Jen and I have watched a lot of Ken Burns films. Over the last week I finally got her to watch The Civil War. My love and devotion to Star Wars and The Godfather and other great movies aside, I think The Civil War might be the greatest movie ever made.
When I watched it for the first 20 times back in the 90’s it did not hit as close to home as it does now. 30 years ago it felt like we were finally moving beyond that particular struggle. Boy was I a naive idiot.
My beautiful wife and I have pretty much checked out this weekend. I had a work issue come up Friday night, we went birthday present shopping yesterday, and went to a birthday party today. The rest of the weekend has been split between sleeping late and flaking out. It’s been heaven.
Right now we are watching a Ken Burns documentary on a guy named Horatio Nelson Jackson. Who the hell is that?
In 1903 he was in San Francisco and made a bet. Some one said, I bet you $50 you can’t drive an automobile from here to New York. Four days later, Jackson was on the road to New York.
Although there were no actual paved roads. There were also no maps. There were also no gas stations. There were also no auto mechanics. His car was basically a buggy with a little motor. How it got him across town, I’ll never know.
That didn’t stop this nut job from hitting the road though. We’ve got a half hour left in the show. Hopefully I will be able to post again later saying that his story ended in New York. We’ll see.
I have never seen a Ken Burns documentary that I didn’t seriously enjoy. This is no exception.
Thanks, Ken Burns!
The following comes from the wikipedia.org entry titled “Scofflaw”:
Scofflaw is a noun coined during the Prohibition era meaning a person who drinks illegally. It is a compound of the words scoff and law, meaning one who mocks or ridicules the law. The meaning has since been extended to describe one who flouts any law, especially those which are difficult to enforce, and particularly traffic laws.
“Scofflaw” was the winning entry of a nationwide competition sponsored by the Boston Herald in the year 1924. The word was submitted by two separate entrants, Henry Irving Dale and Kate L. Butler, who split the $200 prize equally. The term scofflaw was deemed the best and most suitable out of over 25,000 entries.[1] The word was from the outset frequently used until the eventual repeal of Prohibition in 1933. It experienced a revival in the 1950s, as a term for anyone who displays disdain for laws difficult to enforce. It is still used frequently in reference to cannabis prohibition. The word itself remains a symbol of the Prohibition era.
Now thanks to me, my lovely wife, Ken Burns’ documentary on Prohibition, and wikipedia, you too know what the word “scofflaw” means and why it was ironic to see an alcoholic beverage named after it.
Inside the Red Head's Head 