Monday Meme: How I Look In My Social Media Profile Pictures

The Life & Death Of Captain George Daniel Wallace (1849 - 1890)

Captain George D. Wallace (1849-1890)
taken sometime in the 1880s while he was a
member of the U.S. 7th Cavalry.
Photo courtesy of the U.S. Dept. of Archives.

 

George Daniel Wallace was born on Friday, June 29, 1849 in York County, South Carolina, the youngest son of South Carolina State House of Representative and later Republican U.S. Congressman Alexander Stuart Wallace (1810-1893) and Nancy Lee Ratchford Wallace (1810-1883).  

The Wallace family immigrated from County Tyrone (Modern-day Northern Ireland, U.K.) in 1773. George Wallace's grandfather, McCasland Wallace (1773-1862), had been born on the boat ride on the North Atlantic. The family, like many other Irish and Ulster-Scots families, migrated to what was then the British North American Southern colonies via the Great Wagon Road just prior to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) and settled on a farm along Turkey Creek in modern-day York County, South Carolina.

His father, Alexander Wallace, served several terms in the South Carolina State House of Representatives (1852-1855, 1858-1859), but resigned when South Carolina seceded from the Union in December of 1860. Being a staunch Unionist, he vehemently opposed secession despite himself being a slaveowner (he apparently owned at least four slaves according to 1850 census records). Alexander Wallace retired to his farm in York County until the end of the War Between The States (1861-1865).

His oldest son, Robert McCaslan Wallace (1837-1902), would serve in the Confederate army in the Western Theater and achieve the rank of Colonel. Another family member, James Wylie Ratchford, would become a Major and serve on the staff of Generals Daniel Harvey Hill and Stephen D. Lee, C.S.A. The younger George Wallace was 11 years old when the war began and would not serve.

In April of 1865, at the age of 15, young George Wallace witnessed the flight of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his escort through York County from the front porch of his family's home and the end of the bloody struggle.

Following the end of the War, Alexander Wallace was again elected to the S.C. House from 1865-1866. He would run for the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican in 1868 and was elected four times, serving until the end of the Reconstruction Era in 1877 when he again retired to his farm.

It was during this time that young George Wallace, now 19-years-old, was accepted to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York on Tuesday, September 1, 1868. He would graduate 9th in his class of 57 fellow cadets (Class of 1872) on Friday, June 14, 1872, just over two weeks shy of his 22nd birthday.

Upon graduation and being commissioned a U.S. Army 2nd Lieutenant, Wallace would begin his military career by joining Company G of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer's famed U.S. 7th Cavalry which was then serving occupation duty and enforcing martial law in  Laurens County, South Carolina.

Not long after, Lieutenant Wallace and Company G of the 7th Cavalry were sent out west to Fort Abraham Lincoln in the Dakota Territory  (Modern-day U.S. State of North Dakota) to serve during their Yellowstone Expedition (Friday, June 20 - Tuesday, September 23, 1873).

A year later, 2nd Lieutenant Wallace would be appointed command of Indian Scouts during the 7th Cavalry's Black Hills Expedition (Thursday, July 2 - Sunday, August 30, 1874). He would then be stationed on detached duty in New Orleans, Louisiana from 1874 to 1876. 

Wallace would return to Fort Lincoln in May of 1876 and would participate with Custer and the 7th Cavalry in the Great Sioux War (or Black Hills War) of 1876. Lieutenant Wallace served in Company G under the command of Major Marcus A. Reno during Custer's campaign into the Black Hills. He would become Regimental Adjutant during this campaign.

Lieutenant George D. Wallace as a member
of the 7th U.S. Cavalry in 1872.
Photo courtesy of findagrave.com.

At only a few days shy of his 27th birthday, Wallace was present with the 7th Cavalry when the Battle of the Little Bighorn took place on Sunday, June 25, 1876 where Custer and three companies of his men (approximately 261 members of the 7th Cavalry) were outnumbered and subsequently slaughtered by the Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne. Wallace was with Major Reno several miles away, although Reno and his men were involved in their own running firefight with the Cheyenne at the time. Wallace survived the battle and was promoted to 1st Lieutenant and given command of Company G following the death of its previous commander, 1st Lieutenant Donald McIntosh.

First Lieutenant Wallace would later participate in the Nez Perce War of 1877 where Wallace was briefly involved in the pursuit of the Nez Perce tribe as they unsuccessfully fled toward Canada, and the Northern Cheyenne Campaign of 1878-1879.

Wallace would also testify at the Reno Court of Inquiry in Chicago, Illinois in January, 1879 convened by U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes on the conduct of Major Reno during the Little Bighorn Campaign. His testimony and those of other officers present helped to officially exonerate Reno of the charges of "cowardice" and abandoning Custer to his fate.

Some of the enlisted men in the 7th Cavalry suggested that the officers (Wallace included) coerced them to give a positive report of Reno at the time. Years later, Major Charles DeRudio (then 1st Lieutenant of Company A, 7th Cavalry) told historical researcher Walter Mason Camp "that there was a private understanding between a number of officers that they would do all they could to save Reno." Reno would always remain the object of public scorn by those who admired Custer.

The official record of the court of inquiry can be read HERE.

Lieutenant Wallace then served at the newly established Cavalry School in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in 1880 where he commanded Company K of the 7th Cavalry.

At 33 years old, Lieutenant George Wallace married then 22 year old Miss Caroline "Carrie" Mix Otis (1860-1942) on Thursday, October 12, 1882 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The couple would have two children -- a daughter that died in childbirth in 1883 and a surviving son, Otis Alexander Wallace (1889-1955) who would later serve as a U.S. Army Captain of artillery when the United States entered World War I in 1917.

On Wednesday, September 23, 1885, George Wallace was promoted and appointed Captain of Company L and would later take command of Company K in September of 1890.

In his final service with the 7th U.S. Cavalry, Captain Wallace was commanding Company K during what would be known to history as the Wounded Knee Massacre (or Battle of Wounded Knee) on Monday, December 29, 1890.

On the morning of December 29th U.S. troops led by Colonel James W. Forsyth of the 7th Cavalry surrounded a Lakota Sioux camp at Wounded Knee Creek (modern-day Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota) and went in with orders to disarm the Native Americas. During the process, a deaf Lakota tribesman named Black Coyote was reluctant to give up his rifle, claiming he had paid a lot for it. Black Coyote's rifle went off at that point accidentally and the troopers -- who had already been on edge -- began firing into the Lakota camp. The Lakota warriors fought back, but by that point many had already been disarmed.

At least 153 confirmed people of the Lakota tribe were killed and 51 wounded (4 men and 47 women and children, some of whom died later from their wounds). Some estimates placed the overall number of dead as high as 300. Twenty-five U.S. cavalrymen also were killed and 39 were wounded -- six of the wounded later died.

The burying of the Lakota dead in a common grave following the Wounded Knee Massacre on
December 29, 1890. At least 153 men, women, and children were slaughtered along with 25 U.S. soldiers.
Photo courtesy of the U.S. Library of Congress.

Of the 25 U.S. soldiers killed during the massacre Captain George D. Wallace was the only officer killed, having reportedly been shot in the stomach and the side of the head in the official records. He was 41 years old.

Some accounts suggested that Wallace might have been killed as a result of friendly fire (Company B and K were apparently deployed badly on the field when the firing started), while others maintain he was shot in the stomach and then hit over the head by an Indian "war club" with the latter being the fatal wound. He was reportedly found dead with his Colt revolver in his hand along with nine other fallen men from Company K and the bodies of several Lakota Sioux warriors.

Captain Wallace's body was sent to Fort Riley, Kansas in a wooden casket covered with the flag of Company K. From there was returned by train to South Carolina escorted by his brother, Colonel Robert Wallace, where he was buried with full military honors in the family plot at historic Rose Hill Cemetery in York on Tuesday, January 6, 1891.

He is buried beneath a beautifully carved headstone with a U.S. flag and crossed swords between the larger grave monuments of his parents and his older brother, the Confederate veteran, in the family plot.

His widow, Carrie, died on Thursday, April 9, 1942 in Bronxville, Westchester County, New York.

The Wallace Family Plot at Rose Hill Cemetery, York, South Carolina.
Included are the graves of Captain George D. Wallace in the center, his parents U.S. Representative
Alexander Wallace and Nancy Wallace on the left and his brother, C.S.A. Colonel Robert M. Wallace
on the right with Confederate Iron Cross marker.
Photos taken by the author of this blog.

The following sources of information were used for this article:

Custer's Southern officer: Captain George D. Wallace, 7th U.S. Cavalry by John D. MacKintosh (2002); ISBN-10 0615120520, ISBN-13 978-0615120522.

"Custodians of the Flag: The People Turn Out En-masse to do Honor to the Late Capt. George D. Wallace -- Eloquent Eulogies on the Flag, and on its Defender." Yorkville (South Carolina) Enquirer Wednesday, April 22, 1891, Pg. 1.

The South Carolina Department of Archives & History.

Find a Grave Memorial ID 5816415.

The Supergiant Stars Of The Constellation Orion

One of the most easily recognizable constellations in our night sky is Orion The Hunter, especially here in North America during the winter months. 

The constellation, made up of a quadrangle of four bright stars in our evening sky shaped like an hour glass with three additional evenly spaced stars making up the center (or belt), gives Orion its distinctive look. Although they look like tiny dots of light in our evening sky here on Earth, all of them are actually much larger than our own yellow Sun.

While the G-type main-sequence star that inhabits the center of our own Solar System seems huge -- and make no mistake it is compared to the rest of the planets that orbits it -- next to the Constellation Orion stars, its relatively small in terms of scale and mass. 

Here are a few fun scientific facts about each of these bright stars.

Rigel (or Beta Orionis) is generally the seventh-brightest star in the night sky and the brightest star in Orion. Rigel is a spectral type B8Ia blue supergiant (BSG) star approximately 120,000 times as luminous as our own Sun and is 18 to 24 times as massive in scale.

It is the brightest and largest component of a star system of at least four stars that appear as a single blue-white point of light to the naked eye as seen here on Earth. The three smaller stars of this system are all blue-white main-sequence stars, each three to four times as massive as the Sun.

The Rigel system is located at a distance of approximately 860 light-years (or 260 parsecs) from the Sun.

Betelgeuse (or Alpha Orionis) is a red supergiant star that is the second-brightest star in the constellation, and the tenth-brightest star in the night sky. It is also the largest star in Orion with an estimated radius between 640 and 764 times that of the Sun -- which would roughly be the distance between the center of our Sun to the somewhere between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter!

Betelgeuse lies about 642 light-years (or 197 parsecs) from our Solar System. Because Betelgeuse is a red supergiant, while it is much larger and closer to us than Rigel, it burns less brightly due to the late stage of its celestial lifespan.

Size comparison of Betelgeuse and Rigel compared to our Sun
and other stars.

Bellatrix (or Gamma Orionis) is the third-brightest star in Orion, and typically the 25th-brightest star in our night sky. Bellatrix is a B2 III-type giant star about six time the size of our own yellow Sun, and located about 244 light-years (or 75 parsecs) from the Sun, making Bellatrix the closest of the Orion constellation stars to our Solar System.

Saiph (or Kappa Orionis) is the other blue supergiant star that makes up the forth star in the constellation's main quadrangle. It is the sixth-brightest star in Orion with an estimated distance of about 650 light-years (or 200 parsecs) from the Sun.

Orion's Belt is one of the most recognizable asterisms in the night sky and easily one of the most easily identifiable parts of the constellation Orion consisting of three bright stars nearly equally spaced in a line in our night sky as seen from our vantage point here on Earth. Although they appear close to each other in the night sky, they are at varying distances some of the farthest Orion stars from our Solar System and each other.

Alnitak (or Zeta Orionis), the easternmost star in Orion's Belt, is a triple star system approximately 1,260 light-years (or 486 parsecs) from our Solar System. The primary star, Alnitak Aa, is a hot blue supergiant and the brightest Class O star in our night sky. It has two companion stars: Ab and B. It's the fifth brightest star in Orion and the 31st brightest star in the night sky.

Alnilam (or Epsilon Orionis), the central star in Orion's Belt, is a massive blue supergiant around 1,344 light-years (or 412 parsecs) making it the farthest Orion star from our Solar System. Its the brightest of the three stars in Orion's Belt and the fourth-brightest star in the Orion constellation. Alnilam is also the 29th-brightest star in our night sky and about 40 times the mass of our own Sun.

Mintaka (or Delta Orionis), the westernmost star, is located about 1,240 light-years (or 380 parsecs) from our Solar System and is closest to the celestial equator. It is a multiple-star system composed of three spectroscopic components of about six stars, the main one being a Class O blue supergiant star similar to Alnitak Aa.

The stars of Orion's Belt are several times more massive than the sun and thousands of times brighter. Combined, the ten stars of these three systems possess a luminosity approximately 970,000 times that of our own Sun!

 

The size of the Orion Belt stars compared to our own Sun.

One more fun fact for all you amateur stargazers out there is that you can actually use these stars of Orion as a guide to locating other stars and nearby constellations. Please be sure to check out my previous blog post on the subject HERE.

Southern Fried Nostalgia & Fandom: Hey Arnold! Episode Review -- Arnold's Valentine (1997)

 

Arnold's Valentine is the 25th episode of the 1st season of Nickelodeon's Hey Arnold! animated television series. The episode was written by series writers Rachel Lipman (who wrote many first season episodes) and late writer and series co-developer Steven Viksten (1960-2014) and directed by Jamie Mitchell. The episode premiered on Nickelodeon on Wednesday, February 12, 1997 and again on Friday, February 14th, 1997 -- St. Valentine's Day at 8:00 p.m. EST. Run time of 24 minutes.

The special episode is the second holiday episode of season one following Arnold's Christmas (Season 1, Episode 20), Arnold's Valentine also serves as the culmination of the season one story arc concerning the title character's season-long unrequited crush on a 6th grade girl named Ruth which began in the episode Operation Ruthless (Season 1, Episode 7a) -- the latter episode also having been written by Viksten and Lipman respectively.

This episode holds some special significance for yours truly that I discussed in a previous blog post.

It aired on the same day I graduated from U.S. Navy boot camp -- Friday, February 14, 1997. At the time I was in a hotel room with another graduate and my Grandmother Carolyn (God rest her soul!), who'd made the bus trip from South Carolina to Great Lakes, Illinois to see me graduate and visit for the weekend.

While I was visiting and eating Pepperoni and mushroom pizza and drinking Dr. Pepper (the first real junk food I'd had in about 9 weeks!) the episode came on television replayed from two days before when it premiered on Nickelodeon and I found myself totally immersed in it while my grandmother and shipmate were talking about his family.

Now, as I mentioned in a previous blog post, I'd begun watching Hey Arnold! casually when the first season began, but didn't really have time to get into the series too deeply before shipping off to Great Lakes in December of 1996 -- three months after the first season began. When I saw it again upon graduation, the first episode I'd seen was Arnold's Valentine, and I was taken with the story elements of the episode. 

It's also probably my second all-time favorite Valentine's Day story in animation behind Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown (1975) from childhood -- which I will probably do a nostalgic review of at some point down the road.

I watch the episode as a yearly tradition on, or close to, Valentine's Day. Yep, just me sitting in my living room chair in my pajamas and a bowl of popcorn in front of the television....also pretty much my normal February 14th tradition, alas. 

Anyhow, without further ado, let's get this nostalgic review started.

The Story

The episode beings on St. Valentine's Day (February 14th) at P.S. 118 where our two main protagonists, Arnold and Helga are both admiring their mutual crushes from afar: Arnold smiling as 6th grader Ruth McDougal passed in the hallway -- and still completely oblivious to the fact he even exists; and Helga smiling from her desk as Arnold walks past her entering the 4th grade classroom.

The students are assigned by their teacher, Miss Slovak (voiced by the talented Miss Tress MacNeille), to make Valentine cards for someone that's important or special to them. Helga tries to make one for Arnold, but her wording never seems to come out right and becomes more and more hostile due to her insecurities (example: Arnold, be my Valentine, or I'll pound you!) until finally she becomes discouraged by the whole thing.

Arnold meanwhile crafted a beautifully made Valentine card on which he invites Ruth to dinner at Chez Pierre, a really fancy downtown French restaurant. His best friend, Gerald, claims that Arnold has some guts....only for Arnold to sign the card "Anonymous" and second-guess himself. Helga overhears the conversation between the two and grumbles annoyed to herself over how superficial Ruth is -- and mostly the fact she's a sixth grader. 

Arnold seems to have a weakness for older girls and women; a point that continues to crop up a few more times throughout the run of the series.

Miss Slovak then starts handing out postcards from the students' pen-pals, including a sad little postcard from Helga's pen-pal begging for money. When she laments that she never gets fancy gifts from her pen-pal (unlike Rhonda who got gourmet chocolates from her Italian pen-pal), Miss Slovak offers some words of wisdom to Helga, "Sometimes the most beautiful gift can come in the plainest box." Remember this line because this is important later on.

Before she can next give Arnold a letter from his French pen-pal, a girl named Cecile, the bell rings for recess. In the fact she was about to hand it out to Arnold, who was ready to take it, Miss Slovak returns the letter to the bag to finish giving them out after recess -- this detail (despite making no sense at all) will shortly be important in moving the plot forward.

At recess, Arnold practices some slick ninja skills as he slips his card for Ruth in with her other Valentine cards when she's not paying attention. When she picks it up and reads it, she apparently does show some genuine interest.

A simple hello might have been just as good, Arnold.

Meanwhile, Helga gets an idea on how she can express her feelings to Arnold. She sneaks back into the classroom and takes out Cecile's letter for Arnold, adding a P.S. saying that she is flying into town for one night and wants to meet him at another French restaurant, Chez Paris, tonight. She tells him to please come alone and don't make any other plans.

Later that afternoon when school lets out, Arnold is reading the letter and he becomes worried as to how he's supposed to go on two dates at the same time. The two of them walk to the restaurants, which just happen to be right next to each other.

Gerald suggests that he should simply get a table at both places and if Ruth didn't show up (which Gerald was pretty sure wouldn't happen) then Arnold would be okay, but if she somehow did, then Arnold could make up some excuse to go across to the other restaurant. Arnold -- probably out of desperation and seeing no other way out -- agrees to this plan.

In the next scene between Gerald and Arnold as they are walking to the Sunset Arms Boarding House, Gerald asks his best friend what he knows about Ruth when Arnold asks what he should even say to her. When Arnold is forced to admit that he really doesn't know much about her, just that he likes her for a bunch of superficial reasons, Gerald laments that this is going to be harder than he thought.

Throughout the whole of season one of Hey Arnold! our football-headed protagonist has never once actually spoken to, or had any personal interaction with Ruth, other than seeing her seemingly smiling at him as they crossed paths with her wide, brace-faced smile on a few occasions. His crush on Ruth is based solely on what he sees as his idolized version of a lovely girl....or rather as much attraction as a 9-year-old can have with an 11-year-old.

On a personal note, at age nine, I was more obsessed with the original G-1 Transformers cartoon television series, 80s slasher horror films, and professional wrestling personalities. I wouldn't start noticing the opposite sex for at least four more years.

The writers for Hey Arnold! tended to treat their 4th grade characters more like young adults on occasions depending on the circumstances, sometimes contrasting the fact most of the children in the series were more seemingly mature than the adults around them behaved at times. This would also explain how, later in the episode, these 9 to 11-year-old kids can reserve tables at fancy French restaurants and be out late at night with no adult supervision -- in a major American city no less!

Meanwhile, Helga prepares for her own date with Arnold by rushing home and raiding her older sister's room for tapes on learning to speak French -- which she copies rather badly. She also seeks out and finds the most French-looking outfit from her sister's closet to alter. Later she goes to a salon to get her hair done in some French style -- not realizing that the salon was actually meant for dogs and getting her pigtails done up in a French poodle style and making her look totally ridiculous but certainly not like she usually looks so mission accomplished.

Back in Arnold's room Gerald attempts to coach Arnold on his date, to apparent success as Arnold delivers a small speech to give to Ruth to say how much he likes her and wanted her to know it. It even moves Gerald to tears a little. Then Arnold gets dressed up in his tuxedo and Gerald volunteers to sit at a bench between both restaurants to serve as lookout in case Ruth arrives.

Back at the Pataki household, Helga gets ready for her catfish date with Arnold, dressing up and delivering a monologue about finally getting Arnold out of the clutches of "that sixth grade yo-yo" and being able to express her true feelings for Arnold with no risk since she will be in disguise.

Then Helga ends this monologue with the bold remark, "Nothing can go wrong now." -- a dreaded phrase that's pretty much the equivalent of saying, "I'll be right back" in a slasher film, meaning she's inviting some negative karma on her well laid plan.

In the next brief scene we see a plane coming in for a landing with the real Cecile and her parents flying into the city from France, to make a surprise visit to see Arnold that very same day....uh oh.

Thus ending the first half of the episode.

The second half of the episode finds Arnold at Chez Paris sitting at a candlelit table near a large window waiting for his first date. Gerald is sitting on a bench outside between both restaurants pretending to read a paper, and gives Arnold a thumbs-up that Arnold returns.

Helga arrives as "Cecile" in her "frou-frou" hairdo, red high-heels, and the most French-looking outfit she could find in her sister's wardrobe, that she apparently altered enough to show off her....uh, curves? 

Yeah, I never understood how a nine-year-old somehow has
feminine curves. It didn't make sense the first time I saw it either.

After slipping in her heels and needing help from Arnold, the latter remarks that she didn't look much like her photograph, which he holds out showing the actual Cecile. Helga promptly takes it from him and rips it up muttering something about a mix-up. Arnold also notices that her French accent is more American, to which she acts like its a complement.

It was then that Arnold says, "There's just something about you. I feel like I know you already." Helga begins to panic until Arnold adds the he meant from Cecile's letters.

How Arnold can't tell that this girl is full of it, and more so that she's Helga is the comedy gold of the whole scene. I just assume that its the fact her hairstyle now covers her left eye giving here Clark Kent-level disguise powers....that or our Football-head hero is just really dense. Or both?

Arnold asks her about her life in France curiously, causing Helga to go on about Paris being quite a city. This confuses Arnold who mentioned she lived on a farm in the Loire Valley.

Yeah Helga, you probably should have read the rest of the letter and did a bit more background research before committing identity theft.

Helga deflects from this mistake asking about Arnold and what his school is like. Before he can go into details, a very snooty waiter appears to take their order. Arnold just asks for a hamburger, which causes both the waiter and everyone else in the fancy French restaurant to gasp and look his way like he just farted in church.

Mr Snooty Waiter tells Arnold (in what I'm pretty sure is a fake French accent that he probably drops the moment he gets back to his apartment after work) that, "Chez Paris does not serve, le-amburger." He recommends the Steak Tartare, which Arnold accepts. When he attempts to add to that, the waiter just looks at him and says, "You are finished with your order." What a dick!

When Helga orders, she just finds the most French-sounding thing on the menu. Mr. Snooty Waiter complements Helga on her refined taste before departing. When Arnold asks what she ordered, she only deflects saying that she didn't know how to say it in English and that they have it all the time back home in France.

Well, at least she did not order the first one!

As Helga begins to talk to Arnold -- about the shape of his head of all things -- Ruth appears at the window outside next to Chez Pierre next door and Arnold goes all foggy and the Jazz music plays in his mind. He promptly excuses himself awkwardly to go to the restroom and leaves to go greet Ruth.

After an entire season of never actually interacting, Arnold finally, FINALLY, gets to talk to Ruth directly. 

Ruth McDougal is voiced by the talented Lacey Chabert, who is best remembered as the voice of Eliza Thornberry in Nickelodeon's The Wild Thornberrys animated series and the original voice for Meg Griffin in the first season of Family Guy. This is also the only time in the entire series where Ruth actually has a speaking role, rather than serving as a background character.

For her part Ruth seems to barely care about Arnold's presence as she asks about reservations with "Mr. A-non-y-mos." Yes, that's how she pronounces it, even having to look at the Valentine card to remember the name. Yeesh.

She needs to actually look at the Valentine to remember
"Anonymous"? Dude, that should be red flag number one!

Arnold escorts her to an outside table and asks if she wants anything. After saying she'll have a soda. Gerald -- still sitting nearby -- whispers to Arnold reminding him of his other date. He excuses himself to go back to Chez Paris. Once he leaves a busboy comes over and asks Ruth if she wants anything to drink, to which Ruth replies somewhat confused, "I just gave my order to that other busboy."

Oh crap.

Meanwhile, back at their table inside the other restaurant, Helga is practicing trying to tell Arnold that she loves him, but has as much luck saying it to herself as she did earlier trying to write it on her Valentine Day card.

Arnold returns, making an excuse about the line at the bathroom. Helga decides to go right for the throat, asking him if there's any girl he likes at his school. Arnold considers the question and then he kinda mentions Helga, who he says kinda bugs him sometimes. Not really the answer she was looking for and Helga almost blows her cover when Arnold tries to explain what "bugs" means.

I hope neither of them left this jerk a tip!

Fortunately their food arrives, sparing Helga from another failed attempt to confess her feelings for him. She promptly digs in enjoying her pink-looking mushy food, that is until Mr. Snooty Waiter comments that not many of their younger customers appreciates "le-cow brains and eggs" -- which is probably the closest thing Chez Paris has to "le-amburger." Upon hearing that Helga gets up quickly and runs to the bathroom to barf, causing her hair to come undone for some reason.

Arnold uses this unexpected opportunity to rush back to Chez Pierre and Ruth, who said that she already got a soda from the other busboy. Arnold realizes she mistook him for a waiter and then sits down and starts to explain, asking if she wonders who Anonymous was. Ruth replies, somewhat annoyed that everyone knew who Anonymous was, that he was some sort of famous poet that they read about in class.

Yeah, you get the idea right then that this girl is a complete airhead and she's a few pounds light. However, despite this, Arnold suggests they talk a bit and get acquainted. Ruth responds indifferent, saying okay but once Anonymous shows up, he'll have to go. Ouch.

We cut back to Helga briefly, who is walking back to their table. Dress and shirt wrinkled and no longer showing off those impossible curves, and hair now loose -- though her Clark Kent-level bangs are still covering her left eye. Once back she realizes she's alone and stands getting ready to leave disappointed, thinking Arnold had abandoned her.

Then we cut back to Arnold, who looks completely bored and disappointed as Ruth, his crush, the sixth-grader that he admired for afar for a whole season goes on-and-on about herself and superficial things like how some other girl copied her hairstyle. Gerald nearby waves him over pointing to the window where Helga is standing up and getting ready to leave. Arnold quickly excuses himself from Ruth -- who is still babbling -- and rushes back to Helga before she can leave.

What happens next is probably one of the more touching scenes of the whole episode and why I personally love Hey Arnold! as a series.

Arnold sits at the table and opens up to Helga, telling her about how he thought he liked this one girl, but found out when he got to know her that the two of them had nothing in common. Helga responds sincerely that maybe she wasn't the girl for him, that the one for him might be someone he didn't expect. She then repeats the same line that Miss Slovak told her earlier in the episode: "After all the most beautiful gift can come in the plainest box."

You really feel in this scene that Helga was being open and honest when speaking to Arnold. She no longer tries to put in that fake-sounding French accent and just speaks to him in a soft, sincere way. Even her disguise falling apart with her long blonde hair now loose and hanging over one eye feels more natural somehow -- a nice touch there.

Arnold accepts that maybe she is right and then confesses to Helga that he was really glad she came and that he's having a really good time with her. This surprises Helga who responds that she feels the same, then actually manages to say that she really likes Arnold and then asks if he likes her back.

There's a long moment where Arnold looks down at their hands, which are close to each other on the small table, just inches apart. Arnold starts to reach for it, but then remembers that he has to deal with his other date -- if only to explain things and say goodbye to his now former crush -- and excuses himself one last time to take care of it. He briefly touches her hand before departing, leaving Helga smiling as she leans on the table.

The entire scene is beautifully done with the pair sitting between a candle-lit table and a guy playing a violin in the background. The music for the scene is just absolutely amazing all thanks to series composer Jim Lang's amazing romantic score. Both Arnold and Helga's young voice actors (Lane Toran and Francesca Smith -- who were both 13 and 11 respectively when they played the roles) do an absolutely wonderful job conveying the emotions of both characters in this scene.

"Say, did you do something different with your hair?"

Ruth meanwhile found herself getting closer with the busboy at Chez Pierre who also happens to like the same superficial things she enjoys: chewing gum, bread sticks and Ruth's hair -- truly the greatest foundation for forming a new relationship if there ever was one.

Arnold returns, only for Ruth to inform him that they were about to leave together, and he can go ahead and clear the plates. Dude....really?! Arnold is clearly not old enough to be a busboy.

Also, I'm pretty sure if that busboy is actually old enough to get employment at a restaurant, then he's way too old to be going out with a 6th grader. Again Ruth clearly isn't the sharpest knife in the draw.

She's all yours, buddy.

Its about this time that Helga looks out the window and sees Arnold talking to Ruth, and is understandably upset. She takes off those ankle-spraining high heels and stops out of Chez Paris and demands to know what's going on. She slams her heels on the ground to emphasis that yeah, she's pissed off.

Arnold tries to explain, but Helga cuts him off with a finger to his nose, saying, "If there's one thing I can't stand its someone not being completely honest about who they are!"

Right on cue, a French-accented voice behind Helga asks for Arnold, saying she was Cecile -- leading to shock on Helga's part and confusion on Arnold's. Miss Hypocrite begins to babble and Cecile asks Arnold what is going on....yeah, like he's got a clue.

Surprise Arnold, the real Cecile has arrived. Gerald....help!

Thankfully, Gerald makes his presence known and comes to the rescue, saying that he's Arnold and offers to take Cecile to a local hamburger joint down the street -- which Cecile happily accepts.

You see, Mr. Snooty Waiter, she's French and she likes "le-amburger" you stuck-up prick!

Gerald and Cecile walk away arm-in-arm leaving two very awkward kids standing there on the cobblestones. Helga remarks that its been a crazy night, which Arnold agrees with. She bends to pick up her shoes, only to have Arnold pick up the other one and look at it before asking, "There's one thing I still don't understand, who are you?"

The fake Cecile finally responds that she can't tell him, but doesn't give an excuse why. Arnold accepts this and then asks, "Will I ever see you again?" At this Helga smiles and says, "Oh, probably."

Arnold takes her hand and tells her this has been the best Valentine's Day he's ever had. Helga agrees and then says she has to go. Then, in a line right out of  the 1942 film Casablanca, Arnold says, "Well, we'll always have Chez Paris" before smoothly kissing her hand. Helga lets out a small sigh and says, "Au revoir, Arnold."

"Later football-head....er, I mean, Au revoir, Arnold."

 

This is an another touching scene between these two characters.

Certainly Arnold is curious about who his mysterious dinner date actually is.

It was established in an earlier episode of the series The Little Pink Book (Season 1, Episode 6a) that Arnold has a secret admirer with a major crush on him. Even as dense as Arnold is he has to know this must be the same girl who wrote the poems about him.

Yet, rather than pry any further, Arnold chooses to respect her privacy and allows her to say goodbye with her secret intact.

Helga in turn also seems to forgive Arnold for his own deception in seeing Ruth behind her back on their date. She does so, not just because she'd also been deceiving him; but because, in spite of everything, Arnold still holds her heart and she cannot stay mad at him for long.

The fact that the two of them actually enjoyed each other's company in spite of everything was also a good thing. Helga's "au revoir" (French for goodbye till next time) is her way of confirming to him that yes, he will see her again....next day in class, duh!

As Helga walks away holding onto one of her red shoes, Helga wonders if it was her that Arnold liked, or the her she acted like when she was pretending to be Cecile -- which by the way is a good question, but one that won't be answered for some time in the series.

The final scene shows Arnold walking home and standing at the top of the stairs in front of the open doorway holding Helga's other shoe and looking up at the night sky overhead wondering who his secret admirer actually was as the ending credits begin.

I wonder who she was? Also, that waiter was such a dick!

My Thoughts

Arnold's Valentine is a great special episode of the series, and certainly one of my favorites in terms of the story arc regarding the relationship between the two main protagonists, Arnold and Helga.

For many fans who enjoy the relationship arc, this episode is really one of the first indications -- if only subtly -- that Helga's feelings for Arnold run deeper than just some crush, and that Arnold might actually like Helga back romantically.

In point of fact, the creator of the show, Craig Bartlett, has stated in interviews with fans that Arnold and Helga are in fact soulmates.

There would be others in scenes throughout the next four seasons of the series and these would build on this and expand on the nature of why Helga loves Arnold in the first place. Seasons four and five have some especially great moments between the two characters.

The build up and the story arc itself is done very well for a series that is allegedly developed for kids and written so beautifully that people into their young adulthood can get into the story.

In fact, the emotional investment in this story has inspired a large number of fanfiction stories and fan artwork on over a hundred fan sites throughout the decades, and continues to do so today in spite of the series long since ending. Not just from teenagers, but also from people in their 20s and even 30s who enjoyed this cult classic animated series.

It would take an entire series of five seasons and two movies (about 20 years after the series actually premiered in fact!) before the Hey Arnold! fandom would get a definitive answer to the question: Do Arnold and Helga end up together?

Spoiler alert: Yes they do!

Anyhow I hope y'all enjoyed my Southern Fried Nostalgic & Fandom review of this Valentine's Day episode. Please let me know in the comments below if you've seen it and what you thought.

Night Sky Photography -- 02-10-2025 -- Mars & Jupiter Seen Through The Clouds

Good evening, fellow stargazers!

Well my friends, due to cloudy and rainy conditions forecasted for this week I am uncertain if I will be able to capture any photos of the second Full Moon of the year (the Full Snow Moon) -- which falls on Wednesday, February 12th -- which will be lined up with the Constellation Leo The Lion and its brightest star Regulus closest to Luna.

Still, I went outside early last evening and could barely see the Waxing Gibbous Moon's silhouette and Luna's glorious shine through the breaks in the clouds. The early buds on the tree limbs overhead show that (six more weeks of winter, or not) spring was ready to arrive here in the South Carolina Piedmont. I did however notice that those clouds were moving fast and between them I got glimpses of the planets Mars and Jupiter near the Moon. 

I quickly retrieved my camera and set up my tripod and captured two absolutely gorgeous shots of both "wandering stars" through the clouds.

The first photo shows the two planets glowing brightly with Luna's glow through the tree and clouds nearby -- Mars its small dull orange-red and Jupiter a bright white. In the second photo I captured some of the brightest nearby stars through the cloud cover overhead: the twins Castor and Pollux near Mars, large red Aldebaran near Jupiter, along with Capella, Elnath, and Procyon nearby.

I hope y'all enjoyed my photographic offerings for the evening. I hope to have some more night sky photos soon. I will still hope for clear skies to capture the moment, but if I'm unable be sure to check the skies where y'all live and look for Regulus next to the Full Snow Moon on Wednesday.

Monday Meme: Superbowl I VIII VI IV

Let us pray there is never another one this bloody.

Monday Meme: Grocery Store Humor 02 -- Boneless Chicken

Various North American Birds In My Back Yard Feeder

 

Here are some of the photos I took of the lovely North American birds feeding in my back yard over the course of the last day of January and first day of February 2025. These include: Cardinals, Sparrows, Thrashers, Chickadees, Mourning Doves, and Finches -- all of which are common here in the Carolinas during this time of year here in the American South.