What Makes a Criminal

“I hated everybody I saw.” serial killer Carl Panzram

A little-known crime book classic is Killer: A Journal of Murder, edited by Gaddis and Long and written in part by serial killer Carl Panzram. The sensational book was made into a not-too-convincing movie with James Woods in 1996.

The story goes that Panzram was recovering after one of his many prison beatings, and a sympathetic guard slipped him a dollar. The guard’s kindness inspired him to write the book, with smuggled pen and paper. Panzram wrote on his experiences in crime and how a child must be taught to live right by the age of seven:

A child is very easily led. Any child, if properly taught, will live the way he is taught to live. All criminals are merely overgrown children. It is in your hands to make us or break us. We, by our own efforts, are failures in life, simply because we don’t know any better. We don’t know how to live decent upright lives. Heredity has very little to do with the shaping of our lives.

The main causes of why we are what we are is because of our improper teaching, lack of knowledge and our environments.

Every man’s philosphy is colored by his environments. If you don’t want us to rob, rape and murder you, then it is your place to see that the mental and moral misfits are properly taught a sufficient amount of useful and sensible knowledge and put into the proper environment where they can be best fitted to exist in life. Otherwise, they will be misfits and failures and you are the actual cause because they don’t know any better and you do…

Computer Neck!

The habit of craning your neck with non-stop work at a computer is very destructive. The human body is not designed to hold the same posture for more than thirty minutes. For every inch the head postures forward, it increases the weight of the head on the neck by 10 pounds.

(The average adult head already weighs about as much as a bowling ball, between 10-15 lbs.)

Habitual neck problems don’t stop at the computer. There’s also Reader’s Neck, Couch Neck, Driver’s Neck and Military Neck. Consequences over the years are severe, including the dreaded arthritis and hunchbackism. Female office workers are especially at risk.

The first step in solving this creeping problem is to recognize it. You must actively combat Computer Neck to reverse the process. Strengthening exercises and stretching and yoga should help and there are special devices designed to address the problem. Also, here are the top ten ergonomic upgrades for your workspace.

Most important of all is to adjust your habits. Correcting your posture to Ear-Shoulder-Hip-Behind Knee-Ankle is a huge step. Consult your doctor first, and do take care!

The Invention that Changed Everything

Here’s something curious…There were lots of early musical recordings from the 1890s through the 1920s featuring obscure musicians but there were no recordings by some of the musical masters of the time.

Why?

Because the microphones of the time were primitive. They were only designed to pick up extreme frequencies, so the sounds of the banjo and tuba were in and so were singers with booming voices, like Caruso, Al Jolson and Bessie Smith. Meanwhile, certain instruments like the piano were too quiet to be recorded, so great artists like Scott Joplin, Joseph Lamb and Tony Jackson were left with zero recordings. A real shame!

The invention of the electric microphone (1924) changed everything. Out went the old style and in came a more subtle, sophisticated music era. Crooners like Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra emerged and became even more popular than the bands that accompanied them. Phased out of pop music were the sounds of the banjo and the tuba. They were replaced by the modern guitar and stringed bass.

(Thanks to the Elements of Jazz Course by Prof. Bill Messenger.)

Beatles Heaven

I recently discovered this precious clip of George, Paul, and Ringo (minus John) together for perhaps the last time in 1995 singing the old song “Ain’t She Sweet” on a sunny afternoon in a park. This must be what heaven is like.

Speaking of the Beatles, Lucy Vodden, the inspiration behind The Beatles’ song “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” has died of Lupus. She was only 46. As a toddler, she was a classmate of John’s son Julian. One day at school, he painted a picture of her… later, he showed it to his dad and coined the title phrase LITSWD.

The song became a classic on the Sgt. Pepper album and in the 1968 pop art animation feature “Yellow Submarine,” which is now all set to be remade by Disney. (noooo!) Please think of Lucy and donate to the Lupus Foundation.

There Were Giants

There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
–Bible, Genesis 6: 1-

Much evidence suggests that a race of giant people has existed on earth probably since the beginning of time. Experts say that Giants were more prevalent before the flood and that rich ozone conditions thousands of years ago spawned an Age of Giant Life, including giant insects, plants, animals and people.

The Trilithon of Baalbek is one of the most famous of the ‘Nephilim’(aka “The Fallen Ones”) structures. This series of 1,000 ton stones were somehow quarried, lifted 25-30 feet in the air, moved five miles and put together so closely, that you can’t fit a razorblade in between the blocks.

The tallest man in modern times is 8′11 Robert Wadlow of Alton, IL. The tallest living person is 8′1 Sultan Kusen of Turkey. Some say that Golliath was the tallest man in history at up to 13 feet, but the Biblical King Og of Bashan was at least that tall.

The largest man in recorded history was Mills Darden at 7′5″ and 1,100 pounds.

(*Credit the Gustave Dore Bible Illustrations for the picture of David and Golliath.)

Good Jerry/Bad Jerry

The buck teeth. The white socks. The craziness. Dennis Miller once said that Jerry Lewis is only funny when he’s trying not to be. And despite being one of the world’s top humanitarians, Jerry’s embarrassments  are many.

From the bitter  feud with Dean Martin to the legendary bomb“The Day the Clown Cried,” from his eerie self-portrayal in “The King of Comedy”  to the  the skeletons in the closet,  and from the shocking weight gain to even throwing out socks after wearing them only once… that despite his gigantic efforts, Jerry just doesn’t seem like a very nice guy.

But at 83 he is a comedy legend. He is hosting his  44th MDA Telethon this weekend. And he has raised over $2 Billion for “Jerry’s Kids.” So, even (his recently deceased imitator) Sammy Petrillo would be proud.

Humiliation TV

Humiliation TV has been around for a long time. Take this rare clip from 1990 Manhattan Cable where host Ken Sander is a sitting duck to a litany of obscene callers, who gleefully abuse him while he shows remarkable calm on camera. (WARNING: Adult Language)

Because of the huge success of Reality TV, the camera is enabling more idiots willing to make fools of themselves than ever before. But why do we watch this stuff? Because it’s there. And it’s a reflection on society. Cynical producers exploit the audience’s cravings by offering a sophisticated blend of the different flavors of humiliation.

From The Jerry Springer Show to public feuds to weird contestant meltdowns and the unscripted moments, the bar just keeps getting lower and lower. Hopefully, this too shall pass.

Inspiration!

I was recently at a doctor’s office when I read the amazing story of Sara Tucholsky.

It happened back in May of 2008. Sara Tucholsky was a Senior at Western Oregon University and an NCAA softball player on the team. In a playoff game with Central Washington University, she stepped up for her final at bat of the game. Then she hit a dramatic home run to give her team a late lead. It was the first home run of her career for the scrappy 5′2 outfielder.

As she was circling the bases, she blew out her knee and collapsed, her season instantly over. The umpires ruled that her teammates were forbidden to carry her around to touch all the bases, which is what is required of a home run, and they’d allow a pinch runner for Sara and rule the hit a two-run single.

Then something amazing happened. Two members of the other team volunteered to carry her. One of them was Mallory Holtman, the career home run leader in their conference. The sight of Sara being carried around by the other team, which was eliminated by her home run, was witnessed by one hundred lucky spectators.

It was a supreme act of sportsmanship, which is like an oasis in today’s world of bad news, and has been enshrined by ESPN as one of the most unforgettable home runs ever.

Johnny Carson – The Animals

From “Stupid Pet Tricks” to “I Can has Cheezburger,” there’s nothing as disarmingly hilarious and utterly charming as animal comedy. They instinctively know how to steal a scene. Johnny Carson had a way of bringing comedy out of animals like no other. A couple of the most popular viral animal videos are Frostie Dancing to Ray Charles (thanks D) and “Nora: Practice Makes Purr-fect.”

Michael Jackson Remembered

The highlights are many…

The Jackson 5… “Thriller”… the Moonwalk… the 30th Anniversary reunion… the “King of Pop” style, and of course, Bubbles…

Last week, Lisa Marie Presley wrote the insightful article He Knew.

And then there was this outtake from The Larry King Show on CNN the other day that shows MJ’s ghost at Neverland? and this equally bizarre clip of him jumping out of a coroner’s van.