QUARANTINE BLOG # 144

August 21, 2020

With nothing better to do today, I counted the number of words in one of this week’s blogs (not by hand, WordPerfect does it for me), then using that as an average, multiplied  by the number of quarantine blogs I’ve written so far: total 171,600 words.

Then I asked Google how many words there are in War and Peace (a volume people often think of when considering a large book) – 587,287.  That means in order to reach Leo Tolstoy’s total, I’ll have to keep writing until I reach QB 489 – July 30, 2021 – to top Tolstoy.

I enjoy writing these Quarantine Blogs, but my prayer is that the vaccines under way to protect us against the coronavirus will be successful, and the herd immunity they will produce will have us out of quarantine long before then.  And then I can find something else to count.  And to write about.

Oh, one more thing.  QB is free.  A first edition set of War and Peace (3 volumes – English translation, 1886) at https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30582090457&searchurl=prl%3D30000%26prh%3D34128%26bi%3D0%26ds%3D30%26bx%3Doff%26sortby%3D17%26kn%3Dtolstoy%2Bwar%2Band%2Bpeace%26recentlyadded%3Dall&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-title2 is $ 34,040.77.  Plus shipping.

👉  Here’s one from our seldom visited “Where Did That Come From Department.”  How did the word “diehard” develop?

While it typically refers to someone with a strong dedication to a particular set of beliefs, the term “diehard” originally had a series of much more literal meanings.  In its earliest use in the 1700s, the expression described condemned men who struggled the longest when they were executed by hanging.  The phrase later became popular during the Napoleonic Wars when, in the midst of one brutal fight, a wounded British officer named William Inglis urged his unit forward by bellowing,  “Stand your ground and die hard … make the enemy pay dear for each of us!”  Inglis’ 57th Regiment suffered 75 percent casualties during the battle, and went on to earn the nickname “the Die Hards.”

👉  Cincinnati Reds broadcaster Thom Brennaman used a homophobic slur – having or showing a dislike of or prejudice against homosexual people – during the first game of a Reds-Royals doubleheader on Fox Sports Ohio Wednesday night.  He apologized on-air more than two hours after the incident and then removed himself from the broadcast.  Late Wednesday night, the Reds announced that Brennaman had been suspended.

“The Cincinnati Reds organization is devastated by the horrific, homophobic remark made this evening by broadcaster Thom Brennaman,” the Reds wrote in a statement. “We share our sincerest apologies to the LGBTQ+ community in Cincinnati, Kansas City, all across this country, and beyond.  The Reds embrace a zero-tolerance policy for bias or discrimination of any kind, and we are truly sorry to anyone who has been offended.”

Zero-tolerance policy for bias or discrimination of any kind.  Good idea.  Unevenly practiced.

As the televised game was coming back live, Brennaman called a city he did not name (or the microphone did not catch) “_____ capital of the world.”  Homophobic slur is the way report after report called it.  Curious to know what one word had cost the man his job, I had to dig deep to find it: fag.

When was the last time anyone lost their job, or even had someone look askance with a raised eyebrow when a Christianophobic slur was used?

Bible beater.  Bible basher.  Bible thumper.  Fundie (short for fundamentalist).  God botherer (someone who shares their faith openly).  Holy roller.  Prod (protestant).  Left-footer (used in the armed forces in the UK for a Roman Catholic).  Mackerel snapper (another Catholic slur, from the days of eating fish on Friday).  Molly Mormon (stereotype for a “perfect” female member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).

How about some slurs of other religions?  Heeb (for Hebrew or Jew).  Other anti-Jewish slurs: Jewboy,  Kike, Yid.  And let’s continue our insults: Mussie (Muslim), Raghead (Sikh), Clam (Scientolotist). 

Shoot, let’s be ecumenical and include non-believers of any religion or sect: Infidel, Heathen, Pagan.

First prize to the first person who comes up with the report of anyone being fired for using any of those religionophobic slurs.

👉  Today is National Senior Citizens Day.  In 1988, House Joint Resolution 138 designated August 21 as National Senior Citizens Day.  Accordingly, President Ronald Reagan issued Proclamation 5847.  The original legislation called for those over the age of 55 to be honored.

There continues to be a debate over at what age one becomes a senior citizen.  Some say 55, while others say 62, 65, or 67.  On National Senior Citizens Day, it seems appropriate that anyone who wishes to identify as a senior citizen and is over the age of 55 should be able to be honored.  If you are over 55 and do not wanted to be saluted as a senior citizen, kindly make your exception known and we will not honor you.

👉  Back to Bond.  After Diamonds Are Forever, Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman tried to convince Sean Connery to return as Bond, but he declined.  They finally turned to Roger Moore, whom they had previously discussed for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, but who had been unavailable, and he was ultimately cast to play Bond in Live and Let Die.  At the time Moore was an established television actor, known for his performances as Simon Templar in The Saint and Lord Brett Sinclair in The Persuaders!, in both of which he played a “charming, debonair, international playboy,” a persona he carried into seven James Bond films.

Critics said Moore was too nice and well-mannered to be a James Bond of any real substance.  To make Moore’s character appear tougher, a Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum – which at the time was associated with the macho image of the Clint Eastwood character, Dirty Harry – was chosen for Moore to use in Live and Let Die rather than Bond’s usual choice of Walther PPK.  Moore returned to the Walther for later films.

Moore’s third offering as 007, The Spy Who Loved Me,  is one of the best movies in the entire series.  It has a great pre-title ski chase that ends in a rousing parachute jump from a cliff that proudly displays the Union Jack https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX5CO8yWVko; a stunningly beautiful Bond Girl, KGB agent Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach), who goes by the code name Agent XXX; a classic Bond villain Karl Stromberg (Curt Jürgens) hell-bent on destroying the world; and everybody’s favorite indestructible henchman, Jaws (Richard Kiel), who uses overwhelming strength and reinforced steel teeth to overpower his victims https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPobx4mlEPA.  The film contain one of the series’ most memorable theme songs, “Nobody Does It Better,” by Carly Simon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isAUOa50wdA.

Personal note: 40 years ago I met Richard Kiel on a flight to the Left Coast to attend a meeting of the Evangelical Press Association (I was an editor with the Church of God Evangel).  Kiel and Tim Conway had just completed filming They Went That-A-Way & That-A-Way, and were flying home.  Sitting in the lounge, waiting to board, I told Kiel that I had enjoyed his portrayal of Jaws in TSWLM (he would reprise the character in Moonraker).  Several people asked him if he was Lurch from The Adams Family (that was Ted Cassidy) and Kiel was politely annoyed by the confusion.  Anyway, Conway had a seat in first class; Kiel was in coach (me too).  The last I saw of Richard Kiel, he was met by his family at the airport and when he picked up his youngest child, the little one was almost hidden in Kiel’s massive hand.  They piled into an old station wagon and left the airport.  Conway was picked up by a limo.

👉  A short, but powerful close today from Nancy Spiegelberg.

“Lord, I crawled across the barrenness to you with my empty cup uncertain in asking any small drop of refreshment.  If only I had known you better I’d have come running with a bucket.”

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