Sunday November 6, 2011

Things have been a little hectic lately, and I haven't been able to do my "quick" online bit.. however, I'll try to catch up... so, now you've been warned.

1.  What's going down, or on?

Like all good senior citizens, the first thing I check in the morning newspaper is the obituary section.  If I don't see my name there, I can relax for another day.   However, today, something is not right.  The paper, which normally lists several deceased Carroll County (Maryland)  people daily, most of whom are usually in their late eighties or nineties,  lists only five persons, and all of them "young"!

The ages for these deceased persons are:  69, 69, 58, 56, and 49.  All of these persons died in Carroll County.  I find this very unusual, and a bit disturbing.

I'm reminded of an interview with an elderly Carroll County resident:

Interviewer:     " How old are you?"
Senior Citizen:  "95."
Interviewer:      "Wow!  Have you lived here all of your life?"
Senior Citizen:  "Not yet."

Now, that Carroll County citizen lived in a Maryland place called Taneytown.   Taneytown, perhaps  named after ill-famed  Supreme Justice Taney, is pronounced TAWNEYTOWN.  Everybody in Carroll County knows that, but out-of-towners don't.

Once I gave my much beloved Aunt Marjorie from Massachusetts a drive through the Carroll County countryside and as we passed through Taneytown,  I told her that we were in Taneytown (tawneytown); she said, "No.  The sign says Taneytown (tayneetown)."  She didn't seem to want to believe me, so I said: "Let's stop at that business over there, and we can ask them to clarify things for you."

We walked into the business, and I asked the young clerk at the counter: "Please tell my Aunt the name of this place."  She immediately replied: "Burger King!"

2.  Andy's gone!

But an older person has passed away and will be missed by millions of Americans.  I've written about him several times in my blogs and have always admired his wit.  I'm talking of course about Andy Rooney, who just retired a month ago at the age of 92.  I was hoping he would reach the magic age of 100, just as other clever  humorists like Bob Hope and George Burns did. To pay homage to Andy, I will search out my copy of a  book he wrote and reread it and think once again about the human condition, as he saw it.

3.  Flee when flu flies!

Could those young deaths that I mentioned above be attributed to the flu?  Probably not.. I don't think that it has appeared in this area yet.  Of course, there are precautions to be taken against getting the flu.. the main one is getting a flu shot.  It amazes me that some young people do not think it is necessary to get the shot.

The Carroll County Times (Maryland) conducted an online poll to see if people plan to get a flu shot.  48% of those polled said they would get the shot;  52% of those polled said that they would not get the shot.  This is unbelievable to me. I'm assuming that the people polled were mostly young persons, because, in my experience, not many Carroll County people aged 70 or older even own a computer or a smart phone, and besides, the young think that they are going to live forever.. I guess that is why I see so many young people smoking. 

Let's hope that another epidemic like the one during World War I, that killed millions, never breaks out.  But, I, myself,  would rather be safe than sorry, so I will continue to get flu shots, and I will strongly suggest to my family members and friends to do the same, because I don't want to see their names in the obituary section when I do my daily checking.

4.  Round and round we go.

There are two musical moments when my bodily control disappears and my tear ducts start to ooze.  One is at the sound of Rodolfo's "MIMI!" at the end of La Boheme; the other is during the singing of "You'll Never Walk Alone" at the end of Carousel. 

I love my Netflix hookup and needing a good cry, I asked them to send me a disk of the movie version of the musical comedy Carousel.  They also sent me a separate disk of related information, in which I was surprised to find out that the musical was based on a work by the Hungarian  dramatist and novelist, Franz Molnar (Ferenc Neumann) 1878-1952.  On the separate disk was a copy of Liliom, a 1934 film version of the 1909 Molnar play, by the same name.  Carousel's story line adhered mainly to that of the movie, which was in French, and starred, of all people, Charles Boyer, as Liliom, the character that became Billy Bigelow.  The movie had Boyer singing a little, but it was not a musical like Carousel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liliom

I highly recommend this two disk set of Carousel and it's related material.  Or, if you don't want to cry, just find and listen to the soundtrack and the great Rodgers and Hammerstein music.  Enjoy!