muse-letter \’myüz-‘le-tər noun
1: a personal message, inspired by a muse of one's own creation, addressed to a person or organization, in the course of which, the sender becomes absorbed in thought, especially turning something over in the mind meditatively and often inconclusively.
2: a letter from a poet, or one who envisions oneself as such, in which he or she “muses” on that which is perceived to be news, or newsworthy, usually in some ironic or absurd way.
pre November 2018
Parts of the site under reconstruction
In this past year, these "suspects" began to get murky about their sexual orientation and gender, and started wearing different shoes. A Mars executive, in a stretch, gave this incredulous explanation: “New looks, new personalities, and new footwear underscore a new emphasis on self-expression and belonging....”
Ventriloquism
It’s a rather low brow form of entertainment, isn’t it. Ventriloquism? And since its height in popularity in the 1950’s and 60’s, it has been a dying art. Though a core of skillful devotees still strive to keep it alive. One being Mallory Lewis, the daughter of Shari Lewis. So yes, Lamb Chop still lives. Who knew?
As a kid, I liked most of them. But Paul Winchell along with his dummy Jerry Mahoney, were my favorites. Winchell was so skilled, he even moved the fingers of Mahoney’s hands. Magical. Never saw another ventriloquist do that. And as I would later come to learn, that in addition to his show business credits, he was a humanitarian and an inventor. Having had some medical training, Paul Winchell, was the first person to invent and patent the artificial heart! I find that even more impressive than moving the fingers on Jerry Mahoney’s hands.
On the flip side of Winchell, was Edgar Bergen. I never understood his appeal. To begin with, he moved his lips like crazy while talking through his dummy Charlie McCarthy. In the-emperor-has-no-clothes-on moments, I’d point that out to the adults in the room. But they never seemed to see it, or care. Which I suppose
typifies the difference between how kids and adults view the world. In response, I'd be told that “His radio show was a big hit for many years.”
A ventriloquist on the radio?! Even at a tender age I could see the absurdity in that. No wonder his lips moved. Then too, I never got why his dummy Charlie McCarthy was dressed that way. Top hat, tux, and a monocle? A monocle was out of fashion even by the time Bergen and McCarthy first began showing up on TV in 1950.
Even Bergen's daughter Candace saw her father as strange and unnatural. “The dummy dominated my childhood. He even had his own bedroom” (as quoted from her 1984 memoir). Which is where all this is going. Ventriloquism and its practitioners, by nature, can be a bit weird at best, and flat out scary at worst. And somewhere in between, suggestive of something more than meets the eye. Or the lips.
A piece in Smithsonian magazine (May 2, 2019), encapsulates in one short paragraph, why there’s some history to support this contention. (Going even beyond Edgar Bergen’s leaving Charlie McCarthy $10,000 in his will, Candace also informs us).
“Not only was ventriloquism seen as a form of entertainment, but at one time it was also considered a religious practice that some believed was a way for God to speak through a human. Conversely, some people, such as Joseph Glanvill, author of the 16th century book Saducismus Triumphatus or Full and Plain Evidence Concerning Witches and Apparitions, claimed that ventriloquism was a form of demon possession and was an example of the devil using a human as a "mouthpiece."
Ventriloquism depictions as something evil, have appeared frequently in the pop culture. Many movies and TV episodes have been built around this theme. A few include "The Dummy" (from The Twilight Zone), Devil Doll, Dead Silence, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Tales from the Crypt, Friday the 13th and Magic, starring Anthony Hopkins. And there was even a live show dealing directly with it, at Coney Island not that long ago. (An appropriate place for such fare I'd say).
I have felt that there is almost something theological about it. Though I’m not sure when that notion kicked in or why. Perhaps steeped in my parochial school training, and later at a Catholic college with theology courses in the curriculum? But as for the ventriloquist being a devil? No. For me, that’s the game show host. (Enticing simple people with worldly prizes. But that's for another day).
All this by way of introducing a poem I’d written many years ago, but only read publicly for the first time last month. When asked afterwards as to the inspiration for it, I couldn’t answer in any definitive way. You don’t get up one morning and decide, “I think I’ll write a poem today on ventriloquism.” It must have been sparked by something I came across somewhere, and what with that Catholic upbringing, caused it to combust? In any case, I find the subject matter intriguing. Really? No kidding.
The Ventriloquist
You don’t seem to see the ventriloquist anymore.
One man made in the “image of God,”
holding his own facsimile, downsized in wood.
The former decked out in formal attire;
the latter with its knees at ninety degrees
bent beneath a pair of snazzy slacks,
and perfectly at home with a hand up his back.
Head in constant spin as if to keep tabs on the master.
Then the eye rolls telegraphing it cannot believe
the drivel coming from this crazy man’s mouth.
The audience—its own mouth agape—devours it whole.
An art form in perversity? This talking to oneself?
And through lips locked in semi-smile no less?
And through teeth enmeshed and gritted?
Yet he would swear, that the dummy has a life of its own
if someone were so inclined as to inquire.
How did it start? How did it end?
What first impulse conceived this creation:
a frontispiece in wood for cracking wise?
And how long did it go on to rapt attention;
this repartee between the mahogany and the flesh?
Was it we then who decided that we’d all had heard enough?
Or had the master sensed the time had come
to move his lips and move on.
Word of the Month
codswallop
/ˈkädzˌwäləp/
Noun
British, informal
: words or ideas that are foolish or untrue : NONSENSE
source: Merriam-Webster
Origin
Said to be from about 1870 (but first attested 1959), perhaps from wallop, British slang for "beer," and cod in one of its various senses, perhaps "testicles."
Used in a sentence
(as from Stephen King in “On Writing A Memoir of the Craft” (Twentieth-Anniversary Edition, 2020)
On the whole, I think I prefer the weekly codswallop served up by the National Enquirer where I can get recipes and cheesecake photographs as well as scandal.
finito
M&M’s: Not Getting the Joke or the Woke
I completed a piece about a week ago entitled “In the Realm of the M&M’s.” It began with, “The only thing you needed to know about M&M’s, was that they...'Melt in your mouth. Not in your hand'.”
This was followed by a brief history of the brand and how their colorful so-called “spokescandies” came into existence almost thirty years ago. Multi-colored button-shaped mascots who have since taken on lives of their own. Kind of a cute backstory. A day later, I had to scrap it. We know now, that M&M's also melt in the heat of the Cultural Wars.
It was announced the day following my piece, that Mars Incorporated, the maker of M&M’s, was dumping these iconic mascots. Or at least putting them in a holding tank for some indeterminate amount of time? It wasn't quite clear. And so I say, a plague on both their houses. That of Mars, the company, and Mars, the planet. A place inhabited by those who could become unglued over shoes worn by cartoon characters. More on that in a bit. But to restart at the beginning.
In numbers, these mascots are seven. Though not to be confused with the Chicago Seven, I imagine them in a police lineup. Their colors are their names.
While the Brown one (an executive type), traded in her stiletto heels for pumps, the focus was on Green. The “sexy” one. Who was acting too much like Mae West apparently. And now going from go-go-style boots to casual sneakers? She is the one most suspect. "She" might even be “trans,” some have speculated. (Notice how she was no longer being called Ms Green?).
Of course Tucker Carlson was apoplectic about all of this. “M&M’s will not be satisfied until every last cartoon character is deeply unappealing and totally androgynous until the moment where you wouldn’t want to have a drink with any one of them. That’s the goal.” (What would be the preferred drink of an M&M, I wonder?) But he was in favor of Green’s boots.
Even the esteemed Washington Post, the legendary newspaper that uncovered Watergate and brought down a presidency, took a stand on this critical matter. “The M&M’s changes aren’t progressive. Give Green her boots back.” And the left-leaning, Rolling Stone, chimed in with a headlined article describing the change as “nothing more than tectonic (i.e. huge). Thousands have signed a petition to keep the green M&M sexy.”
Boots or no boots, a woman pundit on FOX News, with no tongue in cheek— and you can’t make this up— called Green “a snake” and “a conniving, climbing little bitch” and “an opportunistic little bitch” and suggested you should, “run from women like the Green M&M.”
So what is Mars saying about their abrupt about-face? Going from recently redesigning their mascots, to dumping them entirely? They Tweeted , within a nifty graphic, the following:
This following that just 26 days prior, they had announced that they were issuing a limited edition of an all-female pack. One containing only Purple (a new addition last September), Brown and Green — the candy’s trio of females. Who are upside-down on the front of the bag. An explanation came forthwith on January 5th.
"Women all over the world are flipping how they define success and happiness while challenging the status quo. So we're thrilled to be able to recognize and celebrate them – and who better to help us on that mission than our own powerhouse “spokescandies” Green, Brown and Purple?"
To give this sincerity some credibility, $1 from each pack sold was to go towards women-empowerment organizations.
Of course, that was then; this is now. Mars will introduce Maya Rudolph on February 12th in a Super Bowl ad. Her "belovedness," will be put to the test. And already, some are speculating that this is a ploy to bring full attention to the brand. And who knows, those mascots might even show up in the same commercial commiserating with each other over losing their jobs. Maybe even urging people to vote for their return, by going to the M&M's website, of course.
A marketing professor at Loyola, Linda Tuncay Zayer, concurs. She notes that “it’s common for companies to try to string out their Super Bowl ad buys by crafting a larger narrative around them.”
I’d be the last one to scoff at a marketing ploy, having worked at advertising agencies for over 30 years. And am one who has obsessed over Oreos of all things, waxing almost poetic at times, on their quintessence. Who has sung in praise of their imaginative transformation. But this M&M attempt at redefining itself, and in such an inconsistent manner, has taken them down a rabbit hole. A place where they have plenty of company. Twitter has been abuzz in its mockery from both sides of the political spectrum, in regards to every chapter in this M&M saga. But I think one Tweet in particular, succinctly puts it all in perspective:
“Dumbest thing of the day. OMG…They’re friggen’ M&Ms.”
In the meantime, expect all things bearing the imagine and likeness of those mascots to become collectibles.
Moses Fleetwood Walker
If one were to ask 100 people at random, baseball fans and non-fans alike, who was the first African American to play baseball in the major leagues, 99, if not 100, would say Jackie Robinson. I would have said that too, five or six years ago. And we'd all be wrong. The correct answer is Moses Fleetwood Walker. (Note: Another black man who “passed for white” and claimed he was, once played in just one game before Walker's arrival; be there a nitpicker among us).
Baseball Days
He debuted in 1884 playing for the Toledo Blue Stockings, a short lived franchise of the American Association. A forerunner to what is now the American League. Sixty-three years before Jackie Robinson was said to have broken the “color barrier” in 1947.
Knowing what Robinson went through, can one imagine what Walker faced? Craig Brown, adjunct instructor at Kent State and Stark State College, paints this picture.
“When Moses Fleetwood Walker played, there were people in those crowds that owned slaves at one time. There were people in those crowds that were slaves at one time. If you think race relations are rough now, think of what they were like in 1884. In the culture of that time, people weren’t sure how biracial society would survive. The idea of social Darwinism was very evident.”
He played in only 43 games of the 100-game season that year. Though a skilled catcher, a grueling position which he played without a chest protector and the flimsiest of gloves if not with bare hands, he was often injured. And despite a batting average 23 points higher than that of the league at large, he was cut at the end of that season. His brother Weldy, who joined the club later that year for just six games, was the last African American major league player before Robinson’s arrival.
An unofficial ban fueled by an incensed rival player, Cap Anson, (an iconic Hall of Fame inductee in 1939), kept African Americans out of the Major Leagues for the next six decades. In effect, Moses Fleetwood Walker’s very appearance on the field precipitated the building of that color barrier that Robinson broke.
No longer permitted to play in the major leagues, he kicked around for the next five years playing for minor league teams. That ended in 1889 with the Syracuse Stars Base Ball Club when they cut him from the roster. He had been the only African American on that team of fine looking gentlemen.
A "Second Life"
So began the start of a second life. And rather interesting it was. Just two years after his "retirement"... “He was acquitted on a second-degree murder charge in Syracuse, New York, when an all-white jury ruled that he stabbed a white man in self-defense. (Zang, David W. (1995. Fleet Walker's Divided Heart). A 2015 play titled The Trial of Moses Fleetwood Walker depicted that 1891 racially-charged courtroom drama.
A highly intelligent and talented man (he had majored in philosophy and art at Oberlin college in Ohio), he now took on many roles and wore many hats. As a businessman, he reunited with his brother Weldy to assume the proprietorship of the LeGrande House, an opera theater and hotel. As an inventor, he improved film reels when nickelodeons were popularized. But it was as an editor of a weekly newspaper that he turned a good deal of his attention to the many issues involving his race. Unsurprising, given what he had undergone on and off the playing field.
It was during this time in 1909, that he wrote a 47 page treatise on the plight of African Americans in America.” And so what had been the answer to a trivia question for me, now became a man of fascination. It is not often a baseball player of any race takes on so heady a topic. The usual fare is an “As told to....” book recounting a player’s career. Invariably addressing such questions as “Who was the toughest pitcher you ever faced?” I had to pick up a copy of Walker's treatise. I searched on line and there it was. A facsimiled copy. (www.facsimilespublisher.com)
That Latin phrase on the cover translates... Act therefore, and lead the gods that we may follow by command. Which can be interpreted in various ways. But it is crystal clear as to where he’s coming from, right at the outset in the Preface.
"No one could entertain higher regard for the American white man and his magnificent civilization than the writer; and it is the appreciation of this fact, along with the infancy of Negro freedom, that forces the conclusion upon our mind that it is contrary to everything in the nature of man, and almost criminal to attempt to harmonize these two diverse peoples while living under the same government."
A black nationalist point of view, and hardly one embraced today. But his position comes from his life experience and to which he obviously has given much thought. It is a treatise, not a rant. The
whole issue of race was one still in flux; still "white hot" in his day. The Civil War was still looked at as recent history. African Americans in the 1890’s were hardly being treated as equals.
An Afterlife
Following his death in 1924 at age 67, it took almost 80 years for him to be recognized and honored. At least at the level of "favorite son" status. This in Toledo Ohio in 2003.
Years later, October 7th (Walker’s birthday) was officially designated as Moses Fleetwood Walker Day in Ohio.
State Rep. Michael Ashford of Toledo, who in 2017 championed the bill that brought this about, had this to say in Walker's behalf:
Around that time, the beloved minor league team, the Toledo Mud Hens, had opened their new Fifth Third Field. Which is accessed through what is designated as Moses Fleetwood Walker Plaza. Along with a nearby sign designating a Square in his name. And in another part of Ohio, his birthplace is now marked.
“When he played, there were Jim Crow laws. They spiked him. They spit on him. They did everything they could. There was open discrimination, and he still played.
“The Moses Fleetwood Walker story is an American story about a constant need to fight for justice, equality and freedom. Hopefully, my colleagues in the Senate and House will agree with me that this is an important part of American history that we need to remember.”
But you really haven't made it until you have a bar named after you. Welcome to Fleetwood's Tap Room in Toledo, which opened in 2016. A wall of which is adorned with a reproduction of a mural in Steubenville.
Conspicuous by its absence in recognizing Walker, has been Major League Baseball. Though I'm an avid fan of the sport, and have followed it in person and through every form of media for the past 70 years, it was only a half of a dozen years ago when I first heard of Moses Fleetwood Walker. And that by happenstance while in search of a particular piece of baseball lore.
African Americans of accomplishment, and who are a part of the nation's history and culture, often go unnoticed. Or underappreciated. Which is the reason for Black History Month each February; first established in 1976 by President Ford during the celebration of the United States Bicentennial. And it begins once again, right about now. Depending on when you might be reading this.
Featuring...
Quote of the Month
muse-letter \’myüz-‘le-tər noun
1: a personal message, inspired by a muse of one's own creation, addressed to a person or organization, in the course of which, the sender becomes absorbed in thought, especially turning something over in the mind meditatively and often inconclusively.
2: a letter from a poet, or one who envisions oneself as such, in which he or she “muses” on that which is perceived to be news, or newsworthy, usually in some ironic or absurd way.
pre November 2018
Parts of the site under reconstruction
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