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NCAA Basketball Championship Versus Benjamin Franklin

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mso489

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,211
60,649
I can't believe I might skip the UNC/Kansas NCAA championship game for the Benjamin Franklin documentary, but I might do it. From a N.C. point of view, the UNC vs. Duke game was the game to see, with the lead changing 15 times, and Duke's Coach K. missing his chance at a last championship shot.

I either don't get that cable channel, or the service broke down with the demand in N.C. I thought it would be on broadcast.

I'm also a Benjamin Franklin fan, having read his autobiography, and also various books and articles about him, his scientific brilliance, his early adaptor role in abolition of slavery, and his turbulent personal life. He lived away from his wife for years as Ambassador to France, and opposed his son's royalist stance in the Revolution. In France, he was an unashamed celebrity impersonating a frontier rustic, and quite a ladies' man at an advanced age.

Ben was the one who said he loved older women because they were so appreciative.

Not an exemplary husband or father, but possibly the wisest and most intellectually mature of our founding fathers, being of an older generation than all the others. I may opt for Ben. I think I'd learn more.
 
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anotherbob

anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
16,948
31,779
46
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
frankly I'd skip it to watch paint dry. Even when I was into playing sports I just couldn't get into watching other people play a whole game.
A cute little book worth reading is "To Fart Proudly" which is a collection of humorous essays by Franklin including the advice that older woman make the best Mistress choice. From my understanding he was making fun of a popular style of "scientific paper" that was very popular at the time. And the thing is if you read some samples of those papers suddenly an essay about how we should work on making something to make farts smell nice makes a lot of sense, including how much it will improve society and reduce serious problems.
Apparently he invented electric kites. :)
 
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mso489

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,211
60,649
Franklin was definitely the most witty of the founders. Most of them took themselves very seriously. Franklin probably had one of the highest intelligences. He wasn't the son of wealth and was pretty much self-made.
 
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jpberg

jpberg

Lifer
Aug 30, 2011
3,281
7,827
mso489 said:
Franklin was definitely the most witty of the founders. Most of them took themselves very seriously. Franklin probably had one of the highest intelligences. He wasn't the son of wealth and was pretty much self-made.
Click to expand...
I’m hesitant to read the fate of those who pledged their Sacred Honor and then toss them off as sons of wealth.
Franklin was seventy, most of the rest were beginning the prime of life, and most were poorer as a result of the pledge, unlike Franklin.
Regardless, they were all responsible for the greatest experiment in freedom and liberty that the world will ever see.
Let’s not shortchange them.
 
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anotherbob

anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
16,948
31,779
46
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
jpberg said:
Regardless, they were all responsible for the greatest experiment in freedom and liberty that the world will ever see.
Let’s not shortchange them.
Click to expand...
At risk of starting something. I really find looking at them with their flaws and stupid human qualities and tendencies a lot more interesting and inspiring then to imagine them in a deified way. They were far from perfect, cause they were people. They did some crap things especially by our standards. And that's way more inspiring then that they could also try something new and get as much right and be as forward thinking as they were. Just me maybe. But I don't see anything wrong with being honest about our heros and their flaws. Neither end is the full story. There aren't that many saints and not that many pure devils lots of in betweens.
 
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mso489

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,211
60,649
jpberg, I'm not dissing the other founders at all. They each had unique characteristics that were essential in the situation. George Washington aged visibly during the War for Independence. No one else had the leadership traits that would have done the job of the first presidency. And so on, down the line. Some of the lesser know founders had special roles and talents. But Ben was unique and critical in bringing in the French on behalf of the colonies, which tilted the balance in the war. Ben scorned dueling, seeing it as a romantic self indulgence; alas, Hamilton did not.
 
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ssjones

ssjones

Moderator
Staff member
May 11, 2011
19,089
13,328
Covington, Louisiana
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I heard Burns interviewed this AM on an XM Radio show, and the series sounded promising. But, I just got off the bike, still need to eat dinner, and it's starting - so, it is being recorded. I'll pass on the basketball game, perhaps only the last five minutes, if it is close.
 
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