The Daily Dose/July 25, 2020
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience.
CAPSULE BOOK REVIEW: The Story of Civilization, Vol II: How the Greeks Lived by Will Durant: I’ll tell you what, this series is not easy reading. This was the fourth volume we’ve read in this series (Caesar to Christ, The Reformation, Our Oriental Heritage) and this was the driest one yet. Now, this series is not a rollocking thrill ride, but the first three volumes had some moderate entertainment value, the Durants usually good for dropping in some dry humor along the way. That was somewhat missing here.
Still, though, the Durants (Will’s wife Ariel chipped in, too, though she isn’t credited until later in the series) reward your work and your patience, with the usual insights into our human experience they provide remarkably and often.
This book follows the usual pattern as Durant focuses not only on the famous – Plato, Alexander the Great, Aristotle, Socrates, et al – but also talks extensively on how everyday Greeks lived, worked and amused themselves. Our only real complaint came early on when the lives and exploits of Greek mythological figures are discussed as if they are real people. This isn’t bad in and of itself, but boy, it certainly got confusing at times.
Fly In The Ointment: Now, some historians – as historians are wont to do – have gotten their individual and collective shorts in a knot over this series, saying there are inaccuracies and outright lies and that Durant relies on sources they would not. Boo to them. The magnitude and scope of the series, plus the impossibility of reporting and describing what happened in 3,500 BC with complete accuracy means not everyone is going to fawn over it. Don’t let that stop you from picking up a volume, though. There are eleven of them, so pick one from an era that amuses you and dive in.
Final Rating: B: We were tempted to give it a C because it was a bit drier than other volumes, but that wouldn’t be fair. Durant does his work well and The Story of Civilization will interest the well-read, general readers it was intended for. (A general reader being defined as a non-scholar/historian). Don’t be scared. As noted above, pick an era that interests you and get started.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody: Sparrow turns naturalist. Today’s Diary.
Just for funsies, yours truly has been keeping track of the time the birds start chirping in the morning…I’ve been noticing them going at it for weeks a bit before first light and I got curious…They’re always pleasant to listen to.
Well, Thursday morning I first heard them at 0510, 48 minutes before sunrise, and in short order a bunch of them were going at it…Today, tho, was different…I was lying in the new chair with the lights off at about 0450 listening for them but nothing…Turns out there was some cloud cover, so perhaps that had something to do with them not starting until 0532…Some reading shows it’s generally the males who chirp, to show off to the ladies how strong they are (they’re chirping on empty stomachs) and to warn other males away from their territory.
Backstairs at the Monte Carlo: It’s New Year’s Eve on the Las Vegas Strip.
We are not able to get him seated so we can strap him to the bench, however, and Catan, for reasons I’m sure he thought good, uncuffs him.
Bad move. His arms freed, he becomes even more combative. I’m closest to him and I get him on the floor and lie on top of him and I’m pretty strong and this subdues him enough so that we are able to get him secured to the bench. He is pissed and screaming and this lasts for an hour before he falls asleep. The incident had actually started in the hotel, where the ever-vigilant X-Ray had found him sleeping and evidently he had started pushing people around in the lobby. 77Rick even ended up with a slightly strained back and neck. He was later taken to the clinic where he was sentenced to light-duty and the joke was that as an MCSD assistant shift manager he already was on light duty.
Click on the button to unleash the wonders of 4Ever & Ever access to these two American classics. $2.99 is all it takes and offer that ends Monday.
On This Date
History’s long march to today.
In 306 – Constantine the Great is proclaimed Roman Emperor by his troops, succeeding his father Constantius I, who died while on a military expedition in Britain. Constantine the Great reigned for 31 years, enacting a variety of administrative, financial, social and military reforms that proved beneficial to Rome. Constantine converted to Christianity on his deathbed to become the Christian Roman emperor.
In 1977 – Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds establishes a new major league record for career hits by a switch-hitter in a 9-8 loss to the St Louis Cardinals. Rose went 2-for-5 in the game, his fourth-inning single off Pete Falcone giving him 2,881 career hits, breaking the record established by Frankie Frisch between 1919 and 1937. Rose retired in 1986 with 4,256 hits, the all-time major league record.
In 1970 – The Carpenters are at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the first of four consecutive weeks with (They Long to Be) Close to You. It was the first Top 40 hit for the brother/sister duo, their first of five consecutive Top 10 hits and their first of three #1 songs. The song also went to #1 in Canada and Australia, peaked at #6 in Great Britain and was Billboard’s second biggest song of the Year. The song also won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Performance by Duo, Group or Chorus, an award that went by a variety of names before being discontinued after 2011.
Quotebook
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
The Buddha’s sacrifices are not of animals, but of the animal in the self. – Gore Vidal, Creation
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
It’s not who you know, but what you know.
Casey Stengel managed the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Boston Bees/Braves, the New York Yankees and the New York Mets.
Today’s Stumper
Cheaper than Trivia Night at the bar.
What was Billboard’s biggest song of 1970? – Answer next time!
