Volleyball strong out of starting gate

What a first week for MACA volleyball! Not only were there two wins, the matches were dramatic and crowd-pleasing. Both these affairs went the maximum distance. The outcome was 3-2 in each. So the Tigers cruised into Labor Day weekend at 2-0. 

On the football end of things, not so encouraging. But that's the way it goes sometimes. Tiger football will be showcased at home on Friday. Montevideo will be here for the 7 p.m. contest. I wonder if there will be a good turnout at Big Cat Field. I wonder if the MAHS pep band will be there. I believe the band is open to the Chokio-Alberta musicians. Seems we can't count on the pep band as much as in bygone times. 

The football Tigers dropped its opener to Minnewaska Area on Thursday. Rather bleak affair from the Tigers' perspective. The team is adjusting to the absence of Riley Asmus. We are reminded that "athletic specialization" is becoming more common. Riley is focused on baseball. He's going out of his way to avoid injury. Can't argue with that. 

Meanwhile the boys who are out for football this year are living with the very real injury risk. 

Sometimes I wonder about the second half of games that have become one-sided. It's just an exercise in players risking injury. 

On Thursday evening I started out listening to Fargo radio as I often do, and so there was a broadcast of Barnesville vs. Roseau. Barnesville took total control of the game. Seems there are more such games nowadays, commonly referred to as "blow-outs." Don't you all have to feel for the losers in these situations? 

Sometimes you sense in the second half that the winning team just starts "running over" the team that is not so fortunate. I can only wonder what it's like being on the defeated end of such affairs. I never played organized team sports. 

While we're on the subject of the humiliation of losing, let's look at wrestling where the feeling has got to be considerably worse. We should commend those kids who hang in there when the outcomes are not favorable to them. Or should we? Really, couldn't these kids find better ways to spend their time? 

I wonder if the wrestling fans are a little more subdued, calm than they used to be. I remember covering these matches at the 1968 gym and the fans made ear-splitting noise. Although I didn't say anything (or not much) at the time, my personal thoughts were "so much ado about nothing. Whether the Morris kid wins or loses, so what?"  

So there's a kid from the visiting team who is "down" on the mat as the Morris "hero" wrestler keeps applying pressure for the foregone conclusion win. Many of the fans rise to their feet. Again, ear-splitting noise. Toward what end? The opportunity to thump our chests or something? And I just watched. Made mental notes to be sure. 

The Barnesville football team rolled over Roseau 52-19. The 'Waska Lakers took command vs. Morris and won 48-14. Years from now no one will remember. 

 

My preference 

Right now I'd like to be reporting individual stat highlights for the first two MACA volleyball matches. Collect as much background for writing on this Sunday morning of Labor Day weekend. My hands are tied. In past times I could collect info on at least one of these matches from the West Central Tribune. Well, things have been quite rolled back at the Willmar paper - nothing like it was before. 

The print edition is hardly a shadow of what it used to be. So we rely on online. Morris is no longer in the coverage territory of the West Central Tribune. However, we very often play opponents who are in the territory. Somehow our Morris football stats from Thursday did get reported there. So congratulations but will this be a rare exception to the rule? 

So often when a Morris score appears there, we'll see stats for the opposing team but "stats not available" for MACA. Such was the case in MACA volleyball last week. What does "stats not available" mean? Does it mean they wanted the stats but didn't get them? Seems to imply that, but I'm guessing that the Willmar people make no effort to get our stats. They used to. 

You might want to ask them about that. It looks bad: bad PR for Morris. You'd think that Schweiter Chevrolet would like to get eyeballs from the Morris area. But Forum Communications has been in retreat like seemingly all newspapers. 

The Morris paper people would tell you "the volleyball review will be in our next paper" (which will be Tuesday). The Melrose match was played this past Tuesday. That's way too long to have to wait. What would Mike Martin say? This was a 3-2 win by the Tigers. Another 3-2 win on Thursday. So that's what yours truly would like to be typing about today. You can't always get what you want. I do try sometimes. 

The problem with the Tuesday paper is that you have to BUY it. And with prices going up at the grocery store, well the cost of a newspaper may not be "token" anymore. Someone somewhere should harness the convenience of the Internet. 

I personally know two members of the volleyball team. I'd like to follow them better. Put your thinking caps on, all you people. I realize that can be hard in Morris. Well, most of you are probably gone for the Labor Day weekend anyway. I'm perfectly happy to stay in Morris.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com 

Rough-going in football for season opener

Labor Day is a rather odd "holiday" because, how is it officially observed? Through much of my life we heard testaments to "organized labor." In fact, each year in the past when I worked alongside Jim Morrison, I'd tease him about how "it's time for your annual editorial honoring the role of organized labor in building our great nation." Shall we say this was not Jim's disposition. 

Organized labor does not have the support it once did. I sure oppose unions for academic people in the public sector. Or really in the whole public sector. 

No speeches or programs for "Labor Day!" Well maybe its significance as a holiday is that it simply allows people to spend one last long weekend at "the lake" for summer. I'm not a lake person. I used to enjoy spending Labor Day weekend in Las Vegas. At the paper we'd go to press early on Friday so we'd get the three-day weekend like everyone else. 

You have to pay attention going into Labor Day weekend regarding the exact scheduling of football games. Some are on Thursday, some on Friday. 

Back when the pep band was more taken for granted than today, I noted how we'd be without that for the opener. The explanation was that too many kids would be "gone." Well this is Morris where so many people choose to be "gone," just as a rule. "We're going to be gone." I have written that this statement should maybe be on the water tower. 

The word "gone" is interesting: it doesn't specify where you're going to be, only where you are not going to be. And you aren't going to be in Morris, at least if you have any kind of choice. 

A friend told me once: "Don't schedule a class reunion for August because people will communicate back and say 'I can't come, we have to get ready for school.' " 

Well if school is such a top priority, why can't the families make their kids available for pep band? An irony I guess. Steve Dudding shared his wisdom: "The ones who want to be there (at the reunion) will come." So let's get to the essence of it. 

 

Town talk 

There's always drama with high school sports. Starting a couple weeks ago, if you brought up the subject of 2025 MACA football with anyone, right away you'd hear about how Riley Asmus was not going to play. So I guess that's the big story. I'm reminded of Gene Hackman telling the pep fest in "Hoosiers" that "I would hope you're interested in who we are, not who we are not." 

Nevertheless, MACA fans are talking a lot about "who we are not." Riley Asmus who I've never met is opting out for his senior year of football. Our best athlete? Sounds like he might be. He's so talented he has a nice baseball scholarship arranged. Congratulations. And he's wise enough and prudent enough to realize you can get hurt in football. 

So, let all those other kids risk serious injury out on the football field I guess. Meanwhile Riley is going to keep his body intact for what awaits him in college. I would never point fingers at a kid for bypassing football in order to ensure good health including long-term brain health. Again, congratulations. 

I wonder if Riley is going to be a fan at games. Our home opener is Sept. 5 against Montevideo. Will the pep band be there? 

You can see a nice photo of Riley in his baseball uniform with my current "Morris of Course" post. I write about how we are welcoming fall with smoke still in the air from the wildfires to the north. Remember the Platters' tune "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes?" Here's the link:

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2025/08/smoke-gets-in-your-eyes-for-football.html 

 

48 to 14 

Ugh, looks like it might be a long season. The Tigers opened last night (Thursday) at Minnewaska. The home team owned the day. I have to be happy for Minnewaska. Such great school and community spirit. I enjoyed going over there for the "Minnewaska Showstoppers" summer musical production of "Newsies." There were significant Morris area connections to that. I'm biased in saying Jennie Odello was the star of the show. 

The Odellos attend my church of First Lutheran. Let's see, are we supposed to go to the First Lutheran building or to Federated this next Sunday? Is that weird pairing going to work? Suppose I should be a glass-half-full person. 

ELCA churches are in trouble. Too "liberal." We are losing out to MAGA or "Make America Great Again." How do y'all like RFK Jr. running our health care policy? He was a heroin addict for 14 years. The West Central Tribune headline reports that "Minnewaska wallops Morris/CA in opener." You have to be careful with words like "wallop" for high school sports. You don't want to get sadistic. Jim Morrison was amused by this issue. 

Sometimes a team will "steamroller" an opponent. Well that's part of what happened with the 2025 football opener. We got steamrollered (or is it steamrolled?). The score was 48-14. The Lakers rolled up over 500 yards of total offense. 

The stadium is named for Glenwood State Bank. My late uncle Howard Williams was president of Glenwood State Bank! Can you believe I have such distinguished relatives? 

The halftime score was 35-7. Doesn't the second half of games like this just seem futile? It's just a chance for players to get hurt. 

We scored our second touchdown in the fourth quarter. 'Waska had two TDs in the fourth. 

The stats were pretty lackluster for MACA. The West Central Tribune continues to refer to us as "Morris/CA." Erratum. 

'Waska had two top ballcarriers: Kearri Dickens and Alex Adams. Their quarterback was quite top-notch: Marc Gruber completed 13 of 16 passes for 255 yards with no interceptions. Tristan O'Neill looked like a superstar as pass-catcher: six catches for 157 yards.

 

Volleyball: Tigers at 2-0!

Hey, this is great: our volleyball Tigers defeated Melrose and New London-Spicer in the opening week of play. On a down note, I must report that I cannot find any stat highlights on the Tigers. I'd love to dive into thorough match reviews. The West Central Tribune is back to its old habit of having "stats not available" for MACA. 

It's always a plum for the Tigers to defeat NL-Spicer in girls athletics. Both of the week's wins were by 3-2: lots of suspense and back-and-forth. The Thursday match must have lasted a long time too. The first two games had the score of 23-25 with MACA on the losing end. So we sure turned it around after that. MACA needed 28 points to win Game 3! We took the last two games 25-20 and 15-11. 

I'd like to know the total duration of this match. The match was played at New London. 

 

Addendum: What can we find on the kmrs-kkok website about Tiger sports? Mostly the bare minimum "scores." I'd like to see some fleshing-out beyond that. Wouldn't you? I commend the tennis coach for getting more detailed info to the radio station for publishing. Kudos to Ms. House. She sets an example.

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com 

Getting past the rainy mildew season

Transitioning to fall ever so slowly. Are many of us actually looking forward to the colder weather months? Get past the rain? The mildew? But will the precipitation carry into the next seasons? Overcome with snow maybe? But our last two winters have been quite snow-free. Didn't Donnelly have to do some difficult negotiations for snow removal a few years ago? We're relieved of the hassle as we get minimal snow winters. 

The transition into fall means we can enjoy high school sports again. There is bad news on this front. A guy who is one of our top athletes, possibly the very best, is not going out for football. Part of me wants to celebrate any kid not going out for football. That was the decision I made as a kid. And I would have had no ability anyway. 

I was a close observer of football and ended up writing about it for the Morris newspaper. That was as early as 1972. The first coach I worked with was Jim Satter. I would have enjoyed working with Stan Kent. 

On the sidelines I never risked getting hurt in a way that could have long-term effects. Sometimes these effects do not show up right away. Consider all the sub-concussive hits to the head that players take. 

Aw, I'm spoiling all the fun. I'm being "negative." I have always just sought to be honest and caring. We know so much more about the health consequences of football now. I'm age 70 and have dodged that bullet in life. I'm glad to think I have never been in position to be accused of "mortgage fraud." Maybe I should suggest a rimshot after that comment. 

Our president is using the mortgage fraud accusation to go after people. But should there be legal convictions first? Whatever happens, we can be sure our congressperson Michelle Fischbach will support DJT 100 percent. She'll wave pom-poms for him. 

We have chosen this. There is a risk of a big tidal wave of inflation coming at us. It creeps along steadily now. But the Federal Reserve feels suffocating pressure to be dovish and that's in order to benefit the stock investors and billionaires. At age 70 I won't go into the stock market. I just want $ to get breakfast at Caribou Coffee the next morning. Leave me alone. 

 

MACA Tiger football

It's one of the Asmus boys who is passing on football for this season. That's the word from indisputable sources. When I was with the paper I knew the details of all community drama. Today I'm fortunate to pick up the salient details. The late coach Perry Ford of the Cougars teased me on using the word "salient." Well, I could use "kerfuffle" too. 

I have long maintained that Chris Matthews of MSNBC, when he had his daily show, elevated the word "kerfuffle" from near total obscurity. 

So a friend emailed me yesterday with an update on what he called the "kerfuffle" with our Morris Public Library. Can you believe that this complicated matter has been going on for several months now? I breathed a sigh of relief when the newspaper supplied a thorough update recently. The new SCT came out yesterday (Tuesday) but I haven't seen it yet. My place to go for looking at it would be the library. But I'm very hesitant to go in there now, what with this institution being at the vortex of controversy. 

Ah, controversy in a small town. Would have been nice to get this ended before the end of summer. But no. Don't our top elected city leaders have the authority and the leverage to deal with this and to do so post-haste? What kind of operation is this? Are the elected city people just abject total fools? I'm beginning to think that's a possibility. 

Will our community be alert enough to clean house? This community? Maybe not. We're talking real money, real largesse. Largesse is $ that has just been wasted, right? It's city taxpayer money. Here's the email I got yesterday:

 

I heard on the KMRS local news this morning that the library board is questioning why the City Council is charging the $23,000 legal expenses incurred by the city in the Anne Barber kerfuffle to the library budget. (The board's) response was that a simple conversation between the city manager and Ms. Barber would have solved any issues.

 

Early-on in this mess it was easy to get the impression from lots of people that the city manager was simply the "bad guy." If that was true, though, we had to feel puzzled as time went by and the council did not "rein her in." Rein in Ms. Schrupp. So it appeared the council was standing behind her. If she was resolutely against the library director, well then maybe the council should have acceded to her judgment and just fired Anne. Don't tell me the council doesn't have the flexibility to do that. 

My own opinion is that we don't need the library, not in our advanced age of electronic communications. Maybe there are council people who agree with me on this. 

Anne's friends are pretty tied in with the local academic crowd. I have sensed this crowd losing its clout over the past few years. Maybe they're having a hard time dealing with that.

"Make America Great Again" reflects anti-intellectualism. And West Central Minnesota is assuredly "red" with its political complexion. Fischbach will keep her congressional seat for as long as she wants it unless she gets displaced by someone like Steve Boyd. 

So let's keep those cuts to Medicare and Medicaid coming. Let's force more rural hospitals to close. People apparently want that. 

 

Game at 'Waska

Our MACA football team will open on the road Thursday against Minnewaska. When we play our home opener on Sept. 5 vs. Monte, looks like the orange and black will be without Riley Asmus. I learned that Riley is a senior while Alex Asmus is a junior. We will be sans Riley Asmus because he has a nice baseball scholarship and he wants to avoid risk of a football injury. 

Big Cat Stadium

Gee, after the lengths this community has gone to, to ensure that Big Cat Stadium is a special place. All the community pride that is invested there. Now we'll be without our top athlete? Riley has to be close to the top if not at the very top. I have followed the Asmus boys over the last few years. 

Many community people will take the trouble to attend the games even when it's cold. But Riley is choosing not to play. That's the word I get. One of my sources said this Tiger will play basketball. Well, a kid can get injured playing basketball too. 

First of all I cheer any kid who chooses not to play football. But as a general philosophy, I'd say you're only in high school once and it's a precious chapter in one's life. You should savor everything it offers. Yes, live for the moment. Our nation may be getting destroyed by Trump and his people. Tariffs, deporting of cheap labor and strong-arming the Federal Reserve: all factors that contribute to inflation. 

And the way Trump disrespects people and shatters norms should make us furious. I observe. I cannot change anything. He defecates in his pants these days.

 

Addendum: It is counter-intuitive to think our city council people would stand idly by why so much largesse is happening, i.e. wasted money. All of this might serve as an excuse for the council to say "the library is too much of a burden on this community. It is obsolete. People have new channels to enrich themselves." 

Hell I don't read "books" anymore. Or magazines. I only look at Morris paper at library, don't buy it. But the library is in thick of controversy and unpleasantness. Should I feel uneasy there? Not good for image of the city. But the council people may have a method to their madness: usher library into obsolescence. Lock the doors. 

And whither the big building once known as the "senior citizens center." Another city burden or problem. And people are not delighted with the property taxes they're paying. Maybe that's the sentiment that our city manager is really sensitive to now. Maybe that's a really good thing. But I have a hard time believing that our council and manager are just hopeless fools. No, it can't be. 

Hey, I'm getting patches of mildew on some of my clothes. I've never had this happen before. Please, let's get back to temperatures around freezing! 

The Three Stooges had a short that was set at a fictional "Mildew College."

If a kid wants to minimize injury risk in football, he could play wide receiver. You know this is Morris when you end a conversation about something like this and the person says "don't quote me." Candy asses.

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com 

Mixed bag with 1987's "Cherry 2000"

"Cherry 2000" was one of those movies you could discover on late-night cable TV. Oh it could show up during the day too. I'm just thinking night because so much edgy or disturbing stuff could show up then. 

And I use the past tense in connection with "cable TV." I hung in there with Federated of Morris for a long time before that company itself bailed on cable TV. After that there was no hope for me restoring it. Our own city manager Blaine Hill said cable TV in small towns was "dodgy." 

Man, these non-local outfits will do end runs to wring $ out of you. "End run" is a generous term that entered my mind. Today I have a laptop and the service is with Federated. A local office where you can talk to someone who has a pleasant Midwestern accent! Not much of that left, it seems. 

And so these thoughts are prompted by the movie "Cherry 2000." Only recently did I have the opportunity to watch this very intriguing movie all the way through. Back when I "surfed" for something decent to watch on TV, I caught snippets. I'm so thankful I have now had the opportunity to watch the whole thing. 

"Cherry 2000" was made in 1987. The sci-fi imagination could not be better. The plot is ingenious. This is not to say I'd give the whole thing an A-plus. Here's a question: is the movie misogynistic or not? Back in 1987 you could find basically no one who was familiar with the term "misogyny." Just like "kerfuffle." Our language evolves just like our overall society. 

Part of the movie is dripping with misogyny. It jumps out at you. The protagonist in movie is desperate to replace his - what amounts to - his "sex robot." A more generous description might be "emotional companion robot" but I sure saw it in more raw terms. 

This element of the plot totally underscores the "objectification of women." Such a thing basically defines misogyny. I suppose a woman could seek the equivalent with a male robot. But it's easier to sell the plot with a guy who in movie happens to be a quite handsome, dashing guy by conventional standards. 

Back in the pre-digital primitive times, society did not really dispute the conventional standards. Our society was hush-hush on gay tastes. Face it, there was an ideal for attractive-looking women. So the guy in movie, our hero, has a robot that is quite nice-looking. He is making out with her on the floor in a scene in which he obviously seeks sexual stimulation. As a heterosexual I know about such things. 

The sink with dish soap overflows because "the two" are distracted. 

So the robot gets wet. Short-circuits or whatever. We hear the funny sounds and she's "dead." Must have been an older model. No replacement readily available. Don't we all experience this when we have something that breaks down or needs a part and we can't get it done? I recently asked about a new small bulb for a desk lamp that I got at Eul's many years ago. I'd hate to admit how many years ago. Actually I'm not very good at estimating that. The years turn into a blur when you're 70. Eul's itself is gone, is history. 

So I inquired at a different store and am told the bulb I'm asking about is no longer made. Cheez so I have to get a new table lamp? And will the new lamp be as effective for what I am doing? 

My little discussion here is pretty innocent, right? A table lamp? And this sort of thing could arise with all sorts of products. But a sex robot? It might have seemed the stuff of futurism back in 1987. I was 32 years old. Are there any tech innovations that even surprise us anymore? We are snowed with news about all the new stuff. And it all makes life seem so complicated. 

Sex robots? They are actually a reality today. Shock value is probably nil in our fascinating world that includes unlimited free porn. Actually I think the preferred term now is "adult videos." 

When I was a young adult, I heard about "inflatable dolls." How primitive compared to today! 

 

Dynamic heroine 

I should return to the question about misogyny in the movie "Cherry 2000." There's the very non-misogynistic element of the heroine who is so ingenious and athletic in helping the protagonist get what he wants. Hey, the old model of his preferred robot. A little more dramatic than seeking a new bulb for a table lamp at the hardware store. 

The guy, in order to realize his objective, has the very difficult task of getting through a no man's land to get to where there's a "dump" of sorts that would have his "dream girl." He could unzip the covering, implant a little disc and then she'd come alive for him. In fact, the most fascinating scene in the movie is where this exactly happens. 

The guy and his guide made it through the incredibly dangerous "obstacle course" to get to that scene. So dangerous it was quite implausible, but as moviegoers we are supposed to overlook the implausible stuff. We can rationalize that it's a dream or fantasy tale maybe. The woman guide confronted all risks and got her "client" through. So it's time to go home. Well that sure isn't easy either. It would have been like Homer's "The Odyssey." 

The two are in a small beat-up plane that they had discovered. The crisis is that it won't get off the ground with the weight of three persons. Someone had to go. At first the guide feels it's her duty to get off. So she does. Doomed? We might assume she'd use her miraculous savvy to survive. But the movie never gets there. The protagonist now turns the plane around to pick her up, rescue her. My, he has to discard his new female robot, the "Cherry 2000." 

He yells at the guide to get in plane. The woman is amazed because the Cherry 2000 "was the whole point" of the trek. And the man is jettisoning her. The man implores "she (or it) is just a robot!" 

The guide gets back on plane with gunfire already around them. The story? Well, the man has fallen in love with his guide and was willing to sacrifice the Cherry 2000. He tells the robot to "get me a Pepsi" and then she's gone. The movie ends with the guy and the guide kissing. Triumph of real love! 

Much as I was fascinated by the movie, I could cite some issues. Some of the violence is what I'd call "gratuitous." The obstacle course for the trek was so violent and full of risk, it could not be believed on any terms. So maybe spin that it's a fantasy. Well OK, the movies sometime invite us to do that. I would guess movie producers lose sleep over whether audiences can overlook implausibility issues. 

I think "Cherry 2000" could have become at least a cult classic. The weaknesses I cited may have hurt, along with the elephant in the room misogyny. Overall I was pleased with the movie and consider it to be quite impressive sci-fi, albeit a little too fantastical. 

Melanie Griffith

The protagonist "Sam Treadwell" is played by David Andrews. Melanie Griffith is the red-haired guide who fears nothing. You can assume that this is a post-apocalyptic story. The director was Steve De Jarnatt. The screenplay was by Michael Almereyda. 

Critic reviews were mixed. I think more critics should have given the movie a break.

When you get right down to it, you can't beat a rich sci-fi imagination. I grew up on such comic books! 

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

A prophecy re. the Beatles comes true

The Beatles cartoon

"Can't Buy Me Love" was the opening theme music for the Beatles cartoon series of the 1960s. The animated Beatles! It was really a pretty solid work. It's a gem from the group's history. 

What place will the Beatles have in our culture, as older generations give way to the youth? The boomers were of course entranced by the Beatles. We grew up when pop culture was erupting with so much neat stuff. The expansion and improvement of television of course played a big role, an essential role. We watched "Hullabaloo!" And BTW what happened to the art of "go-go" dancing?

TV pushed football to the national forefront. 

We heard talk when I was young about how maybe someday our nation's kids would be instructed about the Beatles in the same way that we had been instructed about Mozart, Beethoven et al. We were told that classical music was such "serious" music. Our teachers would smile about the thought that the current pop would ever be taken as seriously. "Unheard of," they'd chortle. 

Well wouldn't you know, the Beatles today seem to be inspiring just the type of serious fascination that was once just a whimsical thought. The Beatles replacing the classical guys for serious study? Well of course they are. 

 

Refined craft 

You think it's easy writing the kind of songs that filled KDWB Radio in the 1960s? Try doing it yourself. Try writing some lyrics like Hal David would. The pop lyrics seem so simple on the surface. I guess this reflects the old notion "the great ones make it look easy." 

Consider Tom T. Hall's very folksy and rustic stuff. Elementary for composing? The "pros' in the music business know the truth of course. If they really tried telling us how difficult it was, many of us would not believe it. 

The simple truth is that the artistry of so much pop music of the '60s was deep and demanding. I cite the song "Can't Buy Me love." A thoughtful student of music would note that a distinguishing feature of this song is that it starts out with the refrain! There are structural things about a lot of these songs that reflect a real devotion to the craft. The Jimmy Webb song "MacArthur Park" is as deep as anything that any classical composer ever did. 

Classical composers had to write for full orchestras composed of so many people, only because electronic amplification was not available. Their creations are no more sophisticated on an intrinsic level. When the '70s pop group "Yes" did a live performance for video with a real symphony orchestra, you get a look at the sheet music the instrumentalists were playing from: it looked every bit as complicated and demanding as any piece from Beethoven times. 

I know that our education establishment in the 1960s had a music element that wanted to scoff at the "popular" music. I had a teacher myself who talked about "legitimate" music as being set apart from the stuff on KDWB. What a stuffed-shirt attitude. Teachers had just developed their own little insulated culture. What? Teachers? Well I really do think teachers today are more fair-minded, realistic. Here I go with my negative biases about teachers from when I was young. When boomers were young.

  

The less they know. . . 

And many of us would not want to confide to our grandchildren just how ridiculous so much of our lives became. The college years. And if you weren't in college, your behavior might have been worse. We know full well. We don't even want to confide to ourselves about it. We have these "revisionist" thoughts about when we were young. We tell stories that smooth over the rough edges. 

We certainly steer our own descendants that way. Meanwhile our own memories of frivolity get stored in our minds, in the recesses of our memories. We'd shriek if our grandchildren could pierce through that pretense and see the real antics we committed. 

While we were doing all that, the musicians who created our favored pop music were really just laser-focused and serious. They showed "frivolity" only as a way to posture to us. Look at Ian Anderson ("Jethro Tull") wild-eyed and hopping around like he's some sort of nut - do you think his real nature reflected any of that? 

The Beatles cartoon opened with "Can't Buy Me Love" as we saw the cartoon image of the four guys running down a fire escape. Image is indelibly in my mind. I'm sure many of my peers would say likewise. 

 

Bequeathed 

Soon our culture will be grasping the Beatles from a lens outside of the "boomers." We will have passed from the scene. So then we'll see if an adjusted perspective will take over: Beatles music taken seriously "in the classroom." I think it was totally worthy of that. Don't you think that is the direction? 

Mozart, Beethoven et al. were all trying to write music that was "popular." Electronic amplification just changed the delivery, the logistics. A small group was all that was needed. And the Beatles came along to prove so decisively that a mere four lads could captivate the world! 

And music teachers had better take that to heart. I think they already are.

And don't let boomers fool you on how they spent ages 18-22.

Let's not overlook the very essential role of producer George Martin with the Beatles. 

Addendum: I remember the KDWB deejay "Tac" Hammer! When kids could start carrying around their own little battery-operated radios, they could make music choices independent of parental judgment. 

The animated "Fab 4." I watched when the series was current. I smile as I remember how many of the lyrics were interpreted literally! "Wearing a face that she keeps in a jar by the door" (from "Eleanor Rigby"). Charming. The faces were drawn as quite accurate caricatures. The creative people were obviously reverential toward the Beatles.

  

 - Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com 

Our comeuppance on "gay rights"

The gay pride flag

Are we looking forward to winter? Are we dealing with climate change or what? I mean, the onslaught of rain and storms. More of that is expected on this Sunday.

We're in mid-August. And so thoughts turn to the school year getting closer. The "welcome UMM" picnic is Monday night at East Side Park. I wonder if the turnout will be commensurate with the past. We all seek a barometer somewhere on how UMM is doing. OK so it's "UMN-Morris" now. 

It is hard to trust any numbers that get put out on enrollment. Are these numbers "spin?" Are we talking true on-campus students? Some among us would just like to know. 

I was flummoxed last year by the death of "symphonic winds" in the music department. Would you expect me to be anything but downcast about this? I am not stupid. We have always taken for granted that UMM would have viable band and choir programs built around students. Now we have a blending of students and "community." 

The band's actual name is "COMMuniversity." I can't help but think "communist." 

 

Fallout 

UMM has suffered in the community's eyes from the time when gay rights became such a rallying cry. It bothered me and I'm a progressive-thinking person. 

A college ought to have a very good reputation in the community that surrounds it. "Gay rights" became unrelenting. Did the real gay rights cause even need UMM's help? At a certain point a really strong leader could have come forth and said "this institution does not exist to promote political causes." And, "we have serious studies here and we prepare our young people for life after college." 

Reasonable people do not want gays to be "in the closet." Certainly not in a way that tarnishes their lives. But a faction of the gay rights movement got carried away. Too much zeal. People felt like they were being force-fed gay rights. We got the gay rights "flag" and gay pride floats in high school homecoming parades. 

 

More fallout 

People who were irritated by this decided they had to be 100 percent Republican. The so-called "social issues" allowed Republicans to get far more power than was reasonable. People don't realize they are buying into the whole mix of what Republicans stand for. And so there are economic perils. Environmental perils. 

We have a congressperson now who is lock-step with Donald Trump. People out and about talk in the most insulting terms about Democrats. We voted out Collin Peterson even though he voted like a Republican. Are you prepared for the consequences of total Republican rule? Are you prepared for all the consequences outside of the "social issues?" 

 

Fallout for churches 

Gay rights has led to the serious adversity now faced by formerly mainstream church denominations. The fallout from all that is now being laid bare here in Morris. First Lutheran, once a bastion of propriety and exemplary leadership, appears now to have lost critical mass. Can you believe it? We're hearing of a "proposed plan to move forward with collaboration with Federated Church." There's already a trial balloon for this over our current summer. 

The ELCA began its slide downward when gay rights made its big inroads. We saw the decline of First Lutheran step-by-step. Was there nothing our local church leadership could have done? Are we really locked in with the ELCA? 

"Gay rights" is fine but it's the zealous in-your-face crusading aspect that gets to people. Good Shepherd may have been built on the foundation of anti-gay rights, but today you'll hear its people saying "gays are welcome to worship with us." Fine, come and help us celebrate the gospel. Church exists for a specific mission. Of course you are welcome to join us if your intent is to help us celebrate that mission. 

But it crosses a line. Couldn't we have all seen that a long time ago? When there was still time to maybe reverse course? 

I have said that I'd have no problem with a gay minister if that person could just do a good professional job. A person who I respect at Faith Lutheran responded to me - he said "they can't do that." He meant that a gay person as minister would have to trumpet gay rights. 

At the time that the ELCA was at its inflection point with progressive causes like gay rights, all of its ministers felt they had to give a sermon or two on gay rights. They sought to be generous. 

But I'm wondering if it was even wise to go that route. I mean, go ahead and approve of church policy that is accommodating toward gays. But then just quiet down about it. No flag-waving. No "in your face" advocacy with the suggestion that we had all been so ignorant up to now. Many people really resent that. 

Certain people just "flipped out" on gay rights and they disappeared from the ELCA churches, never again to say anything favorable about the church. I could name names. 

Our UMN-Morris

And our local UMM became holier-than-thou. When they pulled their "stunt" of having a biological male as Homecoming "queen," it should have been stopped. The students should have been required to proceed with Homecoming traditions with good faith. Instead they upset the apple cart. 

In the end, UMM canceled Homecoming royalty. Maybe the institution could have patched things up instead, just shown who was boss. Homecoming royalty is such an innocuous thing. It is done for the benefit of the alumni. Just do it right. Well they're not doing it at all now. 

UMM has allowed too much silliness through the years. There was the new student organization called "gay devil worshipers." The Twin Cities media would pick up on some of this. What would UMM's founders have thought and said? 

Not all the silliness has come from the political left. So I'm thinking of the "Northstar" publication that was a big turd on campus. "Libertarian" I guess, or so the kids would have professed. It was a turd. UMM should stand for setting high standards, proper decorum. And if it can't, why does it exist? 

First Lutheran Church has set a couple dates for discussions on moving forward on the combo with Federated. This will mean that FLC is essentially dead. I could see a while back it had lost critical mass. We'd have to assume that Federated is similarly stressed. Two church buildings right in the middle of town. 

People have instead drifted to the more hard-edged churches where you'd have to assume everyone votes straight Republican without exercising critical thinking. And now we're seeing accelerating price hikes for everything due to the tariffs, the deportation of cheap labor, and the pressure on the "Fed" to cut interest rates. 

Lower interest rates prop up the prevailing political party in the moment. 

But today's Christians don't want to think too hard.

 

Controversy here

Still dealing with library 

Such an uncomfortable state of affairs we have fallen into, with our Morris Public Library. The discomfort and distraction has gone on for months. Was this avoidable? Should top city leaders have been allowed to assess discipline? Instead we have this showdown of attorneys. "Count Floyd" of the old "SCTV" comedy show would say "brrrr, scary." 

The lawyers are jockeying to see who might come out of this the "winner." That's what it's all about in legal clashes. I share further on the library in an email I sent to a friend a couple days ago:

 

It is possible that my blog posts "prodded" the newspaper to finally deliver with coverage of the Morris Public Library situation. Don't you want to shake your head about this now? This has been a stain on the city's image no matter how it turns out. I have been wondering all along why the top people with the city can't just take charge and make decisions that need to be made. This whole story broke way back in March. The newspaper coverage at the start gave the suggestion that the poor library director was being persecuted by top city people. Right away I thought "I'll bet there's more to the story." I think this week's newspaper coverage really lays things out nice. But why can't we get this whole thing over with? If Anne survives she is going to look like the "winner." She and her attorney of course. Imagine hiring a high-powered lawyer to fight your own employer. Seems like "Alice Through the Looking Glass."

We have seen a trend lately: remember when the county commissioners "sold" the ambulance service? In other words, the service would be contracted out. And now the school has gone the same direction with contracting out for bus service. Maybe the city could do the same with the library. Have a private concern take it over and then pay an annual amount. Get rid of unionized employees? Anne isn't union but the others there are.

I think the library's service could be scaled back to the essentials more. Does it have to order so much new stuff all the time?

The city also has to wrestle with the old "senior citizens center." Seniors are gone with the wind there. It's a big building. Meals on Wheels is there but that is a small space in the overall building.

 

And there's a million stories in the naked city. 

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com 

 

Slings and arrows for our citadel of lit

Keep the books dry!

Remember when the public library got flooded? I remember standing in the narthex at church and looking at the street outside with rain pelting down. I had no idea the library was vulnerable. Imagine if it was vulnerable in this current summer of ten inches of rain over four days. 

The "summer of rain" is winding down. The "welcome UMM" picnic is Monday night. I wonder if anyone will take the trouble this year to arrange for some entertainment at the park stage. 

I am acquainted with a young person who will be a freshman at South Dakota State this fall. And this reminds me of a letter to the editor in our newspaper many years ago. It had to do with how welcoming a college community might be to its college element. Unfortunately this letter did not portray our UMN-Morris well. The letter noted that while SDSU of Brookings SD had a reputation of really putting out the welcome mat, Morris was rather at the opposite end of the spectrum. 

If this was true, has it changed by now? We should be glass-half-full and hope for a rich welcoming atmosphere at the upcoming picnic. 

In past years I have spent some time at the First Lutheran table at this event. We're pretty minimalist in what we offer the kids, like maybe a ballpoint pen. Well our heart is in the right place. I remember sitting with Steve Van Kempen there. Steve has moved on to the next life. 

The kids might have to be told that if they attend First Lutheran, they might be directed to actually go to Federated! It sounds strange and it is strange. First Lutheran and Federated are in at least a temporary partnership. 

ELCAers and Methodists together? Well yes. We are the "moderate" Christians of Morris for whom Donald Trump is not a big component of our faith. You'll even find critics of DJT in our ranks. We are losing the battle. Sad to say but true. 

Church was held at the First Lutheran building last Sunday. The FLC building is terrible by the standard of handicapped/elderly access. It was designed in a time when no one thought about that. 

For much of my life, FLC was a totally thriving mainstream institution that drew many community leaders. We had a robust "UMM Sunday." And today we're just hanging on. If even that. Is a church even viable that cannot have something formal going on every Sunday morning? Until this summer, did FLC ever "whiff" on a Sunday morning? Even once? 

God is supposed to be present whenever two or more are gathered in His name. There is a saying or quote that affirms that. 

How many years ago was it, when the library got flooded? As I get older I have a harder time estimating such things. A lot of people might have forgotten about it. And wasn't St. Mary's School affected by the same episode? Bill Storck eventually informed me that a softball blocked a drain at the library. And regarding St. Mary's, I heard it was a wine bottle. Seemed rather Biblical. 

A highlight of my summer of 2025 - in the "summer of rain" - was to be blessed by a Catholic priest. I just had to go up front to receive the blessing from Fr. Alan Wielinski when he was here for Shirley O'Keefe's funeral. 

I have the warm memory of having known Father Alan when he served Assumption Church and I was with the Morris paper. I had not seen or spoken to him since I left the paper. Just seeing him made my old newspaper identity come alive in my mind. I treasure that. 

Now that we know more about the current library controversy, I can share thoughts that maybe have some value. I'll do this by quoting from my own emails from yesterday. Here's what I wrote to Morris Mayer Kevin Wohlers:

 

Well Kevin I went to the library this morning to look at Morris paper, and I wasn't even expecting an update on the library matter because I had sort of given up on the paper. The paper had done little since when the story first broke, and when it broke the emphasis was on all of Anne's friends turning out en masse to support Anne with signs and all. There was Sharon Martin with her sign "Anne is amazing." I'm not sure how exactly she is amazing, but after reading today's coverage in paper I had to breathe a sigh of relief. We can clearly see now that there are "two sides" on this and people should not demonize the city people. I have actually suspected that all along. It's good to get all this out in front of the public now, before the welcome UMM picnic at the park. When I see the council people there now, I won't have bad thoughts.

I went back to town a second time to re-read the Morris paper article at library. The article was 100 percent thorough and helpful - it's about time. I read it slower the second time. Then I started thinking "sheesh this is some questionable stuff (with Anne)."

It would have been easy for you and council to be buffaloed by Anne's legions of friends. I guess I would describe them as the "NPR crowd." But. . .I don't think that "crowd" is as influential in Morris as it once was. They are used to being sanctimonious and pushing people around.

I think reason is more likely to prevail now. So Anne had stuff delivered to her home so she could "review" it? To see if it was acceptable, or what? And if not, then what became of it? Once it's ordered it should enter circulation, I feel. And frankly EVERYTHING should be delivered to library building - it is a big place. Even during covid.

So I think maybe Anne has to go. If I express these opinions on my blogs, I suppose I wouldn't dare ever go into library again. But I'm not sure I need it all that much. Melissa would not get in trouble like this.

Great to see Sherwin at fair and to shake his hand again. He's a unique person. He was on the cusp of major stardom in 1970. I think he was lacking one or two ingredients. I'm sure Nashville was intrigued by him for a while. He had a "star's" image, to be sure. Legend has it that he was almost the one who recorded "Gentle On My Mind." He's having great trouble with his hearing now. Meanwhile my problem is my eyesight.

 

Kevin responded to me and thanked me for my input.

Here's from an email I sent to my old journalism compatriot Jim Morrison:

 

Morris Public Library

You know I have kind of a bias against the Morris paper now but I must say, today's coverage on the library mess really "hit it out of the park." It was so thorough, I don't think I saw one typo.

And so, this article confirmed what I have been thinking from the start: that there really are "two sides" on this matter and it isn't so simple to distill as being "Anne is a saint, the city manager is an evil jerk."

I read the article this morning at the library and then returned this afternoon to re-read it. It was lengthy. Would be above my pay grade to write. I just got home on my bike which I did some miracle repairs on. Anyway, upon second reading of article I became more concerned about Anne's behavior. Keep in mind that I feel libraries are obsolete to begin with. She orders all this stuff, it goes to her home, and then she sits on a lot of it to "review" it, to see if it's suitable? No way. She should know before she orders it. She has no problem with displaying books by gay authors.

I must commend the mayor and city council now, because they easily could have been intimidated by all of Anne's friends. My first thought when this story broke was "uh-oh, the city is gonna get in trouble with this." It was too easy to think the city manager was some sort of witch. We can be thankful we have some real public servants who are watching the bottom line. 

And I think local governments everywhere are feeling increased pressure when it comes to money. Grant County just went through the same type of thing with their "facilities manager." There was even a meeting where the guy's supporters showed up en masse. But he was let go. It does not matter if you have a groundswell of support now.

Anne and her husband failed with their restaurant. Why can't that place get going again? It doesn't have to be for tree huggers. They should have made their rear entrance more inviting. The atmosphere was great in there with a big screen to watch.

 

And, part of what I commented to a main street business acquaintance:

 

Well, I got to town early for my afternoon lunch so I went to library. I had given up on the fishwrap covering this. So I was pleasantly surprised. The paper is late in getting to this story. But today I must say the effort was really good for getting caught up. I'm not surprised by anything. I have felt all along that the city manager's side to this was going to warrant attention. Otherwise, wouldn't the city council have pulled the plug on her? This whole issue has been an embarrassment for the city.

So, my first reaction? It's probably not what you think. I'm thinking "why does the library spend so much $ on junk?" And "why can't this be reined in?" Maybe this is why the council has stuck with its city manager and her suspicions. And also why the city has felt it proper to hire an outside investigator. I'm sure Kevin and the others take no pleasure in having this matter be known to the public for so long.

Maybe there's no hope for really reining in the library and its massive expenditures on "junk" etc. So maybe it will continue like crime, death and taxes. As for Anne, I must say she has shown questionable judgment. There is no excuse for having library stuff delivered to your home, even during covid. The library is a large building. I scratch my head: so she wanted to "review" various things before putting them into circulation? This is stuff that the library made the decision to order? Makes no sense. She wanted to "clear" it first, or what? Well why was it ordered? We don't need any of this crap. I believe I have put in my blogs that we don't even need libraries anymore. They are "vestiges" of past times. I think at least two city council members would agree with me. That's why the council has gone along with this whole process IMHO.

Should Anne be terminated? I really think she should be. If nothing else she has a very stained image now. And is she expected to get along with the city manager and everyone else after all of this? Looks like the library needs a total breath of fresh air. Better yet, let's close it, lock it up. Man, the city is already burdened with the old "senior citizens center." Look at all that real estate in the middle of town.

Would Melissa have done the things that Anne did? I think not.

I must compliment Ms. Bungum who I have never met. I think she made it clear that the city's position on this holds some water, just like I thought.

Anne's supporters are the zealous "NPR crowd" with Ms. Flicker waving the flag. Looks like Liz Morrison has staked out her position too. And sure enough, people are admitting that they are biased by having known Anne and her family for so long. People are just admitting it. I have never met the city manager. I'd be pleased to have a cup of coffee with her sometime. She is not the "Wicked Witch of the West."

You informed me of Nick Ripperger's passing. Thanks for the info. I couldn't care less about his passing. He bought into an adulterous relationship. The woman may have made the first move but he reciprocated. I thank God I have more basic sense and intelligence than that. He had such a dark personality.

(end of quoted material) 

  

These controversies have interesting dynamics. At present the librarian's supporters are 100 percent up-front with sharing their opinion - no inhibitions, quite the opposite. People inclined to be critical are guarded and will say things like "don't quote me." 

All this reminds me of when the public school had a controversy in the late '80s. The activities director emerged as the lightning rod. Same phenomenon: his supporters were totally up-front and flag-waving. Critics were scared and knew they might pay a price if they came forward. Finally some did come forward. And they did pay a price. The problems got ironed out over time but it took time. 

 

Addendum: First Lutheran Church like many in the ELCA fell into a spiral of decline because of one catalyst issue: gay rights. Not saying that gays don't deserve basic rights, but this is a fact. I think the "crusading" on this got to people. UMM was a big crusader.

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com