PERPUTUAL CARE IS NOT WHAT IT USED TO BE

As a child I was always puzzled by the “Perpetual Care” marble markers in cemeteries we would visit for funerals or for Memorial Day.  How could we- the living- make representations about this? This concern may have been related to one of the recurring dreams of my youth where I was hurtling through space toward a celestial object.  The faster I travelled through the dark ether, the further away the pursued object moved.

This may explain why I’ve always been interested in subjects covering unimaginable time such as astronomy, cosmology, geology, human evolution and (to a lesser extent) archaeology. Recently, I caught a program on The Science Channel where astronomers and physicists discussed how the universe would end. Basically, in a few trillion years, all of the hydrogen in all of the stars etc. will be burnt off.  At that point, all of the energy in existence will be consumed and “the lights will go out”.  ( Not with a bang, but with a whimper) At any rate, our descendants won’t be around (assuming we don’t exterminate ourselves) as they will experience certain existential demise for a range of reasons including: 1) being consumed by a nearby super nova; 2) suffocating and starving when the sun evolves into a hotter star which will make the Earth look like Venus; or  when the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy collide creating mass destruction.

Alas, because of our accumulation of scientific knowledge, perpetual care is not what it used to be.

Tunisia, Egypt and the Ghosts of French Colonialism

By total coincidence,  I watched the movie "The Battle of Algiers" last week when the Tunisian revolution ran its rapid course.  I received the movie through my Netflix subscription.  I use the subscription to watch foreign films that would not otherwise be available to me.  I had always read references to this film as the standard for political theme movies that have the feel of a documentary.  In supporting on line materials for the Criterion collection of classic films, modern day artists Iron and Wine and James Franco list "The Battle of Algiers" in their top 10 films.

This film was made approximately 5 years after the Algerian fight for independence from France was concluded in 1962.  Although the film did not use any stock footage of the Algerian revolution, it certainly gave the feeling that the viewer was watching the real events that unfolded only a few years before.

Change of Blog Name

I've changed the name of my blog from "Washington County, Indiana Local History" to "The Indulgence of Memory". This change seemed necessary as I have not yet posted anything about my ongoing study and observations regarding selected aspects of the history and cultural geography of Washington County, Indiana.

Although, I have plans to write about some of my insights and observations about the history and cultural geography of Washington County, Indiana, I'm not ready to start a serious blog about them. Unfortunately, its easier for me to write about myself rather than about descriptive narratives that I did not personally experience.

The few postings that I have made make a connection to some experience from my past as a reference point to one of my current interests or viewpoint on current events. I first thought of the title "The Persistence of Memory" but then realized that Salvador Dali had made that title his own for all time with his painting of the flaccid clocks draped on a dead limb, table and a discarded item of clothing in an arid landscape. Since blogging is a currently popular form of self indulgence, I substituted the work "indulgence" for "persistence" in my preliminary title.

My blog name of Dudley Drewwright will remain.  This name was first given to me in high school when the television cartoon show "Rocky and Bullwinkle" was popular. Dudley Do-right was a regular segment in this weekly show.  He was a dimwitted Mountie who was always trying to apprehend the evil villian Snively Whiplash.  I suspect that my inflated sense of self importance and virtue made it easy for my high school classmates to pin the monicker of Dudley Drew-Wright on me.  When I attended IU at Bloomington, the name was given to me again.  To this day, one of my former Indiana Memorial Union Board cohorts refers to me as "Studly Dudley".  I always took this as a compliment but, my vanity may have failed to recognize the continuing element of sarcasm in this nickname and its variants.  As the nickname presented some ambiguity about what my aquaintances really thought of me, I've retained it as an ongoing reminder of my uncertainties.

Dudley Drewwright

JAMES MOODY

I've been a jazz fan since I watched the TV show Peter Gunn in the late 1950s. Gunn (Craig Stevens)was a private eye who was the epitome of cool to a young teen. He always dropped into the night club where his girl friend Edie (Lola Albright) worked. There was always some jazz combo playing in the background. This was an exotic world that I intended to inhabit as an adult. Alas, this is a world that I have visited as an adult but not inhabited.

I began my jazz collection when I was an L one @ IU/Bloomington. I often broswed the Karma record store across the street from the law school and perused all the jazz album covers and notes. James Moody was often featured as a sideman on some of these albums and I purchased of few of these. Moody was one of the underappreciated giants of the tenor sax and flute.

I got the opportunity to see him live in Chicago in 1981/1982 during my intermarital period. He was playing at lounge in one of the downtown hotels. I took a lady friend that I knew in Chitown. I can't say that we were as cool as Peter and Edie but, we were making the scene. During the set we attended, Moody interjected some comedy and singing after he played his obligatory signature piece, Moody's Mood. I was struck by Moody's apparent speech impediment. As an instumentalist, singing and talking was not required of him but, this was part of his performance and his speech impediment was his schtick.

James Moody died on 12/9/2010 at the age of 85. He still had appearances on his touring schedule. Last week, Terry Gross on NPR "Fresh Air" did a replay of an interview she did with James Moody several years ago as a requiem. During this interview, Moody explained that he had a congenital hearing loss that made it difficult for him to pronounce certain letters that he could't hear. I gave some thought to how unlikely it was that an individual with a lifelong hearing deficiency could become a jazz icon. When a prominent musician dies, technology provides him/her with a greatly extended afterlife through recordings and transcriptions. Artists such as James Moody have the ability to inspire for generations. This intimation of immortality is one of the reasons that music is so engrained in both traditional and modern culture.

ELIA KAZAN

I've just read the profile of Elia Kazan written by John Lahr for the December 13, 2010 issue of The New Yorker. While reading this article I was reminded of the impact that two of Kazan's movies had on me.

When I was 9 years old my parents took me to the Indiana Theatre in Salem to see On The Waterfront which was directed by Kazan. This theatre was located on South Main Street where the Eddie Gilstrap Motors service department is now located. Although we lived on a small dairy farm which is the most labor intensive type of agriculture, my parents had a very active social life in Salem. They took me to many of their club meetings, movies and public events that they attended. Rarely, would they leave me with the various ladies that they hired to sit with my 80+ year old grandmother when they would go out for a night. Going to the movies with them was not unusual. In fact, I attended more movies as a child with my parents than with my childhood friends.

Movies always fascinated me as they provided a window to the world that Salem and 1950s television did not. As I watched On The Waterfront, I didn't quite get the organized labor aspect of the plot. I always watched the Friday Night Fights sponsored by Gillette Blue Blades so I did understand Malloy's aspirations to be a boxer. I also was interested in the character in the movie that raised the pigeons in the middle of New York City. Apparently, I subconsciously began to identify with the Marlon Brando character as the movie played on and became rather light headed as he was beaten up at the end of the movie. As we started up the aisle to leave the theatre, I passed out in public for the first time in my life. My father carried me out to the sidewalk on South Main Street where the fresh air brought me to. My mother being the literary doyenne of Salem commented on the director's ability to develop the tension in the movie that so obviously affected me. I assumed that I had embarassed my father by passing out but, he never said so. This episode of syncope was followed by several similar reactions during my youth when I observed too much blood. My mother wanted me to be a doctor up to the time that I went to college but, I just didn't want to think about dealing with my first cadaver.

The second Kazan movie that left a lasting impression on me was America, America. I saw this movie in 1963 when I was a freshman at IU. My fraternity house was located on the southwest edge of campus near Kirkwood Avenue, so the Von Lee, Indiana and Princess Theatres were fairly close for weekend entertainment. We often went to whatever movie was playing without giving much thought to who the actors or directors were or what the reviews said. Those upper classmen who were pinned and regularly dated the same girl never seemed to go the movies. However, those of us who did not date on a regular basis went to a lot of movies.

One one of these weekend nights, I went to the Indiana Theatre on Kirkwood to see America, America without any idea what it was about. The movie was in black and white but I was thoroughly absorbed in the story of Joe Arness (the name the main character was given at Ellis Island by an immigration clerk) who was of Greek blood but Turkish birth. He emigrated to the United States in the early 1900s. The images in the movie were so real that it seemed like a documentary rather than a recreation of the emigration/immigration experience. When the movie was over, conversation centered around the family heritage of some of my fraternity brothers and their high school classmates who were from Lake County, Indiana. From that night on I had an appreciation of the variety of the ethnic composition of Indiana and the United States that I had never realized growing up on a farm near Salem.


Dudley Drewwright

2010 Census

2010 CENSUS

I received the 2010 census form in the mail 2 weeks ago and dutifully proceeded to fill it out. The first order of business was to flip a coin to determine whether Connie or I was to be “Person 1”. After that aleatory exercise, I began to enter our personal information in the designated boxes.
The form was very straight forward until I got to Question #5. In bold letters this question is prefaced as follows:
NOTE: Please answer BOTH Question 5 about Hispanic origin and Question 6 about race. For this census, Hispanic origins are not races

This instruction seems to imply that in other censuses Hispanic origin may be a racial classification. As I understand the term “Hispanic”, an individual of “Hispanic” origin in the Americas is likely to be a combination of 2 or 3 racial classifications, to-wit: Caucasian (European); American Indian/Asian and Black (African). [When I studied physical anthropology at Indiana U, the American Indian was listed as a separate racial classification. I understand that American Indians are now considered an ethnic subset of what was formerly called the Mongoloid (Asian) race.] This instruction was a foreboding of greater confusion yet to come.

Question 5 then read as follows:
5. Is this person of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin?
This question confused me on at least 3 fronts. The first front is concerned with these terms are mutually exclusive. Are “Hispanic” and “Latino” overlapping terms? Are”Hispanic” and “Spanish” overlapping terms? Are “Latino” and “Spanish” overlapping terms?
The second front is the use of a slang term “Latino”. I understand the term to designate a man who was born in Latin America. Can a woman consider herself to be a “Latino” when in reality she is actually designated a “Latina”? Why is a Latin American designated by a slang term while a “Hispanic” or “Spanish” individual is not? Many Latin Americans are of Portugeuse, Italian, Dutch, French and other European origins. Are their descendants or family members in the United States “Latino/Latina” for purposes of this census.

Question 5 then offers 5 separate responses in the style of a multiple choice test.
When I was in school, I loved multiple choice tests. True/False tests were always problematic for me as I seldom found a test question statement that was absolutely true or false. I preferred multiple choice tests as a cursory first reading of all the questions and answers collectively often provided the answers to the individual questions. I hoped that this would be the case with the 5 choices offered. The 5 choices were:
___ No. not of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin.
___ Yes, Mexican, Mexican Am., Chicano
___ Yes, Puerto Rican
___ Yes, Cuban
___ Yes, another Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin---Print origin, for example
Argentinean, Colombian, Dominican, Nicaraguan, Salvadoran, Spaniard and so on.

Now, at this point you should be asking why I am wallowing in the ambiguity of Question 5 when it is highly unlikely that a blogger living in Southern Indiana with the surname of Wright is of Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin anyway. One answer to this obvious question is that my habit of reading all questions and possible answers to a multiple choice test before answering carries over to surveys, questionnaires and census forms. The other answer to this obvious question is that I became interested in the subject of anthropology since I read Man: His First Million Years by Ashley Montague when I was a high school senior whose athletic career was ended by a mangled medial meniscus.

I clearly did not fall within any of the ethnic classifications offered except Spanish or Spaniard. This represents the third front for my confusion about census Question 5. According to genetic studies undertaken by Bryan Sykes, the current occupants of the British Isles genetically descend from several Mesolithic tribes from the European continent. The predominant tribe providing the genetic makeup of the British Isles is of Celtic origin and is called the tribe of Oisin. Sykes reports that this genetic group bears the haplotype of R1b and came to what became the British Isles from the Atlantic regions of the northern Iberian peninsula approximately 6,000 years ago.

My genealogy has been well researched on the American side of the Atlantic. My ethnic heritage is a blend of West English emigrants in the 1730s and German Protestant emigrants from the Palatinate in the 1730s. I participated in a Wright Family DNA project several years ago and learned that my haplotype was R1b1 which is a subclade of R1b. This was predictable as this is the most common haplotype in Western and Northwestern (including the British Isles) Europe today. This then raises the probability that a large percentage of my ancestors came from the Iberian peninsula to northwestern Europe about 6,000 years ago. The Iberian Peninsula, of course, has for many centuries been Spain. The predominant haplotype in northern Spain today is R1b.

This then leads to two new questions:
1. When did Iberian Celts and their progeny become “Spaniards”?
2. Am I a “Spaniard” of Spanish origin?

You can now understand why Census Question #5 presented me with a quandary. I placed an X in the box next to the 5th possible answer to Question #5 and then followed the instruction to print my specific Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin in the 19 [why 19?]box line at the bottom of choice number 5. I entered :
* SEE ATTACHED and stapled the above explanation to the census form.

I’m expecting a call.

Dudley Drewwright

Blogging Debut

I've been intrigued by the thought of creating my own blog. As an attorney, I've read various trade publications that suggest blogging as a way to increase your presence in the legal services marketplace. As self promotion has never been a skill of mine, that will not be the purpose of this blog. I've always been somewhat cowed by the book of Ecclesiastes. Therefore, the fear of appearing vain has also been a deterrent to starting a blog. My final impediment to blogging is the fact that I have the habit of often not finishing personal projects that I start. It may be embarrassing to become a "blogger" and then not post anything for months or years. I've overcome this last impediment as my threshold of embarrassment has risen as I've aged.

The local history and cultural geography of Washington County, Indiana will be the central theme of this blog. This a subject that I grew up with as both of my parental lines of ascent have lived in either Washington County or Clark County, Indiana since the Indiana Territory was opened for settlement after the Treaty of Grouseland in 1805. My personal genealogy is an ongoing study. Other lines of my local history study over the years have included Native Americans of the area; geology; the restoration movement; the advent and decline of the Quaker communities; the German heritage of many of the first settlers; and the documentation of the Black residents and communities of Washington County, Indiana.

Blog topics will come from this list of personal interests although digressions may occur. Any comments or information regarding these topics that anyone wishes to share with me will be welcomed.