Joseph Sciuto's Blog: A Curious View: A Compilation of Short Stories by Joseph Sciuto, page 41
August 15, 2018
“ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS”
Let me state from the very beginning that the book “On The Shoulders of Giants” with commentary from Stephen Hawking is not, in any way or form, a book for everyone. It is not a book for beginners. As someone who came to read this book, after having read biographies on Einstein and DaVinci, the theories of Einstein, Newton, and Copernicus, I was nevertheless lost at least half the time, totally lost. Yet, even in the dark I had gained knowledge that just a short time ago I had no idea existed. It is at once mind boggling and awe inspiring that such men, with such supreme intellectual and without the tools available in today’s world, could achieve and conceive of such theories and discoveries is totally beyond me. This is a very, very big book and it will probably be a very long time before I pick it up again, but I am so very glad I did and have absolutely no regrets
July 26, 2018
ALBERT CAMUS’ “THE PLAGUE.”
What can I say? It had been over twenty years since I read anything by Albert Camus, and after reading “The Plague” I can honestly say that I waited much too long. Camus’ “The Plague” is a breathtaking, scintillating, philosophical journey that I will not soon forget. It is a writer at the very top of his game. It is a brilliant piece of literature that a Professor could spend an entire semester teaching. It is a metaphorical masterpiece that can be debated and analyzed to the end of time like Dante’s “Inferno.” It is a book at once detached from its subject, and at the same time deeply and personally involved. It is a novel without a hero and at the same time has many heroes. Its villain, the plague, is at times its hero. Only a writer with supreme confidence and amazing ability could pull this off and not only produce a brilliant novel but a masterpiece. The translation by Stuart Gilbert from French to English is superb.
July 21, 2018
A CURIOUS VIEW: THE COMEDIAN/ BRIAN SOMMERS
Early this morning, I opened my Facebook page and there was a reminder that it was Brian Sommers’ birthday.
Ironically, it is also Ernest Hemingway’s birthday … not that either individual has anything in common with the other. If anything, they were diametrical opposites.
At least, that is what I thought as a cloud of sleepiness still hung over my head.
I worked with Brian for a number of years at the Palm Restaurant.
Leigh Kelly, our first female waitress to work at the restaurant, recommended Brian to our bosses when one of our bartenders decided to quit and move on to bigger and better things.
The first thing you noticed about Mr. Sommers was his bald head. It was shaped like a giant egg with a glitter and shine about it that seemingly could blind you if you looked at it too long or too closely.
It was immediately and undeniably a great attraction. It was not unusual for a regular customer to grab a first-time guest at our famous eatery and introduce him to Brian.
Pointing at Brian’s head, the longtime customer would ask his guest, “Have you ever seen anything like it? Tell me the truth, is that not one of the great wonders?”
Contrary to what one might think, Brian was not offended by these blatant acts of rudeness.
Instead, he took pride in his unique and polished head and often used it in his stand up routines at The Comedy Store on Sunset Boulevard. On his nights off, he often performed at this legendary club. His main goal in life was to be a successful stand-up comedian like Robin Williams or Rodney Dangerfield.
Brian was not without talent, but his biggest obstacle to his career goal was that he could not tell a joke without bursting into laughter before finishing. Regardless of how funny the joke or story he told was, the only one to hear the punch line was Brian. He drowned out his audience with his laughter, but have no fear…that did not deter the man.
After working as a bartender for a couple of years, Brian decided to take a shot at being a waiter. The first response from our GM, Gigi, was to laugh at such an insane idea.
Then it dawned on Gigi and our assistant GM, Jimmy, that if Brian became a waiter, they wouldn’t be subject to anymore of his jokes. Fortunately (at least in hindsight), the manager’s stand was right beside the bar so throughout the day and night Gigi and Jimmy were constantly bombarded by Brian’s gales of laughter.
They could have fired Brian, but in truth, he was an excellent bartender…quick and affable…and the customers loved him.
Fortunately, I was handpicked to train Brian. I never had a doubt that he would make a really good waiter. He knew our menu better than some waiters who had been there for decades.
Besides comedy, food and history were Brian’s other great loves. If he could resist the urge to insult a customer who did not find his humor very appealing, I didn’t see any reason he wouldn’t succeed.
After a week of training, it was up to me to decide Brian’s fate.
More importantly, it was time for me to get my revenge for his making fun of me in his comedy routines, especially since I was taking the time to go see him on my days off.
We sat down after our final shift, and I told him point blank that there was no way I could recommend him to be a waiter.
He was loud, obnoxious, insulting and all this was reflected in the terrible tips he received (he actually averaged above 20 per cent which was way higher than most waiters at the restaurant).
He looked at me as though I had kidnapped one of his kittens (he loved cats) and I refused to give him back. I had expected him to start laughing at any moment. Surely, he knew I had to be joking, but the laughter never came.
He was seriously disappointed and instead of getting back at him I felt terrible.
He got up from the table and said he was going to punch out and tell Gigi that he decided it would be better if he remained as a bartender. Unable to bear the guilt, I confessed and the look on his face was of pure joy and happiness, but no laughter. I told Gigi he would be great and the look on his face was that of relief.
Brian and I were good friends. Occasionally, my wife and I would go out to dinner with Brian and then go to a museum, usually to the Getty or the Museum of Art in downtown Los Angeles.
When he was not trying to make you laugh, it was quite apparent that he was a well-read individual with a vast amount of knowledge.
More importantly, Brian Summers was a conscientious and an extremely moral person. My wife, not one to put up with pretentious individuals, noticed these qualities in him the first time they met, and she would always ask me about Brian.
A number of years after I left the restaurant, I was talking on the phone with Brian late one night. While still working at the Palm, he opened an antique store not far from where I lived. I promised I would go see him, but before I had a chance, he had to close the shop.
He told me he was going up to Sequoia National Park to look at the redwoods and to meditate (he was also a Buddhist) and think over his next step on his journey through this life.
A few months later, I got a call from a friend telling me that Brian checked into a hotel and killed himself with a bullet to the head. I guess that’s where my sleepy brain made the correlation between Brian and Hemingway.
The redwoods in Sequoia are some of the tallest trees in the world; some estimates put them at thousands and thousands of years old. Legend has it that if one was able to climb to top of one of these trees one would be knocking on Heaven’s door.
I like to imagine that the last time Brian visited Sequoia and meditated on his voyage through this life that he climbed to the top of one of these lovely trees, knocked on Heaven’s door, entered, and couldn’t stop laughing and laughing and laughing. Rest in peace, my friend.
July 18, 2018
A CURIOUS VIEW: HELSINKI, FINLAND 2018
The Only Thing Necessary for the Triumph of Evil is that Good Men Do Nothing
I’m sick and tired of hearing things from
Uptight short sided narrow minded hypocritics
All I want is the truth, just give me some truth
I’ve had enough of reading things
By neurotic psychotic pigheaded politicians
All I want is the truth, just give me some truth
No short-haired, yellow-bellied
Son of tricky dicky’s
Gonna mother hubbard soft soap me
With just a pocket full of hopes
Money for dope, money for rope
No short-haired, yellow-bellied,
Son of tricky dicky’s
Gonna mother hubbard soft soap me
With just a pocket full of hopes
Money for dope, money for rope
I’m sick to death of seeing things from
Tight-lipped condescending mama’s little chauvinists
All I want is the truth, just give me some truth
I’ve had enough of watching scenes from
Schizophrenic…
John Lennon “GIMME SOME TRUTH”
THE UNDENIABLE TRUTH….
July 14, 2018
July 6, 2018
“TATGETED DEMOGRAPHICS,” A NOVEL, BY JOSEPH SCIUTO
AVAILABLE AT BOOKSTORES AND ONLINE
targeteddemographics.com
amazon.com[image error]
July 3, 2018
JAMES BALDWIN’S “THE FIRE NEXT TIME.”
James Baldwin’s “The Fire Next Time” is more a brilliant, masterfully constructed Supreme Court Opinion than it is a novel. And whereas I truly loved his analysis and opinions of the Negro problem in America, I still prefer his old fashion, novels with the numerous unforgettable characters, boundary breaking storylines, and sublime and poetic writing style.
In 2015, my great contemporary literary discovery was Don Delillo; and now in 2017 and 18 my great, contemporary, literary discovery is James Baldwin. Sadly, neither man ever won a Pulitzer prize and unless a miracle happens and they give Mr. DeLillo Nobel Prize neither man would have won a Nobel Peace Prize. Simply too busy giving out the prize to Bob Dylan.
“The Fire Next Time” might not be for everyone, but it is, in my opinion, just another wonderful addition and indication of how great a writer and thinker Mr. Baldwin truly was… And forever will be remembered as such.
July 2, 2018
July 1, 2018
HEMINGWAY’S “THE SUN ALSO RISES.”
One of my favorite novels. Always in my top five lists of all time. The novel that I have probably read the most times. Hemingway is what I like to call a “thinking man’s author.” Unless you are willing to think beyond the written word you will never fully appreciate the brilliance of Mr. Hemingway. In “The Sun Also Rises” and “A Farewell to Arms”(not to mention his great short stories) this concept of thinking beyond the written word is most prevalent and most masterfully displayed. Every single character in “The Sun Also Rises”is a mystery and, after finishing the novel, one is left thinking “I wonder what happened next to that character.”
Lady Ashley is my favorite female character in all of literature. She is real, uncompromising, and yet a mystery to the very end. She is a siren with a heart or maybe without a heart?
Hemingway, unlike such great authors as Lawrence, Proust, Dickens, Tolstoy and Fitzgerald, could describe a scene, a setting, using half the words that these wonderful writers would use and yet be as poignant and vivid as any writer. His descriptions of the bull fights at Pamplona and the fiesta are chilling and as splendid as anything I have had the pleasure to read.
Tomorrow, July 2, marks the day Hemingway died. He once said, “The only thing a person takes with him when he dies, is what he left behind” and in his case he left behind brilliant novels and masterful short stories that never fail to amaze and astonish me.
A Curious View: A Compilation of Short Stories by Joseph Sciuto
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