Vol. 59, August 1st, 2023 Published a day early online
Never A Better Time
The Joys of A Modern Music Fan (Really)
You might see me wandering around with a 1909 Victrola, or a cigar box guitar, or a loud amplifier. Why? Because there’s history to learn about, and a world to discover. I’m lucky to get to present a few of these ideas. During my music history programs, folks often lament the state of modern music. Don’t make ‘em like they used to. Elvis has left the building, and the pop music charts are wildly different, but–people are still making great music. They’re not on the radio, but they’re hard at work keeping the flame alive.
The ragtime craze died with Joplin in 1917, but there’s a festival of the music every year in Sedalia. Robert Johnson perished in ‘38, but the delta blues plays on. Muddy Waters sang “The Blues Had a Baby, and They Named It Rock ‘n Roll.” Chuck Berry modernized the style, but didn’t make it obsolete.
The parent music thrives as well as the child. New might dethrone the Old in popularity, but the roots never leave. It’s up to us to seek out and appreciate. (See below.) We can listen to it all.
Album of the Week: Scott Joplin Piano Rags
(Joshua Rifkin, Piano, 1970)
A key record to help reintroduce the magic of Joplin to a modern audience, along with The Sting movie.
The Michelin Guide
Debuts August, 1900, as a clever marketing idea: Print the best hotels and restaurants, encourage road travel, and...sell tires. Ouah!
Quote of the Week
“I would rather write 10,000 notes than a single letter of the alphabet.” - Ludwig van Beethoven
(Painting currently for sale on eBay for a low, low $749,995.95.)
Down the Rabbit Hole
When’s the last time you’ve read about the Gilded age, when Edison, Westinghouse, Twain, TR, Whitman, Dickenson, Stowe, Anthony, and Dostoevsky lived and worked?
It’s a worthy time of history to research.
Westinghouse
Office View
Kids were amazed to try the electric typewriter I brought to a book-signing at the town fair. I even typed (lousy) impromptu poems for them. Fun!
Write to Us!
The Nighthawk is a new old-fashioned way to connect, published weekly. You’re invited to write back, or just enjoy reading. Let’s have some fun! It’s a social paper! Send stories, etc to: PO Box 783, Rustburg, VA 24588 or email Joshurban@protonmail.com
Letters from Josh
(A weekly update from Josh Urban’s adventures on the farm and in the city. #145)
Howdy, folks! Previously on Dr. Electro: As Charlotte and arch bad-guy Ordinary Man tussle on the hood of the tarot van, Miss Stella slams it into gear. Ordinary flails for a grip, and Lady Wilkes traps his arm in the window, yelling “He’s wearing my Citrine ring!” Miss Stella aims the van for a door, to the consternation of Electro. “But..Charlotte’s on the hood.” With the flick of a switch, a battering ram extends out of the bumper, and the whole show speeds forward. Electro closes his eyes for the impending crash. Preacher mutters a prayer. This is…..
The Return of Dr. Electro #36: A Final Speech
The revving, tearing, screeching, splintering, rending, roaring crash happened with all due proportionality to the absurdity of the situation. The van tore through the door that Florence specified. Had the Tribune critic heard it, he would have written “..Magnificent, befitting, sublime in the splintering, everything an egress should be, and more.” A little boy would have hopped up and down, immediately demanding a repeat. A little girl would have rolled her eyes.
The crowd outside the door cheered jubilantly. Florence was right again. The middle door lead to safety and sunlight. The van skidded to a halt in the side yard. Charlotte and Ordinary Man dazedly brushed off rubble, gingerly stepping to the ground.
“We were so worried, auntie!” Claire gushed. “You were gone for so long! Did you run into any trouble?”
“I’d jolly well say they did by the looks of it” laughed Rutherford. “Hello, who’s this character?” With a sudden movement, he collared Ordinary Man. The villain, arrested mid-slink through the throng of onlookers, squirmed under Rutherford’s iron grip.
“Put me down, you fool” he hissed. “Can’t you see what a mess they’ve made of my property? I’m off to get my lawyer.”
“And you’ll be needing one, buddy.” A hardscrabble police officer swooped in with handcuffs. “We’ve had our eye on this house for months. Time to come with us.”
“Oh, what’s the charge, officer?” Ordinary spat.
“Bootlegging, bribery, theft...just get in the wagon.”
“One moment before you cuff me, sir.” The chill of voice made the officer pause. Ordinary stepped up on a curb. “First off, Lady Wilkes, here’s your trinket back” he smirked. “I don’t think any of you knows my plan, but no matter. Sure, you broke a few boxes, but did you fully realize what was in them? One day, one of my colleagues will start the job again, and it’ll be all the easier. We’ll take precious, and give you simple. We’ll swap your wooden rocking chairs for gold-plated plastic, absolve you of caring in ten easy payments. Memories hurt, so we’ll numb them with New. If the Wisdom of the ages ever made a mistake, we’ll replace it with the latest infallible Progress. I sense an era approaching where I won’t even have to try. You’ll discard these things all of your own accord. Don’t say I didn’t call it. You’ll beg for easy answers, and punish those who differ. Someday, someday soon, when the machines...”
The policeman, who must have suffered through a morning meeting, had enough, and shoved him into the paddy wagon with a growl.
“Move it, buddy”.
...To be concluded next week...