History of the Trap: April Promises Part 5

SYNOPSIS:  After being visited in prison by Morgan LaDona Tigh, Lance Martin has agreed to Dr. Duncan's request to detail what happened in the time that Lance is calling "the Trap."  Lance begins his journal by describing the morning before the trap fell, where we learn his father was the Principal of Loren High, that Lance is a Junior, and has a sister named Diane who is a sophomore.  After a couple hours at school that morning, where we see how different is relationship with Morgan is, we also meet Lance's best friend, Artie Pentler, and their gang. Just as Lance is ready to ask Ginny Estill out, the Trap falls, and they witness the horrible death of two P. E. students as they are caught in some kind of electrical storm.  After a very rocky, scary day, the students were called to gather in the gym, where some students broke out.  After the rally, Lance and his sister meet with their father and find that he doesn't know much more than they do.  Lance spends his first night in the trap, listening to late night screams and sounds of electric zapping.  When this scene opens, it is now two weeks later, Wednesday April 30th.  

5

Final Jeopardy!

It had come down to three students.  David Yankovich, of course.  And also Lisa Carlson, Sue Boschman's very bright friend.  Finally, there was a surprise freshman, Larry Wiesman.  Larry was a small fellow, skinny with black hair and thick glasses.  He was one of only a handful of Jewish students at our school.

A few days ago two teachers, Mr. Branch and Mrs. Branch (they married last year) organized a nightly contest, tailored after the game show Jeopardy.  Mr. Gary Branch was a Government teacher and Mrs. Lisa Branch was an English teacher.  They were the only married couple to be caught in the trap together.  They were just trying to come up with something that would distract the students for awhile, let them escape into something else.  Participation had grown to be about a couple hundred.  It wasn't for everybody, but for those students of a more academic and less athletic bent, it was a fun way to pass the time.

They started out with a multiple choice question that had four choices to it.  You picked one of the four and went to a section of the cafetorium that corresponded with what you thought was the correct answer.  When the correct choice was announced, anybody who got it wrong had to step aside and just become part of the audience.

These rounds continued until there were only ten or fewer left.  These players then moved to a table in front where things became more intense.  Mr. Branch would give an "answer" and the first one to ring a bell would get to give the question.  Mrs. Branch would determine who rang first.  The first three players to get three right would go on to the next round.

Mr. Franks, our math substitute who picked the wrong day to fill in, and Mr. Bowtin, the popular Sociology and Psychology teacher, helped watch the crowd.  The students who participated in this were relatively well behaved, but there sometimes would be dispute over rules and outcomes.  Tonight there seemed to be a dispute that seemed to get so out of control that Mr. Bowtin had to come in and help Mr. Franks resolve.

But now they were down to three and they were down to final Jeopardy, with David Yankovich holding a slight lead.  The category was US Politics and the answer was....politician most famous for five o'clock shadow.  Larry and David knew the answer, but Lisa incorrectly went too far back in history and named William Henry Harrison.  David correctly bid just enough to stay ahead of Larry Weisman, emerging the tournament winner for the second time.

David Yankovich took his victory smugly, as he felt it was his rightful do.  Mrs. Branch put the medal of victory on him, a necklace with an old band medal on it.  The trumpet shaped medallion was considered the "horn of victory".

It was a night of victory and fun that would soon be forgotten.  As we left, it was the last time we saw Mr. Franks alive.  Except for the murderer, of course.

TO BE CONTINUED!!!

Three Shell Buy In

I have three shells
Underneath one is krell
Watch him mix them up
You won't know whassup.

He's the magic man
He does what he can
Fools you with sleight of hand
You forget he follows Rand

It's only later you realize you were fooled
It's only then you see that you were tooled
But you paid the money in
You gave him his safety pin

Now you find yourself broke and let
You no longer have safety net
You played the game
Now it's the same

Welcome to the shell game

Ripping Good Yarns: Vote For Your Hall of Fame Movie

After a series on new fall TV, let's return to the movie screens, and resume Ripping good Yarn's selection of a movie to be the first in the Hall of Fame.

There's nothing like going to the movie show!  The old drive-ins we went to with my parents, the large downtown movie theaters that even had balconies. the old Court Theater in Saginaw that on Saturday afternoons would show a double feature, cartoons, a serial chapter and more for no more than a quarter or two.  Even the suburban megaplexes with their cushier chairs, stadium seating, deluxe sound systems and 3D.  Of course, now, admission may take a trip to the small loan department!

So I could wax all day about my love affair with going to the movies.  And that's just one of many ways people see great movies now.  They might download them, watch them on TV, rent a DVD, or even see them on their phone.

For my new Ripping Good Yarn award, I would like to start a Hall of Fame for movies.  We will start with a general category, for movies all types.  these movies are a mix of my selections and movies nominated by Rippers.  They included only movies made before 2000..

Please look at the following and vote for one of the following to be our first Hall of Fame entry.  There are no rules of judgement regarding selection.  It can be a personal favorite, or you can have well reasoned logic based on critical review or even box office.  It's all up to you! you can vote for more than one if you like, but then I will fraction your vote accordingly.  Feel free to vote or comment here or on Facebook.

Here are the ten nominees to pick from:

Wizard of Oz

Gone with the Wind

It's A Wonderful Life

Casablanca

Star Wars

The Princess Bride

E.T.

The Breakfast Club

Psycho

Raiders of the Lost Ark

I wait your input, Rippers!  The final selection is yours!

Miracles and Magic at the Flying Dragon!

The Miracle Worker starts the Saturday at 7 PM!  The above are some of the great cast members of   this production, including, from left to right, Nawin Hyers, Elizabeth Beck, Amara Grace Jeffords and Kayla Peacock.  This is an exciting, meaningful show that will be both entertaining and inspirational.

Fascinating!  The Beck's family dog, Bella, will have a role as Belle.  Dogs on stage!  She is an extraordinarily sweet dog, and I think it will be fun to see!

Last night, Robin Hood rehearsals continued afoot.  In these pictures, our co-director, Karissa Cook, helps organize our Young Merry Children's Association.

Nice poster!  Includes show dates!

Governor Romney Is A Master Debater

For one glorious year, I was the debate coach at Cass City High School in Michigan.  At a time way before the Internet, the only research tools we had were the books and magazines we ourselves could gather.  There were other schools with larger teams and budgets who were very capable of out-researching us.  So we had to find a different way to win.

Debates were often about how many quotes or researched references a debater could squeeze in in the time allotted   It almost became a scorecard, so that if they had 7 quotes supporting their side, you just had to rapid fire 8 quotes to beat them.  It often involved the ability to speak fast and deliver the most quotes per minute.  It didn't make for an interesting or even informative contest.

So my debaters learned to be more communicative, colorful if you will, with their language.  We concentrated on the non-verbal part and our rhetorical flourishes.  I had some highly intellectual debaters who also knew how to give a good speech with a flourish.  We didn't win the state, but we were good enough to finish third, the most successful finish the school had ever had to that date.

But we didn't lie to do it.  We didn't make up facts.  We stuck to the truth, and we supported our more flourishing rhetoric.

Governor's Romney's non-verbals were superb for what he needed.  The President's were not that good.  Not sighing Al Gore bad, but still not very good.  In debate parlance, when Romney raised a point, President Obama did not rise up to refute or combat it.

To me, of course, Governor Romney came across as manic used car salesman.  I thought I was going to be offered twice the Sham Wow for the price of one.  But I'm not insane.  I saw the poll results.  That's not what wide swaths of low information voters saw.  They saw a man taking charge of the debate, even disrespecting the moderator, a man whose positions appeared to be much more moderate than they had been led to believe.

That's because Governor Romney was lying.  He was denying everything he had been advocating for months, and finally shifting to the middle.  What a perfect place to do it.  Especially if you have no core, and your only value is to get elected President at all costs.

And there was nothing the President could (it would have been nice if he looked up more, but, oh well).  How do you, as they say, nail jello to the wall?  You could tell the President was visibly thrown off when Governor Romney denied his own tax plan.  If the man was going to lie about the very basics, what the heck could you do?

Should President Obama have challenged Romney more?  Yes, I think so, but it may not have had the results you expect.  President Obama cannot do what Governor Romney did.  He could not appear manic - his whole presidency is built on his calm, cool demeanor.  He couldn't even do the vicious zingers Romney did.  The one time he did something even close, according to a focus group, it was President Obama's worst moment in the debate (when he said Romney was saying "never mind" to his own tax plan).  And why can't he do what Romney did?  Partly because he is the President of the United States and carries a higher dignity than the challenger.  But mostly because President Obama is black, and this country would be completely wigged out by anything that could be convoluted as the "angry black man".  My post from two years ago, Authentic Frontier Gibberish, deals in depth with this topic.

The next debate is a town hall format.  The President should do better (I hope).  And if there is any justice in the world, the lies and Flim-flannery that Governor Romney used will be exposed.

So, yes, for the context of one debate, without resorting to that pesky fact-checking, Governor Romney was a master debater.  But I have a feeling if it were a high school debate, he would have lost big time.  Yes, he was rhetorically more dynamic and engaging, but call me a stickler   Call me too fussy.  But  I don't think you can win just by making s---- up.

But, who knows?

American voters, particularly the low-information swing voters - it's going to be up to you.

Now is a good time to pray.

Reigniting Baseball Fever

The Detroit Tiger's recent run in the baseball playoffs has reminded of something that I had forgotten.

I used to really like baseball.

Don't get me wrong.  I couldn't play at all.  I may be the single worst ball player you've ever seen.  I'm not sure that I've ever had a successful base hit.  For the closest I ever came, see the blog story Run, You Idiot, Run about my third grade hit and furtive run around the base paths.

On the other hand, I loved the simulation baseball games of the seventies, even participated in a play by mail league.  I received my high school varsity letter for being the statistician of the baseball team.  The Detroit Tiger championship of 1968 is still the biggest sports spectator moment of my life.  And I do have a lifetime pass to the National Baseball Hall of Fame (story for another day).  I spent hours going over and analyzing baseball stats.

Now, I barely know that they play.  I no longer follow stats or standings, except for an occasional interest in where the Tigers stand, or learn enough about the Atlanta Braves so that when my son, Doug, or my boss at work talk about them, I am not completely blown away.

How did baseball lose it's place in my life?  I'm not quite sure.  I know Alison doesn't follow it all, but I have retained other interests she doesn't participate in.  It hurts that I no longer get a daily newspaper that has standings or stats.  The Internet, although vastly informative, is not the same as having the numbers in your hand. I  suppose it hurts that since I'm in a numbers profession, having a hobby where my primary interest was statistical, made it a little too close as to what I do at work. And the steroid scandal made me wonder how much the numbers had been warped and manipulated.

Then the Tigers do well, and I think, I can reignite this passion!  I can become a baseball fan again!  But then the fever fades.

Maybe not this time, though!

Go Tigers!

Bible Verses That Are Important To Me 6

            When  Jesus came up to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom.  He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him.  He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it is written;

“The spirit of the Lord is upon me,

    because he has anointed me

        to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

     and recovery of sight to the blind.

         to let the oppressed go free,

To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”    

And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down.  The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.  Then Jesus began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

            From Luke 4:16-21

                  This helps me have a better understanding of who Jesus is and why he came