Halperin faux pas mostly puzzling

"Morning Joe" airs at a pretty peaceful time. Most of it airs while most people are peacefully in bed. It starts at 5 a.m. and goes for three hours.

It's a program with a reasonable tone, willing to be a platform for all reasonable political views.

So how on earth could one of their panelists get suspended?

This happened Thursday morning. It's the morning I make sure the trash is put out. Maybe that's when the offensive comment was uttered. I never heard the impolitic utterance, I only heard the apology.

This came from a very unlikely source.

I would have expected an ideological bomb-thrower to make the offensive comment. I would suspect Fox News, although Fox would let most comments like this pass and not suspend anyone. MSNBC to its credit is sane in this regard.

But Mark Halperin? This guy seems to be a Beltway mainstay. He's the co-author of the book "Game Change."

I had to go online to learn the grounds for his suspension. MSNBC wasn't going to have it repeated on the air.

Evidently Mr. Halperin needs to get away from his work for a while.
It's not that he's necessarily wrong to be a critic of President Obama. But what on earth can be accomplished by calling the president a "dick?"

I was frustrated because frankly, what is the definition of this junior high-level putdown? I tried getting enlightened. All I found was a definition that equated the term with a part of the male anatomy.

It's hard to know what Mark Halperin was really trying to communicate. He was talking about Obama's presentation in the previous day's press conference.

Obama scolded Congress, primarily Republicans I presume, in a pretty standard way. I believe he made a comparison to lazy schoolchildren. This makes him a "dick?"

But I still don't know what "dick" really means. Someone of Halperin's obvious education and stature ought to use more precision.

Apparently the panel joked about how the "seven-second delay" might have to be used (to censor the remark). Once you say that, though, aren't you inviting scrutiny? They joked about it but it wasn't done.
It appears someone in the booth didn't know how to do it.

Why go there? Why play around in such a juvenile fashion?

Why confuse and frustrate someone like me, a loyal "Morning Joe" viewer, with language that is both pejorative and imprecise?

If I want to watch something that is pointless and offensive, I can watch re-runs of the old "Gong Show" (with Chuck Barris). Speaking of which, remember the characters "Scarlett and Rhett" from that show? That gag was all about censorship.

"Scarlett" was a man dressed as a woman. The gag was inspired by the "I don't give a damn" line from "Gone with the Wind," a line which at that time pushed the envelope.

The Gong Show act had one line after another bleeped. "Scarlett" would fan herself ever more frantically, saying over and over again "oh Rhett Butler, you can't say that on television."

Rhett would then say "really? Well, can I say this?" Then his lips would move frantically while we heard nothing.

This gag was repeated over and over on that 1970s program which was a good window into the decade. Also repeated were "Gene Gene the Dancing Machine" and "The Unknown Comic" among others.

This was a talent show like "American Idol" but the similarities ended there.

"The Gong Show" made fun of itself. It made fun of everything in sight and not in a healthy way. It reflected the mood of resignation among the American people in the 1970s, a time when "stagflation" and other discouraging things were happening.

It was a time when Jimmy Carter tried having the military rescue the hostages in Iran but the helicopters had a mechanical breakdown. That's the kind of decade it was.

The word "malaise" is attributed to Carter but he never actually said it. Maybe this itself is an example of the decade's fumbling.

We elected Ronald Reagan in 1980 and even John Lennon became a cheerleader, according to recent news reports.

Today we have economic problems but it still doesn't seem anything like the 1970s. I'm not sure why, because the "financial crisis" of 2008 was so bad we needed drastic Federal government intervention.

So much for President George Bush believing in free enterprise.

I checked out the book "Game Change" from our Morris Public Library. I was surprised it was there so soon. You'd have to be crazy to pay suggested retail price for it.

Really, selling one's writing is becoming increasingly difficult in this Internet age. Many elitists are crying foul, with hands wringing, but I consider them to be dickheads. Oh, I'm sorry.

But what is the difference between "dick" and "dickhead?"

I remember reading once about someone who misheard song lyrics for years. "Might as well admit it you're addicted to love" entered his mind as "Might as well admit it you're a dickhead in love."

Is it bad to be a "dickhead in love?" How? Misheard song lyrics is actually a fascinating topic.

When Halperin and the TV panel joked about the seven-second delay, it was like they were going to have to disarm a time bomb (like in the movies). They failed. The bomb was dropped.

Now Halperin is not only suspended, this notoriety will never escape him, to the point where this episode might appear in his obituary someday.

I read only a portion of "Game Change," about the 2008 presidential campaign. I felt I could have written just as good a book by taking daily notes from cable TV news.

The only advantage Halperin would have on me, is he could use his Beltway connections to get a couple of provocative quotes - you know, some potty mouth lines - that could then be used to sell the book.
This is a pretty obvious racket. Bob Woodward is a master.
Woodward writes a treadmill book every 3-4 years. He of course rides the coattails of the fame he achieved uncovering Watergate, in which he basically just found a disgruntled high-level Washington D.C. official, set up cloak and dagger meetings and took notes.

All that was missing was the trench coats.

Woodward worked with Carl Bernstein. Halperin works with John Heilemann.

The one thing I hoped to learn from "Game Change" was how the authors interpreted the significance of Fox News. I turned to the index. Within minutes I could see they didn't do any probing of this at all.

The references to Fox News were mundane. There was no attempt to interpret and analyze Fox News' significance as a highly powerful political organization, which it clearly is.

I suspect the authors were cowed by the power of Fox News and Roger Ailes. Also, many of the Fox personalities are accepted among the Beltway power elite, where they circulate in much more collegial terms than one might suspect watching them on TV.

It's like professional wrestlers who behave like colleagues when the cameras are off. It's an inside game they all know.

As for all us knaves out here in the heartland, apparently what we don't know isn't going to hurt us. We live our insignificant lives out here on the plains while the Beltway, Washington D.C. and Wall Street consolidate power and keep us passive.

At least for now.

It remains to be seen if Bastille Day will come.

In the meantime, the knaves can wonder what Halperin meant by "dick". . .while Rome slowly burns?

At least Joe Scarborough keeps a steady ship with "Morning Joe." Mika Brzezinski at his side helps too.

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

"The Earth Stood Still" in two movies

Movies today are more glitzy than in an earlier time.

Look what "CGI" can do with movies. Think how much cheaper the movie "Cleopatra" would have been with CGI. There would have been shortcuts to creating "mass spectacle" scenes. You wouldn't have had to create real mass spectacles.

I suppose it was good work for the extras.

All the new tricks do not create better movies. Believe it or not, CGI can get tiresome. There truly is no substitute for story.

The old craftsmanship of drama survives. The new tricks are so much frosting that can be applied. It tastes sweet but is no substitute for the main course.

We want stories with twists and turns and characters that engage us.

"The Day the Earth Stood Still" was a science fiction classic made in 1951. It was chosen in 1995 for preservation in the U.S. Film Registry. It was a story about flying saucers and aliens.

So the special effects must have been gripping, right?
It would seem the special effects were just good enough.

I'd guess the moviemakers were nervous about whether the special effects might be too flimsy. It was a black and white movie and I think that helped.

I'm sure many movie aficionados wonder if color is really a step up. Isn't an Alfred Hitchcock movie more compelling in black and white than in color? Wouldn't the "film noir" genre lose an awful lot if these flicks were in color?

"The Day the Earth Stood Still" appeared on network TV in the 1960s. The boomer generation became captivated. We also liked "War of the Worlds" and "The Time Machine."

These science fiction stories have been re-told (or "re-imagined") in new versions. Most recently we got "The Day the Earth Stood Still" in 2008 with Keanu Reeves in the role originally played by Michael Rennie.

I have read that one of the reasons the original was so successful is that Rennie was an unknown. It was easier to imagine his character ("Klaatu") as genuine.

One of the most striking scenes has the Rennie character silhouetted at the entry to the boarding house where he inquires about a room. The lighting leaves his figure totally in shadow, accenting the mood of fear and uncertainty gripping everyone as news of the flying saucer gets out.

Might there be danger around every corner?
But the Rennie character steps out of the shadow and becomes immediately ingratiating. He's downright disarming. At no point in the movie to we ever really fear him.

More foreboding, it seems, are the raw and unrefined impulses of all us earthbound humanoids. We retreat into closed-mindedness. Perhaps the Cold War, in full flower, built that up.

The gentle "Klaatu" has a mission to help earth. We need only to take a sedative and listen.
The most thought-provoking aspect of the movie is how the alien approaches us like we're mass brethren on our planet, not separated by national or political boundaries. At least, that's how we ought to view ourselves.
This is elementary for Klaatu. Alas, not for us.

The storyline is much the same in the 2008 "re-imagining" with Reeves.
In each movie, the earth's inhabitants need a very assertive reminder about being sensible custodians of their planet.

Nuclear weapons were the specter in the '51 movie. Global climate change was the focus for the 2008 version.

One wonders on how many fronts these aliens might approach us and tell us to shape up.

Wouldn't "Gort" the robot be helpful preventing a state government shutdown in Minnesota? Or, preventing a similar impasse at the national level, where "liberals" and "conservatives" seem increasingly on a path of mutual destruction?

But the aliens might see these conflicts as too parochial. We need to be concerned about the human race and earth. We have to be prepared to set a good example for our fellow inhabitants of the universe.

Boomers were young in the 1960s when an assortment of cinematic sci-fi classics became imprinted on their (our) consciousness. As kids we could literally get scared.

While we weren't scared of "Klaatu," we were definitely scared of "Gort." I think I'm speaking for my generation here, as the mute and hulking Gort was one of those movie characters that might make you keep the light on in your bedroom for a few nights.

The same with the "Morlocks" in "The Time Machine."

Re. Gort: The '51 movie never showed us just how powerful this character might be. Klaatu informed that his companion could wreak unimaginable destruction. It was left to our imagination how.

This is very powerful storytelling: allowing the viewer to fill in blanks via the imagination.

Gort had an unmistakable ominous nature that we just knew could be bad news. He disarmed military weapons and tanks.

He apparently killed a couple of soldier/guards with a technique much like Mr. Spock's "Vulcan death grip." We didn't see the moment when the soldiers went down; at that moment we just saw the astounded look on child actor Billy Gray's face.

You know, Billy Gray, who went on to play "Bud" in "Father Knows Best." The movie also included the actress who went on to play "Aunt Bea" in "Andy of Mayberry."

All in all, the creators of the original "The Day the Earth Stood Still" were masters of instilling fear by just suggesting scenarios, planting thoughts in our heads.

The 2008 remake ("re-imagining") by comparison wasn't subtle. We saw how Gort could inflict mass death. He did it by turning into a cloud of "nanites."

It was more disgusting than scary to see this unfold on the screen.

If I may offer a brief movie review, I'd say the Reeves version started out very well and very promising. It seemed like a big budget spectacle that would take us for a ride.

I was greatly impressed by the scene where Reeves as Klaatu meets in a fast food restaurant with "Mr. Wu" (James Hong), an alien who has lived on earth as an observer.
Mr. Wu sees the hopeless side of our grappling with environmental issues. But, he has seen "another side" that makes him feel affection for us. He refuses to leave.

This decision would appear to spell death. Klaatu, upon consulting all relevant information, sees no hope. The planet's fate for life-sustaining purposes is the overriding priority.
Klaatu sees the need to "pull the trigger," as it were. While the '51 version suggested this scenario, it never happened, so maybe this is why we might find the Rennie portrayal of Klaatu more endearing.
Rennie finds us to be primitive but he mixes with us comfortably. Reeves complains about his human body which he at first finds completely unacceptable.

Rennie issues a stark warning at the end of the '51 classic. It seems likely his Klaatu will be heeded.

In the 2008 movie, we see all hell break loose with those disgusting nanites made "real" by CGI. Thanks but no thanks to CGI.

The '08 movie was not a step up from its predecessor. The re-imagining was compelling for about the first one-third, and after that it flattens out and becomes largely forgettable.

The reviews were mixed. Typically they said this movie was "heavy on special effects but without a coherent story."

Ah, story. It's so basic to appreciate the need for a compelling story and characters we care about. It's so fundamental but it can get overlooked.

The original movie had substance along with being truly scary. In all its black and white splendor, it captivated a generation from the small screen.

The remake/re-imagining came at us with the idea that an audience was ready-made, i.e. all of us who fell in love with the original.

The original had Klaatu tote around diamonds which became a giveaway for his being an alien. I'm sure Newt Gingrich's eyes would've popped open wildly (LOL).

I'm not sure Newt's "revolving account" at Tiffany's would have covered these other-worldly gems, or come close.

There are times when Gingrich's political ideas seem to be coming from outer space.

Could Gort the robot neutralize the political "tea party?" Only in my dreams, I guess.

But I proclaim the original "The Day the Earth Stood Still" as a distinct classic, deserving of a position in any "Top 10" of cinema.

The wavering tone of the melodic instrument in the theme music sends a chill down my spine.

Never forget: "Klaatu Barada Nikto."

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

Morris Legion boys impress in two wins

Legion baseball picks up where the high school campaign leaves off.

Morris had a memorable prep campaign with win after win. That trek ended in Marshall. Now the boys are proudly wearing Legion blue.

The athletes play for Post #29 of Morris.

The Motown crew picked up its second win of this wet summer on Thursday, June 23. Playing at home, the blue-themed Morris unit turned back Brandon-Evansville 8-1.

Cole Riley, whose bat was on the money for much of this past spring, was "in the zone" with his three hits. He knocked in a run with a single in the third inning, and connected for a run-scoring double in the fourth.

Tanner Picht doubled, scored two runs and drove in one as part of going two-for-three. Alex Erickson was fleet of foot in stealing two bases and scoring two runs. He had one hit in three at-bats.

Brady Valnes had a one-for-three line and drove in a run. Brody Bahr went one-for-two and Tyler Henrichs had a hit in his only official at-bat: a double.

A pair of familiar pitching names from the high school season shared the mound assignment.

It was Alex Erickson carrying most of the load. Alex threw for six innings, striking out three batters, walking two and giving up four hits and one run (earned). He was the pitcher of record.

Tyler Hansen worked a very efficient one inning of relief, striking out the side in the seventh.

The Post #29 boys jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, then made the score 5-0 in the third. They pulled away with a three-run fourth inning.

Brandon-Evansville scored its lone run in the sixth.

Morris fielded cleanly with but one error, while B-E had three fielding miscues.

Morris outhit the visitor 9-4.

Aaron Lund was the offensive standout for the visitor, rapping two hits in three at-bats including a double. Lund drove in the only B-E run.

Morris 8, Glenwood-Lowry 2

Monday, June 13, action had the Legion nine visiting Glenwood-Lowry and winning with a dramatic, memorable flourish.

This game had crept into extra innings. Morris brought its lumber to the plate in the top of the eighth with special determination.

Wow! When the dust cleared in this rally, Morris had scored six times and pretty much put this game away.

Mitch Kill blanked Glenwood-Lowry in the bottom of the eighth and this game went into the books as an 8-2 Morris win.

Morris scored its eight runs on ten hits and committed zero errors. The Glenwood-Lowry line score was 2-4-6. Yes, six errors, which must have spelled some trouble for the hosts, who almost won anyway.

Glenwood-Lowry fielding actually unraveled in that pivotal eighth inning when Morris seized its victory mantle. Morris took advantage of errors but also pounded out four hits in the eighth.

That rally included a fly ball to center by Mitch Kill that was misplayed, allowing a run in. Also, Brody Bahr connected for an RBI single.

Bahr and Kill were the Morris pitchers. Bahr got the starting nod and Kill came on in relief. Each pitched four innings and it was Kill getting the "W" next to his name. Kill fanned five batters and walked two. He allowed no hits.

Bahr got roughed up a little as he gave up four hits and two runs (earned) while fanning four batters and walking two.

Dustin Helmick, Taylor Kollmann (the loser) and Kevin Jenks pitched for Glenwood-Lowry.

Let's roll up our sleeves for the hitting summary: Tyler Hansen's hitting eye was right on as he delivered three hits in five at-bats including a double, plus he drove in a run.

Ryan Beyer's bat resounded for two hits in five at-bats and he drove in two runs. Ethan Bruer came through at two-for-four and he drove in a run.

Cole Riley went one-for-four and Brody Bahr one-for-three, and Bahr picked up a ribbie.

Trenton Berg and Kameron Drange each had two hits for Glenwood-Lowry.

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

Is UND nickname issue still bubbling?

Isn't there a "silent majority" in North Dakota?

I hate to trot out a term that was probably coined by Richard Nixon. But the term has meaning - the idea of a vast sea of people holding a certain view who aren't injecting themselves into the public arena.

We shouldn't assume the view in question is regressive or misinformed.

In the case of North Dakota, aren't most people totally ready to move on from the UND nickname issue? Haven't they been weary of this for some time? Wouldn't any sensible person have better things to do than worry about a school nickname/mascot?

Isn't there some level of embarrassment setting in?

I think the NCAA has tried to be gentle about this. Change has crept into the picture and it's just time to accept it.

What a ridiculous cause.

Education leaders in North Dakota have been ready to move on. They in fact took steps to do so, but then the waters got muddied by politicians.

I suspect the politicians, perhaps not fully adjusted to our new communications age, have been swamped with emails from the regressive and emotional forces.

Be careful about electronic communications. People with strong emotions use them disproportionately. The more temperate and reasonable crowd just expects you fools to lead.

Please pause and try to consider that a "silent majority" wants you to navigate these uncomfortable waters and just do the appropriate thing. As a political issue this one seems pretty superficial.

There is a money problem as there so often is. An extremely wealthy benefactor once had a hockey arena built for UND that had the controversial mascot symbol all over the place, or so I've read. Apparently this was a deliberate ploy to try to ensure the mascot would remain.

Erasing it would put some contractors to work on a mighty ambitious project.

Why the clinging to the nickname? Maybe it's a case of people resenting outside intrusion. The nickname has been assailed from outside the borders of the state.

The NCAA might seem like one of those outside bureaucratic forces that we like to resent. But the NCAA is in large part a political animal, trying to reflect what society wants.

The NCAA and controversy are hardly strangers to each other. So, these are people who know how to deal with this landscape. They listen to voices of change and try to adjust.

Resentment toward UND's type of nickname has been bubbling up. People have tried to be gentle in coaxing UND in the right direction.

We try to realize that tradition has a pull. We try to realize that many innocent people have gone along with the nickname. But a growing number have come to realize that the mascot and nickname are not innocuous. They are a throwback to a less enlightened time.

North Dakota's education leaders seem to have accepted this reasoning now. Oh, I'm sure most accepted it long ago.

But we're sailing through political waters here. A school like University of North Dakota depends on state support.

I have argued on this site for a long time that higher education is going to be thrown on its heels by the communications tech revolution. Higher education will have to be more concerned than ever about not offending anyone.

The UND Native American mascot issue is out in the open and isn't going away. I came across an update article the other day. This is when I learned that the politicians are muddying the waters, obstructing the inevitable shift that seemed to be proceeding.
The article was from the Washington Post.

I thought "my God, when will this issue just go away?"

It isn't going to go away if change doesn't come.

Politicians are supposed to be custodians of a state's image. If certain North Dakotans think they're going to come off looking heroic by fighting for the current name and imagery, they are out of the loop of reason.

This has become such an old issue. It appears the NCAA isn't going to budge. The NCAA has come this far with a firm stance; it isn't going to crumble now.

North Dakota politicians aren't going to have that much power. You're a long way from the Beltway, guys. Not that the Beltway people would bother pushing a cause like this.

Politicians have some mighty important tasks these days. Getting involved in a school nickname controversy would seem to put the "ass" in "asinine."

Are you prepared to see headlines about this five years from now? One feels the same kind of weariness about this as about the "birthers" vs. President Obama. Frankly, the level of ignorance seems the same.

The "Fighting Sioux" mascot supporters are stuck in another age. It's an age when college sports fans invested emotions in these things to an unreasonable degree. It's an age when male athletes in the marquee sports tended to drink alcohol as sort of a badge.

They disrespected women.

Finally, the old "Hoosiers" model of elite sports - remember the Gene Hackman movie? - gave way to a more civilized approach. My goodness, women's sports certainly helped that.

Women's sports lifted up the idea that sports ought to be a platform for healthy participation by a substantial number of students.

The number of sports offerings increased. Look what soccer has done for our University of Minnesota-Morris.

The idea of heavy-drinking football "heroes" became a relic. Along with this enlightenment came the realization that the UND nickname and logo had to go.

I'm sure administrators at the school have been pulling their hair out over this issue for some time. Many have had their arm twisted, painfully, to be courteous toward the regressive crowd. Nobody in higher education wants to be combative with any element of the public.

The silent majority in the state, I'm sure, regrets the day when the controversial name took hold. I have read that a different name existed prior. I have read this was "Flickertails." What a pleasant nickname to have adorning the school.

If you're a real adherent to tradition, why not just go back to this? The Neanderthals might say the name is "namby pamby" or something like that. Do I have to use the word "asinine" again?

The train has left the station, you guys. Put down your beer steins, if you can, and try to reflect a little.

A college sports nickname isn't even a necessary thing. Why do teams even need them? Why can't we just refer to the University of North Dakota men's basketball team? Nicknames seem juvenile.

A lot of teams fall back on "cat" names as sort of a default approach. Consider that when the National Football League expanded, we got the Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars.

We here in Morris are quite safe with our cat names: Morris Area Tigers and UMM Cougars. Our football teams play at Big Cat Stadium.

Of course, we still play the "Benson Braves." I'm not sure why Benson has been able to retain this name for so long with so little controversy. It's just a little high school, I guess. They know not what they do.

But the University of North Dakota? Such institutions are bastions of forward thinking. What a ridiculous issue to be dogging what I'm sure is a fine institution.

What a ridiculous issue to be tainting North Dakota.

Who are these politicians pushing in the regressive direction? Are they tea partiers? I don't know, but we all know what the outcome will eventually be.
I'll throw out one name, Governor Jack Dalrymple, who is in with the Pickett's Charge type of effort. How atavistic.

Let's erase from our consciousness the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux.

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

West Morris has higher profile in summer

Wells Park in west Morris has been a chief venue for little league baseball and elementary softball. (B.W. photo)

Summer is fully upon us in Morris. The graduations are done and the high school athletics action wrapped up with the state track and field meet. Congrats to Cody, Rachel and Tristan on the heights they reached.

The sports are a little more low-key now. Wells Park takes its place in the sports fabric. Generations of Morris youth have experienced the highs and lows of little league baseball there.

I have occasionally suggested that west Morris could have its own festival like Prairie Pioneer Days. Call it West Morris Fest or West Morris Days. Wells Park would be a nice home base.

Close your eyes and imagine the flea market and other doings there. How about a parade along Park Avenue?

Remember, Morris was set up with the idea of the east and west sides being co-equal. The blueprint was much like for Benson but Morris veered off on its own path.

East Morris became the hub for commerce and public institutions.

And west Morris? It didn't really take a back seat, unless you consider the rich residential life to somehow have a back seat.

West Morris is a celebration of the residential life. As such it probably just prefers "quiet." A man's home is his castle.

An event like Prairie Pioneer Days would probably seem like an intrusion. Nice event to visit but you wouldn't want to live around it.

Little league baseball is as close as you'll get to a real public spectacle there. I doubt the surrounding neighborhoods really have an issue with that.

I played little league baseball there in the years before the kids got those nice major league facsimile uniforms. We had team T-shirts.

Girls didn't have a comparable outlet back then. Girls sports took time to work up a head of steam.

It's amazing how backwards our society was at one time. The government had to assert itself for girls to get equal footing.

People who are left of center politically are always the ones giving the push for this type of change. Republicans never do. The change process can be uncomfortable and always runs into naysayers.

Once the change is complete and the public accepts it, Republicans act as if they never would have had a problem with it. Like for Medicare which was dragged into reality in the mid 1960s.

If you have any doubts about Republicans' inclinations, look at what they're trying to do with Medicare today.

Title IX really carried the banner for girls sports. I remember when girls elementary softball came on the scene at Wells Park, overseen by Morris Area Community Education.

I remember the "GEO girls" coached by Sharon Martin. I think the GEO initials have kind of come and gone in carmaking. The sponsor I'm alluding to is Heartland Motors.

The shrieks of fan/parents are just as audible for girls as for boys sports at Wells.

I played there in a less progressive epoch.

Baseball/softball at that level is a laboratory for learning life's lessons. You have to function as a group (team). There is an authority figure (coach) who can be a pain.

There are pecking orders. Emotions get aroused. There is the pressure to perform. Players sprint around the bases to score and commit errors.

I remember playing first base and moving into the hole between first and second to try to field a grounder, only to get reprimanded because apparently I should have let the second baseman try to make the play. First base was left abandoned.

"Play first!" the pitcher barked.

But the pitcher should instinctively run to first to try to cover on plays like this.

This is the kind of finger-pointing that becomes a laboratory in preparing for the "real world."

One of the most commendable things you can say about sports is that the feedback is immediate and direct. It's not done with a memo left on someone's desk. Your mistakes are in full view.

Generations of Morris kids have gotten nurtured this way at Wells Park.

I was playing first base one evening when the sun was getting low toward the horizon, making it hard to see the ball on a pickoff try. Really, pickoff plays at this level can be more trouble than they're worth.

I actually tried "shaking off" the pickoff play (like a pitcher shaking off a sign from the catcher). The pitcher, whose identity I remember, didn't get the communication. The ball got past me and the runner advanced.

Should I report the pitcher's name here? Oh, why not. It was Nick Kieffer.

Wells Park is located close to the railroad tracks and close to where Park Avenue and Pacific Avenue start out on the north end. These two arteries start out in the same place and fan out.

Eventually the east-west streets had to intersect the two, of course. Not the easiest proposition for achieving 90-degree angles.

Didn't Jesse Ventura once joke that St. Paul must have been designed by drunk Irishmen? West Morris prompts the same type of thought.

A businessman friend of mine jokes that west Morris is marked by "five-way intersections." It's an exaggeration but it's inspired by reality.

Whatever the case, west Morris is a prime refuge for families to rejoice in the residential lifestyle. No intrusion of anything like the "cemetery chimes."

I love the hypocrisy of some people who praise the cemetery music and chafe at the irritation some have felt toward it. They'd never tolerate such sounds in their own neighborhood. Hey, people live in east Morris too.

It's just that east Morris is accepted as the place for our main public institutions. Goodness, we almost got a 40-bed jail constructed there. Pinch me to see if I'm dreaming.

I still view the chimes as totally unnecessary, sorry. A knowledgeable source once told me the chimes were first offered to UMM and UMM refused them.

When I was in college, the "loud stereo" was a campus cultural fixture. I suspect that more students were annoyed by this than ever let on.

We let this "squeaky wheel" have the grease because it was some sort of cultural statement. It was a statement of rebellion. I doubt they helped anyone study any better. The Edgar Winter Group's "Frankenstein" might cascade across a campus.

In my assessment, this was a cultural statement only by the students who owned the loudest stereos and felt restless enough to want to be exhibitionists.

There, I've just said the emperor has no clothes. I do that quite often with my fellow boomers, you pot-smoking fools (many of you anyway).

Remind yourself that summer is here in Morris. The weather hasn't really suggested that. It's been an atypical summer with cool and moisture prevailing.
The last couple of days have been ungodly wet. Maybe we're all about to develop fins.

If there's any doubt summer is here, the Morris High School Class of 1971 just had its reunion. A class member approached me at the local greasy spoon Saturday. I "sort of" recognized him but he had to tell me his name.

It turns out he rode school bus with me, although I often elected not to take the bus. Too much bullying. I reflected on that with him. He was not one of the bullies.

He smiled when I was able to successfully spell his last name ("Hartsuiker").

I recalled a common bullying tactic: flicking fingers on the ear of a kid sitting in front of you. Very painful.

I told him that maybe I should have gone to authorities about this behavior, but if I did, I risked getting "beat up in a back alley" sometime.

I don't think "conflict resolution" was a buzzword yet. It was the laws of the jungle.
But we all love 'ol Motown (Morris), don't we?

Enjoy your summer.

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

The proposed jail and small-town power

This site didn't exist at the time of the earthquake-like controversy over whether a new jail ought to be built here. But I certainly noticed all the doings.

We can see the Morris National Guard Armory from where we live. A climactic meeting was held there, focusing on the controversy. Cars were parked in every which direction.

County commissioners were basically told to "shut up and listen."

The citizenry, or at least a major element of it, took the initiative to put issues and questions before the public without going through any filter erected by the elected people.

This was a town hall meeting on steroids.

This website didn't exist then because the Morris newspaper still seemed somewhat viable. Not that this site is going to fill any void by itself; the point is that a variety of sites will evolve, and that hopefully yours truly is setting an example for how we can proceed.

These things take time. People have their old habits.

The jail flashpoint may have been fascinating but it was unfortunate.

Small towns are organisms that try to discourage conflict. It's hard for us to escape each other. We try to smooth over our differences of opinion.

Small towns don't have quite the same kind of power structure as in years past. Boomers will remember that in their youth, there was a shadowy type of power structure - I hesitate to say "mafia" - that seemed to push decisions a certain way.

It wasn't our imagination. A book about a celebrated murder in Foley in the 1950s went in depth about this. The book's author had an intellectual's eye.

Oh, the power structure had nothing to do with the murder, of course. But it guided how the community would deal with the aftermath.

I checked out this book from our local public library. My best college friend was from Foley, which drew some of my interest.

I was somewhat surprised to find the book at the library because it was controversial. The Star Tribune had more than one article about it.

The author used pseudonyms for a lot of the principals but this wasn't enough to tamp down a certain level of bad feeling.

No community would want to be reminded of this anyway. It would be like someone connected to Morris writing a book about the goalpost incident at UMM.
Of course we could learn a lot from a study of that.

From an intellectual's perspective, we might learn why college students, especially in groups, have a tendency toward unruly behavior in certain situations.

We might be better off discussing this stuff in the open. But I suspect the community consensus might well be: The less said the better. In the future, background on this might be shared in whispered tones.

Might it seem like urban legend?

Speaking of urban legend, we can dust off the old story about 3M coming here. Or rather, not coming here. Boomers with roots in Morris know all about this.

The Morris industrial base stood to be enhanced tremendously. It didn't happen, and the resulting question of "why?" became intriguing.

Was it the specter of unions coming here? That's a popular angle. Did the power structure of Morris at the time just see unions as anathema to their interests?
Never mind that public employee unions were on their way in a big way (here and everywhere else).

A cynic might buy what I just laid out. Most likely there is more than one explanation. The union angle can hardly be dismissed.

Oh, but no one would want to just "shoo away" unions, would they?
It's not really cynical to believe certain interests would, because look what's happening right before our eyes in Wisconsin. Republican politicians can run amok when they get too much power.

We can assume that most small town leaders of that bygone time were Republican. I remember hearing after the 3M matter: "They couldn't get together on who owned the land (where the company would locate)."

I love these explanations that start with "they." Who are "they?"

The English language permits these passive constructions, like "it's going to rain." What is "it?"

I remember a Gary Larson "Far Side" cartoon that poked fun at our tendency to use "they" in order to be non-specific. A man in a closet surrounded by telephones is discovered by his wife, who says "so you're the 'they' in 'that's what they say.' "

People my age could easily trot out four or five names that we'd associate with the Morris power structure. Absolute facts are hard to come by. But we just seemed to know.

We can be assured we were typical. You can just read that book about the Foley incident. You'll find yourself nodding your head.

We can easily forget those were quite different times. The line between rich and middle class was much more distinct.

The book author noted that the poor people were out of the loop and didn't pay much attention to how power was distributed. And the middle class? Many of them resented the power elite, according to the book.

Us boomers tended to throw around the names of prominent people in a deprecating way. Looking back, it seems kind of unfair.

Of course boomers engage in lots of revisionist history. There was a time we walked away from organized religion, especially of the mainstream kind. Today we have mostly drifted back.

Today we are inclined to feel affection, certainly no animosity, toward people who might have been connected to the power network of years ago.

Maybe it's because of economic prosperity. Boomers' parents had all they could do to tuck some money in the bank, and certainly weren't squirreling large sums away in "mutual funds."

The stock market seemed synonymous with hazard. In my mind it still is. Those old community leaders might "play around" in stocks but certainly not the rank-and-file (or "worker bees").

I have to laugh because rich people never really "play around" with their money. They know what they're doing. How do you think they got where they are? It's mythology to think the wealthy approach the stock market like it's a mere casino.

What I worry about is common citizens being drawn into the market, people without that savvy.

Talk to any survivor of the Great Depression about the wisdom of putting your money in any sort of non-FDIC insured place.

What would Morris be like if 3M had come here? It's one of the great "what if" questions of the community.

Now we can also ponder: "What if that big jail had been constructed here?" My, we came close to that reality.

The citizenry had to practically start screaming to stop it. A friend tells me that it wasn't the sheer number of naysaying voices that stopped it. What stopped it was that "people with money" spoke out.

"I could have said something, but no one would listen to me," this friend (initials G.H.) said.

They say money is the mother's milk of politics. (And who is "they?")

I like the old line: "Money's honey, my dear sonny, and a rich man's joke is always funny."

I learned that from Mad Magazine: a caption under a photo that included Nelson Rockefeller. Nelson and some colleagues were having a hoot about something.

Nelson was the famed "moderate Republican" of his time, the alternative to Barry Goldwater and his sharp edge.

Today we have Mitt Romney. The hard righties are warning us about "Obamneycare." This is an oldie but goodie: it's no different from the righties' attack on Medicare in the mid 1960s.

What would it be like having a big jail smack dab in the middle of Morris, a stone's throw from two churches and St. Mary's School? Would we even be able to fill it adequately?

Is it any fun, really, to fill a jail? Isn't it a necessary evil?

Well it's an evil that the community, in the end, decided it could do without.

That's what they say.

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

Shall we have consensus on our lake names?

The sign says Welcome to Pomme de Terre Lake but on official maps it's Perkins Lake. Is either name really the predominant one? And the lake south of Alberta that I came to know as Frog Lake is identified on maps as Gorder Lake.

I remember as a kid fishing for bullheads in Pomme de Terre Lake. In my recent post about signs, I mentioned how the Pomme de Terre lake chain might be "an underappreciated asset" of the Morris area.

Maybe there's a name issue.

Number one, we can't be sure that Pomme de Terre Lake is in fact the official name.

Take a look at the big framed Stevens County map at our public library (just inside the entrance). It seems all official county maps tell the same story: It's Perkins Lake, not Pomme de Terre.

I brought this matter to the attention of our Stevens County Historical Society once. I'm not sure any follow-up research was done.

Is it asking too much that there be a consensus on the lake name? This isn't just some obscure slough, it's a lake good enough for recreational purposes.

You'll see boats pulling around large innertubes with shrieking kids on them.

I presume those bullheads are still around.

I became aware of the name issue through my years in the corporate media. I'd hear offhand references to "Perkins Lake." I learned that the Perkins name had a history out there.
Perkins Resort was once a very popular escape place, especially for the area's youth. There was a pavilion and roller skating.

I know for a fact some married couples first met there. I also know these lakes were once more inviting for swimming than they now are. They were cleaner.

I remember seeing swimming lessons out there. I didn't actually take them. Once I learned how to stay buoyant in water, that was good enough for me (along with "dog paddling" proficiency).

It's fine that the Perkins name seems synonymous with the lake, but should we take the jump of assuming the lake should be called that?

Someone at some time made sure our county maps would say "Perkins Lake."
It's a nice name, rolls off the tongue etc., but when you arrive at the public access there, you'll see a sign saying "welcome to Pomme de Terre Lake."

I'm biased toward this name because it's what I learned when I was young. In my mind it will always be Pomme de Terre Lake.

Perhaps the bottom line here is just that I'm suggesting there be consensus.

One argument for Perkins: This name clearly separates this lake in people's minds from where Pomme de Terre City Park is.

Pomme de Terre City Park is on the east edge of our community, much more convenient for the public.

I'm sure when some people say "Pomme de Terre Lake," confusion arises. You have to clarify you're referring to the lake several miles to the north of Morris, and not where the city park is.

The city park is located on a "sort of" lake that is really a wide spot on the Pomme de Terre River. I learned this lake has its own name. I saw it on a map when I was writing about the bike trail system. It's "Lake Crissy."

Nice name but it hasn't seemed to have gained widespread acceptance. I don't think I've ever heard this name in a casual conversation. People just refer to the park.

It was quite the big deal when the "earthen pool" opened at the park. My, it was a celebrated occasion when it opened and became a magnet for funseekers. There were lifeguards and a concession stand there.

The lifeguards could be a pain. They would get "breaks" that would require everyone out of the water. There were nitpicking rules like "staying off the dike." I couldn't imagine any real danger so it must have been one of those liability things.

Over time the "Pomme de Terre beach" (at the park) lost its popularity. I remember that only a real sizzling summer day, temperature over 90, could ensure people flocking there to any degree.

Finally the pool died. Maybe it was too expensive to maintain. Many people have fond memories from when the earthen pool was in its heyday.

Pomme de Terre City Park continues to have a successful campground. The noise from irrigation equipment can be an issue. I remember as a kid playing "capture the flag" with the Boy Scouts after dark out there.
The scoutmaster was Sandy Munson, a rustic sort of character. (Sandy taught me the term "swampwater" for a glass of pop that was a mixture of whatever varieties were available from the taps.)

The picnic shelters seem to be well used.
There's also a shelter out at the Pomme de Terre Lake access, along with a swing set and a little "horsie" for toddlers to have fun on.

"Middle" Pomme de Terre Lake seems more like an extension of the main lake, not deserving of its own name.

Our local golf course also has the Pomme de Terre name.

Maybe for clarity, we all ought to adopt the "Perkins Lake" name.

But this isn't the only lake in Stevens County with name issues. Sheesh, there's a lake south of Alberta, a tremendous wildlife haven, that has a different official name from the one I grew up with.

I grew up with "Frog Lake." Our family hunted ducks out there. I remember the bluebills roaring overhead late in duck season, sounding like a jet plane.

"Frog Lake" on official county maps is called "Gorder Lake."
So, which is it? Will the time come for everyone to just get on the same page? Apparently in Stevens County, an air of mystery is supposed to accompany our lake names.

Terms for things should be precise, like "Obamneycare" (LOL).
Minneapolis has its own problems with a prominent lake named for a pro-slavery politician. But we're learning that shelving the name Lake Calhoun is no routine matter and might be impossible. There were headlines about this Tuesday.
But it can't be impossible to re-name a lake. Perhaps there's buck-passing going on here. (What? Among politicians?)

We are blessed in Stevens County having our share of lakes and sloughs. I know of some sloughs that seem big enough to be called lakes. Where is the line drawn? Are there scientific criteria or is it just a horse-sense type of thing? I do trust horses.

And while we're seeking precision with names, how about a name for the island on Lake Crystal, west Morris? To my knowledge it lacks one.
A friend suggested "Skull Island." I didn't ask on what basis that name was coined. Must be inspired by pirate movies.

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