Opinion
4A |
Babbling Brooks
Fun in a blizzard — of Ozz
By Jason. W. Brooks Staff Writer
www.newtondailynews.com | Wednesday | Feb. 3, 2016
By the time Ozzy Osbourne shouted out the first lines of “Paranoid,” we already knew we were seeing something historic. Jacqui and I went to Omaha to see the Jan. 20 opening night of what is being billed as the rock group Black Sabbath’s final tour, and despite industry lapses in credibility behind finales, this really did seem like one of the last few chances to see Ozzy or anything to do with the original Sabbath members. Friends and colleagues bemoan our chasing of legends whose heyday was a quarter century ago or more, wondering why we chase after heroes whose lifestyles and often very limited timeframe of popularity made them more historically relevant than present-day important. Indeed, some of our champions can no longer do what they did in 1987, or even in 1997. However, Sabbath and Ozzy has managed to do what Kiss and a few other bands have done extremely well — produce great
early hits that can be branded and polished through the years and still can be done just as powerfully 40 years later, using the right style and effort. Ozzy’s decades-old reputation as a crazed half-human with slurred speech and poor sense of physical awareness is a comic fascination, but he is also forever linked with a counterculture band that was something special. Sure, there was Hendrix and hippies around before “War Pigs” and “Fairies Wear Boots,” but there was nothing as brash, angry and yet refined as Sabbath on its first few albums. Sabbath picks up where Tom Brokaw leaves off in terms of telling the story of a broken generation presented with two dead Kennedys, a country called Vietnam it knew little about and the ongoing threat of nuclear war. Ozzy and his Sabbath brethren helped tell that story with a ferocity and musical precision that was unequaled then, and perhaps not since, with the possible exception
of Rage Against the Machine. Maybe that’s why 70-yearolds and teenagers could both enjoy the show, along with all ages in between. Most everyone knew Ozzy had said they would play only their oldest hits, except for a couple of songs only the most diehard fans would know, the set list was familiar. For many, Sabbath was the first rock band they saw, and they saw the band about 10 times along the way. For others, Ozzy’s reality TV show was how they first learned about the Prince of Darkness. And for still others — like Jacqui and I — he was a piece of 80s godlike fiction who we soon learned was a leftover from some of the craziness of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Jan. 20 kickoff of “The End” tour at CenturyLink Arena happened to be on the 34th anniversary of one of Ozzy’s most famous moments: when he bit the head off of a bat or batlike prop on stage in Des Moines. Stories and facts differ about what real-
ly happened, which furthers the legend that is the Sabbath realm; truth is always stranger than fiction. I have stumbled into Sabbath fanhood without really intending to; the glam-rock, big-hair sound is far more my taste than punk, thrash or what at least one of my co-workers call “killing music.” But the bridges Sabbath formed between genres and generations are unbreakable, and seeing the band live gave me a new appreciation for the four original members as pioneers. I even have a “Not Ozz” T-shirt, a tribute to a friend in another state who loves Ozzy and Sabbath so much, he had the letters O-Z-Z-Y on four fingers of one hand. It’s my hope that if I can teach at least a few young fans what a band or artist or movie represents, I’ve completed a critical task. Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com
American Conservative
Isn’t it strange?
Letters to the Editor
Weeds dominate Republican field Joel Wormley Newton As a member of a family which, patrilineally, has been Republican since Mr. Lincoln’s time, it pains me to see that weeds are dominating the Republican presidential candidate field. Not only do the top three candidates in the polls violate Mr. Reagan’s commandment, they violate the Mosaic commandment against bearing false witness. They do, however, adhere to Mr. John Erlichman’s
State issues should take precedence Susan Huetter Newton I received a birthday card in the mail last week from our state representative Dan Kelley. Although it is always nice to receive a birthday card, I found this strange because my 70th birthday was last July. Since receiving the card, I have found
dictum that the appearance of the truth is more important than truth itself. Perhaps there are Republicans who wish to reprise the Nixon Era but this old peasant is not one of them. If the Republican Party wished to defeat Mrs. Clinton, they should convinced Mr. Sanders (an Independent) to run as a Republican, not as a Democrat. Since that is no longer an option, I recommend that the Republican Party of Jasper County select Mr. Herb Scott as their candidate. Mr. Scott is well known among Jasper County Republicans (and
many non-Republicans, as well) as a gentleman and a scholar with more common sense, more common decency, and more concern for his fellow citizens in one little finger than the three top poll cats combined have in their entire beings. Mr. Scott might chose to not compete for the US presidency if nominated or might not win if he did compete, but the nomination of a good, respected, and selfless individual would, at least, make the point that the party of Abraham Lincoln is not to be a refuge for carpet-bagger ego-maniacs.
out that numerous others in Jasper County with summer birthdays received cards as well. It is a nice sentiment but, in my opinion, sending cards out nearly six months after ones birthday defeats the purpose. Mr. Kelley had all summer to sign and send cards. The legislative session started three weeks ago. There are plenty of things that need addressed. Personally, I think issues such
as education, taxes, eminent domain, etc. should take precedence over outdated birthday cards. I believe Mr. Kelley’s time, and our tax dollars, would be better spent working on these issues during the session instead of using valuable time signing a stack of outdated birthday cards. I work with senior citizens and from the conversations I have held with others, I am not the only one that feels this way.
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There is a letter titled “Isn’t It Strange?” making the rounds in email boxes. It asks questions to which our fell o w Americans should k n ow the an- By Walter E. Williams swers, save for those caught up in modernity. It starts off asking, “Isn’t it strange that after a bombing, everyone blames the bomber, his upbringing, his environment, his culture but ... after a shooting, the problem is the gun?” In other words, after a shooting, it is the gun, an inanimate object, that is the culprit, but after a bombing, it is not the bomb that receives the blame but the evil individual. In both cases it is the evil individual who is to blame. Ronald Reagan had it right when he said, “We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.” Speaking of guns, the letter has a 1950s photo of high school girls at an indoor shooting range. The photo caption states: “Back in the 1950s and even later, many high schools had shooting ranges. Students even brought their own rifles to school.” It asks, “What changed in society that we could trust such activities then, but not now?” Youth involvement with guns has a long history. The 1911 second edition of the Boy Scout Handbook made qualification in NRA’s junior marksmanship program a prerequisite for obtaining a BSA merit badge in marksmanship. In 1918, the Winchester Repeating Arms Co. established its own Winchester Junior Rifle Corps. The program grew to 135,000 members by 1925. In New York City, high
school gun clubs were started at Boys, Curtis, Commercial, Manual Training and Stuyvesant high schools. I would like to ask America’s anti-gun fanatics what accounts for today’s mayhem: Have guns become more evil or have people become more evil? The letter contains several photos under the caption, “These men support your right to bear arms.” The photos are of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton. Below it is the caption, “These men oppose it,” with photos of Adolf Hitler, Fidel Castro, Josef Stalin, Idi Amin, Vladimir Lenin and Barack Obama. Then it asks, “Who do you trust?” Later on in the letter, there is a statement asking us to rename government programs, saying, “Get it straight: Welfare, Food Stamps, WIC ... are not entitlements. They are taxpayer-funded handouts, and shouldn’t be called entitlements. Social Security and Veterans Benefits are ‘Entitlements’ because the people receiving them are entitled to them. They were earned and paid for by the recipients.” Then there is a warning: “No society ever thrived because it had a large and growing class of parasites living off those who produced.” If one listens to the current debate and rhetoric of most politicians, both Democrats or Republicans, it is about expanding the class of Americans who live at the expense of other Americans, whether they are promising “free” education and medical care or forcing Americans to purchase products such as ethanol in order to enrich others. John Wayne put it best, particularly for my colleagues in academia. “I’d like to know why well-educated idiots keep apologizing for lazy and complaining people who think the world owes them a living.”
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