h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The United States celebrates Martin Luther King [Jr.]'s birthday today, though the actual birthday was on the 16th. No matter, a lot of our holidays are celebrated on Mondays, and the thought is what matters anyway.

I'm doing my best to do holiday-appropriate things today. Right now, as I sit at my computer, I'm listening to a CD of Louis Armstrong ["Pops: the 1940s small-band sides"]. I love "Do you know what it means to leave New orleans," and have loved it since it was used as the theme song for a TV series about 15 or 20 years ago. Other great songs opn the CD are "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Where the blues were born in New Orleans." I know Armstrong recorded some "Porgy and Bess" songs with Ella Fitzgerald, but I don't have that recording. Maybe some day.

I remember the 1960s. I admired Martin Luther King Jr enormously. It has come to light in recent years that he had some flaws, but isn't it true that every great man or woman has flaws? What matters is that he put the good of other people ahead of his own, and he did this while consistently taking the high road and speaking to the highest ideals of all his countrymen (and women).

Anyway, I found out that his favorite food was hot dogs, and his favorite desert was pecan pie. I will be making a light version of buttermilk pecan pie later today. Maybe I can find hot dogs somewhere and eat them for lunch.

I remember a very bad stretch in 1968, when I was earning money for college by working in a plastic spoon factory. One night I came home weary from a work shift and found out that King had been assassinated. It was a terrible, terrible day. No matter how much people might have disagreed with desegregation and King's marches, the fact remains that he was peaceable and dignified. The people in his marches and demonstrations put the best of themselves on display, and they appealed to the consciences of everyone. Most Americans responded with respect. That is why we honor his memory on his birthday.

Later today I may play some music by Scott Joplin and William Grant Still. I have some jazz cds packed away somewhere. Don't know if I can find them in time. Fats Waller might be there somewhere, too...

Good on you Paul! I wonder how many of your countrymen and women are celebrating this day in a similar manner? And I do think you should seriously write up some of your delicious sounding dessert recipes in your journals.

Very dear Paul H,

What a marvellous tribute to a really wonderful man Martin Luther King (Jr.)

Thank you for writing those very moving words which reminded me so much of those years of the '60's.

Having been born in South africa and lived through the apartheid years there, I was totally horrified to find the same state of affiars existed in other parts of the world. Amazing how one can get so involved in one's own problems that one does not realise that they exist eslewhere.

And the music of the period. Nat King Cole as well. I loved them all.

Thank you again for a wonderful contribution to our website.

Very sincerely,

Christiane
AlsoRan80

Monday 18th January 2010 19.36 GMT

PS/
And I love your taste in music.

as do i

i was just thinking that i must have been around ten years old before i met my first non-white person ever. a young black woman, who i followed down a street and a half, because i had never seen anything like her (except for magazines. we didn't yet have tv at the time)

i mention this because it illustrates why i never understood racism. i was never anywhere near it

this coming from a kid who was born in germany less than 8 years after WWII - and you all know what germany before 1945 was like... but i never got near any racists, anti-semites. quite the contrary, all of my family memebers were liberals if not social democrats

anyway, i am glad the US honours its great son who may not have been a super human, but then who of us is?

you can tell i could go on, can't you? well, i won't. have a nice day all of you

Thank you, everybody. I believed in what Dr. King was trying to do, and every day I meet African-American people who are working in jobs that they probably wouldn't have had without the changes that Dr. King (and many others) pushed America into making. I enjoy seeing movies that include African-American actors, and this in turn makes many movies more interesting. I particularly love Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, Morgan Freeman and Will Smith. What would our entertainment industry be without them?

In any event, My buttermilk pie is baking now. It'll be ready in about 15 m inutes. I didn't put many pecans in it, because I had a pecan roll at Au Bon Pain a few hours ago.

Enjoy your holiday, Paul

Thanks, lil. It was a great holiday. If only my w*rk days were as nice.

we are looking forward to many years of retirement, aren't we?

I'm hoping for about 20 years of retirement, maybe more if I'm lucky.

same here, but i am still 3 years away from taking early retirement - don't know yet if i will use the option, thoug, but right now i think i will

For me, the most important four letters in "retirement" are "tire." I don't have the energy I used to have.

same here

as for the old spare tire around my waist i can do without it. why would i want to be re-tired?

The spare tire isn't likely to go away, so it won't have to come back either.

Snap dear Paul H!!

It is the nearest we have got to being on line at the same time. !

CME
saturday 23rd January 2010 17.05 GMT

Au Bon Pain sounds a nice bakery. !!

It's a great place, Christiane. I've noticed that a lot of European airports have it. Also Thailand, which has a lot of locations. But the headquarters is in Boston, Massachusetts, despite the French name.

Dude. Jazz, s and pecan pie? I want to play, too.

It's a great combination, though the birthday itself is now past. However, Mardi Gras will be on Feb. 16 this year, and you can celebrate with jazz, and pecan pie then.

I'm not waiting until 2/16. I've been wanting to learn to make pecan pie ... we have jazz ... LINE the streets of Denver!

That's the spirit, Dragonfly! Does Denver have jazz festivals?

Denver has many lovely things, including a jazz festival at Confluence Park, where Cherry Creek meets the South Platte River.