Three weeks back, I wrote here about the devastating Lahaina fire on Maui and having traveled there several decades ago with deeply fond memories. The town, I said, "had a sense of the past and world culture that seemed to be living all around you." I particularly singled out the Pioneer Inn, where I stayed and remembered with great affection, all the more so since it was destroyed in the fire.
"But most of all, I loved staying at the Pioneer Inn. It permeated the Old World with simplicity and warmth, and I soaked it all up, reveling in knowing not only how it fit into the whaling past, but that people like Mark Twain had stayed there. Its wood structure painted white, with wonderful wood slats in the windows, and a Polynesian sensibility crossed with New England sturdiness." I had such fondness for the Pioneer Inn that I'd kept matchbook keepsake from my time there, and embedded photos of it. I had wanted to post a photo of the place itself, but didn't think I had access to a photo I'd taken of the Pioneer Inn -- but happily I was able to find it. I've added it in the originally article. And as an homage, since I figure most people here aren't going to be going back to read it, I include it below
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Happy anniversary!
On this date 9 years ago, August 28, 2014, the Republican Party went bat-dung crazy because President Barack Obama wore a tan suit. The good news is that at least we know what the GOP will get upset over with a president. It's not two impeachments, including for trying to shakedown a foreign leader and promoting a riot against the U.S. government. It's not being found liable for committing what the trial judge wrote was the equivalence of rape. It's not creating plans to stage a coup against democracy in order to overthrow the government. It's not fomenting an Insurrection where rioters broke into the U.S. Capitol, threatened the lives of the members of Congress, attacked the police and built a hangman's noose for vice president Mike Pence. It's not taking government documents, refusing to return them, hiding them from a government subpoena, leaving classified material out in the open and showing war plans to people without clearance. It's not interfering with state government to get them to commit election fraud. It's not having your charity foundation shut down for a having "shocking pattern of illegality." It's none of that and more. But it's comforting to know that despite knowing that not any of that upsets Republicans in Congress when it comes to the actions of a president, there is something that will upset Republicans, sworn to protect, preserve and defend the United States Constitution. It's a black man standing at the White House podium in a tan suit. (For the record: I did not come up with the phrase that I used for the headline above. It was too wonderful not to use, but I don't want to take credit for it. It was from some commentator I saw on a montage about the Republican derangement over the suit.) I don’t have much to add about the excruciating disaster in Lahaina that even touches close to the reporting and video footage, and I can’t put my reaction anywhere in the universe of those whose lives are part of the community. This is not intended to. But that I feel as heart-sick as I do from just two trips to Hawaii, with one visit to Lahaina, speaks to how overwhelming and almost indescribable this conflagration is. I’ve mentioned in the past that my friend Peter Carlisle was Chief Prosecuting Attorney of Honolulu for about 17 years, and served as Mayor there. And I have good friends from Hawaii. So, my appreciation of their deep love of the state and its history from all our talks over the decades has them as its foundation. On one of the trips, I went to Maui and drove to Lahaina to spend a couple days. I didn’t know much about the town, but read up on it, and loved his whaling history. Lahaina has a wonderful, sweet charm that was different from the grace of the rest of the state. It had a sense of the past and world culture that seemed to be living all around you. But most of all, I loved staying at the Pioneer Inn. It permeated the Old World with simplicity and warmth, and I soaked it all up, reveling in knowing not only how it fit into the whaling past, but that people like Mark Twain had stayed there. Its wood structure painted white, with wonderful wood slats in the windows, and a Polynesian sensibility crossed with New England sturdiness. (When I initially posted this article, I didn't think I had a photo I'd taken of the Pioneer Inn, but happily I was able to find it.) In fact, although the trip to Lahaina may have been 35-40 years ago, I had such a strong appreciation of the Pioneer Inn that even after all those years I have still kept a souvenir of the hotel to maintain a connection. Though a small souvenir, but it's brought great memories, a match book. In the back of my mind, I had thoughts of returning to the Pioneer Inn. But the moment I heard there was a fire crushing Lahaina, I know the hotel was gone. And likely the town. When I’ve thought of the Pioneer Inn over the years, I thought of “wood.” And the town had that feel, as well. It wasn’t going to stand against roaring flames. Lahaina would be a place for memory.
And that’s what Lahaina is now. Heart-sickening is the only word for me to describe it, and that doesn’t even come close to doing it justice. It’s not just that everything has disappeared, and that emergency relief will be so difficult for people there to access. But once they do, once they get their FEMA support, once they get their government assistance, once they get their insurance – there’s no Lahaina there to go back to. It’s gone. (There is also one other sickening aspect to this disaster. It’s all the delusional, empty people who point to this soul-crushing loss and try desperately to say “Wait, this wasn’t a natural disaster at all. Look at this photo and that shaft of light. This was from aliens.” Lahaina was a community about the natural world. Nature was at its core. And the winds and heat and flames that tragically came together in the changed climate world we live in today sadly become a part of that history. Those who try to make it about something conspiratorially phantasmagoric not only demean themselves, but spit on the lives of all those who have lived in Lahaina over the centuries. Happily, they missed by a lot.) People will return. Lahaina will be rebuilt. Chicago burned down in flames, and returned to become one of the great cities of the world. And there will be a thriving Lahaina. At some point. But Lahaina is different, Lahaina was about history. And those structures are no more. Those museums are no more. But at least the thing about history is that it’s always there where it was. So, while the Lahaina that returns will be new and different, there will be in its spirit the Lahaina that always was and will always be. That may not be enough in many ways. But it’s something. And it’s important. Aloha. For those who like to look at the calendar for such things, today is the 79th anniversary of D-Day, June 6, 1944. I thought it would therefore be especially appropriate to post this video. It's the wonderful theme to the movie, The Longest Day, sung and performed most appropriately by the Cadet Glee Club of West Point, along with military band. I first posted this video five years ago in 2017. It’s my favorite one on the subject – not just for the performance, but for how movingly the video is edited. It's particularly well-done, beginning with a minute of General Dwight Eisenhower's message to the troops before the invasion began, and interspersed with some excellent photos and archival film from the day, amid the soaring music. By the way, the timpani you hear before the song begins is not only recognizable as the beginning of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, but more to the point, it's the Morse Code for “V” for Victory. Also, in case you weren't aware, the main theme for The Longest Day, used throughout the film not just in the end titles, was written by pop-star heartthrob at the time, Paul Anka. I will only add that today commemorates when the United States and democracies around the world came together to fight and defeat Nazis and fascism. Ben Franklin was born on this day, January 17, in 1706. And as I like to do to celebrate, I thought I'd post a few songs with the good fellow from a couple of Broadway musicals. Yes, a couple -- there are two musicals I know of that feature Benjamin Franklin, which is probably two more than most people would have guessed for a very long time. While I'm certain that 1776 comes first to mind for most people, instead we're going to start with another. It's a show that opened in October, 1964, called Ben Franklin in Paris. And it had an impressive lead -- Robert Preston, in his first musical since The Music Man. It had music and lyrics by a fellow named Sidney Michaels and also starred Ulla Sallert. The show didn't have a long run, though did play for 215 performances, which is half a year. I'm not bowled over by the score, but it does have a few nice things in it. And happily, my favorite song even has video of it when the cast appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and performed the song and the scene that leads into it. This is "Half the Battle." The other song, "Look for Small Pleasures," is quite nice, in a small, charming way. In fact, it even had a bit of life outside the show and was recorded by several people, with moderate success. And of course we have to follow that up with something from 1776, with music and lyrics by Sherman Edwards. So, here then is "The Egg." And...oh, okay, let's throw in an offbeat bonus. No, it's not a musical about Ben Franklin, but how can we end a celebration of the good fellow without this song from Mary Poppins?! We interrupt the Holiday Music Fest currently in progress so that we my bring you this special posting. The Holiday Music Fest will return soon. This afternoon, though, we honor the State of Illinois on the 204th anniversary of it being admitted to the Union. Huzzah! In honor of it as the true birthplace of America, or at least me, we do have music, so those of you who miss the latest installment of holiday songs at least have something to hold on to. It's the state song, "Illinois," quite an aptly-named title, I must say. It's also often know as "By Thy Rivers Gently Flowing," the song's first line, which adds a bit of grace to something otherwise more perfunctory. There's a lovely chorus that sings along, very slowly as if it was a religious hymn. For all I know, that's what they songwriters intended, rather than something to rouse the spirits -- or not. Hymn-like does make it lovely, albeit interminable. I have a feeling that it's all because of the word "Thy." When you put "Thy" in a song, people are going to sing it like a hymn. And if you give people a hymn and make it long-enough, there's a reasonable chance they'll turn it into a dirge. By the way, why on earth that video says, "Illinois, Worth Fighting For," I have zero idea. I wasn't aware it was under attack. Not when the song was written, not in the intervening years and not now. (Unless you count by people from Wisconsin driving down on tractors wearing their cheeseheads. But that usually isn't legally considered an act of war.) Why on earth they also print the verses out of order -- even acknowledging doing so -- is another matter of bewilderment. The thing is, as I watched the video again -- after having originally posted this in 2018 for the state's 200th birthday -- a few things stood out that missed before: notably that every politician shown was a Republican. Lincoln and Grant are fine. And Everett Dirksen is okay, since he was a Senate Minority Leader. Though his fellow-senator Paul Douglas was a truly great man, but no photo. And a photo of Rep. Henry Hyde was odd, since he had resigned in scandal disgrace. And while a photo of Ronald Reagan makes sense since he was president...there's no photo of President Barack Obama. But there's a photo of Trump Tower in Chicago, which hasn't aged well. So...nope, sorry, as beautiful as the montage of images from around the state are, I don't have it in me to repost. Which is okay, too, since the version of the state song is dirge-like Instead, here is a significantly shorter, 1-minute orchestral, rousing version played like a state's anthem should be played! And for those who want to sing along, I'll post the lyrics to the first verse below. You're welcome! By thy rivers gently flowing, Illinois, Illinois, O’er the prairies verdant growing, Illinois, Illinois, Comes an echo o’er the breeze. Rustling through the leafy trees, And its mellow tones are these, Illinois, Illinois, And its mellow tones are these, Illinois. |
AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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