CURRENT EVENTS

D-Day Normandy

BOOK OF THE WEEK

Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We is a powerfully inventive vision that has influenced writers from George Orwell to Ayn Rand.

In a glass-enclosed city of absolute straight lines, ruled over by the all-powerful ‘Benefactor’, the citizens of the totalitarian society of OneState live out lives devoid of passion and creativity – until D-503, a mathematician who dreams in numbers, makes a discovery: he has an individual soul.

Set in the twenty-sixth century AD, We is the classic dystopian novel and was the forerunner of works such as George Orwell’s 1984 and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. It was suppressed for many years in Russia and remains a resounding cry for individual freedom, yet is also a powerful, exciting and vivid work of science fiction.

Clarence Brown’s brilliant translation is based on the corrected text of the novel, first published in Russia in 1988 after more than sixty years’ suppression.

MOVIE, PLAY OR TV SHOW OF THE WEEK

D-Day Invasion

By The History Channel

We owe a great deal to the American, British and Canadian soldiers 

who landed on the beaches of Normandy in June 1944

MUSIC OF THE WEEK

Star Spangled Banner

By Whitney Houston

ART OF THE WEEK

  EXTRAORDINARY PERSON OF THE WEEK

I was friends with American and Germans, who served in WWII, I knew a sailor who was on the battleship and saw Japan sign their surrender papers. And I actually got to see President Eisenhower once in person.

General Dwight Eisenhower

Dwight David “Ike” Eisenhower (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969), was an American army general and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961.

During World War II, he became a five-star general in the Army and served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe. He was responsible for planning and supervising the invasion of North Africa in Operation Torch in 1942–43 and the successful invasion of Normandy in 1944–45 from the Western Front.

  WEEK’S JOKE

PHYSICAL TRAITS

I suspect most of the people who don’t want the gyms to open don’t go to a gym. But it should be a choice, if you would rather not go, then don’t go. 

CHARACTER TRAITS

SOCIAL TRAITS 

LEARNING TRAITS

MISCELLANEOUS

During the lockdown, many of us are discovering that we have super powers.

LAST WEEK’S POLLS

CURRENT EVENTS

What stage of the quarantine are you in?

BOOK OF THE WEEK

MOVIE, PLAY OR TV SHOW OF THE WEEK

Last week I mentioned that some films are getting updated for the Coronavirus, such as The Breakfast Club.

Now I have learned that some states, like Michigan, are coming out with there very own versions of films

MUSIC OF THE WEEK

When governments are issuing stay-at-home orders, I thought this particular song was most appropriate.

I Can’t Get No Satisfaction (1965)

By Rolling Stones

ART OF THE WEEK

Here is a tip for young artists

  EXTRAORDINARY PERSON OF THE WEEK

I remember watching the Ed Sullivan show when I was a kid and it was my first exposure to Elvis (1956) and the Beatles (1964).

Ed Sullivan

Edward Vincent Sullivan (September 28, 1901 – October 13, 1974) was an American television personality, entertainment reporter, and syndicated columnist for the New York Daily News and the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate.

He is principally remembered as the creator and host of the television variety program The Toast of the Town, later popularly—and, eventually, officially—renamed The Ed Sullivan Show. Broadcast for 23 years from 1948 to 1971, it set a record as the longest-running variety show in US broadcast history. “It was, by almost any measure, the last great TV show,” said television critic David Hinckley. 

Sullivan was a broadcasting pioneer at many levels during television’s infancy. As TV critic David Bianculli wrote, “Before MTV, Sullivan presented rock acts. Before Bravo, he presented jazz and classical music and theater. Before the Comedy Channel, even before there was the Tonight Show, Sullivan discovered, anointed and popularized young comedians. 

  WEEK’S JOKE

PHYSICAL TRAITS

CHARACTER TRAITS

This is an old Cherokee Tale

Sometimes Science Doesn’t Have All The Answers In Life

SOCIAL TRAITS 

LEARNING TRAITS

Some of you have been trying to make your own hand sanitizer

MISCELLANEOUS

LAST WEEK’S POLLS

CURRENT EVENTS

Little Richard

Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), better known as Little Richard, was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. An influential figure in popular music, Richard’s most celebrated work dates from the mid-1950s, when his dynamic music and charismatic showmanship laid the foundation for rock and roll, leading him to be given the nickname “The Architect of Rock and Roll”. (Source: Wikipedia)

I don’t think you will have any trouble finding thousands of words of tribute to Little Richard, but I think the following video (which of all things I included in last week’s post) sums up the greatness of Little Richard

What a loss.

BOOK OF THE WEEK

Brave New World is a dystopian novel by English author Aldous Huxley, written in 1931 and published in 1932.

Largely set in a futuristic World State, whose citizens are environmentally engineered into an intelligence-based social hierarchy, the novel anticipates huge scientific advancements in reproductive technology, sleep-learning, psychological manipulation and classical conditioning that are combined to make a dystopian society which is challenged by only a single individual: the story’s protagonist.

Huxley followed this book with a reassessment in essay form, Brave New World Revisited (1958), and with his final novel, Island (1962), the utopian counterpart. The novel is often compared to George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four(1949).

In 1999, the Modern Library ranked Brave New World at number 5 on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. (Source: Wikipedia)

MOVIE, PLAY OR TV SHOW OF THE WEEK

Some films are getting updated.

Here is an updated clip from The Breakfast Club

MUSIC OF THE WEEK

Another trip down memory lane

Lucille (1957)

By Little Richard

ART OF THE WEEK

Lion at the Art Institute of Chicago

Before the Coronavirus

After the Coronavirus

  EXTRAORDINARY PERSON OF THE WEEK

Little Richard

  WEEK’S JOKE

PHYSICAL TRAITS

CHARACTER TRAITS

SOCIAL TRAITS 

LEARNING TRAITS

Fellows, during the time of the Coronavirus, we have to learn new ways of showing our appreciation to the ladies. The fellow below is a quick learner.

MISCELLANEOUS

I’m not even going to ask how many of you use your pet’s name as your password or part of your password. I’ll just say, you may want to consider updating your passwords.

LAST WEEK’S POLLS

CURRENT EVENTS

1984 is George Orwell’s haunting prophesy of the future, which has held multiple generations of readers spellbound in its chilling and terrifying vision of life under a totalitarian regime. Powerful and unforgettable, this still-relevant novel explores the obliteration of truth, individuality and liberty in a world where the ruling power seeks to control everything, from information to thought and memory.(Source: Amazon)

MOVIE, PLAY OR TV SHOW OF THE WEEK

MUSIC OF THE WEEK

I was fortunate to have seen Little Richard twice in my life, once when we were both young and once when we were both old.

During this time of social distancing, I thought his song was particularly appropriate .

Keep A-Knockin (1957)

By Little Richard

ART OF THE WEEK

The Sistine Chapel

Before the Coronavirus

After the Coronavirus

  EXTRAORDINARY PERSON OF THE WEEK

Greg Anderson

Greg Anderson left us Wednesday, April 29. after a month-long battle with the Coronavirus and other complications.

I think he was one of the most noble and courageous persons I ever had the privilege of knowing. 

I took the above photo of Greg at one of my Happy Hour parties, when Ed (back to camera) was telling a joke to Greg and another one of my friends 

  WEEK’S JOKE

PHYSICAL TRAITS

CHARACTER TRAITS

SOCIAL TRAITS 

LEARNING TRAITS

Over the years I have encouraged people to travel, this year is a bit different.

MISCELLANEOUS

LAST WEEK’S POLLS