Roll Over Beethoven

My youngest daughter had to write an essay for school. "Why is it important that we know the great men and women of the past?" was the assignment.

She asked me what she should write. I thought of all the great men and women. The scientists, the writers, the philosophers, the composers and the poets. I tried to find a common denominator for all of them.

If there was one, it must be something like this: they all said "those before me were wrong, I can do better than them! I can take mankind a step forward!" That's what the essay should be about.

I imagine Beethoven discarding the music of Haydn. That ain't the way to do it. I'll show them what real music is like (only later to have Mr. Berry tell him to roll over). Copernicus, laughing of the old fools who thought that the sun was revolving around Earth - what were they thinking about? too much church and too little serious work. Einstein taking science a step ahead with his Theory of Relativity. Dylan Thomas finding a new way with words. They all discarded what went before them and took mankind a step ahead in their particular field.

My daughter didn't buy it. "I don't think that's what my teacher wants", she said.

She went to her Mum for help. They came up with something about standing on the toes or shoulders or heads or something of really big people, so as to be able to see farther ahead.

She got a very good mark for the essay!

tell Tschaikowsky the news

So far no young minds have been depraved

Sport stars have to behave well. They have to set an example for the young. Their bad behaviour may deprave the minds of their young fans. They have a responsibility.

One evening one of these stars, far away from home in a foreign town, has decided to stay overnight and booked into a hotel. He goes out for a meal. His is recognised by some fans and agrees to go with them to bar for a drink.

(NB! So far no young minds have been depraved).

They, of course, all want to tell him how much they admire his accomplishments, and they all want to buy him a drink.

(NB! So far no young minds have been depraved).

Actually he had not done to well in the competition that day. He had been training hard for the event. He is disappointed and feels a low.

(NB! So far no young minds have been depraved).

It’s comforting to hear the praise of the supporters. The next event is well into the future. He makes an exception to his normally very strict way of living, and accepts the drinks he’s offered.

(NB! So far no young minds have been depraved).

He has more drinks, that he should have had (we all do once in a while, don’t we?). It’s getting late. Only him and his supporters are left in the bar.

  (NB! So far no young minds have been depraved).

At last he gets in a taxi and goes back to the hotel. The drinks are hitting hard now, and his has difficulty finding the right button to press in the lift.

  (NB! So far no young minds have been depraved).

Another hotel guest helps him. And he recognises the young star. This is something, and the posts a note about it on Facebook for his friends to see.

  (NB! So far no young minds have been depraved).

Unfortunately, the other guest is a semi-public figure, and a journalist gets the story. The next day the story hits the headlines. And the star is admonished for setting a bad example for the youth.

Shoot the messenger!

(This little story is inspired by, but not based on, a real story).

Reality Shows

I met an old class mate the other day. In a cafe in the small town where we both grew up, and where we went to the same school, sat in the same class for several years.

We were never really close friends. He was a bit of a bragger. His dad’s fancy car, his uncle’s boxing career, his new electric guitar and his rich record collections with records brought home from the USA by his sister. In fact, to put it bluntly, he was a pain in the ass.

We talked about the old days, of the old friends, what happened to them, et cetera. He seemed quite sympathetic now. You know, people can change. I couldn’t help asking, if he remembered how he used to brag about himself.

“Yea! I remember”, he said. “It must have been quite terrible. I realised later how ridiculous I was. But I have changed.”

He was home visiting his old mother. His father had died a few years ago. He was now living in the big town. Had actually done quite well. A beautiful wife and four kids. They had just been to the Caribbean for three weeks. Chartered a boat and went around the islands. It had been difficult getting time off from work, as he was the only one in the company who had any real understanding of their new market in China.

I would have liked to have heard more about it, but he had to leave. His chauffeur was waiting with the Bentley round the corner. It was only after I had finished my coffee, that I noticed that his wallet was lying on the floor. It must have slipped out of his jacket. I picked it up. It was too late to get out in the street to try to follow him. I opened the wallet to find his address. It was there on his bus pass.

I thought he was already dead

Some people seem to fade away but then when they are truly gone, it’s like they didn’t fade away at all. It is Bob Dylan writing this in Chronicles: 1. He is writing about the passing away of the famous basketball player Pete Maravich (Pistol Pete) in 1988.

We, no doubt, all know the situation. One day the front page has the news of the death of one of the heroes of our younger days. “I thought he was already dead” we sometimes say to yourself.

There was a time when they were part of your life. Heroes you identified yourself by. Heroes who made the headlines. Heroes who you talked about with your friends. Heroes whose works or deeds were discussed in depth while the number of empty bottles around you grew rapidly.

And then they faded away. The sports stars, because they got too old to practise their sports at the highest level.  The artists because you can’t invent yourself over and over again. Because someone else came up with a new and interesting angle or style. Because celebrity keeps you away from real people and real life. Because… the times they are a-changin.

And then someday they are there, back on the front page again. They come alive again – for at short time - because they have died.

The media runs features on their lives. You browse your record collection (for the young: a primitive forerunner of iTunes, where the number of scratches tells you just how good the music is, and the number of beer stains on the sleeve, if it is party music or not). You look at your bookshelves. You takes down a book, hold it in your hand and look at it.

And then they are back with you. They didn’t fade away at all. They were always somewhere within you - and will always be

NB! Bob Dylan is not dead