complexion; not that everyone of South American descent has black hair and a dark complexion. The tour actually then went on to Heidelberg, which I covered in an earlier segment. Heidelberg is about 65 or 70  miles from Frankfurt. 

* German has two words "Drossel," and while the two words are spelled the same in modern times, they come from different Germanic sources. One is "Drossel," the name of a common variety of songbird, the "thrush," in English, and "thrush" and "Drossel" are closely related, as they come from the same Old Germanic source. The other word "Drossel" (all German nouns are capitalized) is the same word as English "throttle." (see note below for changes in "t" to s").  

** The German word "Gasse" is closely related to English "gate," which once also meant "passageway," and is still present in many old place names for that reason. The old high Germanic dialects underwent a sound shift, often with "t" sounds becoming "s," thus English has "kettle," but German has "Kessel." For the Word History for "gate" and its relatives, here is the link: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-weather-and-feeling-miserable-and.html

This picture and the next show the vineyards planted in like tiers up the hillside. Vines for the wine. The Rhine River is in the foreground.

Hotel Krone in the Assmannshausen part of Rüdesheim.

More of Rüdesheim.

The tour included a stop for lunch, but I forget the name of the place, but you can see the mural in the wall. 

Drosselgasse in Rüdesheim. As you can see, it is very narrow, which likely gave it its name, as "Drossel" means, and is related to, English "throttle;" that is, "a device that constricts the flow of fuel to an engine," and of course "constricts" implies narrowing.  

The Twilight Zone: "The Changing of the Guard"

Edited to include photo 9-29-20

 

Back in the late 1950s and early 1960s, "The Twilight Zone" was a popular television show. Several episodes stand out in my mind from those old shows, but one in particular frequently pops into my mind. The episode, "The Changing of the Guard," starred English actor Donald Pleasence, a favorite actor of mine, as an old professor at an all boys school who is forced into retirement by the school administration after five decades of teaching. His life had been devoted to teaching literature, and as he thinks back on all of his years, he feels he hasn't really accomplished anything; that he gave young people a lot of empty, meaningless phrases they memorized for the moment, but then forgot.

The professor decides to end his life that evening, and he takes a pistol and goes to the statue of Horace Mann in front of the school. Mann, a prominent American supporter and reformer of education of the mid 1800s, had espoused public education to help potentially elevate all children, not just the privileged few of families with the money to pay for it. The professor reads the inscription of a quote from Mann, "Be ashamed to die until you've won some victory for humanity." The professor tells himself he's ashamed to die, because he's failed. As he prepares to take his life, he hears the school bell ringing, which prompts him to go into his classroom to find out why. There he finds the desks full of students from his many years of teaching. The thing he can't understand is, all of these students had died at some point after they left school. One student approaches and shows the old professor the Congressional Medal of Honor he had been awarded posthumously for his heroic service on Iwo Jima in World War Two. He says how the professor taught him about courage. Another stands and tells how he was exposed to radiation and died, as he tried to find a cure for cancer, but that he always remembered a poem the professor had taught him. Others stand and tell similar stories, with one student speaking who died way back in World War One, but each recounts how the professor influenced his life. They then tell the professor they must go, and as the students fade off into eternity, the professor realizes that he was not a failure, and that he did accomplish something. He decides to accept retirement and this completes, "the changing of the guard."

Rod Serling was the creator of "The Twilight Zone" television series and he also wrote some of the stories for the show, including the story covered here. We lost the very talented Mr. Serling far too early, at the age of only 50, but his stories, and the stories of others adapted for the Twilight Zone, taught many a great lesson, so he won his victory for humanity. 

Photo is of "The Twilight Zone Encyclopedia" by Steven Jay Rubin, Chicago Review Press, 2018. It contains lots of facts and information about the series and the episodes.

WORD HISTORY:

Poem-The ultimate origin of this word is uncertain, but Greek had "poein," which meant "to create, to make." This then produced Greek "poema," meaning "something created;" thus, by extension, "a written work, a poem." Latin borrowed the word from Greek as "poema," meaning "poem." This gave French, a Latin-based language, "poeme," with the same meaning, and English borrowed the word from French in the 1500s.

Some Memories of Germany, Castles, Part 8

I took a Rhine River cruise at some point in the second half of the 1980s. If I remember correctly, it was termed something like "the Rhine castles tour," as it went past numerous castles that had been built along the river hundreds of years ago, and some are in ruins, while others are used for tourism or for other purposes. They were built to provide protection for their owners and their lands, but also so the owners could extort ... I mean, make money from them, by providing protection for travelers, especially traveling merchants, who were highly vulnerable to the robbers of those days; I mean, the robbers outside the castles, the "robber barons" were inside, as all were nobles. The owners often charged tolls and duties on travelers for passing through their lands, or for transporting certain goods. Some German emperors (Kaiser) did crack down, although the practice took quite some time to die out, but the growing use of cannons made the castles far less secure. Some castles were also built right along rivers to give their owners and imperial officials the ability to control river traffic, and thus collect tolls for boats and ships seeking passage. One of the most famous castles along the Rhine River is the one built in the 1300s near the town of Kaub, and known as the "Burg Pfalzgrafenstein" (Burg=fortified castle, see picture below).* A heavy chain was kept stretched across the river to prevent boats and ships from being able to pass without first paying the toll. Cannons were later added to the castle's means of extortion, I mean, protection. Not far away, but on more elevated terrain with a better view of the river, is another castle called "Gutenfels." It supplemented the river castle to be certain tolls were paid. (You can click on the individual pictures below to enlarge them )

* German "Burg" is closely related to English "borough." See this article for information on the words "borough/burg," "weir," and "town:" http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2009/06/some-english-words.html 

This is the "Burg Pfalzgrafenstein" near Kaub, Germany.

 The tour boat.

 A little closer view.

 I don't have notes on what each of these pictures shows, as to name of the castle or to its location.

 The castle tower in the distance.

 The castle is sort of hidden in the hillside.

 In the distance.

 This picture and the next are of the same castle, but at slightly different angles.

Some campers below this castle, shrouded in some fog.

WORD HISTORY:
Flood-This word goes back to Indo European "plew," which meant "flow." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "flotuz," ^ which meant "flowing water, surge of flowing water." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "flod," which meant "tide, overtaking of land by water." Originally the "o" was long, but over time it softened in sound to the point where it was spelled "ou," before the modern double "o." The verb form was derived from the noun in the 1600s. The other Germanic languages have: German "Flut" (flood, high tide), Low German Saxon "Floot" (flood, tide), West Frisian "floed" (flood, high tide), Dutch "vloed" (flood, high tide), Norwegian "flod" (flood, tide), Danish (river, flood), Swedish "flod" (river, flood), Icelandic "flóð" (ð=th, flood, tide).

^ The change of Indo European "p" to Germanic "f" was a common occurrence.    

Some Memories of Germany, Bus Tour To Heidelberg, Part 7

In the late 1980s I took a bus tour to Heidelberg, which is located on the Neckar River in the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg. One of the main places to visit in Heidelberg is the "Heidelberger Schloss" (Heidelberg Castle/Palace), some parts of which are about 700 years old. It sits just above the main part of the city. I bought a print of the castle when I was there, and I have it on my wall to this day.  

WORD HISTORY:
Sorrow-In spite of the similarity, "sorrow" is not related to "sorry." It goes back to Indo European "swergh," the initial notion of which may have had to do with sickness, as some non Germanic relatives had forms tied to that meaning (for example, Old Irish had "serg"=sickness). From the idea of sickness came the idea of, "to care for, to worry over." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "sorgh," with that meaning. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "sorg/sorh," meaning "terrible worry, grief," which then became "sorwe" (the "e" was pronounced "eh/ah"), which then became the modern form. Old English also had the verb form "sorgian," which meant "to worry, to care, to grieve." The other Germanic languages have: German "Sorge" (noun), meaning "worry, concern," and more rarely, "sorrow," but also "care," and a verb form, "sorgen," meaning "to worry, to care for, to look after;" Low German Saxon "Sorg," meaning "worry, care," and the verb form "sorgen," meaning "to care for;" Dutch "zorg," meaning "care, worry;" West Frisian "soarch" (in compounds), meaning "care;" Danish "sorg," meaning "grief, sorrow;" Norwegian "sorg," meaning "grief, mourning;" Swedish "sorg," meaning "grief, sadness;" and Icelandic "sorg," meaning "sorrow, grief."

Elly May Can't Be Gone

I had the television on, but I really wasn't paying much attention, when I heard the name of Donna Douglas mentioned. My eyes quickly turned toward the television. When it was reported that she had passed away at the age of 82, I was stunned. I just couldn't believe that like Buddy Ebsen (Jed), Irene Ryan (Granny), Raymond Bailey (Milburn. Drysdale), Nancy Kulp (Jane Hathaway) and Harriet MacGibbon (Margaret Drysdale), Elly May had left us too. I felt a bit confused, since I couldn't even imagine Elly May being 82; it just didn't seem possible. Why it seemed like just a few years ago that she was climbing trees, whopping Jethro (played by Max Baer, Jr.), tending to her critters and making sponge cakes out of real sponges. She couldn't have been 82, no way! But then reality, that nasty bearer of truth, which spares no one the cruelest of truths, smacked me upside the head, jolting me to admit that it's been about four and a half decades since Donna Douglas last wore flannel shirts and tight bluejeans on the television series, "The Beverly Hillbillies," one of my all time favorite shows. We can hate reality all we want, but we can never run fast enough to escape it. Even Elly May couldn't run that fast.* R.I.P.

* Donna Douglas was born Doris Smith.

 

Donna Douglas in 1967 ... By ABC Network - ebay.com, front of photo, back of photo, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30684960

WORD HISTORY: 

Darling-This word is really simply "dear," with the suffix "ling."  In Old English (Anglo-Saxon) it was "deorling," which later became "derling," before the modern form with "a" took place in the latter 1500s. The suffix "-ling" is from Old Germanic "linga," simply used on many nouns, but it also frequently was a diminutive; that is, it was used to make something "smaller, younger or beloved;" for instance, "duckling," for "young duck." German and Dutch also have "-ling." This is the link to the article with the Word History for "dear:"  http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2014/12/some-memories-of-germany.html

Not Sure These Are Words Of Wisdom, But ...

I bought these in Germany, in Frankfurt and Wiesbaden, back in the mid 1980s.

 "If you drink to forget, you should pay in advance."

 "When I gave up smoking, drinking and sex, that was the longest half hour of my life."

 "Work fascinates me! (I) could sit there and watch it for hours."

 "You don't have to be crazy to work here, but it helps!"

 Do you think you could pick up my check? This was in Marks back then, which looks to be in the year 1988. It would have depended upon the exchange rate, but likely around $20 to $22.

WORD HISTORY:
When-This word goes back to Indo European interrogative root "kwo/quo," which formed the base of several words: who, what, where. This gave Old Germanic "hwanneh," meaning "when." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "hwonne" and "hwanne," which later became "whenne" and "whanne," before settling on just modern "when" (having more than one form was not uncommon in the Germanic languages; see related words, next). The other Germanic languages have: German "wann" (when) and "wenn" (if, when, whenever), Low German Saxon "wannehr" (when) and "wenn" (if, when) and "wann" (when), West Frisian "wannear" (when), Dutch "wanneer" (when, if), Icelandic "hvenear" (when). I did not find any forms in Danish, Norwegian, or Swedish.

"The Good Earth," A Great Book and Movie

Many of you may have never heard of Luise Rainer, but she was the first person to win back to back Academy Awards, winning the Oscars for Best Actress in 1936 and 1937. Luise Rainer lived in Germany (born in Düsseldorf, and she was Jewish), Austria, the United States and Britain. She passed away December 30, 2014 at the age of 104. Her second Academy Award came for her performance in "The Good Earth," a black and white film based on the book of the same title by Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize winning author Pearl S. Buck, whose family lived in China for decades beginning in the late 1800s, thus giving Ms. Buck a great deal of first hand knowledge about the Chinese people she wrote about. Pearl Buck was born in Hillsboro, a little town in West Virginia.

The book and film have several parallels to China's society at the time, like the tethers of the past and traditions, but the attempts to change to a more modern society. The film is pretty faithful to the book, but there are some differences. The story centers around the lives of Wang Lung (played by one of my favorite actors, Paul Muni) and his wife O-Lan (played by Luise Rainer in her Oscar winning performance). Together the two work very hard to make their small farm successful, all the while raising their children. Success brings greed, and Wang Lung begins to buy more and more land. A drought wipes away the material wealth accumulated by Wang Lung, and the family has to move away to try to find work so they can survive. They eventually return home to successfully work their land and the years pass. The couple's sons grow up and get good educations, but they feel no special connection to the land which has provided for their family. O-Lan, worn out by a life of hard work and child-rearing, is shunned by the again successful Wang Lung, who takes a young dancer as his second wife, but she proceeds to "get involved" with one of the couple's sons, causing great turmoil in the family. A swarm of locusts descends upon the land, threatening to destroy the crops. The family unites to drive the locusts away, but O-Lan is dying. Wang Lung sees how much she has meant to his life.

If you've never read the book, nor seen the movie, please do both. You will not regret it. The movie is available on DVD. A "Word History" is below the picture.

Photo is of the 2006 Warner Brothers Home Video DVD

WORD HISTORY:
Ketchup-This word, also at times rendered as "catsup," ^ comes from one of the Chinese dialects, perhaps Cantonese, where "ke-zhap/ke-jiap," meant "tomato sauce." Whether this word was then picked up by English traders in the early 1700s directly from the Chinese version, is uncertain. Another possibility is, several of the Chinese dialects, all part of the Sino-Tibetan language family, ^^ have similar words, but some mean "fish sauce/brine," which then was borrowed by Malay, a southeast Asian language, but with the fish brine meaning. The leap from fish brine to tomato ketchup is a bit tough for me, so I lean much more toward the borrowing from Cantonese.

^ When I was a kid in the 1950s and 1960s, "catsup" was a fairly common usage, but as the Heinz brand came to dominate the market, their use of "ketchup" also began to prevail. To be quite honest, I'm not sure the last time I heard the word "catsup."

^^ Sino-Tibetan languages are widely spoken in parts of Asia and it is a language family just as is Indo European, the family to which the Germanic languages belong, and to which English belongs.