The English poet and puritan John Milton was born on this date in 1608 in London. I just heard today that Milton was blind when he wrote “Paradise Lost,” and that he dictated 40 lines of the epic poem to his secretary every day for five years. If his secretary was late, Milton would stomp around the house angrily fuming “I need to be milked. I need to be milked.” He was aid all of five pounds for his efforts by his publisher. Amazing. One of the best known sections (a short one) from “Paradise Lost” follows.
The mind is its own place, and in it self
Can make a Heav’n of Hell, a Hell of Heav’n.
What matter where, if I be still the same,
And what I should be, all but less then he
Whom Thunder hath made greater? Here at least
We shall be free; th’ Almighty hath not built
Here for his envy, will not drive us hence:
Here we may reign secure, and in my choyce
To reign is worth ambition though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav’n.
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In the year of our Lord 1640, the settler Hugh Bewitt was banished from Massachusetts colony when he declares himself to be free of original sin (The second image above is of Adam and Eve being banished from the garden of Eden in “Paradise Lost,” and not of Hugh Bewitt and his wife leaving the Massachusetts colony. Hugh was unavailable for his picture/portrait to be taken/painted during his lifetime. : )
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When I was young, one of my favorite TV shows was “Sanford and Son,” starring Redd Foxx. Incidentaly, Foxx was born on this day in 1922.
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Pop-Rock singer Joan Armatrading turns 57 today. My first exposure to her music came during my Junior year at Eastern Kentucky University. Armatrading was a favorite singer of my then girlfirend’s ex-boyfriend . . . a guy by the name of Kenny McCoy from the mountains of Eastern Kentucky. And yes, he was from THAT McCoy family, so I wasn’t too interested in debating the issue with him. Besides, in this case, he was right. She was a great singer.
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Did you know that today was the birthday of Michael Dorn (in 1952) and of Worf (2340), the Klingon character on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” that Dorn played. Coincidence? I think not. Michael Dorn turns 56 today. Worf is at T-Minus 332 and counting.
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On this day in 1965 “A Charlie Brown Christmas” premiered on network TV. I was going to post Linus’ explanation of what Christmas is really about (you can see that here), but that would be too “pastorly” of me. So instead of breaking one copyright law, I thought I’d break two and post the “Hey Ya Charlie Brown Christmas” video instead. The synchronization between the song and video is pretty darn good, and pretty darn funny too, if you ask me.
