Beauty, dignity, courage, brain power.

 

Beauty, Dignity, Courage, Brain Power

Hi there everybody, da harv here again. Beauty, dignity, courage, brain power. Woah, what a package. Many years ago I found myself enamored by a couple of ladies during a similar time period in my own life. Neither of which exposure had a man, woman, personal, or social connotation. Both of them, entertainers par excellence;  I speak of Martha Graham, and Lena Horne.

What got to me the most, was simply their way of communicating. Whether it was dancing, singing, acting, or life in general, they expressed themselves, straight from their well-traveled shoulders. It appeared to me today, although they are both no longer with us, our current problems, in retrospect, if we could heed once more what they, too, those two gals, had to say, might still provide much for us, we may all learn from.    From Martha Graham, quote: “Misery is a communicable disease”.   My Translation from da harv: Hang with those who build. Grow with them. Growth will benefit all.   (And) from Lena Horne:  “It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.”  My Translation: The more people you help, the more of them will be there to help you, when you need it.

And would you believe, even before da harv became known to most actors involved with the world of voice over, our sixteenth president of the United States was elected to serve us all.   Well almost all of us.   The official legal end of slavery — did not occur until the ratification of the 13th Amendment on Dec. 6, 1865. That was 159 years ago.  The 19th amendment granted American women the right to vote in 1920. That was only 104 years ago. And now here’s an excerpt most folks will probably recognize. It’s a quote from a pretty famous speech:  Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. Abraham Lincoln said that on November 19, 1863. And that my friends was a scant 161 years ago, from where we stand together today in 2024 . In my less than humble opinion, as Americans, we are the greatest assemblage of human beings in the history of this world ever. And in case you didn’t know, folks, here’s a couple more notes about Martha Graham and Lena Horne. Well, Martha Graham. Wow, what a story. The Graham technique reshaped American dance and is still taught worldwide. She was the first dancer to perform at the White House, travel abroad, and as a cultural ambassador, can you beat that, and received the highest civilian award of the US: the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction. In her lifetime, she received honors ranging from the Key to the City of Paris to Japan's Imperial Order of the Precious Crown.         She remained teaching and some say even dancing, to age 96. And then one of the most exciting people ever to be seen on stage: Lena Horne. Her career spanned more than seventy years, appearing in film, television, and theatre. Lena advocated for civil rights  and took part in the March on Washington in August 1963. Later she returned to her roots as a nightclub performer and continued to work on television while releasing well-received record albums. She announced her retirement in March 1980, but the next year starred in a one-woman show, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music, which ran for more than 300 performances on Broadway. She then toured the country in that same show, earning numerous awards and accolades. Horne continued recording and performing sporadically into the 1990s, retreating from the public eye in year 2000.  And take it from me, seeing Lena Horne on stage live, was an unbelievable experience  And now I’m going to go back to talking to my toys. Have a good one, everybody.   -da harv

Discovery: A plant can be a grant, if its growth is nurtured

 

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Hi everybody. Da harv here and this is called “Discovery: A plant can be a grant, if its growth is nurtured. Are you a self-nurturer?  Do you have the desire or will, to continue on the same road? The road you were given as a lifetime contestant?  What would you plant?    So the question is: How would you like to swing on a star? Or would you rather be a mule?   So, in the event you’ve decided it isn’t your intent to swing on a star or carry moonbeams home in a jar. Listen to what an old friend has to say to you. A tremendous number of young people were able to sing the song along with him. I was a very young one of them way back then.

Songwriter, Jimmy Van Heusen, was at Bing Crosby's house to discuss a song for the film project “Going My Way”. One of the children began complaining about how he did not want to go to school the next day. The singer (that would be Bing) turned to his son Gary and said to him: "If you don’t go to school, you might grow up to be a mule." Van Heusen thought this clever rebuke would make a good song for the film. He pictured Crosby, who played a priest, talking to a group of children acting much the same way as his own child had acted that night. Van Heusen took the idea to his partner lyricist Johnny Burke, who approved. They wrote the song. It was published and became a runaway hit way back in February of 1944.  Here’s a couple of notes of fun: Little da harv back then was a ripe old kid of eleven. My Dad was the man who took me to see “Going My Way”. Many years later, the kid Bing Crosby had been talking about that evening was his son Gary Crosby, who someday was destined to visit and be directed by yours truly during a voiceover commercial audition. Well, Gary and I were both in our seventies. And while I at one moment in my life actually worked around the corner set of a movie Bing was working at, I never had the opportunity of meeting him in person.  And by the way, my Dad was a great fan of Crosby as well as the second lead in the movie “Going My Way”. Barry Fitzgerald, played the role of the old priest Bing was coming to the parish to replace.   Not even my mother was ever privy to hearing my dad and I singing together with Irish accents of two other songs from the movie: “Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral” (that’s an Irish Lullaby) and “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling”. Dad and I actually placed our heads together while singing. I’d give anything to be able to recapture a moment or two of the two of us together, entertaining ourselves during those special moments in time. And now, 6 months into my 90th year. Such things furnished perhaps too arduously for human comprehension. Somehow managed to bloom in the form of what may have been taught by swinging on a star.  In each life, hopefully yours.  In all todays and tomorrows. For evermore with a helper. Planting to become life’s blossoms for tomorrow. Each day new restoration granted. As yours to adore. Ok now, see you all tomorrow. HK. Another day in May, 2024

For Evermore

 

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To my dear friend Harvey, This is in response to your inquiry about my health being any different following the observance of my ninetieth birthday. Which took place on November twenty-eight of last year. Sorry it took so long to answer you. It’s just at this stage of my human game, I do notice more and more difficulty paying attention to what most people have to say. Even when me is talking to me.  Well, oftentimes as da harv, I do talk to myself at great length. When I do so, it isn’t caused by me being alone. It takes place because of the person on the receiving end of my verbiage has no intention of listening to what I had to say in the first place.               Note: If the previous paragraph makes sense to you… Congratulations! You’re one of the few.             Now, many of the people out there. The ones I place in a large and building category of intended receivers, have never entertained any thoughts of what I’ve had to say in the first place. Many of these non-listeners are the same elected politicians I, and many other people like me, voted for.  Admittedly for me, the most disturbing factor coming fourth today are the obvious lies, or misstatements, if you please, being offered to us by the very same elected officials who raised their hand and swore on a bible to guard and protect all brethren. Mentioned in our “Bill of rights”, simply stated and exemplified by the pure truth it presented.     For those out there who may have forgotten how it goes, here’s a reminder. You may think I’ve misspelled a word or two, but it’s how our forefathers spelled in their era.  The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States opens with: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence (defense), promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” Those words served as the entrance to our country’s constitution.   And on this Memorial Day, please join me from within all our heartfelt wishes for all those who came before us as the true heralds. Who definitely stood up for all the good the United States of America has done and will continue to uphold by the lives they have given. Well, everyone has a day or two in their lives that becomes etched. Something you can recall, no matter when it is, whatever time of day and sometimes even in your sleep. It was the day I was getting ready to board the train at Union Station. Leave Los Angeles for a while. Having it been accepted at the United States Army. I looked out and I saw my father drying a tear from his eye. It's the first time I ever saw my dad cry. It's amazing how dad is etched in stone.

Well for what it's worth, everyone who joins the military has one thing in common: They must swear in by repeating "The Military Oath of Enlistment." And it goes like this... (I put my own name in there so you know what I'm talking about. “I, da harv Kalmenson, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.” And so, as was the case for me, and so many before me who helped to make us the greatest country ever. Nineteen year old Harvey Kalmenson, a private in the United States Army.  Memorial Day at Arlington was a sight to behold.   To all my dear friends who happen, like me, to talk to themselves from time to time. What I offer of this holiday tribute to all those who put God and country as their delivery device for success was simple. Their reasoning will always be appreciated more than any mortal, free from love and sacrifice will ever be totally understood. Theirs was given, sacrificing for us all. God bless America. Land that we love. And from time to time, like me, you’ll think about some of those things that will remain etched evermore. -da harv