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The Daily Dose/May 2, 2011
By Gaylon Kent
The Writer's Shack
Notes from around the Human Experience...
CAREER MOVE: In a move that was purely academic and will make him a martyr to the zealots who follow him, US troops killed Osama bin Laden over the weekend. If this is a bulletin for you, if this column is the first you've heard of this, you really need to get out more. Seriously.
Tweet That Puppy: Not too surprising here in the second decade of the 21st century, the story was broken, almost inadvertently, on Twitter by some Indian dude who himself was more or less in hiding. Sohaib Athar, an Indian IT consultant who fled his native India to get away from it all in Abbottabad, noted Monday morning (Pakistani time) that there appeared to be helicopters flying overhead, rare for Abottabad at one in the morning.
Uh-Oh: Athar also noted the helicopter did not appear to be Pakastani and "sounded purposeful".
Warm, Personal Remembrance: We were farting around the Internet when we noted President Obama was going to address the nation on a 'national security issue" later that evening.
Conspiracy Theory: Great, we thought. The loonies who kept blabbing about Obama being a Muslim spy who would turn this country over to Allah were right. Obama would make a gracious speech about what nice run America had, then turn and don a keffiyeh preparatory to signing some paperwork voiding the Constitution and turning America over to the Muslims. To emphasize his point, he would then personally behead Vice-President Joe Biden.
Just Shoot Me: The worst part was being obliged to wait an hour for the speech. We've been tee vee free here at the Writer's Shack for years, but it was easy enough to find online, though why we put up with the halfwits at MSNBC for so long is still beyond us.
Warm, Personal Remembrance II: We were reminded about something a city editor we once worked for said after 9/11. He noted that while tee vee was good for immediate coverage of events, after five minutes they were reduced to repeating themselves and that we still needed newspapers to provide the thoughtful reporting and analysis tee vee is unwilling - though certainly not unable - to provide.
He was right, and it was no different as we - heroically, we feel - listened to both MSNBC and CBS repeat themselves incessantly for the hour we were obliged to wait for the President to start speaking, though we do note that CBS was considerably less noxious than the blatherskites at MSNBC.
Fast Forward: Ten years later Twitter and others of their ilk have even replaced television for immediacy, of course, and newspapers can be read online now, but the point is the same: it was comforting to wake up this morning and find the newspaper's role hasn't changed: to be there in the morning after a momentous event to tell us, over coffee and without someone yapping in our ear, what really happened.
Fly In The Ointment: Pakistan doesn't seem to be getting too worked up over the fact we invaded their country - whom we are on more or less peaceful terms with - and the middle of the night and killed a few people, so we're not going to get too worked up about it either.
Effing Ay Ditty Bag: Those who have never been in the service may think it's one of those deals where everyone is rooting for everyone else, but you'd be wrong. Interservice rivalries are rather strong, and - as former sailors - we are pleased to note it was Navy SEALs that carried out the mission that killed Osama.
Dry, Technical Matter: "Effing ay ditty bag" is a rather technical Naval term, generally - though not always - used to note affirmation or to provide an otherwise positive response to a query. For added emphasis tack the expletive 'goddammit' on at the end.
Ten Hut! A ditty bag is a bag you were issued at the start of Navy boot camp. It was white, a couple-trhee feet long with a drawstring at the top, and you kept your toiletries in it, or maybe your sneakers and swim suit and writing material. Or maybe all of those things. Details are fuzzy right now. It was a long time ago, and we no longer have our government issued ditty bag.
HUBBA HUBBA: Anne Boleyn, queen consort to England's Henry VIII, is imprisoned on this date in 1536 on charges of adultery, incest and treason, though her real crimes were failing to produce an heir and feuding with the sovereign. She would be executed on May 19.
Get Out Your History Book: Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals becomes the first player in major league history to hit five home runs in a doubleheader on this date in 1954. Musial hit three home runs in the first game against the New York Giants, a 10-6 Cardinals win. He hit two more in the second game, which the Giants won 9-7.
Oh Yeah: The feat would be equaled by Nate Colbert of the Padres in 1972.
This Ball Is Gone…And So Is This One! The Minnesota Twins become the third team in major league history to hit four consecutive home runs in an inning on this date in 1964. Tony Oliva, Bob Allison, Jimmie Hall and Harmon Killebrew all hit home runs to start the eleventh inning against the A's at Municipal Stadium in Kansas City. The Twins would win 7-3.
Fly In The Ointment: Earl Battey broke the streak by striking out.
FunFact: The Milwaukee Braves (1961) and the Cleveland Indians (1963) were the first two teams to do it. Since then, it's been done by the Los Angeles Dodgers (2006), the Boston Red Sox (2007) and the Chicago White Sox (2008).
Thought For The Day: She'd often observed that people generally lived up to whatever expectations they had of themselves. Emily Brightwell, The Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries
Answer To The Last Trivia Question: The Lincoln Cathedral in London was the first world's tallest building that wasn't a pyramid. It held the record from 1311- 1549.
Today's Stumper: What is the origin of the term 'ditty bag'? - Answer next time!
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