Authentic Wins The Kentucky Derby

Photo courtesy Gary Firstenberg.

Late Saturday afternoon I received a surprising text from my brother. "The Kentucky Derby is about to run and Gary's horse is in the race."

The "Gary" in question is my cousin, who lives in Southern Ohio and has been investing small amounts of money in race horses in the same way that investors can own a stake in Apple or Google. The name of the horse he "owned"--along with 1400 others--was Authentic.

Now I'm as big a fan of Run for the Roses as the next person, but I'd not even been aware the race was even being run this year. It usually takes place the first week of May. I noticed at the time that it had been postponed, but missed the announcement of when it was re-scheduled.

So the text came as a surprise. The horses were leaving the stables when I finally got to a television set. During their parade lap I saw that Tiz the Law was a 4-5 favorite, but whoa! Authentic had quite excellent chances at 9-1, which was better than most of the field. In 2009, Mine That Bird won with 50-1 odds.

I used to have horse racing game when I was a kid. It was a wooden "track" with six lanes and six different colored horses. You had a die with 6 numbers on it and when you rolled, the horse in that lane would move forward the way pieces move on a cribbage board.

Racing in all forms is fun, but especially so when you have a horse in the race. We had Authentic.

What a great name for a horse. Authenticity is something we could use more of. I just finished reading Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and one of the underlying themes has to do with authenticity, what is real and what is not. The word "authentic" means, "Of undisputed origin, genuine." I like the word genuine. It was one of the mottos of the Sixties, to be real, genuine, not fake, like plastic or television. Sitcom laugh tracks and game show MCs became odious symbols of television's fakeness. (Alex Trebek being the exception.)

All that being said, Authentic ran a great race, barreling into the lead as soon at the gates were opened, and never looking back. Leading from the start is often not the best strategy because many horses use of their reserves by the end, but Authentic seemed to be restrained and wasn't out to set a world record here. I liked that she stayed just ahead of the pack, avoiding getting jostled or distracted. When Tiz The Law made its move rounding the fourth turn, the bay colt showed what he's made of, digging deep for the final kick.

A quick plug for the jockey. When I was growing up any horse being ridden by Eddie Arcaro was a force to be reckoned with. John Velasquez, the jockey for Authentic, won his 200th victory Saturday and 3rd Kentucky Derby race. Jockey's make a difference. So do trainers, and this was trainer Chris Baffert's 6th Kentucky Derby win.

Here's the race itself. Exciting from start to finish.

For a great film about the roles owners, jockeys and trainers play in making a champion horse, find the 2003 film Seabiscuit, starring Jeff Bridges, Chris Cooper and Tobey Maguire. Or read the book! 

A David Ogilvy Anecdote on Hiring

I believe April 13, 1987 may have been the first time Susie and I went to the World Trade Center in New York City. I remember because the date is inscribed inside the front cover of my copy of Ogilvy on Advertising which I purchased at a bookstore underneath the historic skyscraper.

Earlier that year I had been tapped to create an advertising program for the company I worked for and voraciously read every book on advertising that I could find in our library. David Ogilvy's Confessions of an Advertising Man was so direct and practical that he quickly became my go-to resource. This is why when I saw Ogilvy on Advertising at the World Trade Center I had to have it. He quickly became my guru and this volume my "Bible" of sorts.

The reviews on Amazon.com are invaluable for gaining insights on the books (and other products) displayed there, and this one is spot on.

If you want an overview of the core principles that are true for ALL ad-like communications, this is a must-read. The medium might change, but the principles remain the same -- and nobody knew the principles like David Ogilvy. For those wanting a current view of the ad world -- especially involving internet or social media -- read this book FIRST and then buy any of a number of books on current practices. This will teach you the fundamentals.

* * * *

Ogilvy gave us more than advice on advertising and ad copy writing. He also devoted pages to instructing leaders on how to manage a creative team. Creatives are a different kind of animal.

In the midst of all this he shared this story, which applies not only to ad agencies but to businesses of all kinds:

When someone is made the head of an office in the Ogilvy & Mather chain, I send him a Matryoshka doll from Gorky. If he has the curiosity to open it, and keep opening it until he comes to the inside of the smallest doll, he finds this message: If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants.

* * * * 

While reading Philip Norman's biography of Paul McCartney I discovered that John Lennon was faced with an important decision when Paul approached John to become part of Lennon's band, The Quarrymen. Paul was likeable, talented, outgoing, effervescent, and might prove to be a challenge to John's leadership.

John could have denied Paul the opportunity and remained the frontman for his team of lesser lights. Or... You can read a brief account of that story here: A Leadership Lesson from John Lennon.

* * * *

Six Powerful Prison Films Compared

Paul Newman is Luke.

I've long been a fan of Cool Hand Luke, the epic prison film starring Paul Newman and George Kennedy. Like all great films, there are memorable scenes and memorable lines, including this one by the prison captain: "What we've got here is... failure to communicate."

Paul Newman is Luke Jackson, who ends up with a two year sentence for a meaningless crime. His story becomes a metaphor for the existential hero who refuses to accept things as they are and is inwardly determined to be free from the constraints of existence. I've watched the film several times over the years and find it to be the perfect expression of existential philosophy, which was very much in vogue in the decades after WW2.

With this film as a gold standard of prison films, here are several more flicks to add to the Prison Films canon.

Cell Block 19 (1954)
I only discovered this movie by accident and what a nice surprise. Unlike the rest of the movies here, it is not centered around movie stars but rather a gritty story about a prison riot. When COVID-19 resulted in lockdowns around the world, there were numerous prison riots that soon followed, hence this 1954 movie caught my attention earlier this year.

Inhumane prison conditions ultimately prompt inmates at a prison to take action. They successfully take over one of the cell blocks and hold a number of guards hostage, hoping to negotiate with the prison warden, who is between a rock and a hard place. To give the prisoners what they want requires the governor's endorsement and he refuses to be bothered with this.

The movie shows how political shenanigans impact the ability of getting a straight answer. It also shows how the media can make a difference, because as a result of the takeover of Cell Block 19, the press gives ear to the prisoners' peeves, which has an influence on public opinion. The appalling circumstances in the prison are no longer hidden and the public can put pressure on the governor.

There are other features of the film of note, one being the manner in which there are differences of opinion on what to do now that the mob rules. Two factions have different ideas about what to do with the hostages, among other things.

Trivia: Walter Wanger, who produced this film, had just done time in prison (four months) and wanted to make a film that showed what prison conditions are really like. As a result, the film is less slick in production but packs a punch for its eye-opening storyline.

Cool Hand Luke (1967)

 

The only thing I have to add here are these two anecdotes. While driving to Hibbing a number of years ago, I picked up a hitchhiker. As it turns out, he had just gotten out of prison and was in the process of getting a Minnesota residency so he could get a job as a cabby. He had an interesting story, had been framed by the police who claimed he had 5000 hits of LSD and was a dealer. He did have LSD, but never saw 5000 hits of acid in his life. The audiobook I was listening to when I picked him up? Cool Hand Luke.

The second tale is that I spent a year in Puerto Rico in 1979 during which time I visited the Bayamon Prison once a week. I was assisting Bruce Fowler, a prison chaplain who was nicknamed "The Prisoner's Friend." Of this much more can be said. So many stories, so little time.

Papillon (1973)
This is a powerful account of one man's escape from a prison on Devil's Island. Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman are the lead characters, two prisoners whose friendship carries them through a horrendous life experience. Like Luke Jackson, Steve McQueen early on realizes this place is not for him. Either he must escape or die trying.

Runaway Train (1985)

This film stars Jon Voigt, another existential hero type. Voigt is one of those prisoners who refuses to be confined, is determined to break free. He's escaped twice before from other prisons and this one is supposed to be the end of the line. Nevertheless, he finds a way and a younger prisoner (Eric Roberts) who idolizes him tags along. It is the dead of winter and up here in the Northland the weather can be pretty inhospitable.

The two manage to jump on a train that is leaving a railway yard but one that has bad luck written on it. That is, as the train leaves the station the engineer has a heart attack. The train, picking up speed, is heading east and it becomes a very wild ride. The two figure out that something is not quite right, and they work their way forward to try to reach the engine. They soon discover that there's someone else on the train, a female railway worker (Rebecca DeMornay).

The train itself becomes a character in the film, and if you like trains, the film is especially fantastic. Some detractors may have issues with some of the storyline cliches. I overlook that.

Trivia: Djordje Milicevic, who wrote the screenplay for this film, also wrote Iron Will, another Northland winter film. As an extra in two scenes, it was my first "up close and personal" experience with Hollywood.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Andy and Red. A story of friendship, dignity and hope.

This is the story of Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) as told through the eyes of Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding (Morgan Freeman). It is the top-rated movie of all time on imdb.com, based on viewer rankings. As with Papillon, it is a story of two men bonding within a context of oppression and injustice. It's also about what it means to be human.

One reviewer at imdb.com says that renting the movie is a waste of money because you will have to rent it again. "Buy it." He also said it is the best film that never got an Oscar, though it did receive seven nominations.

Morgan Freeman, like all our favorite stars, has an amazing ability to project warmth and that "special something" that makes you want to spend time with him. Was it Driving MIss Daisy that put him on the map? Shawshank sealed the deal that he was a force for good in Hollywood. Writing about all this makes me want to see it again, of course. And so I will look for it.

Papillon (2017)

When I saw that there had been a Papillon remake, I questioned its validity. How could you re-do this classic. Afterwards, I conceded. This is a great remake.

SPOILER ALERT

I'd forgotten that in addition to being a story revealing the horrors of Devil's Island, it was also an injustice that put Henri Charriere (Charlie Hunnam) into this hell-hole, wrongly convicted for murder. Rami Malek plays the Dustin Hoffman character in this version. In addition, it's based on the bok which Charriere wrote after his escape. In other words, the film is based on a true story.

The amount of time Charriere suffered was far longer than I'd remembered, though it's near 50 years since I saw the original. Suffering, in a film, is relatively brief... two to three hours at most. In real life, it's near impossible to imagine what people have gone through. I think here of the POWs who were caged and tortured in the Hanoi Hilton.

* * * *

EndNote: I saw first-hand some very bad things inside Bayamon Prison, but Bayamon was actually a good prison compared to what I heard about others, one of which was nicknamed Satan's Synagogue. That is a place you just don't want to go. And then there was my visit to the prison in Monterrey, Mexico. The old man we brought food to was living in Hell.

Second Sunday Reading Series Goes Zooming

Photo courtesy Gary Firstenberg

Covid-19 has thrown a monkey wrench into everything that involves gathering live and in person, from marathons to Major League Baseball. Our Duluth Toastmasters group has been meeting via Zoom and starting next weekend a Second Sunday Reading Series for poetry fans will begin.

Here's the straight dope.

The Duluth Poet Laureate Project announces the “Second Sunday Reading Series,” three online open poetry readings organized by Gary Boelhower, 2018-2020 Duluth Poet Laureate. The monthly readings will take place from 3-4 pm. on Sunday afternoon, September 13th, October 11th, and November 8th. Each month's reading will feature two local poets whose presentations will be followed by an open reading. The reading on September 13th will feature Phil Fitzpatrick and Daniel Oyinloye; October 11th will feature Deborah Cooper and John Herold; and the reading on November 8th will feature Sheila Packa and Blair Powless.

All three poetry readings will be offered through the ZOOM online video communications technology. The public is invited to view the readings through a ZOOM online portal; please register for one, two or all the programs with Gary Boelhower through email, gboelhower@msn.com. Poets who wish to participate in the open reading segment should contact Gary Boelhower with the date they wish to be placed on the program.

The Duluth Poet Laureate Project began in 2005 and is funded by donations from The Friends of the Duluth Public Library, Lake Superior College, and the English departments at the College of Saint Scholastica, UMD, and by generous individuals. The Zeitgeist Community Arts Center is the fiscal sponsor. More information can be found at www.duluthpoetlaureate.org.

* * * *

As friends and followers know, I enjoy reading and writing poetry myself, this year more than ever. This past week I have been reading Kazuo Ishiguro's heartbreakingly beautiful novel Never Let Me Go. One of the themes in the book has to do with things said and unsaid. There's a line in Charlene Groves' poem Emptiness that speak to this feature of life as regards matters of the heart and the manner in which we veil ourselves, conceal ourselves within ourselves. Charlene wrote this poem several decades past, but it could just as easily have been written during this period of Covid-19 lockdown.

Here's a poem of my own, most definitely inspired by this 2020 cultural anomaly. It's called The Mask Police.

Ishiguro Again Shows His Mastery: Never Let Me Go

This past week I've been wholly captivated by yet another Ishiguro marvel, Never Let Me Go.

What is it that gives Kazuo Ishiguro's writing such power? Perhaps it's his patience in laying out the story and developing such vivid characters. Perhaps it's the gravity, though we as readers are not even certain what that force behind the story really is. Perhaps it's the manner in which the stories are told, in which you know that there are things the characters don't know, but then you don't really know either.

The above paragraph reminds me of an exercise in John Gardner's On Becoming A Novelist in which the writer is asked to describe a pond. There is a dead body hidden from view, so it is a serious scene, but the writer has to create the feeling only through describing what is seen.

Ishiguro clearly has become masterful at conveying this kind of undertone without ever explicitly stating it. "Show, don't tell" is one of the first dictum's fiction writers hear at writer's conferences, and this author does it ever so well.

Perhaps its the manner in which these situations he creates unearth painful revelations within ourselves is another aspect of his writing that makes it so potent. I think that right there is a big part of it. Or at least for me. As our narrator Kath tells the story, which consists of strings of interconnected narratives about various people, it seems as if she is striving to resolve what was really going on, things she'd not fully grasped as she experienced them.

So it is that I have remembrances come to mind, instances in which I behaved badly, or failed to speak up, or spoke and should have kept silent. Little did I know that some of these moments would become critical turning points in relationships that once were meaningful.

Friendship and loss, memories and revelations, loneliness and meaning--these are key themes in Never Let Me Go.

SPOILER ALERT

There's something special about the students living at Hailsham, a boarding school in England. At first we don't know what's so special about this school, and neither do the children who grow up there, but eventually a little light streams in and we learn that these children are here for a purpose.

The three main characters in Never Let Me Go are Kath, Tommy and Ruth. These characters are drawn with such detail that you can almost hear them breathing and recognize their fingerprints. Ruth's manipulations are ever so annoying, and Tommy's struggles create such empathy that you lose yourself in Kathy's meandering reflections on the key moments they have shared both at Hailsham and afterwards.

Any number of thoughts come to mind here, one of them being the manner in which a family secret comes to light after it has been suppressed for many years. I'm thinking of a child born of incest, who never realizes why he has no father but eventually senses, then learns, that it's his grandfather.

In this story, the children of Hailsham were part of a program to clone humans who would grow up to become organ donors. As young adults they give until they do not survive. It can be two, three or four, but eventually you give your body parts till you are "complete," which is a euphemism for death.

It's no wonder that a pall hangs over everyone's tale of self-discovery. How the characters respond to these revelations, often nothing more than rumors because the teachers of Hailsham are limited in what they can openly disclose, is the heart of this story.

Eventually the students leave Hailsham and move to the Cottages. From here they become Carers, and then Donors. Some lucky ones will have a chance to get deferrals for a couple years before entering that Donor stage. This is another undercurrent in the story of this threesome.

* * * *

The title of the novel, "Never Let Me Go," is taken from a late 1950's song by Judy Bridgewater, recorded on her album Songs After Dark. Judy Bridgewater and this song recur several times as events unfold involving Tommy, Ruth and Kath.

I love Ishiguro's writing. There's a beauty in the way he digs into the nuances of relationships. Here's a sentence that illustrates this. Kath is reflecting on an incident which seemed insignificant at thee time, but was not.

It was like when you make a move in chess and just as you take your finger off the piece, you see the mistake you've made, and there's this panic because you don't know yet the scale of disaster you've left yourself open to.

Hailsham seem's like an interesting choice for the name of the school. The student clones are shams, not real humans in a sense. This particular school, though, is an elite version of this system of cloning humans to become organs donors, so it is "hailed" by clones who went to other schools. Some time after Kathy, Ruth and Tommy have graduated, however, the school gets closed, no doubt for a sea change in public opinion about the ethics of this business.

Lots of food for thought throughout, and an engaging read as well. 5 stars out of 5.

* * * *

Related Links
Ishiguro’s The Unconsoled Is an Achievement of the First Order
In Awe of Ishiguro's The Buried Giant
Throwback Thursday: Ishiguro On Dylan
  For what it's worth, here's a link to the Judy Bridgewater song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UX6tzE7P44

The Colorful Twin Ports Art Scene In Autumn

I saw maple leaves turning colors here this week. You can feel the early hints of autumn. Hot August nights are behind us now. The sheer beauty of the fall colors lifts the soul. Though mostly green still, the leaves will yield and be painted by the faeries, elves and gnomes who become quite busy this time of year.

TWIN PORTS ART
Special thanks to Esther for assembling the Twin Ports Art Blog. Here's a link to places to see or make Art in September. The listings begin with dates and times for Esther's Zentangle classes, which are a form of yoga for the mind. Creative expression is a form of therapy and for many this is just the ticket.

There are online events and off-line, in person things to see and do, the latter always with a social distancing component. There are also some arts related fund raisers including the DAI Gala which will be virtual this year.

As regards social distancing, it's strange to be reading a novel and people are walking arm-in-arm, tapping someone on the shoulder, giving hugs when they see each other. If I'd read the same six month ago it may not have been noticed. The fact that I did notice while reading yesterday says something has shifted internally to cause that reaction.

Hope you are adjusting well. Art is can do many things to us, soothing our anxieties or helping us escape. And on place you can see art at no cost is on the exterior walls of many of our buildings. The two photos on this page are part of a new mural on Lincoln Park Hostel and Resource Center. (Details here)

Don't become a couch potato or bowl of pudding. Stay active. Read through the Twin Ports Art Blog and select a few things to do that interest you. Or break new ground and take up a new hobby. Harmonicas are fun, for example. When the pandemic lifts you can surprise your friends. Make them say, "I didn't know you played the harmonica.?

Meantime life goes on.

Eric Hoffer's Classic on Mass Movements: Quotes and Notes from The True Believer

My generalist liberal arts college studies included a Sociology course. The subject was of interest--Sociology and Mass Movements, or something like that--because this was the early 1970s and the anti-war movement was in full swing. The professor, however, never attended any of the classes, which consisted of a young T.A. from India whose goal seemed to be to bore us to death. Nevertheless, the books weren't quite that boring and I did the coursework required to get a decent grade.

It was here that I was introduced to the ideas of Eric Hoffer through his insightful study of mass psychology, The True Believer. Though it is nearly seven decades since the book's publication in 1951, the book is powerfully relevant today. If you've never read it, I recommend it. If you have, it is worth revisiting.

The Appeal of Mass Movements
"When hopes and dreams are loose in the streets, it is well for the timid to lock doors, shutter windows and lie low until the wrath has passed. For there is often a monstrous incongruity between the hopes, however noble and tender, and the action which follows them. It is as if ivied maidens and garlanded youths were to herald the four horsemen of the apocalypse."
Part One, The True Believer

"Faith in a holy cause is to a considerable extent a substitute for the lost faith in ourselves."
ibid.

"A man is likely to mind his own business when it is worth minding. When it is not, he takes his mind off his own meaningless affairs by minding other people's business."
ibid.

"When our individual interests and prospects do not seem worth living for, we are in desperate need for something apart from us to live for. All forms of dedication, devotion, loyalty and self-surrender are in essence a desperate clinging to something which might give worth and meaning to our futile, spoiled lives."
ibid.

The Potential Converts
"Unless a man has talents to make something of himself, freedom is an irksome burden. Of what avail is freedom to choose if the self be ineffectual? We join a mass movement to escape individual responsibility, or, in the words of the ardent young Nazi, "to be free from freedom."
Part Two

* * * *

"They who clamor loudest for freedom are often the ones least likely to be happy in a free society. The frustrated, oppressed by their shortcomings, blame their failure on existing restraints. Actually, their innermost desire is for an end to the "free for all." They want to eliminate free competition and the ruthless testing to which the individual is continually subjected in a free society."
ibid.

* * * *

"The most incurably frustrated—and, therefore, the most vehement—among the permanent misfits are those with an unfulfilled craving for creative work. Both those who try to write, paint, compose, etcetera, and fail decisively, and those who after tasting the elation of creativeness feel a drying up of the creative flow within and know that never again will they produce aught worthwhile, are alike in the grip of a desperate passion. Neither fame nor power nor riches nor even monumental achievements in other fields can still their hunger. Even the wholehearted dedication to a holy cause does not always cure them. Their unappeased hunger persists, and they are likely to become the most violent extremists in the service of their holy cause."
Chapter 6, Misfits

United Action and Self-Sacrifice
"Glory is largely a theatrical concept. There is no striving for glory without a vivid awareness of an audience—the knowledge that our mighty deeds will come to the ears of our contemporaries or "of those that are to be." We are ready to sacrifice our true, transitory self for the imaginary eternal self we are building up, by our heroic deeds, in the opinion and imagination of others."

EdNote: In light of this last insight, can this be one way in which social media has served as a catalyst for the more audacious actions being committed on our streets? 

"Failure in the management of practical affairs seems to be a qualification for success in the management of public affairs."
ibid.

"...though hatred is a convenient instrument for mobilizing a community for defense, it does not, in the long run, come cheap. We pay for it by losing all or many of the values we have set out to defend." 

"The frustrated follow a leader less because of their faith that he is leading them to a promised land than because of their immediate feeling that he is leading them away from their unwanted selves. Surrender to a leader is not a means to an end but a fulfillment. Whither they are led is of secondary importance."
Section 93

* * * *

"The truth seems to be that propaganda on its own cannot force its way into unwilling minds; neither can it inculcate something wholly new; nor can it keep people persuaded once they have ceased to believe. It penetrates only into minds already open, and rather than instill opinion it articulates and justifies opinions already present in the minds of its recipients."

* * * *

"There are, of course, rare leaders such as Lincoln, Gandhi... They do not hesitate to harness man's hungers and fears to weld a following and make it zealous unto death in the service of a holy cause; but... they are not tempted to use the slime of frustrated souls as the mortar in the building of a new world... for they know that no one can be honorable unless he honors mankind."

* * * *

The True Believer was Hoffer's first of ten books, a book of insights that brought him much critical acclaim. In 1983 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Postscript: 50 years ago this week I packed my bags and headed off to four year of college, Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. It was a life-altering experience.