War is not being nice to each other, it's the vilest thing in human life, and we ought to understand that and not play at war. It's a terrible necessity, and we should be strict about it and take it seriously. It comes down to this: no more lying, war means war and it's not a plaything....
And what is war, what is necessary for success on the battlefield, what is the moral basis of a military society? The aim of war is murder, the weapons of war are spying, treachery and the fostering of further treachery, the destruction of people, looting their property and stealing from them to keep the army on the road, falsehood and deceit, which go by the name of clever tactical ploys, and the moral basis of the military class is the curtailment of freedom through discipline, linked with idleness, ignorance, cruelty, debauchery and drunkenness. And in spite of that, its' still the highest class, universally respected.1
1 Tolstoy, Leo. War & Peace. Anthony Briggs Trans. London: Penguin Books, 2005. p861 First published 1865.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
War & Peace - Volume III, Part II, Chapter 25
Prince Andrey glanced across at Timokhin, who was staring at his commanding officer in alarm and bemusement. In contrast to his commanding officer in alarm and bemusement. In contrast to his former silence and reserve, Prince Andrey now seemed to be all worked up. He seemed unable to stop himself blurting out every thought that came into his head.
'A battle is won by the side that is absolutely determined to win. Why did we lose the battle of Austerlitz? Our casualties were about the same as those of the French, but we had told ourselves earl in the day that the battle was lost, so it was lost. And we said that because then we had nothing to fight for. We wanted to get off the battlefield as fast as we could. "All is lost! Let's run away!" And run we did. If we had waited till evening before saying that, God knows what might have happened.
'But we shan't be saying that tomorrow. You talk about our position. The left flank's weak, and the right flank's too spread out," he went on. 'It's all nonsense. Irrelevant. So what is in store for us tomorrow? A hundred million contingent factors, and they'll all be determined by what happens on the day - who's run away and who's going to run away, us or them, who gets killed, one man or another. But what's going on right now is just fooling about. The point is this: those people who took you round the positions don't help things along, they just get in the way. They're completely absorbed in their own petty interests.'
'At a time like this?' said Pierre, full of reproach.
'Yes. At a time like this,' repeated Prince Andrey.'They think this is a good time to get one over on a rival and win themselves another cross or ribbon. The way I see it, tomorrow looks like this: a hundred thousand Russians and a hundred thousand Frenchmen have come together to fight, and the fact is these two hundred thousand me will fight, and the side that fights hardest and spares itself least will come out on top. And if you like, I'll tell you something else: whatever happens, however much the top brass messes things up, we shall win tomorrow. Tomorrow, whatever happens, we are going to win!'1
1Tolstoy, Leo. War & Peace. Anthony Briggs Trans. London: Penguin Books, 2005. p858-859 First published 1865.
'A battle is won by the side that is absolutely determined to win. Why did we lose the battle of Austerlitz? Our casualties were about the same as those of the French, but we had told ourselves earl in the day that the battle was lost, so it was lost. And we said that because then we had nothing to fight for. We wanted to get off the battlefield as fast as we could. "All is lost! Let's run away!" And run we did. If we had waited till evening before saying that, God knows what might have happened.
'But we shan't be saying that tomorrow. You talk about our position. The left flank's weak, and the right flank's too spread out," he went on. 'It's all nonsense. Irrelevant. So what is in store for us tomorrow? A hundred million contingent factors, and they'll all be determined by what happens on the day - who's run away and who's going to run away, us or them, who gets killed, one man or another. But what's going on right now is just fooling about. The point is this: those people who took you round the positions don't help things along, they just get in the way. They're completely absorbed in their own petty interests.'
'At a time like this?' said Pierre, full of reproach.
'Yes. At a time like this,' repeated Prince Andrey.'They think this is a good time to get one over on a rival and win themselves another cross or ribbon. The way I see it, tomorrow looks like this: a hundred thousand Russians and a hundred thousand Frenchmen have come together to fight, and the fact is these two hundred thousand me will fight, and the side that fights hardest and spares itself least will come out on top. And if you like, I'll tell you something else: whatever happens, however much the top brass messes things up, we shall win tomorrow. Tomorrow, whatever happens, we are going to win!'1
"I wouldn't mess with that website." -Hanshi Duessel
1Tolstoy, Leo. War & Peace. Anthony Briggs Trans. London: Penguin Books, 2005. p858-859 First published 1865.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
New Jersey needs people to stay, fight
Letter to the Editor - Express-Times Newspaper
An expatriated friend of mine encouraged me to “get out of New Jersey” the other day. That phrase comes up a lot (usually preceded by “dirty jerzy,” corruption, property taxes, “the Soprano state,” etc.) and for the umpteenth time now, it perplexes me. I was always taught the grass is greener on the other side. If I were to leave, where would I go?
I was born in Morristown. Except for a few years of college, I have lived in the Garden State my whole life. I can trace my family tree back to pre-revolutionary New Jersey. I don’t know anything else.
I feel very much trapped here. Many things are beyond frustrating, but what really gets me mad is the knee-jerk reaction so many people have just to flee the state.
How is it patriotic to fight for our country and not for our state? Stay. Fight. Make things better for the next generation. Abandonment is not a solution.
Martin Luther King Jr. said it best: “A man who hasn’t found something he is willing to die for is not fit to live.”
If staying here and suffering makes me crazy, then I’m crazy, but so was Dr. King.
ERIK B. ANDERSON
Independence Township
This letter is being discussed on HackettstownLife.com.
Geography Minor
When I was a Geography Minor at West Chester University, I used to love looking at historical maps. Now I love looking at this video. I wish it would have a date ticker or something, though.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Veteran's Day Open Mic in Long Valley - 11/11/10
Enjoy!
Artist: Erik B. Anderson (The King of Funny Faces)
Songs: Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes)
House of the Rising Sun (The Animals)
Make it Rain (Tom Waits)
Date: 11/11/2010 (Veteran's Day)
Venue: The Studio of Long Valley
Artist: Erik B. Anderson (The King of Funny Faces)
Songs: Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes)
House of the Rising Sun (The Animals)
Make it Rain (Tom Waits)
Date: 11/11/2010 (Veteran's Day)
Venue: The Studio of Long Valley
Friday, November 12, 2010
The Double Dare Story - 1/11/1987
My father grew up with Geraldine Bond Laybourne, who was the President/CEO of Nickelodeon Television in the 1980's. When I was eleven years old and my brother was eight, she sent us tickets to see a taping of Double Dare. Somehow, my mother got us a day off of school and she drove us down to Philadelphia to see this:
I shouted out "Harvey!" at the top of my lungs. This picture doesn't capture it, but he was annoyed! Harvey was the announcer of the show, very much beloved by me and by many kids of my generation.
And here is the host of the show, Marc Summers. Years later, he was in the news talking about having OCD, and I often wondered if this story had something to do with it. Did it make him worse? Was he trying to repress this memory as much I had tried to? I don't know. But Marc Summers was the host of Double Dare, one of the biggest kids game shows of all time.
It was a kid's dream come true! Before the big obstacle course event at the end of one of the episodes (we saw four being taped), Marc goes into the audience and talks to some of the excited kids in the audience. He picked me! I was so excited!
But then things got ugly...
Of all the questions that the host of the most popular kids game show in America could ask me, he asked me if I had a boyfriend. He slipped. He made a mistake. But the damage was done...
I was a weird kid in the 80's. These were the days of "Nerds" and "Geeks" and "Dweebs" and John Landis movies. I was teased more than most, I fear. Of all the questions in the world he could ask me, why did he ask me if I had a boyfriend? I asked myself that question many times over the years. And I never really talked to anyone about being on everyone's favorite show, at least not until several years had separated me from the pain and humiliation.
I'm not homophobic now. I wasn't homophobic then. This has nothing to do with homophobia. I was just pissed that Marc Summers gave all of the 'popular kids' in school a reason to tease me. Yeah, it had a lot to do with pride and ego, but hey...I was eleven years old. Forgive me, please.
Well that's another amazing story from the life of the current King of Funny Faces.
Have a great weekend everybody.
Warm Regards,
Erik B. Anderson
Independence Township, New Jersey, USA
Established 1782
UPDATE:
I shouted out "Harvey!" at the top of my lungs. This picture doesn't capture it, but he was annoyed! Harvey was the announcer of the show, very much beloved by me and by many kids of my generation.
And here is the host of the show, Marc Summers. Years later, he was in the news talking about having OCD, and I often wondered if this story had something to do with it. Did it make him worse? Was he trying to repress this memory as much I had tried to? I don't know. But Marc Summers was the host of Double Dare, one of the biggest kids game shows of all time.
It was a kid's dream come true! Before the big obstacle course event at the end of one of the episodes (we saw four being taped), Marc goes into the audience and talks to some of the excited kids in the audience. He picked me! I was so excited!
But then things got ugly...
Of all the questions that the host of the most popular kids game show in America could ask me, he asked me if I had a boyfriend. He slipped. He made a mistake. But the damage was done...
I was a weird kid in the 80's. These were the days of "Nerds" and "Geeks" and "Dweebs" and John Landis movies. I was teased more than most, I fear. Of all the questions in the world he could ask me, why did he ask me if I had a boyfriend? I asked myself that question many times over the years. And I never really talked to anyone about being on everyone's favorite show, at least not until several years had separated me from the pain and humiliation.
I'm not homophobic now. I wasn't homophobic then. This has nothing to do with homophobia. I was just pissed that Marc Summers gave all of the 'popular kids' in school a reason to tease me. Yeah, it had a lot to do with pride and ego, but hey...I was eleven years old. Forgive me, please.
Well that's another amazing story from the life of the current King of Funny Faces.
Have a great weekend everybody.
Warm Regards,
Erik B. Anderson
Independence Township, New Jersey, USA
Established 1782
UPDATE:
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
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