A New Year Resolution: The Bible in a Year

This past year I made a new year resolution to read the entire Bible in a year. Well, mission accomplished I did it! Now for some take aways. 

To start, I used the Youversion Bible app it has different reading plans to choose from and it kept track of the days that I read, which was very helpful. After reading through a book of the bible I would post it on Facebook. This gave me a sense of celebration and was encouraging when my friends would send a like or comment. Facebook also has a memory feature. For years to come my posts will pop up again encouraging me to read the Bible in the future, at least however long Facebook has that memory feature. I found that if I was consistent about the time of day i read it was easier to remember to read everyday. For example, I made it a habit to read the Bible first thing after I woke up. It was hard to do sometimes.  I felt like i didn't get that much out of it but i reminded myself that the plan was to continue reading the Bible throughout the year and the following year. If I missed reading in the morning than I would read smaller chuncks throughout the day.

 On the more spiritual side of things, I kept coming to the thought "give us our daily bread"(Matt 6:11) throughout the year. This may not be exactly what this scripture is talking about but I was able to hear God's word everyday. Sometimes I didn't understand or remember as much as i should have.  There were some  mornings I could barely keep my eyes open long enough to read. I believe that even if I didn't catch everything I was reading. The act of reading became a discipline that if I just kept reading God would show me what I needed for the day. So don't get discouraged if you fall a sleep or don't remember much of that days reading. After all you don't stop eating breakfast if you can't remember what cereal you ate. I also hope it was encouraging for my Facebook friends to see the regular posts about my journey through the Bible. There were always a group who liked the posts and even encouraging comments along the way. Thanks to everyone who did that. There were 2 people who asked what Bible reading plan I was using so hopefully I was an encouragement to them.

This year my plan is to read the Bible through again. I would like to try to read it in Chronological order. I'm a History nerd so I think that will be interesting. In what ever order you read the Bible, I do hope you read the Bible this year there is a lot of good stuff in there. Happy New Year. #read2024 #BibleinaYear #landmarks 

Double Feature: Have Yourself a Dark Little Christmas

I watched two of my favorite Christmas movies this year and I realized they are both a little darker than your typical classic Christmas movie. These two dark comedies are as charming as Miracle on 34^th Street or Its Wonderful Life but deal with more the macabre themes. From conmen and mobsters to murderers and crooks here is a double feature to give yourself a dark little Christmas.

 

Lemon Drop Kid (1951)

Bob Hope stars as the titular “Lemon Drop Kid” a conman who touts horses.  He touts the wrong horse to the mob boss Moose Moran’s girlfriend. Now the Kid has to pay back the money by Christmas Day or he's "going to find his head in his stocking." To keep from being killed for Christmas he cons “old dolls” into staying at his “Old Folks Home” so he can raise the money through donations. Then run off with all that that money. The film contains three musical numbers including Bob Hope’s rendition of Silver Bells. The question is can a musical be a "dark comedy?" Watch the film, it is Bob Hope so how dark can it be? 

 

We're No Angels (1955)

One of my favorite films of all time. Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, and Aldo Ray are three escaped convicts from the infamous prison Devil’s Island.  

The film is light hearted in a lot of ways, while also dealing with the idea who should be in prison who shouldn't be. The three convicts boast of their exploits, Bogart’s character is said to be "the Michelangelo” of forgery. He goes on to boast that his only regret is "getting caught." While his two colleagues joke of the murders they committed. Joan Bennett's character Madame Ducotel says she envies the convicts of their "courage" and even imagines ways to kill her cousin. She says "that's as far as it would ever go just a thought in the back of her mind." Then there is Paul and Cousin Andre played by John Baer and Basil Rathbone respectively. Cousin Andre descends on the scene bullying relatives and convicts alike. His nephew Paul’s greed shows through as he burns his uncle’s will and claims his entire fortune.  The whole cast of characters show different degrees of humanity’s faults. As Bogart’s character observes, “I think everyone on this island is innocent except me.”

 

A slight Historical/geographical note, the story takes place in the colony French Guiana on the north eastern coast of South America. In the movie it is implied, if not actually stated, that the convicts are trying to get off an island while hiding out in Cayenne the capital of French Guiana. There are three islands off the coast of French Guiana, Devil’s Island, of course, Royale Island and St. Joseph’s Island and all have prison facilities on them. Cayenne is on the mainland which also includes prison facilities. It is a slight historical inaccuracy that they are trying to get off of Devil’s Island since the actual Devils Island is only roughly a mile across with no cities but this is understandable since the entire prison complex is known as “Devil’s Island.” The last prisoners left Devils Island in 1953, two years before the film was released.

 

To be fair, these are probably more "grey" than "black" on the dark comedy scale both deal with criminal characters that do “the right thing” in the end. They are two holiday classics that are fun and should get more love than they do.

Kanter, Stefan. Tough Without a Gun: The Life and Extraordinary Afterlife.New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2011.

"Britanica." accessed 12-17-2023. https://www.britannica.com/place/Iles-du-Salut.

History is...Or Something Like That

My first college history course the professor asked the class what is history? I in my freshman wisdom answered that it was a story! The professor wasn’t that impressed with that answer. Another student put forward the text book answer that “History was the study of the past.” The professor took a few more answers before settling into his lecture about the “conversation with the past.”  Fast forward about 13 years, I have changed my answer History is more than a story, but I would also narrow the text book answer.  We could define history as the study of the past but when we talk about the age of the earth we generally talk in terms of Geology, Theology or Philosophy.  History is the study of the human past. When we refer to history we are mostly talking about people. That is why history seems to repeat itself because people tend to make similar choices. Human nature seems to not change much.

From this first history class I have become obsessed with peoples definition of history. The joke goes ask 100 historians what is history and you’ll get 112 answers. It’s true, do a google search for what is history quotes. I’m not sure why that is, I suspect it is because history has to do more with philosophy than many historians would care to admit. That discussion is for a future post.

This post is really just to state that I believe History is the study of the human past. This is of course assumed with the text book definition but stating that history is about human lives reminds us that the past was as complicated as the present.

A Limited Book Review: Killing the Rising Sun or Road to Surrender

A few months ago I raised some issues with Bill O'Reilly's Killing the Rising Sun and stated that I would not recommend it.  A better substitute, for a read about the end of the pacific theater during WW2, would be Evan Thomas's Road to Surrender.  It has some clear similarities, such as both Thomas and O'Reilly were former journalists. Both make statements that their fathers served in the US Navy and were both slated to serve in Operation Downfall, the invasion of Japan.  Both authors tell how their father's stories sparked an interest in the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Both come to their respective projects with the belief that dropping the Bomb was necessary for ending the war. This being said, Thomas' book doesnt raise any of my four red flags. 

Firstly, Thomas never says his narrative is "The Truth (O'Reilly,2)."  He presents his evidence, gives voice to all sides and let's the reader decide how true his narrative is. This is what a historian is supposed to do. I don't argue that Thomas gets his narrative one hundred percent true but he presents his work with the humility of a student of history.

My second problem with O'Reilly's book was that I constantly asked how does he know that? Thomas explains in the beginning of his book that he had access to unpublished diaries and papers of key figures in his narrative (Thomas, xvi). Primary sources do lie for one reason or another but Having such personal primary sources makes the possibility that these men had certain thoughts and feelings more believable. 

Thirdly, THE BOOK HAD A BIBLIOGRAPHY! As I had said in another post, a bibliography is not necessary as long as your sources are sited in a Notes page (Keating).  A bibliography is great tool for the reader. It says the author at least knows the historiography of the subject. It allows readers to find more materials for further reading and research on the subject. Bibliographies are a chance for the author show how much he/she prepared for their book.

Finally, I took issue with the way Killing the Rising Sun used history to manipulate the reader by cherry picking its vignettes. Road to Surrender provides not only the American story about the bomb but a nuanced analysis of the Japanese side as well. providing the political situation in Japan, cultural roadblocks and historical reasoning for why they did not surrender when it first became obvious they would lose the war.

To be fair I'm not a WW2 historian the only other book I've read on the subject is Bill O'Reilly's Killing the Rising Sun.  In my opinion Road to Surrender is the better researched, better organized and is more empathetic in its presentation. This is the book I would recommend.

Bibliography: 

Keating, Chris. "A Limited Book Review: Killing the Rising Sun." The Weaving Chronicle. August 27, 2023. https://theweavingchronicle.blogspot.com/2023/08/a-limited-book-review-killing-rising-sun.html?m=1.

O'Reilly, Bill and Martin Dugard. Killing the Rising Sun. New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC., 2016.

Thomas, Evan. Road to Surrender. New York: Random House, 2023.

Double Feature: Film Foliage or The 2 Best Films to Watch For Fall

"Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address." -Joe Fox, You've Got Mail

I'm not talking about Halloween movies. Im not a fan of scary movies as a whole. These are the two movies I like to watch when the air starts getting crisp and the leaves begin changing.

You've Got Mail, the 90s romcom, starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. The Trouble with Harry, Introducing Shirley MacLaine in Hitchcock's 41st film.

I wish there were more to my list so that this article could be more "clicky." Maybe I'll find more and add them later for now these are the 2 movies to watch during the fall.

In our house, You've Got Mail has been the traditional film for the first day of fall. I'm not sure when that became the case but my wife and I enjoy sitting together and watching the film so much, why not give it a day. The film starts during the autumn in New York, meandering through the holidays and finishing in late spring. Truly, it could be watched at anytime of the year. It is one of the great 90s romcoms. As a history nerd I'm fascinated by it because it is a time capsule of before the change of the Millennium. New York before 9-11, the internet was still in its infancy, the big box store debates. Watch the film and see how the world has changed in the last 25 years. I grew up in the 90s and remember being dragged to the theater by my mom and older sister to watch this film. Now that I'm older it offers a great deal of nostalgia for me. Like a great big bowl of chicken soup for the soul. It's a 90s thing.

 The second film to watch in the autumn  is Alfred Hitchcock's The Trouble With Harry (1955). What is amazing about this film is that Hitch was also releasing To Catch A Thief the same year, further more Hitch had released 2 films the previous year and would go on to release 2 films the next year. I love the aesthetic of the film. One minute you're looking at orange foliage the next it looks like a play. That is exactly what you are seeing because, Hurricane Carol, heavy storms and colder than usual weather wrecked the New England Foliage. The country side was recreated on a Soundstage, according to historian Patrick McGilligan, Hitchcock sent leaf samples to the special effects team to get the color right (506).  I'm not sure why I love this film; it wasn't a film I watched a lot as a kid. Everytime I see the leaves start to change I feel like watching the Trouble with Harry.

These films aren't historical epics but they are time capsules. So whether Fall makes you buy all things pumpkin spice or as in the cinematic words of Joe Fox, "It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address." As the season get colder here are two recommendations for you. Let me know if you have recommendations of your own in the comment below.

sources:

McGilligan, Patrick. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light. New York: HarperCollins, 2003.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2018/12/18/youve-got-mail-turns-20-all-best-quotes-rom/2335013002/

History in The Future

Earlier in the summer I answered a question posed on a Facebook group called History Majors[i] about history and AI in the future. I was quite proud of my answer, this is a revised and extended version of that answer. I posted a link to the FB group page if you would like to see the original post.  

 

A few years ago I visited the Holocaust Museum in DC.[ii] One of the exhibits was a beta program where they had interviewed survivors for hours and hours and uploaded into a computer interface. This was Dimensions In Testimony[iii] a program sponsored by USC: SHOAH Foundation. There was a holographic image of the person and when you asked questions to the image, the computer matched your question to a story that the interviewee told during their interview. 

I would imagine that future iterations of AI will be able to extrapolate a life like image of historical figures using busts, portraits, and photographs to render a life like image. This may even be done today with more modern figures like Harry S. Truman or John F. Kennedy who were photographed and filmed for extended periods of time. This image would be able to move and talk to guests as hologram figures. AI would be able to gather primary sources such as letters and diaries and then be able to answer questions as that historical figure might. Thus far AI technology has not been able to speak, that may change in time.

The example that I see in my mind is George Washington walking into the Mount Vernon welcome center and greet guests to his home. 

 

AI has gotten a lot of press lately (mostly negative) since Hollywood has screeched to a halt with the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA strikes. There are some legalities to work through and technological advances to work out. AI would be an interesting addition for museums and historical sites to use in their tours.  My hope is that museums seriously look at new technologies to present historical research to the public.

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[i] https://www.facebook.com/groups/historymajors

 

[ii] http://theweavingchronicle.blogspot.com/2016/05/

 

[iii] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGzAc9mIoTM

 

A Limited Book Review: Killing the Rising Sun

 This book is fast paced, engrossing, some parts are highly entertaining. The chapters are short and well paced making for a fast read. I would call it a history appetizer to whet your appetite for learning about the pacific war in WW2. Sgt Bastione, PFC Doss, General MacArthur,  J. Robert Oppenheimer and the development of the A Bomb and much more are all mentioned. 

That being said I did have several issues with this book. I wasnt going to gripe about facts since im not very knowledgeable about WW2 history. However, I do have one gripe about the facts in the book. On page 242 the author says "A thousand Soviet Tiger tanks and Sherman tanks "on loan" from the Americans face absolutely no armor on the Japanese side." To my knowledge the Soviets didn't have a tank called Tiger and did not operate captured German Tigers in large numbers. I don't know if this is a typo, a misquote or simply an awkward sentence.  This is a minor point but I do have four, what I call, "Red Flags" popped out at me.

1. I don't trust Nonfiction books that actually say this is the "true story." As a nonfiction it should be implied that what the author is saying is at least the authors interpretation of true facts and events. The fact that the author has to explicitly say this is true makes me suspicious. "What Martin Dugard and I are about to tell you is true and stark." pg2. 

2. The second red flag is when I constantly say to myself how does he know that? Not that I doubt the history presented but when the author says "Sachs chooses his reply carefully (pg 3)." Or "The morning heat is so unbearable that Corporal Lewis Kenneth Bausell, USMC, has trouble breathing (pg7)." How do we know that was what he was thinking or feeling? Was there a photograph, a film was this person interviewed? If so let me know how we know, otherwise I'm concerned that the author is so focused on building the drama of the scene that they drift from historical fact. If you don't know say so or leave it out.

3.This book doesn't have a bibliography. A bibliography is not necessary as long as you site the sources used in your book. Killing the Rising Sun does have a source page. My gripe may just be a personal preference. I believe Histories should have bibliographies or at least extensive chapter notes to give the reader a chance to evaluate where is the author getting his information and how old is his information. 

4. My final issue is the way history is used. I don't doubt the facts of atrocities committed by the Japanese army at Nanking or that PFC Desmond Doss, Medal of Honor recipient, was a hero, but when these two stories are juxtaposed with each other to illustrate evil of one versus the virtue of the other, I have to question the motives. 

Like I said I dont doubt the facts but the usage of the narrative makes me doubt the truthfulness of the narrative. 

I did enjoy reading this book, it reminded me of my favorite questions about history. "What is history? and Why do people study it?" However if someone asked me for a book recommendation about the Pacific war, it would not be this one.