READERS WRITE

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From Charlie Z, in response to yesterday’s post about One Percenters (no, not outlaw bikie gangs but those born between 1930 and 1946, ages ranging between 77 and 93):

Otto - I was born in 1936, on Flag day and I remember every blessed thing you cite in this article! Thank you from a 1 percenter! (And I plan to live a few more years, and maybe become a .1 percenter!)

Charlie

Thanks Charlie

Charlie is from the US, here are some bits of information about Flag Day:

- Flag Day is a holiday celebrated on June 14 in the United States. It commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States on June 14, 1777 by resolution of the Second Continental Congress. The Flag Resolution stated "That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation."

- Flag Day was first proposed in 1861 to rally support for the Union side of the American Civil War.

- In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a presidential proclamation that designated June 14 as Flag Day.

- On August 3, 1949, National Flag Day was officially established by an Act of Congress.

- On June 14, 1937, Pennsylvania became the first state to celebrate Flag Day as a state holiday.

140th U.S. Flag Day poster. 1777-1917. The birthday of the stars and stripes, June 14th, 1917. 'Tis the Star Spangled Banner, oh, long may it wave, o'er the landof the free and the home of the brave!" Library of Congress description: "Poster showing a man raising the American flag, with a minuteman cheering and an eagle flying above."

- Did you know that there is also an Oz Flag Day?

- Australian National Flag Day has been celebrated in Australia since 3 September 1996. It commemorates the day in 1901 on which the Australian National Flag was first flown.

- Since 2008, the same day has also been commemorated as Merchant Navy Day, which allows the Australian Red Ensign to be flown on land on the occasion.

- It is not a public holiday, nor widely celebrated by the public.

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From Tim B, who also hails from the US, sending an email in response to the post about backstories about some famous songs:

I was expecting to see Carly Simon's song "You're So Vain" as one of the songs with back messages. There is speculation, as Carly has not revealed who the song is about, except the second verse, that it is Warren Beatty. That was a fun post even though I was not familiar with a couple of the songs.

Take care.

Tim B

Thanks Tim.

There will be more backstories coming in future posts.

Here is a commentary about You’re So Vain from the website Songfacts:

The person Simon is singing about in this song remains a mystery, as she has never made it clear who she wrote it about; rumors include Warren Beatty, Kris Kristofferson, Cat Stevens, and Mick Jagger, all of whom she had affairs with. Simon has been elusive and changed her story a bit when asked the inevitable question about the song (strange considering the album title). In 1974, she told Modern Hi-Fi and Music: "That song is about a lot of people. I mean I can think of a lot of people. The actual examples that I've used in the song are from my imagination, but the stimulus is directly from a couple of different sources. It's not just about one particular person."

The media and the general public seemed to want this to be about a specific person, however, and Simon was happy to indulge. In a 2008 interview to promote her album This Kind of Love, she said: "When I had the line 'You're so vain, you probably think this song is about you,' that was definitely about one person. The rest of the descriptions basically came from my relationship with that person."

When it came time to promote her memoir Boys in the Trees in 2015, Simon divulged that the second verse ("You had me several years ago when I was still quite naive...") is about Warren Beatty, and said that the other verses are about two different men, whom she wouldn't name. As for Beatty's reaction, Simon said, "Warren thinks the whole thing is about him."

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There was also an earlier email from Tim:

Happy Thanksgiving Otto, oh, wait, that's an American holiday but I don't care, I hope you have a great day on our holiday.

I really enjoyed the O' Henry story and it has piqued my interest where I will read more of his writings. My brother Reg, wrote a short story about a private investigator named McNabb which was published in " Ellery Queen" a mystery magazine published in 1981. I am going to send this post to him as I know he is an avid O' Henry fan.

Love Bytes and hope you and your family are doing well.

Tim B

PS: I'm sure you know that I am more than happy about the outcome of our recent election. Now, I just hope that the Dems will try and work with him instead of trying to sabotage his agenda. We'll see, could be interesting times to come.

Thanks Tim

By the way:

You can read some of O’Henry’s short stories by clicking on:

https://interestingliterature.com/2021/12/best-o-henry-short-stories/

and

https://www.owleyes.org/text/best-o-henry

As regards Donald Trump being Pres again, when this photo was widely published, I said to my wife “That photo has just won him the election.”

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John P sent me a comment on Hilaire Belloc’s poem about Matilda, who told dreadful lies and who cried wolf once too often:

Hi Otto

Loved Matilda. I have been a Belloc fan since my teens when I discovered Ode to a Don.

Very different, but equally clever.

Apropos of interesting poets, have you read Sir Smasham Uppe, by E V Rieu? Also amusing.

Hope you and yours are coping with the heat.

My very best wishes to you.

John

Thanks John.

I did have a look at the poems you mentioned and will do something on them in the future.

By the way:

The story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf originated from Aesop (620 to 560 BCE).

The story is about a shepherd boy who tricks the villagers into believing that a wolf is attacking his sheep. The boy repeatedly calls for help, "Wolf! Wolf!", and the villagers run to help him. However, when a wolf actually attacks the boy's flock, the villagers ignore his cries for help, believing them to be false again.

The story illustrates themes of honesty and trust, and the moral is that people who are known to be liars are not believed.

The story also gave rise to the English expression "to cry wolf", which means to give a false alarm or to make false claims.

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From David B:

Your story about Ruth Rendell failing to report the death of an after dinner speaker reminds me of the supposed story of the cub reporter who was sent to cover a Society Wedding on Saturday..

On Monday the Editor asked why he had not filed his copy. He replied that there was no story since the bride had not turned up to the wedding.

Thanks David.