Chanticleer Calls Index

INDEX OF CHANTICLEER CALLS TOPICS, 1999-2003 From 1999 into 2003, I published 34 issues of an online collection of observations, homilies, and lessons learned I called Chanticleer Calls. The name was inspired by Thoreau’s self-aware mission statement in his book Walden: I do not propose to write an ode to dejection, but to brag as lustily … Read more

Chanticleer #34

March 24, 2003 FRYING SPAM As one who receives more than his share of spam, and probably has less patience with it than most, I have decided to stop distributing Chanticleer Calls via email. Unsolicited email, or “spam,” passed my personal obnoxious threshold long ago. Recently, PC Magazine featured a cover story on it. PBS … Read more

Chanticleer #33

December 23, 2002 “NOT FOR SALE” PAMPA, Texas (February 1965) – I’m a 5th grader at Stephen F. Austin elementary school in Pampa. My daddy is the band director at Pampa High School. They just had two big concerts last month with a famous trumpet player from the “Tonight Show” on TV. His nickname is … Read more

Chanticleer Calls #32

November 19, 2002 CLARIFICATION: The Role of “Rolls” Last month’s Chanticleer Calls introduced a new ‘award’ program in which I recognized outstanding achievements in generating, or perpetuating, crap. (This initiative was initiated after I came across an anecdote in which Ernest Hemingway reportedly stated that the one essential ingredient for someone to become a “great … Read more

Chanticleer #31

October 8, 2002 “Chanticleer Calls”, an aperiodic newsletter for discriminating readers, thinkers, feelers, speakers, listeners, and cogitators. HEMINGWAY ON GREAT WRITERS AND CRAP DETECTORS In the course of preparing five presentations over the past month, I came across an interesting anecdote in the book, Teaching as a Subversive Activity, written by Neil Postman and Charles … Read more

Chanticleer #30

September 4, 2002 “Chanticleer Calls”, an aperiodic newsletter for discriminating readers, thinkers, feelers, speakers, listeners, and cogitators. GENERAL SEMANTICS IN THE FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM The “chance encounter” recounted in last month’s CCalls did indeed bear fruit in the form of a nice, 500-word article about the DFW Center for General Semantics in the August 13th … Read more

Chanticleer #29

I do not propose to write an ode to dejection, but to brag as lustily as chanticleer in the morning, standing on his roost, if only to wake my neighbors up.  Henry David Thoreau   August 5, 2002 “Chanticleer Calls”, an aperiodic newsletter for discriminating readers, thinkers, feelers, speakers, listeners, and cogitators. THE DFW CENTER … Read more

Chanticleer #28

I do not propose to write an ode to dejection, but to brag as lustily as chanticleer in the morning, standing on his roost, if only to wake my neighbors up.  Henry David Thoreau   June 1, 2001 “Chanticleer Calls”, an aperiodic newsletter for discriminating readers, thinkers, feelers, speakers, listeners, and cogitators. Graduation My daughter … Read more

Chanticleer Calls #27

I do not propose to write an ode to dejection, but to brag as lustily as chanticleer in the morning, standing on his roost, if only to wake my neighbors up.  Henry David Thoreau   April 24, 2001 “Chanticleer Calls”, an aperiodic newsletter for discriminating readers, thinkers, feelers, speakers, listeners, and cogitators. Cut the crap, … Read more

Chanticleer #26

I do not propose to write an ode to dejection, but to brag as lustily as chanticleer in the morning, standing on his roost, if only to wake my neighbors up.  Henry David Thoreau   March 26, 2001 “Chanticleer Calls”, a whenever-I-get-around-to-it newsletter for discriminating readers, thinkers, feelers, speakers, listeners, and cogitators. SEEING “The real … Read more