Dear Arthur,
Thanks for your email.
I knew you had played professional basketball in Germany but knew none of the particulars. Thanks for filling me in.
How wonderful that you still have a good friend from those times!
Following up on Sophie Scholl, here's Wikipedia's review of the 2005 movie about her and the White Rose Nazi resistance movement. In addition to being nominated for Best Foreign Language Oscar "Last Days" gets high marks from IMDb - https://www.imdb.com/title/
Wikipedia: In February 2005, a film about Scholl's last days, Sophie Scholl – Die letzten Tage (Sophie Scholl – The Final Days), featuring Julia Jentsch in the title role, was released. Drawing on interviews with survivors and transcripts that had remained hidden in East German archives until 1990, it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in January 2006. For her portrayal of Scholl, Jentsch won the best actress at the European Film Awards, best actress at the German Film Awards (Lolas), along with the Silver Bear for best actress at the Berlin Film Festival.
And just last year, American director, Terrence Malick (whom cineaste friends and I consider Hollywood's best director, in large part for his engagement of "meaningful issues") released "A Hidden Life," another true story of a German Christian martyred by the Nazis. http://paxonbothhouses.
Lots of nasty weather "down south" although continual rain "fits" the political milieu which - with each passing day - reveals the crippling limitations of surrealism, parody and overstatement.
It is a continual challenge to treat a madman-buffoon-solipsist seriously, but the maraschino cherry atop this horror is the lickspittle, ankle-clasping submissiveness of Malignant Messiah's exquisitely dumbfuck cultists, which, in turn, raises disconcerting questions about self-rule, self-restraint, intellectual limitation and intellectual indolence.
All of which reminds me of the challenges and opportunities presented by our "engagement" of death.
If I haven't sent information about Buckminster Fuller, I encourage you to consider his near suicide - and what happened next. https://
After the magical misery tour of the above meme collection, it is restorative and uplifting to recall Margaret Mead's observation.
I will close on a "humorous" note.
Pax tecum
Alan
On Wed, May 20, 2020 at 4:54 PM AC wrote:
Alan, Thanks for reminding me of Sophie. I did know about her, haven't thought about her in such a long time. Not only the obstacle she mentions, but also the dire circumstances into which the Germans had been plunged after 1919, compounded by the 1929 crash and further trauma of the following years, then the "take pride in your country" message that the Nazis promoted, the Hitlerjugend, all of that, make it easy for me to imagine how the enthusiasm for National Socialism could have arisen. I look forward to reading the link you provided. You may know that I played basketball in Germany 1965-66, have wonderful friendships to this day - especially with Hannes Kleinhenz, another kindred spirit of mine. I call Hannes on the phone every three months or so, was on the phone with him just a few days ago. Arthur
On Wed, 20 May 2020 at 14:05, Alan Archibald <alanarchibaldo@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Arthur,
Thanks for your email.If I ever fail to respond, just ding me with a reminder.Often I want to ponder things before replying and then the "issue" slips through the cracks.I'll start by saying that son Danny is a BIG Billy Joel fan.Sometimes when we're jamming, we play his song, "Might Be Crazy."Next time Caribou and I are together, I'll try to remember to record a fresh rendition to send you.Elsewhere...I just came across the Camus quote you cite in the daunting "new" documentary "Planet of the Humans" produced by Michael Moore.Here's a contribution to that large "death-as-liberation" discussion - by way of Sophie Scholl, a Christian university student whose resistance activity led to her excecution.The Pax post below is quite dark, so if you're not up dealing with a "cloud" right now, here's the gist:
Sophie Scholl
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Scholl "When I Was In High School, I Wondered How The German People Could Have Gone Along..."
On Fri, May 15, 2020 at 12:17 PM AC wrote:Alan, in response I will begin with a very big thank you for keeping in touch; you are somehow a kindred spirit and you help keep my own spirits up for example with this email you took the time to write. I hope to get to those links later today. I like Willie Nelson and Billy Joel, and lots of others. I'm currently working on a puzzle that faces me and other human beings, referred to by Albert Camus in that quote that goes something like "First come to terms with death, then anything is possible." So part of the puzzle - essentially how to find your high, the right altitude, and continue the flight in full awareness that there's going to be a landing soon - is yeah, but how do I do that exactly? How do I get the altitude and the distance? If you and I stay in touch we may be able to share wisdom on this. Also if you would like to join one of our Zoom dialogues here in Calgary, I think it could easily be arranged. Arthur
On Fri, 15 May 2020 at 00:15, Alan Archibald <alanarchibaldo@gmail.com> wrote:Dear Arthur,
Thanks for the info about taking care of mental health during the pandemic.Only in the last few days have I realized that my mind is starting to "present" anomalously.No big deal.I'm intermittently more emotional than I usually am.And sometimes I'll catch myself watching the workings of my mind, wondering, "Is this normal?" (God knows I don't have much of a baseline for normalcy.)Blessedly, the weather is finally warming up which will encourage me to take a late night walk "every" day.That will be tonic.And my daughter, who's staying with her Mom two doors away, has just gotten through a stretch of time-consuming tele-work which will free her up to walk with me most days.Son Danny and I continue to make music together, although he's talking about returning to Colorado in a couple of weeks. I sooooooooo hope he puts his departure off until July which feels like a better time to make an assessment.The end of May feels premature.Here's a recent Beatles' song Danny and I have great fun with. https://fridaynightjazzorchestrafinjo. bandcamp.com/track/im-so-tired Wishing you well.PaxAlanPS Many friends are surprised how powerfully they're drawn to their neglected gardens. I too am more attentive to what I've got growing out back. Just today I transplanted a mess of Black Seeded Simpson, one of Dad's favorite lettuce varieties.PPS I have no idea what music you like but earlier today I stumbled upon a wonderful "quarantine rendition" of "Black Water" by the Doobie Brothers. Unless you really dislike it, I encourage you watch-and-listen through to the end where the "production" becomes a fun rollick. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZLY2ht9iBM
On Thu, May 14, 2020 at 6:01 PM AC wrote:Hello Family and Friends in the USA and Germany!It’s going to be important to take care of your mental health during the pandemic,and this piece from the New York Times may be helpfulas well as measures such as establishing a Ministry of Silly Walks near your own home, something I am seriously consideringor if you’re really ambitious, dancing in the streetsDon't let the blues get you down! Please let me know how you’re doing and what you’re doing to keep your spirits up. I’ll append here some links to articles on how to do that, but your own ideas are the best.How to fight depression and anxiety during the pandemic9 ways to stay positive during the pandemic5 ways to lift your mood during the pandemictoot sweet,Arthur
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