Isaac Merrit Singer: American Sewing Machine

This was my research paper for my American History to 1870 class this year.  I just got my grade back on it, a 90 out of 100 (an A-).  We had to pick someone from our textbook to write about.  I first chose Ben Franklin, but there was SOOOO much info on him I got swamped with what to do to keep it to 5-7 pages.  Isaac Merrit Singer (who modernized the sewing machine, he didn't actually invent it) had an almost passing reference in two sentences, which was enough of a mention to warrant my attention.  So he was my topic.

  Isaac Merritt Singer is a true American classic: born October 27, 1811 in Oswego, New York, he improved greatly on an existing product -- the sewing machine -- making it far easier to use in the home, and created a company making his product, and using a business model that still exists to this day, well over a century later.

His Early Life

     Born in Oswego, New York in 1811, Isaac Merritt Singer grew up fast, leaving his home at age twelve. When he was nineteen, he began working in his older brother's machine shop.  It was there that he learned the trade of being a machinist, the trade that would ultimately leave his name on sewing machines around the world.¹

     He grew into a tall man; at six feet four inches, he towered over most people, yet didn't believe that machining was his future.  He wanted to follow a different vocation, that of the stage.  Isaac wanted to be an actor.

     In 1830, around the time he started working for his brother, Isaac married the first of his two wives, Catharine Maria Haley -- who was fifteen at the time -- by which they had two children, William and Lillian.²  When William was five years old and Lillian still not born yet, Isaac moved his family to New York City where he worked in a press shop for a year.  He left the press shop to become an agent for a company of actors touring through Baltimore, Maryland.  While working as the agent, he met a woman named Mary Ann Sponsler and because thoroughly enchanted to the point where he proposed to her though he never followed through.³  He did, however return to New York in 1837 where Isaac became a father twice that year: his wife gave birth to Lillian and his mistress Mary Ann arrived soon after, already pregnant.  She gave birth to Isaac's second son, Isaac Augustus.

     Isaac and Catharine's marriage went downhill from there, Catharine suspecting and possibly even knowing about Mary Ann.  However, Isaac and Catharine didn't officially divorce until January 23 of 1860.  Mary Ann, once she found out Isaac was already married, surely wasn't happy.⁴  Isaac did the only thing he could: he left town.  He went back to Baltimore with Mary Ann and told people in Baltimore that she was his wife.⁵

Isaac the Inventor

     Isaac left New York and the mess he created with his wife, children, and his mistress to head to Chicago to work on the construction of the Illinois-Michigan canal.  It was while working on the canal in 1839 that Isaac obtained his first patent on a machine he had invented that drilled through rock.  He sold the patent to the I&M Canal Building Company for $2,000.⁶  With his newfound wealth, Isaac returned to his first love, acting.

     Isaac formed and acting troupe called the Merritt Players, using the stage name of Isaac Merritt (dropping the Singer from his name).    He even had Mary Ann Sponslor return to the stage as an actress, using the name Mary Ann Merritt.  The Merritt Players toured for about five years all over North America.⁷

     After a couple more jobs in printing and wood signs, Isaac landed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he developed a machine that gave him his second patent: a "machine for carving wood and metal."⁸

     Isaac Singer, at age 38, with two wives and eight children between them, returned to New York.  It was while he was in New York, trying to sell the machine that he was given an advance from a man named George B. Zieber -- a man who figured prominently in Singer's future -- to build a prototype of the wood and metal carving machine that actually worked.⁹  Along with the advance money from Zieber, Singer was also offered a place where sewing machines were being manufactured in Boston to set up his prototype once he built it.  The sewing machines were being built by the "moderately successful Lowell and Blodget Company"¹⁰ in a shop owned by Orson C. Phelps.

     And, in 1850, he once again packed up his family and moved, this time to Massachusetts.

Isaac the Innovator

     It was in Boston in 1850 that Isaac Singer got his idea for improving on the sewing machine.  Why not make it smaller and easier to use in the home?  Why shouldn't people be able to make their own clothes at home faster than sewing by hand?  That was what prompted the idea to make a smaller, more manageable sewing machine, but it wasn't how he started with the machines.

     At Phelps's shop in Boston, Phelps asked Singer to look at one of the machines and repair it if possible.  Singer, rather than repair the machine, saw that the machine would work more efficiently and reliably if the needle were straight rather than curved, and the shuttle -- the piece that moves the needle -- moved in a straight line rather than in a circle.¹¹  He also installed a presser-foot for feeding the fabric -- a part that the fabric sits on and pulls the fabric under the needle.¹²  He also designed the now-familiar shape of the sewing machine with the "arm" that extends out over the worktable that holds the needle over the "foot."  What all this did was make sewing more efficient and time-saving, improving the number of stitches from an experienced seamstresses 40 stiches per minute by hand to 900 stitches on the sewing machine.¹³

     Singer asked Zieber for financing, which he received, and became partners with Zieber and Phelps, creating the "Jenny Lind Sewing Machine," named for a Swedish songstress.  Singer applied for, and acquired, patents for his improvements to the sewing machine.  He did, however, lose a lawsuit for patent infringement in 1854 when he used Elias Howe's eye-pointed needle and lock-stitch method in the machine's methods of sewing.¹⁴  Yet it didn't stop him from manufacturing his machines in a partnership with Edward Clark.  They formed their partnership in 1851 and in nine years, the I. M. Singer & Company was the largest producer of sewing machines anywhere in the world.¹⁵

          Singer’s partnership with Clark made them both a lot of money.  Singer continued to refine the mechanics of his sewing machine with innovations like interchangeable parts and reducing the size and weight.  Clark, meanwhile, was streamlining the business side as Singer handled the manufacturing; he created purchase plans using installment payments as well as taking old sewing machines in as trade-ins on newer models, much like car purchases are done today.  The result was a booming business with soaring sales at about $10 per machine.¹⁶

     Singer aimed his marketing not only at commercial customers, but also at housewives.  With his inexpensive sewing machines, shown off in large showrooms, with a team of mechanics, sewing instructors and easily accessible replacement parts, the Singer sewing machine became a status symbol for self-reliant American families.¹⁷

     In 1863, a man named Ebenezer Butterick, a tailor, had his own innovation for the American household that went hand in hand with Singer’s sewing machines: dress patterns.  Combined with “America’s most popular sewing machine,”¹⁸ Butterick’s dress patterns made a powerful combination that made Singer a wealthy man but the time he died in 1875 on his British estate, “the Wigwam.”¹⁹

     Despite Singer’s womanizing and attraction to the theater, he was a great innovator in both his sewing machine and business model using credit and installment plans, all of which helped shape America’s modern credit system.  Singer might be famous for his sewing machine, but his other contributions helped form modern America.

Notes

     1. Evans, Harold.  They Made America. (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2004). p 86

     2. "Isaac Merritt Singer." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 31 Mar. 2012. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/545806/Isaac-Merrit-Singer>.

     3.  Evans, p 87-88

     4. "Isaac Merritt Singer." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 31 Mar. 2012<http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Singer-IM.html>.

     5.  “Isaac Merritt Singer.” New World Encyclopedia. 2012. Web. 31 Mar. 2012. http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Isaac_Merritt_Singer.

     6. Columbia Encyclopedia.

     7.  Encyclopædia Britannica.

     8. Bissel, D.C. The First Conglomerate: 145 Years of the Singer Sewing Machine Company. Brunswick, ME: Audenreed Press, 1999.  p 45

     9. Encyclopædia Britannica.

     10. Encyclopædia Britannica.

     11. Brandon, Ruth. Singer and the Sewing Machine: A Capitalist Romance. New York: Kodansha International, 1977. p 95-97

     12. Brandon, p. 100

     13. Encyclopædia Britannica.

     14. New World Encyclopedia

     15. Bissel, p. 60

     16. Encyclopædia Britannica.

     17. Encyclopædia Britannica.

     18. Columbia Encyclopedia.

     19.  New World Encyclopedia.

Bibliography

Evans, Harold.  They Made America. (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2004).

"Isaac Merritt Singer." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 31 Mar. 2012. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/545806/Isaac-Merrit-Singer>.

"Isaac Merritt Singer." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 31 Mar. 2012<http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Singer-IM.html>.

Bissel, D.C. The First Conglomerate: 145 Years of the Singer Sewing Machine Company. Brunswick, ME: Audenreed Press, 1999. 

Brandon, Ruth. Singer and the Sewing Machine: A Capitalist Romance. New York: Kodansha International, 1977.

“Isaac Merritt Singer.” New World Encyclopedia. 2012. Web. 31 Mar. 2012. http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Isaac_Merritt_Singer.

Greece and Roman Empires Expanded Culture Growth in Ancient Times

Arrian, "The Campaigns of Alexander the Great" (Fourth Century B.C.E.), published in Katharine J. Lualdi, Sources of The Making of the West, Vol. I: To 1740, Third Edition (Boston: Bedford / St. Martin's, 2009), pp. 79-83

Eratosthenes, "Measurement of the Earth" (Third Century B.C.E.), published in Katharine J. Lualdi, Sources of The Making of the West, Vol. I: To 1740, Third Edition (Boston: Bedford / St. Martin's, 2009), pp. 93-95

Julius Caesar, "The Gallic War" (52 B.C.E.), published in Katharine J. Lualdi, Sources of The Making of the West, Vol. I: To 1740, Third Edition (Boston: Bedford / St. Martin's, 2009), pp. 116-119

Greece's expansion into the area surrounding the Mediterranean Sea wasn't as much an effort in conquest as it was of unification, unlike Rome's building of a republic that would become an empire.

     Alexander the Great's efforts to expand Greece's territory incorporated cultures and lands south into Egypt and as far east as into India.  His campaigns lasted eleven years until his death in 323 B.C.E. and his empire fell into petty squabbling as his generals each tried to get their own piece of Alexander's kingdom.  Alexander managed to keep his kingdom together through the use of garrisons in each conquered country as well as keeping the local governments in power.  The conquered peoples noticed little change in their daily lives after the battles as they were still dealing with the same governing bodies.

     Leaving the garrisons in the conquered countries had a two-fold effect.  One, it kept the peace and a small reminder that they were a conquered people, and two, it gave two separate cultures a chance to intermingle and learn from each other.  Alexander also brought scholars with him on his conquests, to record information about his campaigns, and to record new discoveries -- new to Alexander and the Greeks.  Thus knowledge was shared: knowledge of other peoples, other flora and fauna not native to the Mediterranean, and knowledge of other religions, which impacted the Romans later as they adapted a lot of Greek gods but gave them Roman names: Zeus became Jupiter, Hera became Juno, Athena was Minerva in Roman, to name a few.

     When Caesar, among other Roman generals, were expanding Rome's influence in a more northerly direction into Europe, a similar occurrence happened with the cross-culture exchange.

     This cross-culture exchange expanded thoughts and ideas into music, philosophy, art, theater, science and law.

     In Arrian's "The Campaigns of Alexander the Great," the author tells of the time when Alexander had returned to Persia from India when his soldiers desired to return home.  Alexander decided to send home the disabled veterans to appease some of the homesickness.  His Macedonian soldiers resented this move as they feared the Persians were to be taking their place.

     Alexander delivered a speech that inspired the men to realize that his men came before himself.  He did what he did for them.  It wasn't his glory, it was their glory.  It wasn't his treasure, it was their treasure.

     After his speech, Alexander retired to his palace, cloistering himself for three days before summoning his Persian officers to bestow on them command of Alexander's armies.  When the Macedonians heard of this, they prostrated themselves in supplication, offering up the soldiers who led the efforts of returning home, for a chance to stay by his side.  Alexander relented and accepted their apologies, offering up a sacrifice to the gods.  He also hosted a banquet for the men, Persian and Macedonian alike, to bring them together as the army of Alexander, not Persian soldiers and Macedonian soldiers.  This shared affiliation bonded the men and they shared aspects of their culture as a result.

     Besides bringing distant and diverse cultures together through his army, Alexander also had the world's largest library built in the city named for him, Alexandria.  Scientists and scholars from across Alexander's empire were encouraged to come to the library to research new thoughts and processes to further technology and knowledge.  One such man was Eratosthenes.  He hypothesized that using two matching sundial bowls in the distant cities of Alexandria and Syene, both in Egypt about 500 miles apart, and measuring the length of the shadow cast by the sundial in one sundial where the other sundial has no shadow as the sun was directly overhead, he could calculate the circumference of the earth.  The reason Eratosthenes used Syene was because the city was directly south of Alexandria, on the same meridian circle, or longitudinal line, and both cities had the same structure with the same height, very important in measuring the length of the shadows.  Would this have been possible without Alexander's conquering of most of the known world around the Mediterranean?  Highly doubtful as a lot of local tribes were still warring in a lot of areas that Alexander's armies invaded.  Alexander's personal charisma helped people want to come together and share experiences and thus share their culture.

     Alexander set the stage for Rome, with a cross-culture empire having already been established once.  Alexander showed that, done correctly, people of varied cultures can get along and learn from each other.  Once Rome began to rise in power and territory, they modeled some of their expansion techniques on Alexander's, including establishing towns of Roman citizens throughout conquered territories.  While the towns comprised mainly of citizens and not garrisons of soldiers, the basic idea was similar in principle: leave people loyal to the conquerors in the territory of the conquered.

     In the account of Julius Caesar finishing his conquest of the Gauls in what later became France, it is mentioned how Caesar rewarded his friends and generals with governorships in areas he had conquered, specifically Commius who was awarded the Kingship of Atrebates and Brutus -- the same one who later was one of Caesar's murderers and the subject of the now famous line "Et to, Brute?" -- was awarded the governorship of Transalpine Gaul.  This was yet another way of putting Roman influence into area outside of Rome -- in the manner that Alexander had done with his empire some two centuries beforehand -- spreading the culture, as well as absorbing the local customs by the governorship and his aides.

     The Romans also built roads connecting major cities in their new conquered nations.  This shortened the time for troop movement between cities, but also helped ease travel for the citizenry.  As time went on, and the Roman armies needed the use of the roads less and less, the locals used the roads more and more, giving an ease of travel to greater distances, farther than most have traveled before.  Local customs became wider spread and incorporated into larger areas.  Knowledge was traded along the roads as well, as travelers carried it with them wherever they went.

Jester Writer fiction is moving!

As the title states, I'll be moving my fiction writing over to a Wordpress account.  That way I can write and add to my online fiction with my iPad2 since Wordpress has a free app and Blogger/Blogspot doesn't seem to have ANY kind of app.  And I really don't want to try and post from a browser on an iPad.

So as things stand right now, this blog will stay here with essays and the occasional non-fiction thoughts, but all the fiction including the continuing adventures of Spider and Fortune, will be moving to http://jesterwriter.wordpress.com  Look me up there and follow my scribblings!

No New Ideas?

The common complaint about Hollywood is that "there are no new ideas."  Generally there are new ideas, but most of Hollywood is just updating old ideas in new packages.  Movie studios are more interested in making money than making stories, which is why there is a plethora of sequels, remakes and movies based on famous books (the forthcoming Girl with the Dragon Tattoo starring Daniel Craig takes two of these). The studios know that these are bankable as they are already commercial successes.  Why take a chance and lose money when you can just cash in on the gravy train that is already established.
     As for new ideas, I was watching Person of Interest -- I like this show and its premise -- when I thought "He's kind of like a modern day Lone Ranger."  Then I thought about it some more and that's exactly what it is.  The main character, Reese, played by Jim Caviezel, is a wanted man, former special forces military man with a heart of gold who's done some bad things in his career.  Fitz, his partner, created a machine for the government that can predict terrorist activities by monitoring ALL communications -- email, cell phone calls, text messages, security cameras -- and then collating the data in context and predicting terrorist activity.  Sometimes it spits out numbers (Social Security numbers of people involved in some way) of more "mundane" crimes: murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, etc.  The government agency Fitz was reporting to didn't care about these numbers, but Fitz did for reasons as of yet (through episode 5 anyway) unexplained.  Fitz, as seen in the flashbacks where he was still working on the machine, is a normal, healthy man.  Now he has a pronounced limp, maybe an artificial leg, back problems and has trouble turning his head on his neck.  His story hasn't been told yet, but I'm sure it's coming.  Whatever had happened to him is the catalyst that pushed him to find Reese and hire him to help the people involved in the "mundane" crimes.
     It's not so much a retelling of the Lone Ranger in modern day (even though, if I remember right, Reese was an Army Ranger) or an update to the character, but let's call him an archetype.  The wanted man who is actually helping people while working outside the law to do it.  If Fitz and Reese ever get caught with what they are doing, they would probably be charged with treason and crimes against the country, as well as violating national security, but I digress.  And while Reese doesn't wear a mask or leave silver bullets, his reasons and methods for helping others are very similar to the Masked Man.
     Another archetype that's made it to the small screen again, once I started thinking about this, is Robin Hood, and I don't mean the BBC's version from a couple years ago.  I mean Leverage.  Timothy Hutton's show where they are kind of a revenge organization.  A client contacts them because someone stole like a family heirloom from them and they have no legal recourse to gain it back (lack of evidence, etc.).  Hutton's team do a Mission Impossible type operation, using quasi-legal and sometimes illegal means, to avenge their client.  It is very much a Robin Hood type archetype as he has his band of "merry men" (and women), and their clients are usually poor, the people they are going up against usually rich (having more money to hire expensive lawyers to keep it out of courts, etc).
     I don't plan on analyzing all shows out there for more of these archetypes, but these kind of jumped out at me today.  I don't think Person of Interest has the popularity to sustain itself right now, as I think the Lone Ranger archetype has been overdone to varying degrees the past few years.  He has become an anti-hero archetype (outlaw with heart of gold helping people) in a lot of incarnations and it's becoming tiresome.  Because Hollywood doesn't like new ideas.

School paper on Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

The following is a paper I wrote for my Audio Production class a couple years ago.  I got a 20 out of 20 points for it with the comments "Excellent!  Great observation from this great film.  Well written.  Interesting reading."

The sound of this film was fairly subtle throughout, the movie being more focused on the title characters than action.  I believe the main reason for this was partly due to the year the film was mad -- 1969 -- as opposed to today.  I'm sure that the Coen brothers borrowed the sound use of Butch and Sundance for their film No Country for Old Men.
     Music, to me, had the biggest impact on the sound of this film, mainly because it was used so sparsely.  Excluding the closing credits, there were only three instances where music was used.
     The first was in the opening credits, where an effective sound effect was implemented as well.  The opening credits showed a recreated old black and while silent film of "Butch Cassidy's Hole-in-the-Wall Gang" robbing a train.  A sound of a film projector was playing to give it more of a newsreel type of feel from the very early days of film.  A very "open," airy piece of piano music was played over top of the silent film as a counterpoint to the action of the train robbery.  The piano music was slow, moody and nothing like an "action" piece, which is what one would expect in today's filmd.
     The second instnace of music in the movie is probably one of the more famous scenes.  BJ Thomas, later a lead singer for the disco group Blue Velvet, sang a contemporary version of "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" as Butch Cassidy rode "the latest technological marvel," a bicycle, around a farm with Sundance's female friend on the handlebars.  Similar to the opening title sequence, no other sound is heard while this song is playing, with the exception of when Butch, while riding the bike backwards, crashes through a fence and into a bullrun, where a bull is standing, watching the crazy man on the bike.  The song pauses until the bull begins to chase Butch out of his pasture.
     The final instance of music occurs when Butch, Sundance and Eta are in Bolivia and they decide to take up robbing banks again.  The music, as established twice before, is the only sound as a montage of the trio rob banks throughout the country.  And, like the second song, there is a pause in the song as the actual sound of the film is brought forward.  The bank robbers are hiding on a tree and begin firing warning shots at the "posse" that is chasing them from their latest heist.  The posse retreats, the robbers laugh and go on to their next escapade, and the song resumes, returning it to a silent film reel.
     Music used in this fashion -- with no other sound effects or dialogue -- give this classic Western the feel of a silent film of the early days of Hollywood.  It's also subtle enough where people would notice the lack of other sound, but might not make the connection to the opening scene and silent filmscores.
     Speech plays a major role in this film as it is mostly character driven, due to its biographical nature.  The scenes where Butch and Sundance are trying to learn Spanish so they can rob banks in Bolivia bring it to a larger awareness.  There aren't many subtle scenes of speech: no whispering, no shouting, not a lot of dynamic feel to the dialogue.  Although it does give us some very memorable lines such as, "I got vision while the rest of the world needs bifocals," and "Hell, the fall'll probably kill ya."
     As far as sound effects go, it was a nice mix of effectiveness, in my view.  The final scene where a part of the Bolivian army has Butch and Sundance pinned down seemed a little forced with the sound effects because ALL of the rifles that were being used sounded exactly the same, regardless of position of the wielder or distance.  The same can be said for the pistols, even if different types of pistols were being fired (as by Butch and Sundance).  I attribute this to the time the movie was made and sound "design" wasn't even really thought of yet (but it wasn't too far off).  This isn't to say that sound effects weren't used effectively, they just sounded very similar.
     Explosions were used in a couple of spots near the beginning of the film to do a quick cut scene, as the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang was robbing the Union Pacific Flyer.
     One other thing I noticed that was quite subtle, and probably would NOT have noticed had it not been for the comment about E.T. and the one "hunter's" keys being used to identify the man.  Most of the middle of the movie has the title characters chased across a couple of states by a lawman named DeFours who wears a white straw hat (I wonder if that's where Kevin Smith got the idea for the mall security guard of the same name and distinguishing headgear in Mallrats).  You never see DeFours, or his posse, except at a great distance.  However, as Butch and Sundance are being followed, you can always hear the distant hoofbeats of the posse.  No individual horses can be distinguished, but there is a distant rumble similar to thunder anytime they are nearing their quarry..  In some scenes, there is nothing in the shot except for a hill that Butch and Sundance had ridden over a couple minutes prior, and the sound has that distinct distant rumble.  Very soon, it daens on you that that particular sound is to be identified with DeFour's posse, and imminent danger to the title characters.
     All in all, the music probably had the greatest impact of sound, being used effectively and sparsely in the movie.  The rumble of hoofbeats was probably a close second, although I wouldn't think of the posse when I hear that sound unless I am watching Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Captain America an effective movie

Now, I go into this not having seen X-men First Class, and it is a point of contention because of some of the reasons I think Captain America is such a good/effective movie.  I’ll give a little bit about each of the other big movies and why they are so big, and then why Cap blew them away.

Hulk: The first one with Eric Bana was bad, we can all agree.  The one with Edward Norton in the Avengers timeline was much better.  The character deals with anger management issues and the monster inside all of us, according the its creator, Stan Lee.  Although the character has been limited in some of his effectiveness in some stories, being just a rampaging monster, the character has evolved to have an intelligence, but it is still mainly anger focused.  The Norton version of the movie brought this out more.  The Eric Bana one focused more on his relationship with Betty and tried to make it more of a date movie than a comic book movie, and thus brought down both sides of it.

Fantastic Four: both movies were well written, had great effects, decent stories and good actors.  But the FF has never been one of my favorite comics.  I never connected with any of them.  I’ve tried again and again and like the latest incarnation of the Future Foundation (still the FF, but the abbreviation means something different), and now that Spider-man is involved after the Human Torch died, it has a little more potential (I’ll get to that with talking about Spider-man).  I like the new outfits – white with black trim, even looks good on Spidey – and I like where it’s going as a super-science comic with the human side to it with the Thing and the Richards family.

Spider-man: Stan Lee made Spidey as a metaphor for puberty and life’s problems.  Here when Peter Parker is at that age when his body starts changing, the radioactive (or rather genetically altered, in the movie) spider bite really changes him.  He gets all those abilities that are spider-like, yet still has to deal with school, relationships, finding work, taking care of his Aunt May.  It gave a much more human side to a super hero than DC’s Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, etc. ever had.  The first to Spidey movies had this and were good movies.  The third one was “let’s see how much crap we can throw in this movie and keep it under 3 hours.”  Didn’t work for me, or for Marvel apparently which is why they’re rebooting the franchise.

X-men: always one of my favorite books, mainly due to Chris Claremont’s writing from the 70’s through the 80’s.  A bigger metaphor for puberty you will not find (even in Spider-man) as they mutants’ powers emerge at the onset of puberty, and they don’t know what to do with these powers.  That setup didn’t translate well into the movies, but they were still good action/sci-fi yarns, but it’s what made that book so popular because EVERYONE GOES THROUGH PUBERTY.

Watchmen: this one is most comparable to Captain America, because it is also a period piece, and the time of the story has a big impact on what makes it effective or not.  (Starting to see why I had to mention that I haven’t seen First Class yet?)  Watchmen takes place in the height of the Cold War in the 80’s when the threat of nuclear annihilation was at its peak.  If you lived through it, you probably remember it well.  The problem is, most people, even if they lived through it, DON’T remember it that well.  We were really, really close.  And the scary thing is, one of the things that saved us was the Chernobyl disaster.  That’s right.  When the Chernobyl nuclear plant had its meltdown, the USSR couldn’t handle the clean-up.  Mikhail Gorbachev HAD to ask us for help.  It opened the doors to the Soviet Union for the first time and kicked Perestroika and Glasnost into gear.  It didn’t remove the threat of nuclear holocaust, but it cut it back so far that anything other than where we were was a moment of relaxation and peace.  The Watchmen movie tried to convey this in the three hour epic, but that was just the backdrop to the story of the characters.  And since it was only the backdrop, it didn’t come across and made the movie less effective through no fault of anyone’s except time.

Captain America: now we come to why this period piece was so effective.  Everyone knows about WWII and what it was like for our country.  Even if we didn’t live through it (most of us didn’t), it was such a big, long part of our history, and there have been so many movies and tv series about it that most of us actually have an understanding of a lot of what it was like.  In fact, movies about WWII is what’s boosted enlistment into the armed forces for the Iraq and Afghan wars we’ve been fighting.  During WWII, men enlisted so they could go fight Nazis.  Inglorious Basterds is a prime example of America arrogance, if you will, of fighting and winning a war, and it takes place in WWII.  Steve Rogers has similar ambitions and is such a likeable, human character that you can’t help but feel for him when he gets rejected time and again when all he wants to do is HELP.  It seems less like a comic book movie and more like an underdog movie with a couple of sci-fi characters (Cap and Red Skull).  Since he’s still mostly human with heightened strength, he’s less comic book, and more effective.  It’s the same reason a well-written Batman movie (the Christian Bale movies) are so good.  He’s still a human, but at the peak of perfection.  Once they started changing that, the movies got worse (Batman and Robin).  But this is why I feel Captain America was a good movie.  The character was more human and involved in his time period that everyone can relate to.

Tiresome Organizations

Bothersome people are everywhere.  Non-profit organizations collect them, as well.  Leaving an organization with a lot of tiresome, bothersome people, especially one of which you've been a member for awhile, will relieve that feeling of irksomeness in you.

My wife and I recently left an organization that has a lot of tiresome people -- tiresome to us, not necessarily to each other or other people in the organization.  One of the main reasons we found them so bothersome was that there is a prevalent attitude in this local group of intelligence -- which a lot of them are -- but their intelligence, knowledge and experience apply only to skills that apply to that particular organization and not really anywhere else in society.

I understand the want and need to grow and learn new things, but if there is no practical application other than the that organization, I'm not going to concentrate on it or worry about learning too much about it.

I had been working a lot on artistic applications with this organization, things that I could do in my own time without a lot of effort or cost to me or my family.  I could draw and practice calligraphy as it is pure art.  Fake sword fighting might provide some physical workout, but not enough reward for the effort put into it.  I think that shows with the physique of some of the long-time sword fighters in the organization.

I may continue to work on the calligraphy and illumination because I do enjoy it, had enjoyed it even before becoming a member of the organization.  It was something that I was able to do to contribute to the organization, but it wasn't celebrated, it was looked upon as a necessity rather than a contribution.  I had the ability and so it was required of me to do it.  For them.  Not for any reason I might have for wanting to do it, but because I could, I should be doing it for them.

No thanks, I'll take my talent elsewhere where it will be more appreciated.