Public Relations That Worked

I never met Julian Scheer, but I met his brother George Fabian Scheer, Jr., and knew his nephew George Fabian Scheer III. The latter two were associated with Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, where I worked in the mid-1980s.

Julian Weisel Scheer (1926-2001) was a key supporter and proponent of NASA. He'd been an energetic reporter covering the space program when, in 1963, he became NASA's Assistant Administrator for Public Affairs. He helped shape NASA's positive and exciting image in an inclusive way, actively drawing in news reporters and the average person alike. He seems to have believed that being transparent with developments was a better way of communicating the Apollo Moon program than any form of sugar coating. It was a dangerous mission to go to the Moon, but nonetheless, the Apollo 11 Moon landing should be covered live -- despite the risks. And he was right.

What NASA needs again is such a PR powerhouse as Julian Scheer. The Final Frontier should be inherently exciting, but without strong PR, NASA's efforts are drowned in the white noise of everything else. After all, isn't NASA more important than Jon & Kate Plus Eight? If not, we're not living on Earth, we're living in Hell.

Today's Rune: The Mystery Rune.

Does "Support Our Troops" Mean Anything?

What does "Support Our Troops" mean? Without universal conscription, there's no compelling reason for anyone without relatives or friends in the military to think deeply about what happens "over there," let alone do anything about it. Support Our Troops seems to mean, don't spit on returning veterans as some did during the Vietnam War. Other than that, the phrase seems like an empty bromide.

And to add to our cognitive dissonance, whom do we support exactly when some of our troops turn on each other, by mistake or deliberately? What about those of our troops who commit atrocities, either in country or back in the USA?

What are we to think of General Stanley A. McChrystal, Commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan? Check out Jon Krakauer's new book, Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman. Not only was Tillman shot in the head by "friendly fire," some of his own men burned his uniform and body armor trying to cover up the incident. And McChrystal took part in the subsequent circus of events, including Tillman's silver star commemoration.


The movie In the Valley of Elah (2007) details how a similar cover up occurred back in the States among others of "our troops." One veteran is stabbed to death, another commits suicide. In Iraq, they'd run over a kid in the streets and tortured a prisoner. Atrocities in Iraq begat atrocities in the States. More cognitive dissonance for those who would vaguely Support Our Troops. It's a good film, based on real incidents that will be detailed in Cilla McCain's Murder in Baker Company: How Four American Soldiers Killed One of Their Own, scheduled for release on February 1, 2010.


War is a heavy burden. Many experiencing war -- soldiers and civilians alike -- do or will suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), called shell shock during the First World War. And many survivors also suffer from physical wounds. Whether we "support our troops" or not, these are facts; it is our collective responsibility to recognize these and another fact: the atrocious conflicts in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan et alia will be with us for the rest of our days, directly or indirectly.

Today's Rune: Growth. Painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (The Triumph of Death, circa 1562)

Water on the Moon!

Finding water on the Moon hasn't made much of a splash in the USA. Clearly, NASA needs better PR along the lines of Julian Scheer's dramatic work in the 1960s. NASA had a hand in this, but India earned the main kudos, thanks to its Chandrayaan-1 unmanned lunar probe, which operated from October 2008 until August of this year. What will be done with a pile of new data remains to be seen, but surely this is an interesting development by any standard, even if virtually unnoticed in the States.



Today's Rune: Gateway.

Memories of a Friend: New York World's Fair, 1965

Among the great pleasures of maintaining this daily web log: connecting with people, learning more about all of us, learning new things on a daily basis, and bearing witness to our lives and times. Just yesterday, I learned that my friend Evan (we've been friends since the early 1970s) visited the World's Fair in 1965, as I had with my family. As a follow-up, here are some of his memories of that occasion (by permission) . . .

I remember a good bit - I was pretty excited about going and spending three days in New York with just my father. I can distinctly recall:

1) Seeing the big Unisphere - the globe that is still there on the site, I think. [It is].

2) The life-size dinosaurs at the Sinclair Oil Company exhibit. That was one of the big draws for me and we went there all three days, I think.

3) Riding the big tire-shaped ferris wheel thing - it had closed gondola-style cars instead of seats. We were in one with another man and his little girl about my age. Every time there was a bump, he'd say "There's another screw coming loose" and his daughter would look scared. . .

4) Going through the Ford Pavilion - we had to stand in line forever but it was cool. You rode through the exhibits about the history of life on earth in a big new Ford convertible.

5) We tried to get up into the New York Pavilion to see the fair from up high, but missed closing time and ended up never getting to do that. Think we ate dinner there instead.


I distinctly recall posing for [this photo] with the big tire and the New York Pavilion towers in the background. Check out my crew-cut...

Thank you, Evan! Now, for Michiganders and anyone traveling I-94 between Metro Airport and Detroit, here's an extra treat. That Big Tire pictured above is the same one! See the gondola on the right side of the tire above?

From Roadside America: This 12-ton, 80-foot-tall behemoth was built to withstand hurricane-force winds, and served as a ferris wheel (and a huge advertisement for Uniroyal) at the 1964-65 New York World's Fair. Twenty-four gondolas circled the tire where the treads are today, carrying nearly two million people. The tire was moved to Allen Park in 1966 . . . (source: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/8258)

Today's Rune: Fertility.

New York World's Fair, 1964/1965

I. Visiting the 1964/1865 World's Fair in Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York City, remains one of my most vivid memory flashes from an early age. I remember the James Bond car from Goldfinger, gigantic dinosaur replicas, small wax dinosaur figures that melted in the back of our car, and the first monorail trains I'd ever seen. It was cool, and international, and futuristic.

II. Recently, I came across this creepy thirteen-plus-minute GM/Frigidaire World's Fair Futurama film called Out of This World (1964). From the perspective of 2009, it comes across as a rapacious and lurid dystopian vision heralded as something wonderful. Its cocky narrator boasts of how humans will plunder other worlds in deep space, and under the Earth's ocean floor, and in the rain forests, and under the mountains and across remote deserts. There are operatic clichés about foreign cultures, featuring a gynoid wife in ludicrous costumes, lovingly caressing kitchen appliances and an air conditioner. But basically, 45 years later, you see what Americans take for granted in the kitchen and laundry room, plus the AC. In fact, except for the actual Earth-plundering, widespread internet availability and cell phones, it doesn't look like we've made many changes since then.

Warning: not for more delicate souls, who may be tempted to commit suicide by film's end. Here's a pertinent link to the Internet Archive: http://www.archive.org/details/out_of_this_world




Today's Rune: Initiation.

World's Fair

E.L. Doctorow's World's Fair (1985) culminates with two 1940 visits to the 1939/1940 World's Fair at Flushing Meadows Park, Queens, New York City, but much of the story takes place during the 1930s in or near the Bronx. Doctorow's semi-autobiographical tale centers around Edgar, the primary narrator, and his extended family. The finely articulated attention to detail and subtle character development allows the author to steer clear of any need for dramatic conflict; life during the Great Depression provides challenges enough. There are hooligans, yes, but most overt villains are off the stage, in Europe and elsewhere.

A few chapters are narrated by Edgar's mother, an aunt, and his older brother Donald, all as if told to Edgar, who was a young boy in the 1930s. For the most part, Edgar's childhood is described in a way that melds his contemporary boyhood consciousness with an older Edgar's reconstructions. This hybrid method works very effectively.

I really like World's Fair. It reminds me of my family's trip to the 1964/1965 World's Fair, located on the same grounds as the 1939/1940 version.

The most recent American World's Fair was the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition in New Orleans. The earliest possible return to the States would be in mid-2017, but given today's selection of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as host city for the 2016 Summer Olympics, I wouldn't hold my breath. Expo 2010 will be in Shanghai, China.

For anyone under thirty or so, you'll either have to travel far or wait a good long while for the experience; meantime, I recommend Doctorow's novel.

A perfect companion novel to World's Fair is Philip Roth's The Plot Against America (2004); although it imagines Charles Lindbergh as having been elected president in 1940, it, too, is packed with autobiographical family details comparable to Doctorow's.

Today's Rune: Fertility.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

The host and everyone else were in top form tonight, which reminded me to praise The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. It's one of those things that normally goes without saying, so I'm writing it insead: Jon Stewart (and crew) rocks. Anyone have any additional thoughts?

The Daily Show usually airs Monday-Thursday, at least the new episodes. Jon Stewart is a stage name. His "real" name? Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz (b. 11/28/1962) -- and he's a Sagittarius dude in every sense of the word.

Here's a link to the official website: http://www.thedailyshow.com/

Today's Rune: Partnership.