Paul Newman

I did not know Paul Newman and have never known anyone who did know him. All I know is what I’ve read (not much) and his movies.

My impression is that he lived life his own way, not giving a whit what other people thought (other than his family and close friends). Paul Newman always went his own way. I have aspired to the same path.

He didn’t seem to need praise from other people. He didn’t need other people to tell him how good he was. He didn’t need awards. His self-esteem was self-generated based on his internal standards. I have aspired to the same path.

“Just standing in the rain, talking to myself.” Remember that scene from “Cool Hand Luke”? This might have been the most philosophical thing a Paul Newman character ever said. I love that scene.

“We have only to believe in ourselves, and act for justice.” If you need me to tell you which movie this one is from, then you are not a real Paul Newman fan. I have a feeling that Paul Newman believed in himself. I have aspired to the same path.

“I’m the best and even if you beat me, I’m still the best.” he says to Minnesota Fats. I think I liked Paul Newman best when he did those characters (like Hud) with that attractive arrogance, like Henry Gondorff in “The Sting” when he wins at poker on that train by cheating and laughs at Doyle Lonnegan.

Paul Newman seemed to be always youthful, always magnanimous, always progressive politically. There was a lot to like and respect in Paul Newman. His legacy will live on.

Try this Quiz

Try this quiz to see how many of the 100 most common words you can name in five minutes. I got only 35!

http://quizicon.com/quiz?id=37

Teaspoons or the LSU game?

T.S. Eliot said that we measure our lives in teaspoons. Sometimes I think I measure my life by football season.

Auburn plays LSU tomorrow. After last Saturday night's horror show in Starkville, I am not optimistic about the orange and blue coming out on top. But I always remember this historic football game from years gone past.

I remember the 1970 game when LSU beat us in the rain in Auburn.
I remember 1994 when all seemed lost in Terry Bowden's second season when we had yet to lose a game and we had all of those interceptions in an improbable comback win.
There was 2004 after Hurricane Ivan when we were on our way to an undefeated season.
Then last year when we lost on that last-second LSU TD pass.

The game is at Jordan-Hare at night. That's our best hope

In Starkville

With Freddy living these days in Tuscaloosa, it was an easy drive over to Starkville, Mississippi, for the Auburn/Mississippi State football game last Saturday. It was an enjoyable trip even though the game was one of if not the ugliest wins in Auburn football history.

The Tigers win 3 to 2 in a game in which our defense was sterling and our offense was terrible, terrible. I can't recall ever seeing a worse Auburn offense. It was PAINFUL to watch, but at least we won.

It was good being back Starkville. I called on this school for many years, and it will always be one of favorite campuses.

We were able to have nice visits with Freddy's friends Corey, Lynn, and Alex. They are young people Freddy's age whom he met in Auburn.

We hope to see more games this year with better outcomes on the field!

Doo-Rail

We took our cat Doo-Rail to a specialist today. Several months ago he developed a lesion---a red spot---on his tummy. Our vet diagnosed it as something with a long name. The normal treatment is steriod shots, but because the cat is diabetic, we could not administer shots. Instead Doo-Rail has been taking a steriod ointment rubbed in twice a day. The problem is that the ointment was not helping.

The specialist is a small-animal dermatologist from the Auburn vet school who comes to town on Wednesdays to the vet hospital on Acton Road. He tells us that spots like Doo-Rail has are normally caused by allergies. He does a skin test and sure enough, the indication is that this is allergy caused. We are switching to a different medicine and we are getting blood work done which should indicate the precise nature of the allergy. Then we will administer allergy injections.

Animals are like people. If you have a serious problem, see a specialist.

The Late Great City of San Francisco

I returned from my latest soiree in San Francisco thinking that the most exciting days of this great American city are probably behind us. I am not saying that San Francisco is in decline; I AM saying that its glory is most likely in its past.

I’ve read about and seen footage of that cataclysmic event of 1907 when The City collapsed like a house of cards. How many cities can claim to have been totally destroyed by an earthquake and then rebuilt from scratch? The sheer thrill of it all!

It was in San Francisco in 1955 when Allen Ginsberg first publicly recited his poem “Howl.” I have no first-hand report from that reading, but I’ve read about how awed the crowd was. If I had been there, THAT would have been something to tell my grandkids about.

We associate Kerouac and The Beats with San Francisco. Though I came along too late to consider myself a Beat, I do identify strongly with their innate philosophy. The word “beat” came from their feeling of being beaten down by the conformity and repression of American society in the 50’s. I feel beaten down by American society in 2008.

In 1966 thousands of young people descended on The City with flowers in their hair heading for Haight-Ashbury. Sex, drugs, & rock and roll was born here. I do have a first-hand report on this one. My former roommate, Young Boozer III, was there, albeit a little late---in 1970. Young grew up in Tuscaloosa---his father Young Boozer, Jr., was on the U of Alabama Board of Trustees---but his Dad sent him to Stanford. Young told me how he visited Haight-Ashbury in that year. By then all you saw, he said, were hippie wannabes, with everyone running around yelling, “Peace, Peace”! and giving the peace sign with one hand while trying to pick tourist’s pockets with the other hand. The fun, he said, was separating the hippie wannabes from the FBI and the CIA operatives who spent their vacations milling around the area in training to be wannabes.

I like to think that in 1966 it was “real.” But then John Lennon said in his song “Strawberry Fields Forever” that “nothing is real.” So who knows.

If something new and novel does come along in San Francisco, the problem is that 400,000 tourists would be there to see it the next day. If you hear of something new and interesting in S.F, better get there early before the herd shows up.

In 1967 we Sixties People had the Summer of Love. Growing up in a small town in Alabama, I had to experience most of it vicariously, but in my mind I associate that summer with San Francisco and Monterrey, Mexico (the Monterrey Pop Festival). Since Mexico is in the process of moving to California, it has all come together in 2008. (The more fortunate South-of-the-Border up-and-comers make it to Alabama)

Rolling Stone magazine was founded in San Francisco in 1967 and remained there for 10 years before removing to New York. If nothing else, S.F. will always have a warm spot in my heart for being the birthplace of all-time favorite magazine. I still have old copies from the 70’s that I pull out of the trunk and read on occasion.

While in San Francisco this time I went looking for a “San Francisco Liberal.” The term seems to be in common usage. The only one I know for sure is Speaker Pelosi, and unfortunately, I did not see her while I was there. I asked the desk clerk when I checked into the hotel if she knew where I could find a San Francisco Liberal, and later I asked the concierge, but neither seemed to know what I was talking about. I asked the bellhop who took my luggage to my room. At least HE laughed, knowing what I was talking about, but said he didn’t know any San Francisco Liberals. You would think that hotel help would be better trained. San Francisco Liberals should be icons along with that bridge they talk so much about and the cable cars. I left S.F. disappointed at not finding a bona fide San Francisco Liberal.

I used to think that if I had the McCain’s money---if I had married a woman with a $100,000,000 beer nest egg---I might have one of my houses in the Bay Area. But no, I think I would pass now. I might have ONE of my 7 houses (was that the last count?) in California, but not in San Francisco. That city’s most exciting days are in the past.

Of course the San Andreas Fault can decide that its next hiccup will be in Northern Cal rather than Southern Cal. In that case, all bets are off.