Norm's Daily Ramblins

Sunday April 8th, 2007

TODAY'S ARTICLES

EASTER - PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE!

EASTER IN GERMANY

PHUNNY PHOTOS TO GIVE YOU A SMILE

FORWARD TO THE PAST ~ Dragnet

Audio - "Dah, Da, Daa, Dah!"

DID YOU EVER SEE A "RAGMAN?"

Y'ALL COME BACK NOW | Ya Hear?

Ever Thought About This?

Associate yourself with people of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it's better to be alone that be in bad compnay.

George Washington 1732-1799

Norm's Daily Ramblins

EASTER - PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE!

THE LORD IS RISEN!

EASTER PAST

He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. (Matthew 28:6)

See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have. (Luke 24:39)

God raised Jesus from the dead, freeing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for Him to be held by it. (Acts 2:24)

In the past God overlooked the times of ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent. For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given assurance of this to all men by raising Him from the dead. (Acts 17:30-31)

God’s power toward us who believe is according to the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. (Ephesians 1:19-21)

EASTER PRESENT

Who will bring a charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ Jesus who died, who was furthermore raised to life, who is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for me. (Romans 8:33-34)

If I confess with my mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead, I will be saved. For it is with my heart that I believe unto righteousness, and it is with my mouth that I confess unto salvation. As the Scripture says, “Whoever trusts in Him will not be put to shame.” (Romans 10:9-11)

The love of Christ compels me, because I am convinced that One died for all, and therefore all died. And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again. (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)

May the God of my Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give me a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the full knowledge of Him, and may the eyes of my heart be enlightened, in order that I may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the incomparable greatness of His power toward us who believe. (Ephesians 1:17-19)

I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:10-11)

In Christ I was circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism and raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. (Colossians 2:11-12)

Since I have been raised with Christ, I should seek the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. May I set my mind on the things above, not on the things on the earth, for I died, and my life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is my life appears, then I also will appear with Him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-4)

Christ was chosen before the creation of the world but was revealed in these last times for our sake. Through Him I believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him, so that my faith and hope are in God. (1 Peter 1:20-21)

EASTER FUTURE

Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness like the stars for ever and ever. (Daniel 12:2-3)

An hour is coming when all who are in the graves will hear the voice of the Son of Man, and will come out—those who have done good to a resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to a resurrection of judgment. (John 5:28-29)

You are the resurrection and the life. He who believes in You will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in You will never die. (John 11:25-26)

If I have been united with Christ in the likeness of His death, I will certainly also be united with Him in the likeness of His resurrection. (Romans 6:5)

If I died with Christ, I believe that I will also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, cannot die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. In the same way, may I consider myself to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:8-11)

Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a Man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, those who are Christ’s at His coming. Then the end will come, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. (1 Corinthians 15:20-26)

In the resurrection of the dead, the body that is sown is perishable, but it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, but it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, but it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, but it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. (1 Corinthians 15:42-44)

The first man is of the dust of the earth; the second Man is from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the Man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the heavenly Man. (1 Corinthians 15:47-49)

Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore let us be steadfast, immovable, abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that our labor in the Lord is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:57-58)

Christ has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed for man to die once and after that to face judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin but to bring salvation to those who eagerly wait for Him. (Hebrews 9:26-28)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is incorruptible and undefiled and unfading, reserved in heaven for us. (1 Peter 1:3-4)

The God of all grace, who called me to His eternal glory in Christ, after I have suffered a little while, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish me. To him be the glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 5:10-11)

Since the day of the Lord will come like a thief, what kind of person should I be in holy conduct and godliness as I look for and hasten the coming of the day of God? But according to His promise, I am looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, since I am looking for these things, may I be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless. (2 Peter 3:10-14)

Scripture compiled by Dr. Ken Boa, President of "Reflections Ministry" Atlanta, GA Ken is an Internationally know Christian Apologist and defender of the faith.

MAY YOU HAVE A JOYOUS AND VICTORIOUS RESURRECTION DAY!

To get to know Dr. Ken Boa better, visit Reflections Ministries

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EASTER IN GERMANY

You can see the working community fountain behind the beautiful decor.

Decoration is even with greenery

Another one to click and scroll

What beauty and art. Click this one to enlarge and scroll.

At the Fränkische Schweiz, lots of “Osterbrunnen” fountains decorated blown eggs, painted in oils

Monica took her parents to a attractive region called “Fränkische Schweiz” near Nurenberg

Thousands of "blown" colored eggs decorate German towns. Click and scroll.

We have a dear friend in Nurenburg, Germany whom Mary met on a trip to Ireland several years ago. We had the opportunity to visit Monika Preuss on a Danube trip in October 2006, and met her daughter Kerstin, son Roland and parents in their Nurenberg home.

Dad Preuss went to be with the Lord last year but I had an opportunity to spend som time with this precious and very special person. He did not speak English and I didnt speak German, but he and I had a wonderful conversation about his war experiences.

We understood each other in spirit and in basic understanding. He was a skilled German butcher who lived near the Czechoslovakia border during WW2. Conscripted by the Germans, he was forced to commit his sausage making skills to 10,000 German troups whio were stationed in seven camps near the Czechoslovakia border where his family lived. His stories of hardship were incredible. And his wife was as precious as they come. Amazing how love can be communicated without language. You couldn't find a nicer family.

Monika sent some incredible Easter photos, as you have already seem. Germany seems to really know how to decorate for holidays, mainly known for Christmas, but I had no idea Easter was such a major cultrual event. Trust you enjoyed these photos of such beautiful art.

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PHUNNY PHOTOS TO GIVE YOU A SMILE

"THESE MORNING WALKS ARE KILLING ME!"

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FORWARD TO THE PAST ~ Dragnet

Dragnet police drama - radio broadcasts on NBC from June 1949 to February 1957. Television broadcasts ran from 1952 to 1959 and then from 1967 to 1970 on NBC and the "duh, da dunt, dah" became a common point of recognition.

Dragnet premiered on television in 1952 during the waning years of radio’s golden age. A truly groundbreaking drama in its day, Dragnet offered its fans unprecedented realism in its depiction of Los Angeles Police officers and the various cases they pursue. With resounding success in both radio and television, the program became the archetype for all police dramas that followed. And its theme-song, The Dragnet March, would provide pop-culture with the best known four-note musical phrase since Beethoven’s fifth symphony!

The show was the creation of Jack Webb, a California native who at an early age found an interest in acting and radio. Webb was born in 1920 in the city of Santa Monica. As a young man he would moonlight on various Los Angeles radio stations, while working a string of day jobs to support himself and his mother. During the war years he came to write, direct, host, and perform in various shows for the Army Air Forces. In 1945 he landed a position at KGO in San Francisco, working as a disc jockey/announcer. Soon he began hosting various local programs ranging from morning jazz shows to docudramas to bizarre comedy sketches. His first major part was as a waterfront detective on Pat Novack in 1946.

In 1947 Webb moved back to Los Angeles and began playing detective-style roles in such programs as Johnny Modero, Escape, The Whistler, and This is Your FBI. In 1948 while acting in the film "He Walked By Night", Webb met Sergeant Marty Wynn of the Los Angeles Police, who was providing technical advice for the film. It is said that both Webb and Wynn shared a dislike for the melodrama of the typical “real-life crime” productions of the day –feeling that realism and pure investigative procedure was drama enough. Together they began to discuss the idea for a show much like Dragnet, a show that would dramatize real police cases without the cloak and dagger antics of the “hardboiled” detective story.

Webb spent a year developing his ideas for Dragnet; always striving for realism and authenticity he began hanging-out at police headquarters, riding with detective teams, and attending classes at a local police academy. In 1949 Webb approached NBC with his idea; executives were unimpressed, but gave him a week to get an audition record together. Webb produced his record and took it to the chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, explaining his plans for a radio program about fictitious Los Angeles Police Detectives solving cases based on real police files. The police were lukewarm to Webb’s proposal as well, but approved it on the condition that the department retain control over program sponsorship, that Webb’s access to police record’s would not compromise confidentiality, and that he would agree not to portray the department, or its officers, in an ‘unflattering light.’ Webb gladly agreed to all conditions and premiered his first show in June of that year.

In the early years of Dragnet the program’s lead characters were “Sergeant Joe Friday” -a cop’s cop, “tough but not hard, conservative but caring”- played by Jack Webb himself and his partner “Sergeant Ben Romero,” played by actor Barton Yarborough. Webb and Yarborough worked well together and soon became good friends, so much so, that when plans were made for Dragnet to also become a television series, Webb went against “the standard wisdom” and prepared to use members of his radio cast, including Yarborough, for their same roles on television. One episode was shot with Yarborough as “Sergeant Romero” in December of 1951, shortly before Yarborough’s sudden death.

Rather than searching for an actor to attempt replacing his deceased friend in the role of “Romero,” Webb decided to create an entirely new lead character; the final selection was actor Ben Alexander in the role of “Detective Frank Smith” a likeable character, loyal and courageous under fire, but with the added humanity of being a perpetual worrywart. Audiences connected well with the “Frank Smith” character, who became such an integral part of the show that when “Smith” was wounded in a special two-part radio episode, fans responded by sending in thousands of letters -more testament, perhaps, to the program's realistic feel (or a statement about its fans). Alexander continued to play the role of “Detective Smith” on both radio and television from 1952 until the close of both programs (radio in 1957 and TV in 1959).

The Dragnet radio program had several features (aside from its main concept) which were quite innovative and unique. The acting style was carefully understated, almost deadpan, in an attempt at capturing as realistic a feel as possible. Towards these ends Webb often had his actors perform their lines unrehearsed. In addition to the authentic police-jargon written into the scripts, to capture the right “sound” as many as 300 different effects were performed (by five technicians) for just one 30-minute episode. Great pains were taken towards the finest of sound details –from the exact number of footfalls for each step in the actual stairwell at Los Angeles police headquarters, to the sound of a page turning before a suspect’s description was read, true to the real police reports, which contained such information on the second page. New ground was also entered along the lines of the program’s subject matter. True to life, not all Dragnet episodes ended happily. Characters, including child-characters, were sometimes portrayed as injured or killed. It was also one of the first programs on the air to broach the subject of sex crimes. The production techniques used and authenticity achieved on the program represent a highpoint in radio drama.

In 1967 the television version of Dragnet was revived with Jack Webb playing his familiar role of “Joe Friday” and actor Harry Morgan in the role of his partner "Officer Bill Gannon." The series was fairly successful (especially in syndication!) and ran for three years on prime-time. Webb’s portrayal of “Friday” marked the peak of his professional career, a role for which he would be recognized (and loved) for the rest of his days. Webb died of a heart attack on December 23rd 1982; to mark the actor’s passing the Los Angeles Police Department flew its flags at half-staff, an honor usually reserved for one of its own.

In the spirit of the Dragnet tradition, a third version of the venerated TV series premiered on ABC in February of 2003. It's directed by Dick Wolf of the long-running series Law and Order. The indespensable "Sergeant Joe Friday" is now played by the former comedy-actor Ed O'Neal. "Friday's" old partner "Frank Smith" has also been revived (having shed several pounds and years in the process) played by the young actor Ethan Embry. –Chris Plunkett

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Norm's Daily Ramblins

Audio - "Dah, Da, Daa, Dah!"

Dragner - Aug. 8, 1949

Dragnet - Mar. 2, 1950

Dragnet - Mar. 9, 1950

Dragnet - Sept. 27, 1951

Dragnet - Jan. 5, 1950

Dragnet - Aug. 14, 1952

Dragnet - Jan. 19, 1954

Dragnet - Mar. 25, 1955

Dragnet - Aug. 21, 1952

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DID YOU EVER SEE A "RAGMAN?"

Are you one of those old special people who had the joy of hearing the call of the Ragman as he came up your street or alley asking for clothing and castaway household items? I'm so glad that I lived when and where I did as a young boy.

Seems like he would come down Cedar Street from Jacobus Park because he had been driving his horse west on Wells street alongside the streetcar tracks. He had to have worked this route at least once a month as long as it wasn't winter or raining.

What a great "cry" he had. I could hear him three blocks away but I never could understand everything he was saying. Looking back, I can classify "our Ragman" as a ragtime Gregorian Chanter. The major theme of his call was RAGGGGGGGGS!!!! ......take all your old RAGGGGGGGS!!!! holding that long note like an Italian Basso Profundo. Then after he identified who he was and what he wanted, he would go into a litany that informed our mothers (Yes, they were at home and fathers were at work) what other items he would be glad to take off their hands - "Newspapers, magazines, wire, wood, old furniture, bottles, any junk in your house."

Our Ragman had an old, four-wheeled wagon with deep sides making it possible to store a huge amount of "recycled products." It was a weathered green color and had no name, phone number or web address so the customer was always at his mercy as to when he would be "coming through." A huge brown horse pulled his wagon. I never saw the Ragman stop to eat but he always had a feedbag probably full of oats, hanging on the front of the wagon and a container of water for his horse -- and I guess for himself.

I was actually afraid of the Ragman because of parental warnings. He might capture us and put us in Hansel and Gretel's oven. In spite of that fear, I couldn't keep from getting close enough to him to clearly see his knarled, deeply wrinkled, weathered face and smell his horse. As I think back, it never occurred to me that the contents of the wagon probably has a distinct odor as well -- mothballed cloth, old paper, mildewed contents from neighbor's basements, old wood and miscellaneous discards.

The Ragman seemed so old to me. But when a mother "Youuu Hooo"ed from an open window or door, the wagon would stop immediately. Ragman would get down from his high perch as quickly as his body would allow. He always took a small but heavy piece of metal up to his horse and tied some part of the harness to it so his engine would not walk away while he was in the house getting someone’s discards to recycle. I remember a couple of times he would put the feedbag on the horse as long as he was stopped.

The Ragman was one of several species that made up the genus "Peddler." A "Peddler" was a street vendor who usually bought (or received free) and sold used items. But this term extended to those who marketed their fresh fruits, knife sharpening skills, or suitcase of brushes, paring knives and dish cloths for the kitchen -- to name a few. We had them all. My favorite was the man who went door to door with a large sharpening stone wheel in a wooden framed bench. He carried the apparatus on his back. But more about that some other time.

My OLD friend from Milwaukee, gifted writer Harvey Nowland, is so old he too experienced this wonderful time in our culture. Harve's memory is so excellent that he was able to place this special "remembrance" in a beautiful poem he titled, "Silver Ball." See if this doesn't bring back a memory or give you a glimpse and flavor of what you missed. He sure did bless my heart. You might even catch a waft or two of some of the smells.

SILVER BALL

Down the alley the ragman came
Each Saturday it was the same
“Papers and rags I’ll take ‘em all
Wind your foil in a silver ball”

There’s nothing broke he wouldn’t take
To think he could repair and make
A toaster heats the bread again
And sell it back without disdain

His wagon rolled on iron-rimmed wheels
Coming along with piercing squeals
A horse with ribs that showed the part
He played in ragman’s junk-filled art

He’d call the horse’s name, “There Shem”
And Shem’d wait at the gate and then
Here he’d come with some new treasure
Housewife’s junk was ragman’s pleasure

I wondered at the end of day
Where ragman lived and Shem did stay
But never wandered down the street
To find the magic of that treat

Throughout the week some would extol
Selling their milk, bread, ice and coal
Tried their best with price to haggle
None were like our raggle-taggle

Did his work with no rigmarole
Never would he have to cajole
Everyone won no one he’d cheat
All received a handshake receipt

When Saturday came round again
He’d call with voice of no restrain
“Papers and rags I’ll take ‘em all
Wind your foil in a silver ball”

Written by HARVEY NOWLAND
(Our regular demented contribution
and, of course copyrighted 2000) Read other stuff at: www.stone-trace.com

CLICK for another story of a Ragman in Newark, NJ
CLICK HERE TO VISIT HARVEY'S STONE-TRACE -- Check out his "This and That!"

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Y'ALL COME BACK NOW | Ya Hear?

Chris and Norm

We're always honored by visitors. We do our best to provide new information on this "Ramblin" page ... and leave some of the stuff we think is extra good a little longer than the others. Please visit again.

We'd enjoy hearing from you. Drop us a note. We'd enjoy knowing you're visitin.' To do so, click the "Drop Us A Note" link right below.

We extend to you an old Southern salutation you don't hear much any more down here.... "Ya'll come back now, ya'hear?"

Norman Plunkett

God is good -- ALWAYS!

And especially as He floods you with all the grace you need no matter what the situation. As you trust Him, God's grace is always just enough and always on time.

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