Mission Accomplished - JFK Oral History Project

(Update: We received the DVD of our interview on Friday, 3/23. It is beyond great. It should and must be seen by all.)

As mentioned in these pages previously, my friend Andy and I were invited by the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza to be interviewed about our memories and impressions of the events of November 22, 1963. Here is a brief chronicle of the trip, which we made on Friday, February 17, 2012.

I arrived at Houston's Hobby airport Thursday afternoon (on time, amazingly, thank you Southwest Airlines), took the shuttle to Andy's office in downtown Houston, then headed to his house in the Houston suburb of Spring, TX. Over dinner, we attempted to prepare for the interview, but having gone over this story so many times, there really wasn't much to rehearse. I went to bed, stayed up late like a kid on Christmas Eve, and woke up early.

We began the day with a blend of coffee called "Lunch with Elvis", that contained a hint of peanut butter and banana flavoring. Andy is a coffee enthusiast and tries various blends of beans he gets from a place called HEB Cafe on the Run.

At approximately 7:30am CST, we hit the road to head for Dallas.

According to Andy, no trip up I-45 is complete without a stop a Buc-ees, a rest stop in Madisonville. He had been singing the praises of this highway Mecca ("better than South of the Border") ever since we began planning this trip. The place did not disappoint. It has everything. Great for shopping, browsing and people-watching. We were stalked and stopped by a guy describing himself as a World War II re-enacter, and told us we must go to some event in Palestine (pronounced "PAL-est-een") in May. They even have a George Patton impersonator! We managed to break away and hit the road again.

We arrived in Dallas around noon, parking in the Sixth Floor Museum parking lot, grabbed some lunch at a restaurant around the corner, then went over to the museum at 1:30. (Sign on the front door of the museum: "No Firearms"). We checked in, asked for Stephen Fagin, Associate Curator, who greeted us in the lobby and took us to the media room. Although we have dubbed this event "The Sixth Floor Summit", the media room is actually on the first floor.

I had my copy of "Rush to Judgment", a first edition I bought used at the Strand book store in Manhattan many years ago. I asked Mr. Fagin if Mark Lane happened to be in the building. When he said yes, I jumped out of my seat and asked if I could get him to autograph my book. However, by "in the building", Mr. Fagin meant there was video of Mark Lane among the museum displays. Oh well.

We sat down, got mic'ed up, and started shooting. The interview went on for just over an hour, with Mr. Fagin moving the discussion along with brief questions and allowing Andy and me to do the talking. There were no brain freezes, very few, if any, "ums", and we had a great discussion, from our impressions of watching history unfolding through the eyes of a second grader and how our perspectives evolved over time.

Once the interview was over, we went upstairs to the museum, which had not changed much since I had been there in 2005, just spruced up a bit. Mr. Fagin took us to the renovated seventh floor, which is used for special exhibits and lectures. We then went outside to walk around Dealey Plaza.

The thing about Dealey Plaza is, when you go there for the first time, you feel like you've been there already, having seen so many pictures and documentaries. It all looks very familiar.  Another thing about Dealey Plaza is, there really isn't much to do there, except walk around. Other than a very small plaque embedded in the ground, marking the spot as a national historic landmark, there is not much to see. The picket fence, one possible sniper's perch for a hypothetical second gunman, has been replaced with a new fence and backs to the museum parking lot. Nothing mysterious there. The other possible sniper's perch, the manhole on Elm Street, used to have a removable cover, but has now been welded shut. We walked around a bit, took some pictures, chatted with some tourists, and we headed back to Spring, stopping, of course, at Buc-ees for gas, and some beef jerky to take home.

The next day, we sat at Andy's kitchen table and discussed the interview on video, and the awesomeness of the whole experience. After that, Andy drove me to Hobby for my flight home (again, on time).

We will be getting a DVD in the mail of the entire interview. The video will also be available in the Reading Room of the Sixth Floor Museum for researchers and scholars. If anyone wants a copy of the DVD, please email your address to me at jrpickens@gmail.com and I will send you a copy.

We hope all will find our story as interesting as we think it is.

I love a parade, but...

So, the Giants won the Super Bowl, and I hope my friends who are Giants fans enjoyed their parade. I sure enjoyed the parade when the Phillies won the World Series in 2008.

Governor Christie wanted the parade in New Jersey, since that is where the Giants play their home games, but I say lets let New Jersey reap the tax revenues and let New York City pay for the parade, which we cannot afford.

Now, some are calling for a parade to honor the returning veterans of the war in Iraq. I respectfully disagree. While I certainly appreciate the desire to honor the sacrifices of  those who gave so much, a day of jingoistic flag-waving is not the way to do it.

These veterans are coming home physically, mentally, and emotionally injured. They are coming back to a place where job prospects are weak. What they need is access to health care and job opportunities, not a parade.

As long as the war in Afghanistan continues, as long as drone attacks continue to kill innocent civilians and conduct targeted assassinations, including American citizens, as long as saber rattling replaces diplomacy with Iran, Syria and elsewhere, how about we hold off on the parades.

Let's end this state of perpetual war, and then we'll have something to celebrate.

Mitt Romney's Dog Takes the Wheel

Mitt Romney's dog, Seamus, takes the family station wagon for a joy ride, with a special payload on the roof rack.

"Town Hall" in Irvington - ALL are welcome

For those of you lucky enough to be unemployed, or have the day off Thursday, Governor Chris Christie will be holding another one of his taxpayer funded partisan pep rallies "Town Hall" meetings, at the Christian Love Baptist Church in Irvington, Essex County.

If you go:
WHERE: Christian Love Baptist Church
                830 Lyons Ave.
                Irvington NJ 07111
WHEN: Thursday, January 19, Doors open at 9:30AM. Event begins at 10:30AM
RSVP by clicking here: http://tinyurl.com/8yjoemc

Below is a screen shot from the Christian Love Baptist Church website. No Comment:

Mitt Romney's Dog: An Investigative Photo Essay

Just about everyone knows about Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's family trip from Boston to Canada with his dog in a carrier, strapped to the roof.

After extensive research, Pick's Place has discovered that this was neither the first nor last such incident.

Below are photos of the Romney family's various escapades with their dog and their car.

More photos will be added as they are uncovered.

The Sixth Floor Summit

(Update - On Friday, 2/17/2012, Andy and I went to Dallas for our JFK Oral History Project interview. It went very well. Read all about it HERE.)


Some of you know the story - two boyhood pals in suburban New Jersey: While other kids were playing sports, Andy and Jeff were consumed with the JFK assassination. We both vividly remembered where we were on November 22, 1963, and from the time we met in 1967 at age ten through our teenage years and early twenties, we delved into the Crime of the Century - reading books, engaging in deep discussions of conspiracy theories, examining the Zapruder film frame by frame. We vowed to one day visit Dealey Plaza in Dallas. Over the years, we lost touch, but reconnected in 2002. We remembered The Vow, and that neither of us had let go of it.

Then, in 2005, I learned I had to go to Fort Worth for business. By that time, Andy had relocated to Houston. I contacted Andy and the plans were underway. On November 16th, 2005, 11:45 CST, we both arrived at the parking lot of the Sixth Floor Museum - formerly known as the Texas School Book Depository - each clutching our copies of Best Evidence.

We spent the day at Dealey Plaza, covering every inch of the Grassy Knoll, visiting the Sixth Floor Museum, re-enacting the frantic drive from Elm Street to Parkland Hospital, even visiting the grave of unsung 11/22 hero J.D. Tippit.

A while back, I heard about the JFK Oral History Project, which:

explores the history and culture of Dallas and the 1960s, and preserves personal recollections regarding the life and death of President John F. Kennedy. These candid, informal interviews offer insight into the Kennedy legacy and the local—and global—impact of his assassination.

I contacted Andy and we knew we HAD to do this. So, on November 22, 2011, we simultaneously contacted the curator of the Sixth Floor Museum, who found our story compelling enough to invite us to Dallas to be interviewed on video for the Project.

Our interview is scheduled for Friday, February 17th, 2012, at 2:00pm CST. I will fly to Houston the night before, Andy and I will head to Dallas Friday morning, on the ultimate road trip. The journey will be documented on video and in writing. Stay tuned to Pick's Place for updates.

The video of our interview will be archived for viewing on the website or at the Museum itself. We will not only talk about history. We will be part of history.

This will be HUGE.

This will be EPIC.

2011 airing of "The Spirit of Christmas", featuring the Mabel Beaton Marionettes

This vintage Christmas special, featuring marionette performances of  "A Visit From St Nicholas" and the story of the Nativity, has been shown in TV every year since 1950.

As a public service, Pick's Place is providing the show times for "The Spirit of Christmas":

The Mabel Beaton Marionettes perform " 'Twas The Night Before Christmas" and "The Christmas Story" 
Where: WHYY Channel 12

When: Saturday, December 24 - 10:00am, Sunday, December 25 - 1:30pm

You can now see these vintage shows on YouTube, or DVR them, or buy it on DVD, but there's no substitute for catching them in real time on regular TV (for me, at least).

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night"

Pitman Punts

"Even though the prospect sickens, brother here we go again"
 - Tom Lehrer, "A Christmas Carol"

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year again folks, and it wouldn't be the "Holiday" season without the War on Christmas, and all its battles, real and imagined, from the annual rumors that our secret Muslim President is changing the name of the White House Christmas Tree to the Holiday Tree, to the real story of the Governor of Rhode Island and the State Holiday Tree, to the various whining talking heads on Fox "News", and the usual skirmishes over Nativity scenes on public property, which can easily be fixed by placing a Menorah beside them.

But there is a real war on Christmas right in my own backyard, in Pitman, NJ, where someone has hung a sign above Broadway (Pitman's main drag), that reads, "Keep Christ in Christmas". Now, you don't need to be a constitutional scholar to understand that this sign breaches the wall of separation of church and state, and one First Amendment advocacy group, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, has complained.

Now, this sort of thing is not unusual, but the response of the Pitman Borough Attorney, Brian Duffield, is quite interesting:

“We found out that the banner is attached on one end to the old bank — which is privately owned — and on the other end it’s connected to an Atlantic City Electric or Verizon pole which the borough does not own. Also, Broadway is a county — not a borough — road. Everything related to the sign is not on Pitman public property.”

Huh? According to my map, the location of this banner lies withing Pitman's borders, hangs in Pitman's airspace, yet the Borough of Pitman has no legal jurisdiction to take it down? The banner, according to the Borough, hangs in some generic part of Gloucester County, not in Pitman. The banner just appeared by magic. Using this logic, I suppose I can park my car at one of the metered spots on Broadway without putting money into the meter, and no cop would give me a ticket because Broadway is out of Pitman's jurisdiction.

Pitman takes pride in its origins as a Methodist encampment and its many churches, but there is no religious test to live in Pitman, nor is there a religious test to travel to or through it, to park on its streets, or to shop at its Mom and Pop stores on Broadway. A banner with a religious proclamation, hanging in a public street, whether it's a municipal road or a county road, is inappropriate and should come down.

Duffield's punt on jurisdiction here pretty much ensures that the banner will remain in place, at least for the near future, but with Christmas just over a week away, it will be down in a few weeks anyway.

So, what can church/state separation advocates do? A legal battle would not be resolved between now and December 25th.

How about some civil disobedience, climb up there and take the sign down ourselves? After all, since the banner is out of Pitman's jurisdiction, we can expect the police to stand idly by and wait for the Gloucester County Sheriff to arrive, by which time the sign and the removers will be long gone, right?

Disgruntled Eagles fan declares "Christmas in Distress"

(Update: the final sentence of this post refers to a lost Vinny Testaverde ornament. In what can only be described as a Christmas Miracle, a new Vinny ornament arrived in my mail Monday night, 12/12, the work of a mysterious benefactor).

I've been accused of being a Scrooge, and a Grinch, but I like Christmas. Really, I do. I like the lights on our house and our tree. I especially like my ornaments, in particular, my Jets and Eagles ornaments.

Eight Christmases ago I ordered an Eagles ornament from Danbury Mint, and every year (springtime, I think) I get the new year's ornament. Then I put it away and wait until December, when I enjoy adorning my tree with my ornaments.


However, this year has been different. The Eagles have been terrible. As in they suck, they suck really bad, and each game they find new ways to suck. If they suck so bad, how can I be enthusiastic about putting their ornaments on my tree?

Yes, I know you should be loyal to your team through thick and thin, and I am. But I cannot simply do my usual ornament thing without making a statement.

The Solution:
As we all know, the American flag flown upside down is a sign of distress. And distress is what I would call the Eagle's situation this year (as of this writing they are ahead of the Miami Dolphins, but I don't care. I'm not watching it). So I have decided to display my Eagles ornaments on the tree, upside down, as a sign of protest against a team in distress.










Maybe next year will be different. And maybe next year I will find my lost Vinny Testaverde ornament :(

A Closer Look at Rick Perry's Video "Strong"

Perry's homophobic video, "Strong", has overtaken Rebecca Black's "Friday" for the record of YouTube "dislikes", at 535,249 and rising as of this writing.

Pick's Place has done a closer examination of "Strong" and found some subliminal messages. Rick may not be as homophobic as we think.

In fact, Rick actually supports marriage equality:





Here Rick shows us a sample from his music collection:

Candace Gingrich may be an Obama supporter, but she still {{hearts}} Rick:

While Fox may be Rick's favorite TV station, he still likes to Lean Forward with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow:

Somewhere in Heaven, Harvey Milk is smiling at Rick:

Do you have any  of your own? Email them to jrpickens@gmail.com and we'll post them.