Highway Centennial part 1

 I'll bet none of you can imagine what is turning 100 next year. No, not Abe Vigoda, I think he left us some time ago. I am talking about the original "interstate" highway system in America.

(insert Ogre yelling NERD!!!) Yeah I know, I'm not changing my stripes anytime soon.

That aside, this system of highways is still among us. I can name at least one U.S. highway in pretty much any place I have lived. In Berks County, U.S. 22, 222, and 422; In Detroit metro, U.S. 12 and 24; in Wilmington N.C., U.S. 17, 74, 76, 421, and 117; in Sonoma County,CA, U.S. 101; and in good ol Las Vegas, we have U.S. 93 and 95!

And in that system, we have some classics, most notably U.S. 66. It is not formally with us anymore, but we road enthisiasts know where to find it when we need it and want it.

Now, I have a particular fondness for this old system, which has seen many changes over time, had old numbers (like 66) retired, or certain road stretches renumbered. The system deserves a celebration.

With all that said, I must take a little side trip to the more modern interstate system, the one that is red, white, and blue in its shielding deisgn and created by President Eisenhower in 1956. The original design of that system has also undergone changes and expansions...and it keeps expanding!

I have to wonder why. I can see where cases of congestion on 2-lane highways might demand a freeway bypass in some places, but I am seeing expansions where none are really necessary, North Carolina in particular. That state has been trying to create I 73, an eastern leg of I 74, and a southern leg of I 87 that will never connect to its New York parent. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you view it), I 73 will likely stay in NC due to Virginia having no desire to build it on their turf. Perhaps it will just go to Myrtle Beach if South Carolina gets funding.

That's ok, though, there are eastern and western legs of I 76, 84, and 86. But it does go to show that there are periods where some states go freeway crazy. Illinois has probably the most even though one or two seem unnecessary when you look back. Texas is getting into it now with I 2 and 14.

To me, the dumbest Interstate was 99 in Pennsylvania, an obvious case of freeway building just to leave a personal legacy for better or worse.

The reason I bring up the newer system is that I wonder why it is necessary to expand on that one when the older system still gets freeway upgrades here and there. For instance, U.S. 220 could have been upgraded instead of 99 being created.

At any rate, I will be visiting some of these old classics here and there in the next year and a half...or longer, and see what each one brings to the national culture.

Why Me?

    I caught a small snippet of a scene near the end of The Breakfast Club the other day, a movie that could not possibly work unless kids' phones are confiscated, and that would likely end up with the school being sued for violating some form of snowflake right or other...better kept to the 80s!

   Anyway, there is a scene where Anthony Michael Hall's character is asked to write the paper that all five punks were assigned to write. Now, while his character Brian is a good guy who likely did it because there was a temporary thaw of hostilities between the represented student social classes in the movie's second half, it seems to me that there is always some schmuck in almost every group who is essentially the elected one to carry out a task nobody really wants to do.

   I look back to the 1700s, a time of unrest in the then-English Colonies, when there were open hostilities between British forces and colonists who no longer wanted any part of British rule. After about 10 years of cool to heated war, an intelligent and thoughtful man named Thomas Jefferson was ASKED to write what would essentially become the most famous petition for divorce in history, The Declaration of Independence. While we have assumed for a while that Jefferson did this out of a sense of nobility and bravery, you have to admit those heroic moments are more often than not reluctant and done out of some form of guilt trip. I can imagine the conversation between Jefferson and John Adams, the one who requested him to write it, went something like this...

Hello? Oh, hi, John! What's up?

A great honor has been bestowed on me? (sigh)...what the hell do you want me to do?

Write a declaration? Ok, sounds like something you could do yourself, you're so smart. What kind of declaration?

A declaration of independence...from England.

Yeah yeah yeah, I am fully aware of the crap going on up in Boston with the tea and all a few years ago. As far as I'm concerned, Boston Harbor got the worst of the deal. 

You think I'm a good writer. Well, you're no slouch yourself, I saw the pieces you wrote for the Boston Gazette. I mean, they weren't precisely page turners but you can put words together.

Wait wait wait...I get it! You beat me at darts last month and this is my debt because I couldn't pay up that night, right?

Oh, not that. (sigh). Ok well you need to give me some idea of what you want me to say. I mean I know I can write but I'm not about to write to His Majesty half cocked.

Yeah I KNOW I'm requesting independence. So you want me to say what..."Dear King, we want out"?

See? I need something to get this so-called declaration going, for all the good it's likely to do.

No, I don't think something this serious should start with a joke. It's a document, not a pub improv routine!

Hey, this was YOUR idea to have me write this, so unless you give me something to go on, I'm packing for Paris.

Yes, I KNOW I'm good with words, but give me a break. Give me some talking points, if you will.

All men created equal...yeah that might sound hypocritical given I have some unpaid African domestics in my house, but it's a start. What else?

Life, liberty, pursuit of happiness....well, I guess that beats my brainstorm of seven score and fifteen years ago, but it was a bad idea anyway. Good idea!

A list of grievances against the king? I might not have enough paper for the whole list! How about saying his mom wore redcoat boots?

No, you're right. See, YOU should be writing this, you have the best ideas!

(sigh) Why do I feel I drew a short straw without being there? 

Ok, fine, I think I have an idea of what to write...just to be on the safe side, I think I won't be the first to sign it...maybe second or third. Hey, let's get that clown Hancock to sign it, he signs anything just to say he was there, even though he's a bit of a third wheel.

Deal! Now, one more thing...if we're asking for this divorce if you will, we're obviously going to want to be a new country, right?

I thought so...what should I call our new digs?

The United Colonies of Adams? Very funny! Want to be king, too?

No, I don't think we want any more kings. Tell you what, I think I saw a good name in an aticle in the Virginia Gazette recently, something involving states and not colonies.

Right, I'll get to work on it soon. I'd give me until at least late June if you can, the list of crap the King's done is likely to be long. Oh, and one more thing.

If this independence thing is pulled off, and on the off chance one of us gets asked to lead it, I'll bet double or nothing on our next darts match.

Why double? If I win, I get a double term as leader! Bye!

It Was Me, Most Definitely Me

 A bit of an old and painful topic came up a couple nights ago at a New Year's Eve gathering at a friend's house.

For those who don't know, the 2010-11 school year was the worst year of my (so far) 23 years in the CCSD. I was at a new school after an 8-year stretch at my first school. I was excited about the new adventure, but a few factors led to it being the worst. In fact, it was so bad that I took FML for the final month of the year and went through a tough time afterward before I felt good at being a teacher again. I even went back to this school (but put in a different position) for the first month of the next year before voluntarily transferring after count day.

At this gathering the other night was the mom of one of my kids during that torturous year. I vaguely remembered her daughter, especially after seeing her picture. The mom told me her daughter (and other students in the class) thought I left because "they were so bad".

Folks, that one hit me hard. If there is anyone responsible for a year being bad, it is most certainly me. Granted there were factors in my life outside the classroom along with lingering crap form my first school that helped to shape that year into what it was. That said, the buck definitely stopped with me.

I had another bad year that almost matched that one 20 years ago. Once again, it wasn't the kids, it was me and how I approached things. Funny thing about that year...about 5 years ago I ran into one of the 'bad' kids from that year at a store. I shook his hand and gave him a bear hug and admitted my shortcomings that year. Truly, if I'd been more ready for the year (and had working AC in that portable), I would have had a better time with them as a whole. Same with the 2010-11 year.

Back to the gathering...the mom texted her daughter that I was there and the daughter's reply was that "oh no, he probably never wants to see me again". I asked for the mom's phone and texted that it was me and that the person responsible for that year was me, not her or her classmates. As I recall they were a decent group and if the teacher I am now was with them then, the year would have been a lot better all around.

The mom (who is very friendly and good-humored) also told me that the principal that year put me in that different position in hopes that I would quit and told everybody that.

Well, I did not quit and have held on for quite some time.

I have known other teachers who the boss, especially a new one, did not mesh well with and suffered at work and at home, often quitting just to end the torture they were going through.

There are just some people who should not be put in charge of other adults, at least not long-term. When they scheme with others working for them to isolate and alientate the ones they want to get rid of, that's a power trip, not leadership.

Being a teacher, especially nowadays, is a difficult endeavor when there is not sufficient support from administration and parents. Definitely not like when I went to school. Granted, I grew up in a pretty homogenous group, not nearly as diverse culturally and ethnically as where I teach now, but even those homogenous groups are in a different time in history where electronic devices tend to dominate their social interactions and outlooks, even with adequate parental support.

2024 celebrity losses

 Looking back to last year, we once again had so many celebrity deaths of those we have fond memories of, those 20th century gems who faded from our view for the most part as the 21st century dawned.

I'm not celebrity obsessed, but rather someone who enjoyed seeing certain performers on TV and in the cinema. When these people were on, you had the feeling it was going to be a fun watch...or at least they'd probably be the best thing in what we were watching. If not on TV or in a movie, then they helped to define at least part of the times we have lived through. Here goes.

David Soul - A household name thanks to Starsky and Hutch. He was also the leader of a group of rogue cops in Magnum Force. Like David Hasselhoff and other acotrs, tried (thankfuly a brief try) to be a singer.

Joyce Randolph- best known as Trixie Norton in The Honeymooners.

Carl Weathers- that charismatic actor who brought the character Appollo Creed to life. He was also the cool cop Action Jackson, which I alwas thought was deserving of a sequel. I think Weathers could have even played Lando Calrissian convincingly.

Toby Keith- an awesome country singer. He will always occupy at least one of our playlists in this house.

Richard Lewis- a popular stand up comic of the 1980s who brought meaning to the word 'neurotic'.

Brian Mulroney- a former Canadian prime minister...I remember him being in charge when we studies Canada in 6th grade social studies.

Eric Carmen- a decent singer of the 1970s and 80s;

M. Emmet Walsh- a good character actor of many movies, particularly Fletch, Blade Runner, and The Jerk, among many others.

Louis Gossett Jr.- the famous drill sergeant in An Officer and a Gentleman. He played other cool characters in Iron Eagle and Diggstown.

O.J. Simpson- ok, I know his name was mud for his last 30 years, but at one time he protrayed cool and fun on screen, even if his personal life was nefarious.

Roger Corman- he gave us the original Little Shop of Horrors and other B-movie classics of the 60s and 70s.

Dabney Coleman- a classic actor of the 60s all the way into this century! I will always remember him playing obnoxious and snide characters whenever I saw him. 9 to 5, Tootsie, WarGames, and The Man With One Red Shoe made playing bad look fun.

Morgan Spurlock- the man who revealed what a fast food only diet could do to us by adhering to one himself in a grotesque experiment.

Willie Mays (not Willie Mays Hays)- damn cool baseball player!

Donald Sutherland- father of Kiefer, he was a fun presence in several films spanning from the late 60s into recent history. The original Hawkeye Pierce!

Martin Mull- a popular face on TV and some movies. Often obnoxious roles he had, but he made them memorable.

Shelley Duvall- The silver screen's Olive Oyl as well as the terrorized wife in The Shining, both in 1980.

Dr. Ruth Westheimer- her mainstream sex advice and widespread media appearances were a huge part of the 1980s!

Shannen Doherty- the breakout star of 90210 who became tabloid fodder...like many stars.

Richard Simmons- another 80s icon, who made the idea of aerobic exercise fun and flamboyant...just like life should always be!

James B. Sikking- "Judas H Priest, Frank!" was his TV-toned down exclamation on Hill Street Blues for 7 years. He also played Doogie Howser's dad and the humiliated captain of the USS Excelsior in Star Trek 3...among many roles.

Bob Newhart- along with George Carlin, my favorite comedian. He influenced a few of my blog posts with his one side of the conversation style. He was also a talented actor with his low-key self. He once told a producer who questioned his famous stammer that his stammer built him a home in Beverly Hills.

Wally Amos- cookies, 'nuff said!

Peter Marshall- actor, singer, and somewhat reluctant (at first) game show host who made playing the straight man to 9 wise-cracking panelists on The Hollywood Squares look almost effortless.

Phil Donahue- the man who made talk shows with a huge audience popular way before anyone heard the name Oprah. He tackled the funny, the serious, and the controversial with equal commitment. A class act.

John Amos- known as Kunta Kinte and James Evans Sr. on TV, often playing a force to be reckoned with...even when being defeated by John McClain in Die Hard 2.

James Earl Jones- probably will always be remembered for the cyborg voice of Darth Vader but his talents spanned decades.

John Ashton- probably best known for playing Taggart in the Beverly Hills Cop movies, he also had a minor but recurring role on Dallas in its second season and as rival bounty hunter Marvin in Midnight Run.

Maggie Smith- although being a household image to fantasy lovers in the Harry Potter films as Professor McGonagall, she achieved fame by 1969 in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

Kris Kristofferson- he was one of my mom's favorite singers when I was little...every time the 1976 version of A Star is Born was on, she was watching. He also made himself a decent actor.

Pete Rose-a damn great ballplayer, brought down by his own gambling addictions. A personal aside here: other athletes did way worse things than his gambling. I thought the powers-that-be's refusal to let him into the baseball Hall of Fame was too hard-assed.

Teri Garr- I loved seeing this woman on film. She was funny, classy, and damn sexy in whatever role she played, which were many!

Quincy Jones- he composed some of the best TV and film scores of all time!

Chuck Woolery- one of the best game show hosts out there. He never played it wild, but just cool. He got Wheel of Fortune off to a good 6 year start and made blind dates look fun on Love Connection.

Jimmy Carter- I already mentioned him in a previous post, but he proved that being a one term President doesn't define the soul inside. On the contrary, his humanitarian efforts proved what a real man he was.

Linda Lavin- a good actress and singer, immortalizing the TV version of a role created on film.