Terry

Joined

• started 1,986 topics
• posted 18,437 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by Terry

• 
  29

  The "Good Old Days" - what made em' good?

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  have you ever heard the phrase:.

  well, since i can't sleep tonight - you're gonna hear my version of what it means.. .

  so, just suck it up and deal.. .

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Terry

  Without being overly romantic about it - shared experiences are what unite us and
  today's tribalism and conflict have far less to do with politics than we might think.
  
  My shared experiences with my great grandmother, grandmother and grandfather and mother made me far more open to what their generations had to offer.
  I was not a rebellious teen.
  My big disruption was in religious belief.
  My family had no religious shared experience and it left me fair game for JW teachings.
• 
  3

  Starman - the astronomer clown

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is a childhood memory.

  i and a few other scraggly urchins stood awkwardly in a circle surrounding "starman" as he demonstrated one of his baffling magic tricks.there was a garden faucet suspended in mid-air with water running out!head scratching followed.. "how do you do that, starman?".

  wayne, the mean kid from down by the tracks demanded to know.starman turned the spigot and the water ceased flowing.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Terry

  There is no field of human endeavor in which you can rise high enough to allow you
  to question basic assumptions of that field.
  Apostate is the dirtiest word of all.
  While heroic in some sense of letting the public discover dirty secrets, "whistleblowers"
  are damned, tortured, imprisoned, and all but destroyed.
  
  Perhaps families, institutions, religions, and society itself are most fragile because of the glue holding it all together being "assumptions" which must not be questioned.
  
  Curiosity dismantles a working mechanism. But all the King's horses and all the King's men can't put Humpty together again.
• 
  3

  Starman - the astronomer clown

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is a childhood memory.

  i and a few other scraggly urchins stood awkwardly in a circle surrounding "starman" as he demonstrated one of his baffling magic tricks.there was a garden faucet suspended in mid-air with water running out!head scratching followed.. "how do you do that, starman?".

  wayne, the mean kid from down by the tracks demanded to know.starman turned the spigot and the water ceased flowing.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Terry

  THIS IS A CHILDHOOD MEMORY

  I and a few other scraggly urchins stood awkwardly in a circle surrounding "Starman" as he demonstrated one of his baffling magic tricks.
  There was a garden faucet suspended in mid-air with water running out!
  Head scratching followed.
  
  

  "How do you do that, Starman?"

  Wayne, the mean kid from down by the tracks demanded to know.
  Starman turned the spigot and the water ceased flowing. He cocked his head toward Wayne and forced a smug grin.

  "I do it very well, I'd say."

  Each visit from Starman was special for one or the other of us. He would select one child and go off with him (some place out of sight) to tell a tale of astronomical interest, circus hijinx, or magic.

  I was the youngest kid on the block and never got chosen.

  I asked the older kids but nobody said a word.

  "Starman said if we tell--he'll stop coming around. Magic is secret and we swore."

  My feelings were hurt. I was the odd boy out. This wasn't unusual. I never fit in any place either on my block, at school, or at games the others played.

  "Who is that strange man?"

  My grandmother had noticed with her keen eye. There was something dark in the tone of her query.
  She definitely refused to accept my reply.

  "He's an astronomer-clown who knows lots of magic. He lives in the circus and ---"

  Grandma interrupted immediately. Her face was flushed.

  "Next time that man comes around you come straight in the house and tell me. You hear?"

  This frightened me but I didn't know why. I was worried I'd end up being blamed by the others if Starman stopped coming around. I did agree to report any astronomer-clown sightings, however.
  _____

  Years later, I was reading a comic book and came across an advertisement for a book revealing magic tricks secrets and it brought to mind that summer when Starman stopped visiting.

  I had dutifully made my report and was told in no uncertain terms to remain inside the house while Grandma went out to speak to him.
  I was at the window straining to hear but the two of them were too far away.l

  Starman was wearing what he always wore; baggy khaki pants and a Hawaiian shirt. He never looked my Grandma in the eye and seemed to say very little. She was doing all the talking.

  He had turned to leave but the police car came around the corner and he froze in place.

  My heart almost stopped. The neighborhood kids would find out about this and I'd be blamed! I didn't see any of them because he hadn't had time to round anybody up thanks to my intervention.
  I remember the black and white police car and how the little red light on top revolved a bright flashing sentinel as I stood at the window without understanding any of what I saw.

  A minute or so later, the police drove away and Starman walked off sadly, unmolested by the law.

  My grandma had nothing to say to me. She shut me down completely.
  The astronomer-clown never returned.

  
  _______
  One of the young kids who lived three blocks away was named Don Jetton. He and I walked home from Morningside Elementary school together sometimes. He wasn't exactly a friend, but neither was he a bully like most of the others.

  I screwed my courage to the hilt one afternoon and asked him.

  "Why do you think Starman stopped coming to see us?"

  He froze for a moment in mid stride. His face paled.
  I watched a flicker of pain pass over him.
  "I told my Mom. I broke my swear. She made me."

  This brought immense relief!
  I was bracing myself for accusation--but all that paranoia went away suddenly and I broke out in a beaming smile.

  I was emboldened.
  "What did you tell your Mom about Starman?"

  He stared at me with a strange expression.
  "Mom told me to never ... ever talk about that."

  I could see he wanted to tell me. What should I say?
  How could I convince him it was okay?

  As I was scheming in my head, Don Jetton turned to me and straight away let it all out in a streaming confessional.

  "He explained about the Big Bang and how many billions of years ago stuff suddenly happened and ...also how you could tell how old the universe is by something called redshift and... I can't explain it. I just listened and didn't ask any questions."

  "Why does any of that need keeping as a big secret?"

  "Cuz at the end of it all he was telling me...he leaned in close and whispered something in my ear."

  I waited until my patience ran out. Which was about five seconds.

  "Well, don't just stand there--TELL ME."

  I can't describe the guilty look on Don Jetton's face but it looked like he was about to pass out.

  "I'm waiting. Just say it already."

  He swallowed hard and made his decision. He pulled near and leaned toward my ear which caused me to pull back. I don't know what I was thinking he was going to do. Well, maybe I do. I thought he was going to kiss me. He didn't.

  He whispered so softly I made him repeat it.

  As soon as he told me, I had to stand pretty quietly for about a minute. My wheels were turning.
  I took what he said and matched it with the mysterious behavior and secrets and one kid at a time going off conspiratorily with Starman where nobody could see what was going on.

  Finally, I nodded with understanding.

  I suppose I could understand the anger my Grandma showed and why she didn't want to say anything.

  Back then, in the 1950's, such matters were very very scandalous in the South. After all, it was the so-called Bible Belt.

  There were things you could never tell a child--especially somebody else's child.

  Starman had whispered forbidden words. Three of them.

  The astronomer-clown who was a magician had revealed a very creepy secret.

  "There's no God."
  _____
  
  It baffled me why his mere opinion
  Upset so many parents.
  Did parents believe his secret was dangerous because - like Santa-
  It was true?
  
  Or were adults in a kind of World of Wrestling conspiracy of fakery and pretending it is real
  and any whistle-blower was dangerous to their sport?
  
  I can't say. Can you?
  
  We all see the water flowing from the faucet - right?
• 
  29

  The "Good Old Days" - what made em' good?

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  have you ever heard the phrase:.

  well, since i can't sleep tonight - you're gonna hear my version of what it means.. .

  so, just suck it up and deal.. .

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Terry

  Have you ever heard the phrase:

  THE GOOD OLD DAYS?

  Well, since I can't sleep tonight - you're gonna hear my version of what it means.

  So, just suck it up and deal.

  _______

  ______

  
  

  Once Upon a Time there was RADIO.

  Every home had a radio.

  Radios were a BIG piece of furniture not as big as a refrigerator, but taller than your little brother, Timmy.

  
  

  1930s

  The golden age of radio — the period when radio reached its peak popularity with general audiences — was in the 1930s and 1940s. Strangely, part of this period was during the great depression in North America when people were doing without most luxuries, and even a few seeming necessities.

  
  

  Radio was a SHARED EXPERIENCE.

  Cultures which didn't like each other - without realizing it - shared the same love of the same radio dramas.

  THE SHADOW

  DICK TRACY

  GANG BUSTERS

  AMOS n' ANDY

  LITTLE ORPHAN ANNIE

  THE LONE RANGER

  And on and on and on ...

  Think about that for a second, will you?

  Even people who hated each other sat down at the same time

  in front of a radio and listened "together" and laughed or cried about the same thing.

  A cultural miracle.

  
  

  People shared the SAME source: Radio.

  A window to the world.

  
  

  "Who cares?"

  "So what?"

  
  

  You don't want to miss my point: Radio was the glue which bound people together culturally when they didn't even know or like each other.

  
  

  Radio was imagination.

  A radio play took place inside your mind.

  The vividness was better than movies. Don't laugh. It's true.

  
  

  We all sang the same songs.

  We all laughed at the same (clean) jokes.

  
  

  Radio plays, mystery serials, soap operas, quiz shows, talent shows, daytime and evening variety hours, situation comedies, play-by-play sports, children's shows, cooking shows, and more.

  
  

  During the 1930s and 1940s, the leading orchestras were heard often through big band remotes, and NBC's Monitor continued such remotes well into the 1950s by broadcasting live music from New York City jazz clubs to rural America.

  
  

  The Golden Age of Radio featured the celebrated Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra, which had been created especially for him.

  
  

  At that time, nearly all classical musicians and critics considered Toscanini the greatest living maestro.

  
  

  Popular songwriters such as George Gershwin were also featured on radio. (Gershwin, in addition to frequent appearances as a guest, also had his own program in 1934.) The New York Philharmonic also had weekly concerts on radio.

  
  

  CULTURE was being formed and people glued together in their hearts and souls.

  
  

  That's what was "GOOD" about the Good Old Days.

  
  

  As a boy growing up in the 1950's, I listened with my great-grandmother, my grandfather, and my mother ...SHARING

  their tastes in music, humor, and a sense of what was fun.

  
  

  Today (need I remind you?) families are in individual bubbles, sealed off from each other with separate tastes, ideas, and living in different worlds. The 30s 40s 50s were NOT a Golden Age for ethnic groups or women. I'm not saying that. God no. I'm just focusing on what is called an ETHOS. (Look up the word). The absence of that ethos has made a big difference in our Society. That's my point. There shall be no new Good Old Days because of its absence.

  
  

  And that, my friends, is why we seem to be living in THE BAD OLD DAYS.

  We don't share the same collective tastes around a central space at the same time.

  
  

  We aren't together because we aren't together.

  
  

  And it will prove to be our undoing as a species.

  
  

  ____
• 
  9

  Step 1 : Steal a cadaver (Check!)

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  step 1. steal a cadaver (check!).

  i live in fort worth.

  fortunately, he preceded me by half a century!.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Terry

  Interesting responses my little essay has attracted.
• 
  9

  Step 1 : Steal a cadaver (Check!)

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  step 1. steal a cadaver (check!).

  i live in fort worth.

  fortunately, he preceded me by half a century!.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Terry

  
  
• 
  9

  Step 1 : Steal a cadaver (Check!)

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  step 1. steal a cadaver (check!).

  i live in fort worth.

  fortunately, he preceded me by half a century!.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Terry

  
  
  
• 
  9

  Step 1 : Steal a cadaver (Check!)

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  step 1. steal a cadaver (check!).

  i live in fort worth.

  fortunately, he preceded me by half a century!.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Terry

  Step 1. STEAL A CADAVER (Check!)

  ________________________

  I live in Fort Worth. For a time, so did serial murderer Henry Howard Holmes. Fortunately, he preceded me by half a century!

  Henry was an industrious young man who'd eventually become an extraordinary serial killer.

  Did he know his destiny? Hard to say.

  Here is what is known and true.

  Henry was a medical student with a wild imagination.
  There were all these dead bodies lying about and nobody to exploit them for profit. If only somebody could concoct a scam and collect money from insurance companies using those corpses...hmmm?
  
  
  
  

  Henry to the rescue! He was methodical.
  First things first ...and so on.

  Step 1. Steal a cadaver (Check!)

  Step 2. Steal the identity of the deceased. (Check!)

  Step 3. Take out a life insurance policy. (Check!)

  Step 4. Name yourself beneficiary in case of death. (Check!)

  Let’s cut to the chase...you’re getting ahead of the story. Obviously, Henry was able to collect plenty of money. After all, he could provide proof of death, right?

  The fun part was setting up an accident and positioning the body. Sound like a hoot? Well, for a future serial killer it sure would be!

  This sort of fraud was more exciting than some of Henry’s earlier schemes, profitable as they were, such as Mail Order cures for alcoholism. (Synopsis: stop drinking.)

  Then there was the wonderful contraption Henry invented which extracted “illuminating gas” from the water. (Do I have to tell you our boy had piped in natural gas from the city pipes?)

  Investors were impressed.

  The money rolled in. Henry rolled out.

  As Henry grew more sophisticated in his thinking, he turned to marrying rich widows!

  These women’s assets found their way into our ‘hero’s’ bank account shortly before the honeymooners went off on a trip around the world. Henry always came back. The spouse never did turn up! Divorce was unnecessary.

  30 years passed from the corpse theft days. All sorts of criminality found its way into Henry H. Holmes’ biography. Cattle theft was the least exciting, while hotel building proved to be one of the grandest and most grisly schemes this man’s twisted mind embarked upon for murderous purposes.

  I live in Fort Worth. For a time, so did serial murderer H.H. Holmes. In fact, Henry built a fabulous hotel in my fair city. The year is 1885 and the location was at the corner of Commerce St. and 2nd St.
  
  

  H.H.Holmes had married a railroad heiress in Cowtown and took possession and control of his wife and sister’s inheritance, their property, (before he murdered them).

  You can read the story on the front page of the Fort Worth Gazette in 1894.

  __________________________

  Upon prime downtown real estate Henry constructed a hotel which would house his own version of a chamber of horrors. Maybe...

  His customary scam consisted of creating a large project on prime property and utilizing the grandeur of the construction to con various businessmen and issuing promissory notes which would never be paid.

  Holmes (as Pratt) left Fort Worth owing so many people so much money one wonders at his prowess. The hotel had never been occupied. A large NO ADMITTANCE sign had been attached to prevent gawkers and the idly curious from wondering what those strange and mysterious halls and passageways were about.

  The property and its edifice languished uninhabited.
  
  

  Let’s call this building what newspapers later called it, TEXAS MURDER CASTLE. (After the fact of his arrest)

  Another newspaper called it THE RUSK STREET FIRETRAP.

  (Abandoned buildings tended to attract vagrants and accidents.)

  We can gather facts about his macabre building by comparing it with a previous hotel he also constructed during the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893.

  To wit:

  “The street-level floor was for shops and his pharmacy, while the upper two stories were hotel rooms (or boarding house rooms) and his office. However, the upper two stories were laid out like a maze, with doors that opened into walls, stairways that went nowhere, and gas pipes which he apparently controlled to suffocate people. There were also chutes and a dumbwaiter, purportedly intended to deliver the bodies of his victims to the basement where he might bury them, burn them in his own crematory ovens, or dissect and render them (in acid) in order to convert them to skeletons to sell to medical schools. He apparently lured quite a number of women into these torture chambers / charnel house, as well as a few men, before he was eventually found out.”

  ______________________

  The problem with being a serial killer, fraudster, thief, and Con man is having way too many loose ends to tie up before somebody gets wise and comes after you.

  H.H.Holmes was going by the name of O.C. Pratt in Fort Worth and one of his illicit enterprises involved a far more serious crime than serial murder: Horse thievery!

  It would not be an exaggeration to say, it was the horror at his making off with a railroad car filled with fine horses which got him run out of Fort Worth and eventually arrested in Chicago where his serial killing via Hotel Horror chambers brought him into the cross-hairs of police.

  His life’s work of death was thus interrupted before he could chalk up new outlines on the floors of his Ft.Worth Hotel. (If this ever was his actual intention.)

  Galveston Daily News reported:

  “The grim, half-completed building nearby, (and) the dark alley give the place an uninviting appearance. The weeds grow above the spot and the smell of the surroundings is suggestive enough.”

  The same article further noted that in the middle ages, the place would have been called “The Castle of Many Doors.”

  Rumors suggested there was a chute leading right to a sewer, which would have been a great way to dispose of a body.

  67 people who checked into the Chicago Hotel during the Word’s Fair never checked out or were seen or heard from again.

  Holmes is said to have killed more than 200 people in his “murder castle,” but he was only actually accused of killing one person at that location.

  Alas, he was hanged for that one murder.

  Dead is dead, right?

  It seems too good for such a man so remorselessly evil.

  ______________
  I enjoyed writing this a bit too much.

  For greater details about H.H.Holmes try this book:

  H. H. Holmes The True History of the White City Devil by Adam Selzer

  
  
• 
  5

  Jehovah's Witnesses find a robot on the side of the road and ...

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  “hey mister robot—can you hear me?” thelma fairly screamed, although the strange machine was perched only 14 inches from her car window.thelma peered over the top of her dollar store sunglasses.

  they had spotted what looked like a robot on the side of the road.on their way to their local kingdom hall, they pulled up for a moment for a closer look.. it wasn’t every day a robot could be observed poised on the side of the roadway with its thumb jerked outward in the international signal of the hitch hiker.. “you know what that is, mel?

  that’s the robot doohickey we saw on the news!”.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Terry

  Does anybody know if the hitchhiking robot idea has ever been duplicated or
  tried someplace under a different set of contingencies?
  I think it's a wonderful concept on many levels.
  
  More's the pity this one ended violently.
• 
  5

  Jehovah's Witnesses find a robot on the side of the road and ...

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  “hey mister robot—can you hear me?” thelma fairly screamed, although the strange machine was perched only 14 inches from her car window.thelma peered over the top of her dollar store sunglasses.

  they had spotted what looked like a robot on the side of the road.on their way to their local kingdom hall, they pulled up for a moment for a closer look.. it wasn’t every day a robot could be observed poised on the side of the roadway with its thumb jerked outward in the international signal of the hitch hiker.. “you know what that is, mel?

  that’s the robot doohickey we saw on the news!”.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Terry

  It was such fun to write!
  The real Hitch met with a very bad end - worse than in my story.
  
  https://www.cnn.com/2015/08/03/us/hitchbot-robot-beheaded-philadelphia-feat/index.html