Pantheon

Since it's father's day, I though it would be appropriate to begin with my father. I probably would have begun this section with him regardless of the date .

Who:

Father of yours truly. Since nobody has written a Wiki entry for my father, I must supply the background myself.

My father was the seventh and last child of Antonio and Pilar Guirado, Spanish emigrants to Cuba in the year 1917. He was born in 1933 in Santiago, Cuba. Born in true poverty, my father would recount stories that many of us in abundant America can only imagine. His only toy as a child was a little wooden gun that broke the first time he used it. His watch didn't work, but he would set it every once in a while to pretend. He would eat quickly lest his brothers or sisters take his food. To this day, my father will eat whatever's placed in front of him, and in the case of chicken, break open the bones and eat what's inside.

My father was fast, though, winning medals in various races. He did well in school though he would mention stories where he displayed a certain genius for getting by in school without putting forth the best effort.

I won't mention other difficulties in his life, but they were many, lasting, and profound.

Despite all of these difficulties, my father developed a character above reproach. His hardships strengthened him in the classic manner.

After meeting all of the requirements for emigration to the United States amongst them a wait of five years, money in the bank, and a physical, my father arrived in the United States in 1955. He weighed 99 pounds. After watching Guys and Dolls his first week in his new country, my father began his assimilation into American society.

Sleeping on porches until his various waiter jobs permitted him to stay in a little apartment, my father followed the familiar path to the middle class. "Hardworking" is a term, like many others, that has lost some of its meaning in modern times. Today, people use "hardworking" to describe anybody who gets up on time. In my father's case, any description of his effort would be an understatement.

**details to be added later**

My father lived in New York and Los Angeles where he learned to fix televisions and found a job with RCA which he kept until his retirement in the nineties, after continuous work since the age of 12.

Why:

Look, I won't go into specifics for fear of embarrassing him, but I love my father and would do anything for him. I could only aspire to be half the man he is.

Guys and Dolls

W.F.B. passed away today- God keep him and R.I.P. Like most conservatives, I remember where I was the first time I wafted that aromatic National Review logic- The Pico Rivera public library. I also remember Firing Line and those wonderful debates (one featuring a conservative Arianna Huffington).

National Review remains the standard reference for mainstream conservative thought and one of my daily web destinations.

It would be difficult to overestimate William F. Buckley's impact on modern conservatism. He was one of the first "smart" conservatives in that he argued for conservatism from a sociological and economic perspective using statistics, historical analysis, and other tools that people associate with modern, non-traditional scholarship. The simplest example: Teenage pregnancy is bad because it leads to social pathologies and costs money, not because "God said so."

He was lucid and relevant up to the end. I'll miss him.

Cancel Your Own Goddam Subscription: Notes & Asides from National Review by William F. Buckley

God and Man at Yale by William F. Buckley

Charlie Rose with William F. Buckley, Jr.; Alan Dershowitz (July 20, 2001)

Washington in action

Who:

Soldier, father of nation, all around good guy.

Why:

An obvious choice for my new pantheon, George Washington was, in the truest sense of the word, an amazing man. A consummate man of action, Washington wasn't an inventive genius in the manner of a Franklin or a radical intellectual like Thomas Paine. Nor was he necessarily a man of reflection like Jefferson. All Washington did was win the War of Independence and steer the radical experiment that was the United States for its first eight years. In other words, others talked, and Washington did (although talking had its role).

Character was Washington's calling card. How important is character in a leader?
Consider that Washington's greatest achievement isn't what he did- it's what he didn't do. Although encouraged by many close to him, Washington refused to be the first King of the United States. In a move unprecedented in secular world history (St. Thomas More, but he did so for religious reasons.), Washington gave up considerable power for an ideal. And democracy, the ideal for which Washington sacrificed, was one that hadn't been attempted in its pure form for two thousand years prior.

But

Yes, Washington did own slaves, as was the custom at the time for a Virginian of his stature. No record exists, however, of him mistreating them and he did, upon his death, free them.

I've had many nice feelings from blogging, but none better than the one that comes with the knowledge that Flag Gazer reads my blog almost every day.

I've never met her, but, if I may speculate based on our correspondence and her website, she's a sincere woman filled with love for her country, fellow man, and, especially, soldiers. I'm guessing this because her posts aren't partisan screeds, but loving memorials to brave men and women. She's always been very polite as well and has never asked me for anything except to help her honor the honorable. If it were up to me, her blog would be the most popular in our fair nation.

God bless her.

Who: Musical genius, hair trend-setter, difficult tenant, frustrated lover.

Why: Hint: It's not because of the last three.

When one must select between three equally qualified candidates, one often factors in sentimentalities irrelevant to the deciding criteria. Realizing that any vacillation towards one over the other two comes simply from having heard that composer's work last, I've concluded that based on musical output alone, choosing between the three top candidates for greatest musical genius in history is impossible. So, like an admissions officer who considers high school seniors' hardships or background when assigning freshman seating, when one takes into account the conditions under which they worked, Beethoven is the greatest musical mastermind of all time.

Yes, Mozart had Saliere all up in his business and Bach had to deal with failing eyesight, but to compose the near unanimously-accepted greatest work in music history (below) while totally deaf has to rank up there with Christie Alley's dramatic weight loss as testament to man's capacity for greatness.

Let your ears luxuriate in the greatness.

The Symphony No. nine in D minor, Op. 125 "Choral"

I chose the performance conducted by Gardiner just because it's the first one I came across. It's a little quicker than usual, I think, and he tries for a more authentic performance. It also has Luba Orgonosova and Anne Sofie von Otter, one of my favorites (check out her Berlioz).

As a testament to the inter-cultural greatness of Beethoven, the Japanese company Sony insisted the compact disc be large enough to accommodate the 74 minutes it took to perform all five movements of the Ninth Symphony.

Movement One: Allegro Ma Non Troppo Un Poco Maestoso

Movement Two: Molto Vivace

Movement Three: Adagio Molto E Cantabile

Movement Four: Presto Change-o

Movement Five: Presto - Allegro Assai

Beethoven: Symphony No 9 /ORR * Gardiner

Who:

Amateur wrestler, philanthropist, man of science

Why:

Esqueleto represents proves that it doesn't take a life of privilege to seek wisdom and understanding- a nerd diamond in the rough, as it were.

But:

Didn't Esqueleto refuse to help the children in the orphanage? Yes, but he repented later declaring, "I like them now."

Who: Retired grammar school teacher and principal. Previous service to country includes stints in both the Army and the peace corps. Loving father and husband.

Why: Caring mentor and faithful friend to the president of Asymmetric.

Who: Lean, some say mean, tax cutting machine.

Why: Passed welfare reform and eventually balanced budget for first time in memory. Saved Guirado family big bucks.

But: Wasn't Gingrich mean? No. What about impeachment? Yes, an overreach.

Who:

Talk radio host, passionate moderate, Koran-swearing-in provocateur.

Why:
Many people see being asked about their preferences as an opportunity to impress. Thus, when one is asked about their favorite movie, most people would rather answer with an Amarcord or Seven Samurai than with Bill and Ted's Great Adventure, even though their platinum edition of B and T is never farther than a meter from their DVD player.

Likewise, some people would be slightly embarrassed to name a talk radio host as their favorite "thinker." It would be much better to drop the names of Heidegger or Wittgenstein, no?

Yet, it was talk radio host Dennis Prager who almost single-handedly lifted my political conscience from the deep pit of errors in which it wallowed throughout college (I voted for Dukakis) and a short time afterwards (Perot). I had listened to talk radio a little during that time, but none of them made an impression upon me. Prager, however, was different. He seemed to be at least three layers deeper than droning conventional conservative (concon) mouthpieces like Rush Limbaugh and other con surface dwellers.

I'll expand on this in a future post, but basically, instead of political strategy, scandal, spin, or cheap attention getters (Dubai ports); Prager focuses on the "big picture." Prager is also one of a handful of radio hosts who can discuss practical philosophical issues like happiness and religion.

On lighter matters, Prager introduced me to classical music which I've enjoyed greatly.

Personally, I've met him twice during book signings, and both times he was very gracious. During my deployment to Iraq, the MWR (morale welfare and recreation centers on post where we play ping pong and stuff) posted one of his essays on the bulletin board and, when I encountered it, I felt as though I had bumped into an old friend. During that same time, I would download his shows and listen to them in my little CHU.

Prager ideas that have been incorporated into my world view:

1. People aren't basically good (I listened to Prager before converting to Catholicism).

2. Standards versus Compassion (see here)

3. The nonphysical differences between men and women.

4. The rational case for God (see here).

5. Motivations are less important than deeds.

6. The left’s goal is equality, (which explains a lot, doesn’t it?).

But:

Didn’t Prager insult Islam?

No, it was a smear (here).

Listen to Prager here.

Bill & Ted's Most Excellent Collection

A friend of mine, Rob, actually suggested Tesla during the first iteration of the "Pantheon," a project that eventually morphed into Magnasquids but sans the Pantheon. Oh well, maybe some day we'll have it back up.

Who:

Inventor of AC current (your Compaq is using it now, unless it's using Edison's DC), genius, focus of myriad conspiracy theories, impoverished immigrant.

Why:

Without Tesla, I'd have to exercise or talk to my friends instead of blog.