3-5 November 1914: The Battles of Tanga & Kilimanjaro—the defeat & repulsion of a vastly numerically superior British invasion of German East Africa (Deutsch-Ostafrika, today: mainland Tanzania, Rwanda, & Burundi).
Lest we forget.
Operation AXIOM
I have been remiss. So focused have I been on the centenary of the Great War that I've neglected a pair of anniversaries of later twentieth century history.
Twenty-five years ago last Sunday, 9 November 1989, the Berlin Wall fell when the tottering East German regime announced freedom of movement betwixt East Germany (the ironically named German Democratic Republic, D.D.R.) & West Germany (the Federal Republic of Germany, B.R.D.), & betwixt East & West Berlin. First, the gates & checkpoints were opened; then, Berliners both Wessie & Ossie began dancing atop the "Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart" (the Wall's formal name in D.D.R. Newspeak); & at last, sections of that monumental crime against human dignity began to fall, literally. I was ten years old when the Berlin Wall fell. I'd never considered whether or not Communism in Europe might end or endure forever, it had just always been; & then it was no more, almost overnight. Whatever the dangers of the world today, they do not look half so frightful once viewed through the lens of the three globetrotting conflicts of the twentieth century—the First World War, the Second World War, & the Cold War. We have defeated evil before, & we shall defeat evil again. Take heart, remember that the Berlin Wall fell twenty-five years ago last week.
Thirty-nine years ago last Monday, 10 November 1975, the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald was lost in Lake Superior with twenty-nine souls aboard. The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald would be all but forgotten today if not for Gordon Lightfoot's latter-day shanty "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," proof that popular culture need not always be frivolous. The Edmund Fitzgerald sank, thirty-nine years ago last week.
The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
Gordon Lightfoot, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" via iTunes (Animal)
Commentary: Animal, brother of the Blonde & boon companion of Red Patton, made mention of the anniversary of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald on the FaceSpace. He's a history major, so good on him. At the time I was consumed with preparations of The Secret Base's annual commemoration of Armistice Day; I am grateful to Animal for picking up the slack. Animal's code name is a reference to the Muppet of the same name, the wild drummer for Doctor Teeth & the Electric Mayhem.
The Queue
I have abandoned Matthew Kelly's book Rediscover Catholicism; 'twas not bringing me closer to God, 'twas not helping me rediscover Catholicism. Mr. Kelly is reputed to be a brilliant speaker, but his writing leaves much to be desired. Maybe this would have been a useful book for me at an earlier stage in my spiritual awakening, but I rather suspect not. This life is too fleeting to read bad books. "Bad"? A tad harsh, you say? Harsh but fair, I rejoin. There was no joy in slogging through Rediscover Catholicism, whereas I have found my ongoing rediscovery of Catholicism to be a source of superlative, boundless joy.
Recently
Edgar Rice Burroughs, Swords of Mars
Edgar Rice Burroughs, Synthetic Men of Mars
Matthew Kelly, Rediscover Catholicism: A Spiritual Guide to Living with Passion & Purpose ***abandoned***
Currently
Thomas J. Craughwell, Saints Behaving Badly: The Cutthroats, Crooks, Trollops, Con Men, and Devil Worshippers Who Became Saints
Presently
Edgar Rice Burroughs, Llana of Gathol
Edgar Rice Burroughs, John Carter of Mars
Rice Broocks, God's Not Dead: Evidence for God in an Age of Uncertainty
Sir Ernest Shackleton, South: A Memoir of the Endurance Voyage
Richard Price, Clockers
Sir Richard Francis Burton, translator, "Sinbad the Sailor" from The Arabian Nights
Ted Morgan, Valley of Death: The Tragedy at Dien Bien Phu That Led America into the Vietnam War
Norman Stone, The Atlantic and Its Enemies: A Personal History of the Cold War
Lately Neglected
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme, & Power of a Common-wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civill
Edmund Burke, The Evils of Revolution
F. J. Sheed, Theology for Beginners
No comments:
Post a Comment