Harper Lee

...was the obvious answer to Jeopardy!'s rare triple-stumper Final Jeopardy question one night last week. The three contestants, Gen-Z members all, failed to give the right anwer, stunning older members of the viewing audience. Gen-Z'ers may know a lot of things we seniors know nothing about, but let it never be forgot that once there was a spot, one brief and shining moment that was known as Camelot that the converse is also true. Seniors know a lot of things about which the Gen-Z'ers haven't a clue.

Thus it is now, and thus has it ever been, that the older generation pities the younger generation even as the younger generation ignores and despises the older generation. I don't say look down their noses at; that would be going a bridge too far.

It's Thanksgiving Week in the U.S.A. and Canada (I don't know whether it is also true elsewhere) and the whole holiday season is upon us once again. I don't include Halloween in 'the whole holiday season' even though judging from the decorations in their yards, many of my neighbors did.

Our whole family, or as many of them as can make it, will be gathering on Thursday at the home of our firstborn who lives about an hour's drive away from us. I'm hoping and praying for you and your family friends entourage rag-tag collection of humanity the same thing I am hoping and praying for our own group, that a good time will be had by all, that all tummies will be full, and that all attendees will make the trip there and back again *waves to Bilbo Baggins* safely.

I recognize that blogposts from here have been sparse this month. I shall endeavor to pick up the pace apace.

T.T.F.N. *waves to Tigger, Pooh, A.A. Milne et al*

A little more about the Battle Hymn Of The Republic, plus two unrelated postscripts

There is one bit of housekeeping to do, specifically:

In the preceding post, I happened to mention that references to passages in the Bible are numerous in the Battle Hymn. In a comment, Australian reader kylie tai reckoned as how a list of the biblical references would be good because she wanted to know how many she recognised. She then said she would ask chat gpt. I replied that I am old school and have never used chat gbt and asked her to let us know what she found out.

Lo and behold, she did.

In a subsequent comment, kylie sent what can only be described as gobs of information. Here it is with reference numbers added by moi for ease of discussion, if any should ensue:


Copied and pasted direct from my (kylie's) chatgpt search:

1. “the glory of the coming of the Lord” Isaiah 40:5 (OT); Revelation 1:7 (NT)

2. “trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored” Isaiah 63:1–6 (OT); Revelation 14:19–20; Revelation 19:15 (NT)

3. “loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword” Deuteronomy 32:41 (OT); Isaiah 27:1 (OT); Revelation 19:15 (NT)

4. “His truth is marching on” Revelation 19:11 (NT)

5. “builded Him an altar” Genesis 8:20; Genesis 12:7–8; Psalm 43:4 (OT)

6. “His righteous sentence” Psalm 9:7–8 (OT); Daniel 7:10 (OT)

7. “His day is marching on” Zephaniah 1:14–15; Malachi 4:1 (OT)

8. “fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel” Jeremiah 23:29 (OT); Ephesians 6:17 (NT)

9. “As ye deal … so … shall My grace deal” Matthew 7:2; Romans 12:19 (NT)

10. “Hero, born of woman” Genesis 3:15 (OT); Galatians 4:4 (NT)

11. “crush the serpent with His heel” Genesis 3:15 (OT)

12. “sounded forth the trumpet…” 1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; Revelation 8–11 (NT)

13. “sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat” Matthew 3:12 (NT imagery from John the Baptist); Hebrews 4:12–13; 2 Corinthians 5:10 (NT)

14. “Christ was born… in the beauty of the lilies” Poetic; lilies echoed in Matthew 6:28–29 (NT)

15. “He died to make men holy” Hebrews 10:10; 1 Peter 2:24 (NT)

16. “coming like the glory of the morning” Matthew 24:27; Malachi 4:2 (OT/NT)

17. “the world shall be His footstool” Psalm 110:1 (OT); Isaiah 66:1 (OT); Acts 2:35; Hebrews 1:13 (NT)

18. “the soul of Time His slave” Theological/poetic; echoes Revelation 1:8; 2 Peter 3:8 (NT)

(end of chat gpt's list)

I was duly impressed and replied to kylie, "Wow!"

I have never used chat gpt for anything even though its popularity is undeniable. On the spectrum of human resistance to change, I probably lie somewhere between a pseudo-troglodyte (that is, without the cave) and a neo-Luddite (that is, without the property damage). Perhaps I will have to go with the flow and reconsider. I am reminded of a famous couplet by the English poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744):

"Be not the first by which the new is tried,
Nor yet the last to lay the old aside."

Dear reader, help me to make up my mind. Give me some input. Do you use chat gpt? Why or why not?

P.S. -- Mrs. RWP (the lovely Ellie) and I saw the film Wicked on television last night for the first time. At least I now know who Ariana Grande is. Please share your thoughts on Wicked also, if you have any.

P.P.S. -- We also watched our old favorite Jeopardy! for the first time in several months. I was able to answer two questions that not a single one of the Gen Z contestants could, Who is Kenny Rogers? and What is Hadassah?

Be jubilant, my feet! and other ruminations

Here it is the middle of November already and I haven't produced a single blogpost all month. I am losing it, people.

Let me remedy that right now. I woke up this morning with the words to Julia Ward Howe's "Battle Hymn Of The Republic" on my mind. The mind is a peculiar, unpredictable thing. Who can know it?

Anyway, here are the lyrics, with a few observations afterward:

1. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.

(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

2. I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps,
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:
His day is marching on.

(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

3. I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:
"As ye deal with My contemners, so with you My grace shall deal";
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with His heel,
Since God is marching on.

(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

4. He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat;
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.

(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Our God is marching on.

5. In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me.
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.

(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Our God is marching on.

6. He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,
He is Wisdom to the mighty, He is Succour to the brave,
So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of Time His slave,
Our God is marching on.

(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Our God is marching on!

(end of song)

So it turns out that Julia Ward Howe wrote six verses in all, although the sixth verse is neve heard nowadays. I cannot resist saying that on the seventh verse, Julia rested.

I don't know why, but during the last quarter of the 20th century, many public performances of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" substituted the lyric "As He died to make men holy, let us live to make men free" in the fifth verse in place of Howe's original lyric "let us die to make men free." In the 21st century, the original lyric is being sung more and more. I could be wrong, but my guess is that the destruction of the World Trade Towers in New York City on September 11, 2001, had a lot to do with reverting to the original lyric.

It has always fascinated me that Julia wrote "Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet!" in verse four, the opposite of what a more prosaic writer might have exhorted (that one's soul should be jubilant and one's feet should be swift). Julia Ward Howe was anything but prosaid.

It saddens me that people of the 19th-century seem to have been far more familiar with Scripture, if Julia Ward Howe is any example, than most people of the 20th and 21st centuries. References to passages in the Bible are numerous in the Battle Hymn. It is another sign of cultural decline.

I thought perhaps the song was on my mind because we might be near the anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania in 1863, but I looked it up and that battle occurred in July. Then I thought of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the battlefield later that year, the address which ends with "that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birh of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." I looked up that date too. It was November 19th. Three days from today.

Near the beginning of this post I said that the mind is a peculiar, unpredictable thing.

I will end with a Scripture reference: We are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Answers to pop quiz in preceding post

In the preceding post ("They say good things come in threes"), I included a pop quiz at the end. So far, in my vast reading audience of maybe a dozen folks tops, two comments have been left on that post. One was from a woman in England and the other was from a woman in Australia *waves to Janice and kylie*. I'm hoping to hear from Emma, another regular leaver of comments who lives in Iowa, but so far she hasn't shown up.

I listed 16, count 'em, 16 things that occur in groups of three. Below are items 12 and 13 from the list:

12. first in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen
13. of the people, by the people, and for the people

You can look up the entire list later if you like. I thought it was a very interesting, if somewhat eclectic, list.

At the end of the blogpost, after we had discussed at length the three stars in Orion's belt, I included a pop quiz. Here it is:

Pop Quiz Time:
1. To whom does item 12 refer?
2. In what document is item 13 found?
3. Who starred in Beetlejuice?

Janice didn't answer any of the questions. kylie guessed Jack Nicholson but didn't say which question she was answering. Jack Nicholson is not the correct answer to any of the questions.

I am somewhat disappointed in the lack of participants, but I'll get over it. I suppose my list skewed heavily American, and I apologize (British, apologise) for that. English and Australian folks would not necessarily be familiar with things like Kukla, Fran, and Ollie (a puppet act on television in the 1950s) or Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe (a railway company), I suppose, but I thought everyone would know items 12 and 13.

The answer to pop quiz question 1 about list item 12 is George Washington, the first president of the United States. It was spoken in a eulogy at his funeral in 1799.

The answer to pop quiz question 2 about list item 13 is Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Gettysburg Address.

And the answer to pop quiz question 3, which I threw in because Betelgeuse is one of the stars in the constellaion of Orion (not in his belt), is Michael Keaton, and you would have received extra credit if you had included Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis.

I just hate it when I have to explain everything.

Maybe Emma will still show up. I'm counting on you, Emma.

They say good things come in threes

Here are a few groups of three. Judge for yourself:

1. earth, wind, and fire
2. blood, sweat, and tears
3. faith, hope, and charity
4. peace, love, and happiness
5. Kukla, Fran, and Ollie
6. Patti, Maxene, and LaVerne
7. Manny, Moe, and Jack
8. wynken, blynken, and nod
9. Peter, Paul, and Mary
10. a rag, a bone, and a hank of hair
11. a hit, lick, and a promise
12. first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen
13. government of the people, by the people, and for the people
14. the Kingston Trio
15. Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe
16. Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka.

Whoa. What? Until recently, I had never heard of Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka, even though all of us (in the northern hemisphere, at least) have been seeing them for years. More accurately, you have been seeing them and I have not because they had disappeared from my view after I developed cataracts. Since my cataracts were surgically removed in the summer of 2024 by the wonderful Dr. Hannah Park, I can once again see Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka, the three stars in the belt of the constellation Orion.

My vision had become so poor that before I met Dr. Park I could see only four objects in the night sky—the moon, Venus, Jupiter, and Sirius (the Dog Star). With my vision restored, I shall never take Orion's belt for granted again, and now I call my old friends by their names: Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka.

What people say is true. Good tohings do come in threes.

Pop Quiz Time:
1. To whom does item 12 refer?
2. In what document is item 13 found?
3. Who starred in Beetlejuice?

Winston Churchill was right

Winston Churchill (1874-1965) said many memorable things, including something about "blood, toil, tears, and sweat" and "an iron curtain has descended across the Continent" and "I never stand when I can sit, and I never sit when I can lie down", but today I want us to think about and explore a little bit the saying that England and America are two countries separated by the same language.

[Editor's note. Except it probably wasn't Churchill at all who made that remark. It has been attributed to several people including George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, and others. No one knows for certain who said it first, but in his 1887 short story, "The Canterville Ghost", Oscar Wilde did pen the following: "Indeed, in many respects, she was quite English, and was an excellent example of the fact that we have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, language." —RWP]

Elsewhere in past posts we have mentioned some of the things Brits and Yanks refer to differently, such as lorry (truck), napkin (diaper), biscuit (cookie), cookie (cracker), cracker (noisemaker), lift (elevator), fag (cigarette). The list goes on and on. And we have talked about our differences in spellings and word endings, such as -ise (-ize), -re (-er), -our (-or). At the risk of repeating myself, the list goes on and on.

Today let's explore two more areas, music and money.

Most people in America, musical or not, are probably familiar with musical notation in the form of notes on a staff preceded by a treble clef or a bass clef. (There is also a clef that is referred to as alto, tenor, or baritone clef depending on where it is placed on the staff, but we won't go down that particular rabbit trail.) And most of us know that these notes have names like whole note, half note, quarter note, eighth note. There are even briefer increments of time (that is, faster notes when strung together) known as sixteenth note, thirty-second note, and sixty-fourth note. Okay, so maybe most people in America don't know that at all, but stay with me for a minute.

In Britain, the people don't know any of those names. Instead, their naming system for the very same squiggles on a musical manuscript are breve (whole note), minim (half note), crotchet (quarter note), and quaver (eighth note), and the even briefer notes are called semi-quaver (sixteenth note), demisemiquaver (thirty-second note), and—God help us all—hemidemisemiquaver (sixty-fourth note).

Since there is a semibreve or whole note that equals four beats in 4/4 time, it follows as the night the day (thank you, Laertes) that there must also be a breve or double whole note that equals eight beats in 4/4 time. And there is.

I'm feeling faint. Let us move on to money.

Britain changed its currency to the decimal system more than 50 years ago, and now there are 100 pence to the pound, but I distinctly remember a time when 12 pence made a shilling and 20 shillings made a pound sterling. The pound sterling was worth five American dollars ($5.00 USD) and a shilling was about the same value as our American quarter (a quarter of a dollar). Americans had dollars, half-dollars, quarters, dimes (ten cents), nickels (five cents), and pennies (one cent) and used a cent sign (¢) for all coins less than a dollar; the Brits used 's' for shillings and 'd' for pence. In my tireless research I learned that 's' and 'd'were used to refer to shillings and pence, respectively, because in Roman times coins of similar values were called in Latin solidus and denarius. England also had a half-penny coin which was abbreviated 'ob' for the even smaller value Roman coin obulus.

The pound began losing value and for quite a while its value was about $2.40 USD, which made the shilling worth slightly more than an American dime. Nowadays the pound is worth $1.34 USD, making the no-longer-produced shilling worth 6.7 cents or slightly more than an American nickel.

I also remember that the Canadian dollar was worth $1.10USD for a long time, but today it is worth 71 cents. Another rabbit trail.

Don't even get me started on weights and messures.

I will close by wishing you a Happy Columbus Day or a Happy Indigenous Peoples Day on Monday, whichever you prefer to celebrate.

Blogging can be so educational. For example, this week I learned fron jabblog's blog's comment section that a great many people did not know that such a thing as a digital piano existed.

Until next time, I remain your intrepid roving correspondent,

rhymeswithplague

Rabbit Trails R Us

About a month ago I said that a new era had begun because our oldest son brought over a new computer (a teeny-tiny one) equipped with Windows 11 to replace the Hewlett-Packard All-In-One I had been using that was equipped with Windows 10. Microsoft had informed me that it was ending support for Windows 10 on October something-or-other and after running some diagnostics also told me that my HP could not be upgraded to Windows 11.

Remember?

Well, forget all of that. After just a couple of weeks of learning to use Windows 11 with my new teeny-tiny GEMTEK from Taiwan, the computer apparently gave up the ghost (technical explanation: BIOS couldn't find the hard drive for reasons unknown to me).

So my son took the GEMTEK back and I am once again using Windows 10 on my HP, which I had not disposed of but put in an inconspicuous corner of the bedroom awaiting ultimate disposition. I'm so glad I did that. Apparently there was an uproar among users of Windows 10, who make up over 50% of Microsoft's customers and of that portion over 25% could not upgrade, enough of an uproar that Microsoft decided to offer a free one-year extension of its support of Windows 10. All my son had to do was push a key or two to accept the extension and I'm good to go. Apparently. God willing and the creeks/Creeks don't rise.

In other words, if I had done nothing, I would have remained in good shape without all the stress and strain of the past month trying to adjust to Windows 11. My son suggested I go with Macintosh but I am an old dog who resists new tricks for the most part.

If you ask me, it's proof in our own day that the French are right: Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose (The more things change, the more they remain the same).

For some reason I cannot begin to fathom, the whole experience brought to mind the song "Try To Remember" from The Fantasticks, a 1960 off-Broadway production:

Try to remember the kind of September
When life was slow and oh, so mellow.
Try to remember the kind of September
When grass was green and grain was yellow.
Try to remember the kind of September
When you were a tender and callow fellow.
Try to remember, and if you remember,
Then follow.

Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow,
Follow, follow, follow, follow.

Try to remember when life was so tender
That no one wept except the willow.
Try to remember when life was so tender
That dreams were kept beside your pillow.
Try to remember when life was so tender
That love was an ember about to billow.
Try to remember, and if you remember,
Then follow.

Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow,
Follow, follow, follow, follow.

Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow,
Follow, follow, follow, follow.

Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow,
Follow, follow, follow, follow.

Deep in December, it's nice to remember,
Although you know the snow will follow.
Deep in December, it's nice to remember,
Without a hurt the heart is hollow.
Deep in December, it's nice to remember,
The fire of September that made us mellow.
Deep in December, our hearts should remember

And follow.

(end of song)

My trivia-soaked mind reminds me that Jerry Orbach of Law And Order fame was the first performer ever to sing that song in the original off-Broadway production of The Fantasticks in 1960. My mind is beginning to fail me, however, because I also remember actor Jack Palance reciting the lyrics but can't remember whether he did it on The Merv Griffin Show or The Jack Paar Show. Also, a pretty lade with blond hair (that really narrows it down) sang the song on television way back when but I cannot recall her name. She later worked as an actress on one of the afternoon soap operas, either General Hospital or As The World Turns or All My Children. I told you my mind was going.

I must try to remember and follow it.

Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow,
Follow, follow, follow, follow.

This is definitely one of the weirdest posts I have ever written, if I do say so myself.

Do not call the men in the white coats just yet, as I have an awful lot of living left to do.