Chaplin Banned?

Charlie Chaplin, the man most known for his character the Tramp, was a man who you could say was filled with contradictions. He was a brilliant actor who portrayed feelings on screen that could evoke all sorts of emotions from the viewer, but he was also a creative writer and director who was able to be control of his films. On the other hand, he was known to be difficult at times. He was a man who rarely liked to be interviewed or filmed without his famous Tramp makeup and outfit on. In some ways, he liked the private life, and in others he was the most recognizable face in Hollywood. Unfortunately, he was not always far from scandal.

While his time in Hollywood, he was married four times, and was known to have affairs. One incident in particular involved a woman named Joan Barry with whom he had an affair in 1942. He soon ended it. She came back with a paternity suit, demanding child support for "their child". There was a paternity test conducted, but it came back negative for Chaplin. So, he may have been out of woods with Barry, but his career took a blow.

The biggest scandal of Chaplin's career ended with the US government revoking his visa and not allowing him to return to the United States. Dating back to the 1930's, some were critical of the star's views that were presented in his films. One of Chaplin's biggest hits was the film "Modern Times", released in 1936. Some pointed to this movie as Chaplin's propaganda film praising communism. J. Edgar Hoover, head of the FBI, opened a file on Chaplin (as he did with many celebrities that he had issues with). Even though he made the highly satirical film "The Great Dictator" (satire on Hitler) in 1940 which was looked at as a uniquely pro-Allies movie, comments of his about the war raised eyebrows in the government. He attracted the attention of HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee) and also Senator McCarthy, who was running his own investigations. HUAC threatened to subpoena Chaplin to get him to testify, but they never went through with it since Chaplin would easily lampoon through the questioning. There were documents showing that as early as the late 1940's, the government was trying to end his residency in the US.

A photo of Charlie Chaplin taken in 1952

In 1952, Chaplin left for his home country of England for the premiere of his latest film, "Limelight". Upon his return, Hoover and FBI had worked a deal out with the Immigration and Naturalization Service to pull his re-entry permit. Because of this, Chaplin was not legally able to return to the US. But did he know it was coming? Some say yes and some say no. Either way, he couldn't come back. He lived the rest of his life abroad, settling on Switzerland. The political climate of the 1960's took away any focus of Chaplin's politics and instead only showed on his work. But still he could not return to the US. He didn't make as many new movies and instead focused on re-releases of his older works. He continued working for as long as he could, but strokes limited his ability to work.

"Gloomy Sunday"

What if there was a song that could drive you to do things? What if this song made you take your own life? Is that possible? There is an urban legend that says there is a song that can do just that. In 1932, a Hungarian songwriter wrote what some have called to be one of (if not the) saddest songs ever written. But is it sad enough to make people who hear it commit suicide?

The time of 1932 was a rough time for Europe. The economic depressions of the 1920's were still raging in the early 30's, and then add in the spread of fascism (thanks to Mussolini and Hitler) and you are left with a bleak outlook of the future of the European countries. Hungary in particular was having difficulty making it through the times, and a struggling songwriter named Rezső Seress wanted to convey the mood of the Hungarian peoples in a song. He wrote a song called "Gloomy Sunday" with lyrics about the bleakness of the so-called modern society. A poet friend named László Jávor thought the lyrics weren't depressing enough, so he rewrote them. Jávor was getting over a breakup, so he changed the lyrics to a story of a man who is grieved over the death over his love and how he plans to meet her in the afterlife. There is some confusion over when some of the lyrics were actually written (since some parts of the lyrics were not copyrighted until 1946), but we do know that Seress had a hard time finding anyone to actually publish the music. By the end of 1933, it finally was printed with Jávor's lyrics. 

Rezső Seress on an Album Cover

This is the point when I should say that the brain reacts to music in interesting ways. Sometimes music can evoke sad feelings, or happy feelings, or angry feelings. Music has this ability to affect our brain signals in ways we are still trying to understand. Sometimes, the first time people hear something, it affects them more than someone who's heard similar things all their life. If someone in the 1800's had listened to music of Alice Cooper, they would have been greatly disturbed by it. On the other hand, someone who is listening to Alice Cooper for the first time in 2013 would find it utterly tame. The thing you have to remember here is that when "Gloomy Sunday" was written, there weren't any other songs quite like it in the world, much less Hungary. So when it was released, it was immensely popular in Hungary for the reasons that Seress wrote it in the first place: they could relate to its tone from their situations in life. 

That being said, there is an urban legend that states that an outbreak of suicides occurred after the song was released. Supposedly, in the 1930's, 19 suicides were linked (by press reports) in Hungary and the US. However, with a depression going on, increased famine likelihood, and higher illness rates, there haven't been any conclusive evidence to support the fact that the suicides were directly linked to the song. There were a few bodies pulled from the Danube River who were clutching at the sheet music for "Gloomy Sunday", but these could (and most likely are) exaggerations by the media at the time. So far, no one has been able to prove that the song itself drove people to suicide.

The song has, on the other hand, gained quite a popular following with all the "mystery" surrounding it, as well as the subsequent cover versions recorded of it. The most famous version of the song was recorded by Billie Holliday in 1941. This version was banned by the BBC to be too demoralizing in World War II. It was allowed to be played instrumentally without the words. Oddly enough, the BBC didn't stop banning it until 2002. 

In case you're wondering about Seress, his story ends oddly as well. He was known for being depressed and having some emotional issues. In 1968, he jumped out of a window in Budapest, trying to kill himself. He survived and went to the hospital, where he finally succeeded by choking himself with a wire. Naturally, this only added to the urban legend. 

Here is a link to the Billie Holliday version of the song. Although a sad song, there are far more depressing songs that have been written since. What makes it so much of a downer is the fact that it is written in the key of C minor, which contains three flats. This is what makes the song feel eerie and sad.

"Pepper" and the AAGPBL

Last Sunday, Lavonne "Pepper" Paire-Davis died of natural causes in her Van Nuys home. Her name isn't a household one by any means, but I bet you know her. She was the real person that Geena Davis's character was based on in the movie "A League of Their Own." There has been little remembered and mentioned about this league since it ended. It was this movie that reminded America of its existence and importance in American life.

It was the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, or at least that's how we remember it today. Things changed quickly in the league, even the name of the league. It was founded in 1943 by Chicago Cubs owner Philip K. Wrigley as an alternative to the male-dominated major leagues since World War II was taking so many players from the MLB. The original name was first named the All-American Girls Softball League, but was soon changed to the All-American Girls Baseball League. It was only in 1949 and 1950 that the league had its most famous name: the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. From 1951-54, it was simply known as the American Girls' Baseball League.

All-American Girls Professional Baseball League logo

The teams themselves weren't the most consistent teams around either. Out of the total of 15 teams that were part of the league between 1943-1954, only two were around the whole time (South Bend Blue Sox and Rockford Peaches). The other 13 teams were Kenosha Comets (1943-51), Racine Belles (1943-50), Milwaukee Chicks (1944), Minneapolis Millerettes (1944), Fort Wayne Daisies (1945-54), Grand Rapids Chicks (1945-54), Muskegon Lassies (1946-49), Kalamazoo Lassies (1950-54), Peoria Redwings (1946-51), Chicago Colleens (1948), Springfield Sallies (1948), Battle Creek Belles (1951-52), and Muskegon Belles (1953). Some teams were moved, and some only were around for a year or two. With the exception of Minneapolis and Chicago, the teams were typically in second or even third tier Midwestern towns. They were immensely popular in these towns, but they didn't draw from out of the towns much. Each year, the top two teams would play for the championship. The team with the most championships was the Rockford Peaches. The champions are as follows: Racine Belles (1943), Milwaukee Chicks (1944), Rockford Peaches (1945), Racine Belles (1946), Grand Rapids Chicks (1947), Rockford Peaches (1948, 1949, 1950), South Bend Blue Sox (1951, 1952), Grand Rapids Chicks (1953), Kalamazoo Lassies (1954).

It might surprise you that the AAGPBL wasn't the first instance of women playing baseball in organized teams. As early as 1866, the first known women's baseball team played at Vassar College. Later, from the 1890's-1930's, barnstorming women's teams played throughout the Midwest (these were called "Bloomer Girl" teams). And most surprisingly, there were at least three women players in the Negro Leagues (Toni Stone, Mami Johnson, and Connie Morgan).

The rules themselves of the AAGPBL were different than MLB in some ways and similar in others. The AAGPBL game was like a hybrid of baseball and softball (hence the reason it started out with softball in the league name and not baseball). Firstly, in the first season, the ball used was actually the size of a softball, but eventually shrank to the size of a regulation baseball. Secondly, the distance from home plate to the mound was only 40 feet (in baseball, it's 60' 6"), but eventually the distance went to 60'. Thirdly, the distance from base to base was 65', well short of the 90' in baseball. The path was eventually extended to 85'. Fourthly, pitchers threw underhanded for a number of years. Fifthly, the uniforms and treatment of the women. The uniforms were skirts (just like in the movie "A League of Their Own"), and also like in the movie, part of spring training involved evening charm school classes on etiquette, dress, makeup, hygiene, and mannerisms. The women in the league had to adhere to a strict 'Rules of Conduct' policy that included wearing lipstick all the time, no smoking or drinking in public places, and no short hair. Not following the rules involved a $5 fine for a first offense, $10 fine for a second offense, and suspension for a third offense. Fifthly, the rate of pay was much lower than the MLB's. Players were payed between $45-$85 a week in the early years, and in later years could be as high as $125. One major similarity to MLB was the grueling schedule: the AAGPBL played 120 games over only four months. That meant they played pretty much everyday and had double-headers on holidays and Sundays.

By the end of 1954, the league was in trouble and play was suspended for the 1955 season; it never resumed. Part of the reason was money, and part of it was the American way of thinking in the 1950's. The war had been over for almost ten years, and life had returned to its quiet, suburban, car-in-every-driveway, 2.5 children nuclear family way of life that we look back on. American society wasn't ready for women to be tackling the sport that had been for so long dominated by men. Even though they had been very supportive ten years earlier, that support came mostly from a fear that the war would never end, and the even bigger fear that there weren't going to be enough men in the MLB to sustain it. How quickly things change in a decade! Even though the AAGPBL had been run by men and founded by men, it was the women players that made it successful, and it was their determination to be judged as equals in the sport that made the league work for as long as it did. Even if the league had only been around for one season, it still would've been a success for woman equality in American society. The growing feeling of 1950's conservatism is the biggest contributor to the ending of the league. The first reunion of the AAGPBL was held in Chicago in 1982, and a player's association was formed in 1987 for the surviving members of the league.

"Pepper" Paire from her glory days

This leads us back to Lavonne "Pepper" Paire-Davis. Unlike as portrayed in the movie, she never played for the Rockford Peaches, but to fit in her entire career (which lasted the league's timeframe) without explaining moves, it was easier to identify her with the most well-known of the teams (since they won the most championships). She won championships with three teams: Racine Belles, Grand Rapids Chicks, and Fort Wayne Daisies. She's remained a lifelong baseball fan, cheering for the Dodgers and Angels. She wrote about her adventures in the league in her 2009 book "Dirt in the Skirt". As she put it in 1995, "[I] can't honestly tell you I knew the history we were making back then; I can tell you we knew we were doing something special."

St. Louis's Other NHL Team

The St. Louis Blues, NHL hockey team since 1967, has been a staple of St. Louis sports. But did you know that the Blues weren't the first NHL team in St. Louis?

St. Louis Eagles member Ralph Bowman

To find the first NHL team in St. Louis's history, you have to go way back before the beginning of the NHL. You'd have to begin the story in 1883 in Ottawa, Canada. NHL fans would know of the Ottawa Senators, and indeed an Ottawa Senator team began in 1883. The team began as an amateur team and didn't become a professional team until 1907. The NHL formed in 1917 with four Canadian teams in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, and Quebec. Ottawa was the smallest of the four: the second smallest was Toronto which was 80% larger than Ottawa. The Ottawa Senators did well after the beginning of the NHL, winning the Stanley Cup 4 times in the first decade of existence.

By 1924, the NHL decided to expand the NHL into America. A new team from Montreal was formed in 1924, as well as a team in Boston. In 1925, a New York team was added as well as a team in Pittsburgh. In 1926, another New York team formed. In 1927, Chicago and Detroit got teams. Meanwhile, Ottawa's fan base was shrinking. Play against American teams wasn't as popular as play against Canadian teams. Attendance began dropping off for Ottawa. That same year, Ottawa won its last Stanley Cup, but managed to lose about $50,000. The leak of money couldn't be stopped.

The Ottawa Senators didn't play the 1931-32 season; they asked the NHL for permission to suspend operations in order to save money. In the meantime, they leased out players, and they received a loan to continue operating. They returned for the 1932-33 season, but finished in last place, and finished last in the 1933-34 season also. It was decided that Senators had to move to a larger city in order for the debts to be payed off. In the 1931 census, Ottawa only was listed as having 110,000 people. At the time, St. Louis was the 7th largest American city with a population of over 820,000, so it was decided the Ottawa Senators would move.

In 1932, St. Louis had asked for an NHL team, but the league denied the request, saying that travel to the Midwest while the depression was going on was too costly. But after the money problems of the Senators, the deal looked like a life-saver for one of the original NHL teams, so it was granted. When the team moved, the company owners changed hands, and the team was renamed "the Eagles" after the logo for Anheuser-Busch. There was already a hockey team in St. Louis at the time (the St. Louis Flyers) which belonged to the  AHA (American Hockey Association), which threatened to sue the new Eagles, but the lawsuit never went through.

The St. Louis Eagles played their first season in 1934-35. They played in the St. Louis Arena (later home to the Blues). At the time, there were two hockey divisions in the NHL: American and Canadian. The Eagles remained a part of the Canadian division, which didn't help with the far road games. They finished last in the division, while scoring the least amount of goals, and allowing the 2nd most goals. The team lost $70,000 that year. They sold off a number of decent players, but they couldn't break even. They looked into moving the team some place else, Cleveland being one and a return to Ottawa being another. The team petitioned the NHL to once again suspend operations to stop the money leak, but the NHL declined. The NHL purchased the team for $40,000 (after no buyers were found) and dispersed the players through a special draft. In 1938, the second Montreal team (the Montreal Maroons) tried to move to St. Louis, but the NHL blocked the move, citing the travel cost problems that happened to the Eagles.

St. Louis Eagles logo

An NHL team didn't come back to St. Louis until 1967 when the major series of expansions doubled the number of teams from 6 to 12. Named after the W.C. Handy song "Saint Louis Blues", the Blues have been a sports member of the area ever since. Although memories of the Eagles have faded, the name of the Ottawa Senators lived on. Ottawa retained the rights to the name and logo of the Senators, but didn't get another NHL Senators team until the 1992-93 season. The team has done well: playoff appearances in 12 of its first 14 years, 4 division titles, President's Trophy in 2003, and a Stanley Cup appearance in 2007. In 2011, the Senators were valued at $201 million. The team name has come a long way from back in the 1930's when it was losing money year after year.

The Man

At 5:45 pm, Saturday, January 19, baseball fans of the St. Louis Cardinals lost the greatest Cardinal of them all: Stan Musial. In a world of high priced salaries, arbitration, free agency, and every other word for the business side of baseball, Stan Musial's presence can take one back to a time before all that. His name can take the fans to a time when baseball was America's lifeblood and professional athletes often had second jobs and when professional athletes took on the role of being role models for the youth of America. Of all the men who were perfect for baseball, Stan Musial compares to no one else.

Stan Musial in the 1950's

If you are not familiar with Musial, or if you aren't a Cardinals fan, then you may ask what is so special about this man? Why does everyone herald him? The answer is simple: for his achievements on the field, and his character off the field. There is a story that Musial enjoyed a cigar after games. He asked the press not to photograph him with his cigar, and in exchange he would give all the time necessary for interviews. Why? Because he knew that photos of him smoking cigars was not a good role model for the youth of America. After he retired, Musial was always around the ballpark, greeting new players and treating them like they were a part of the team. He always had a smile on his face, and was always pleased to share a story or two. But the part that made him interesting and a true gentleman was the fact that he always listened to what you had to say too. My stepfather met him at his home years ago when he was delivering medical equipment. In the middle of their conversation, Musial asked what day it was. My stepdad told him, and Musial said, "Today's the day I hit five home runs." Then he signed a ball and gave it to my stepdad, then told his wife to open a bottle of champagne. Musial was a fan of the harmonica and played it whenever he was asked. His favorite song to play? "Take Me Out to the Ballgame".

Your memory of Musial changes based on how old you were when you learned about him. If you were young when he was already old and a revered member of the Cardinal Alumni, then you looked at him as the awesome, funny, clean grandfather you never had. If you were lucky enough to see him play, then you saw a man who gave 100% every day and never complained and played cleanly. He was a man to respect because of his honesty and respect that he gave.

So what did he achieve on the field? He has records that will blow your mind, if you're a baseball fan. He played 22 seasons, all of which with the Cardinals (unheard of anymore). He was an All-Star 24 times (some years had 2 All-Star Games). He was on 3 World Series teams (1942, 1944, 1946). He was National League MVP 3 times (1943, 1946, 1948). He was National League Batting Champion 7 times (1943, 1946, 1948, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1957). The 4 big offensive career stats: lifetime batting average of .331, lifetime runs batted in were 1,951, home run total was 475, and total hits were 3,630. The most unusual stat is his hits. He is the only player in MLB history to have the exact same number of hits home and away: 1,815 at home and 1,815 on the road. Ty Cobb, one baseball's best players in history, was quoted in 1952 as saying: "No man has ever been a perfect ballplayer. Stan Musial, however, is the closest to being perfect in the game today.... He plays as hard when his club is away out in front of a game as he does when they're just a run or two behind." One more interesting stat is that the most times he struck out in a season was in 1962; he struck out only 46 times.

So the real question is, why isn't he more well-known across the country? There are many factors, but two come to mind. 1.) His off the field demeanor. He was not a notorious player (like a Ty Cobb). He was kind quiet gentleman who kept to himself and out of the limelight. All you heard about him were his good things, but good deeds don't sell papers. 2.) He played in the midwest. If Musial had played for a team like the Yankees or Red Sox or even the Dodgers, then he would remembered by everyone. It's those big market teams that have garnered a lot of memories, leaving the midwest teams to be remembered by their own fans. Had Musial played for the Yankees, he would no doubt be forever mentioned together with Ruth, Gehrig, and Mantle, even though he should be mentioned with them now. I do believe that his passing will help a national audience understand what Cardinal Nation and the diehard baseball fans already knew.

When Musial retired at the end of the 1963 season, the commissioner of baseball Ford Frick said this of Musial: "Here stands baseball's perfect warrior...Here stands baseball's perfect knight." Truer words have never been said about him. This saying is engraved on the statue of Stan outside Busch Stadium.

Musial, later in life, with his harmonica

And in case you're wondering, Stan Musial had a nickname: Stan the Man. How did he get it? Although it's not 100% agreed as to who first uttered it, most agree that it was courtesy of the Brooklyn Dodgers fans of Ebbets Field in 1946. Musial was so good that when he was up to bat, this phrase would be uttered: "Here comes the man." So, Stan the Man was born. 

The Polar Bear's Amazing Fur

The polar bear is a beautiful, agile creature that roams the land, sea, and ice or the Arctic regions. It remarkably calls the frigid landscape home, and yet the most amazing thing about this creature isn't what it appears to be. In this week's edition of expendablenlightenment, we are going to look at what the polar bear's fur and skin. Is the fur white? What color is it's skin? Can you see one if you use an infrared? Why do some polar bears turn green?

First, the polar bear's skin. Believe it or not, the polar bear's skin is actually black. If you remember from your science classes, the color black will attract more heat than any other color. Any light/heat that makes it to the bear's skin will be absorbed by the black skin. This is part of where the amazing polar bear's ability to survive in the frigid temperatures comes from, but it's not the whole story. The fur is the really amazing aspect of this animal.

The polar bear's fur isn't white, even though it appears to be. The fur is actually colorless (clear). The polar bear has an undercoat and more coarse guard hairs to protect the undercoat, both of which are colorless. But why do we see white? You'd have to go back to an earlier posting of expendablenlightenment to fully understand the next part. The light is scattered by the clear fur, and when the entire spectrum is reflected, then we see white. At first it was thought that their fur was hollow, and while there are air pockets in the fur, it isn't all entirely hollow tubes.

This leads us to the question that has popped up on many trivia websites and quizzes and most people can't fathom if it could be true or not. Can you see a polar bear if you use an infrared camera on it? It seems to defy logic to say no, but the true answer is you can't really see a polar bear using the infrared camera. Why? Because the polar bear is so well insulated (nearly 4 inches of blubber, black skin absorbing heat, and the thick coats of fur) that the beat gives off no heat for you to see on the infrared camera. The only part which would be visible would be the warm breath that it would give off, but the bear itself wouldn't.

Polar bear turning green in Japan, 2008.

The polar bear's fur is trule a wonder of the natural animal kingdom. The fur's color will usually change as it gets older. A nice clean white color when they are younger, and a more yellow color as they age. But what would you call a green polar bear? In the 1970's, researchers started noticing a number of polar bears began to turn green in a number of zoos across the world. It took awhile to figure out why, and the answer is somewhat disgusting. In captivity, polar bears have to deal with conditions they would not find in the wild, such as higher temperatures, higher humidity, and pond water that isn't as clean. The researchers found that this pond water would deposite algae inside the polar bear's fur (remember those hollow air pockets inside the fur?). The higher temperatures and humidity would cause the algae to grow rapidly and would actually change the polar bear's fur to a green. It still sometimes happens, but at least it's known why and how to prevent it even though it still happens to this day.

Bet you didn't know that!

Disney World, St. Louis, and the Spanish Pavilion

Go back in time to the 1960's. Travel to St. Louis, MO. Busch Stadium was being built downtown as was the Gateway Arch. Both were to become great symbols of the historic city on the Mississippi. Another historic attraction was negotiated to come to St. Louis around that time. What was it?

Believe it or not, Disney negotiated with the city of St. Louis to open their next theme park in downtown St. Louis. There was a good chance that what's now known as Disney World in Florida might have been in the Gateway City. But something hung up the negotiations and the talks failed in 1965.

What hung up the talks? The answer depends on who you talk to. One possible explanation is size of the park. Fitting into a major metropolitan area isn't realistic. A second possibility (and what most people think) actually has to do with the powerful St. Louis-based company of Anheuser-Busch. The reason why this theory is so popular is because AB was very powerful in the city of St. Louis, yet Disney (being the family-oriented company that it is) refused to carry any form of beer in it's theme park. AB wouldn't allow a public attraction to be in its turf that wouldn't carry its product. Both theories, but logical ones.

But the story doesn't end there. Alfonso Cervantes was the mayor of St. Louis at the time and he wanted some new attraction to come to St. Louis to help draw more patrons to the downtown region. That's where the Spanish Pavilion comes in. The Spanish Pavilion was an attraction at the 1964 World's Fair in New York, and Mayor Cervantes was impressed by it. It was a building on loan from the Spanish government which housed restaurants, exhibits, and shops. Mayor Cervantes was able to buy it from the Spanish government and have it moved completely from New York to St. Louis for a total cost of $6 million.

The Spanish Pavilion opened with a huge parade and much fanfare in 1969. Unfortunately, the only impact the Pavilion made was the initial opening. After that, hardly anyone visited, and it was closed a year later.

However, the building is still standing in it's original position downtown at the corner of Market and Broadway. What is it now? Two towers have been added since them for hotel space and it is now part of the Marriot Hilton.

The bottom part under the two towers was the Spanish Pavilion.

Bet you didn't know that!