Brian Wilson's Backporch: Review and Commentary of I Am Brian Wilson by Peter Reum

In this time of cynicism and looking flippant, this official biography emerges. It offers a counterpoint to the Rock Stars who died at age 27 biographies that seem to be pervasive in this era where the worshipping of deceased Rock Stars is all too common.

Brian Wilson has been a person whose work in his role of leading the Beach Boys has been finally been recognized and appreciated. At age 25, Brian effectively stopped the compulsive perfectionism that today makes the Beach Boys' Capitol Records catalog unmatched sonically in American popular music. The role of genius, tossed about like autumn leaves in the wind, has been attached to Brian since the release of Pet Sounds and Good Vibrations 50 years ago. The acclaim that Brian's best work has received is tempered by the stigma of his mental health issues.

The role of mental health issues taints public perception of Brian and his music. That Brian and his wife Melinda have chosen to discuss his mental health and act as ambassadors to the world at large regarding mental health is a commendable and important decision. In reading the press and viewing programs that feature Brian's mental health as a subject to feature when discussing his music, it seems that the two roles are fused together without the recognition that the two facets of his life are just small pieces of him as a human being.

Brian's "gift" of music composition and recording is one he has used to share his view of his world with the public. His mental health history is a facet of his life that has been hard to separate from his public image. It is apparent in reading this autobiography, completed with the assistance of Ben Greenman, that Brian did not have the desire to write this book himself. Given that Brian is the last person alive in his childhood family it is quite understandable that reflection about them could be emotionally very painful. What makes this book special is the way it is organized, and the fact that Brian very effectively communicated his personal view of the world and his disability.

I am very impressed by the format that this book is presented. According to published reviews and press releases, Brian was able to speak with Mr. Greenman about 12 times for an hour each time. The interviews were done by phone, with Brian able to be at his home rather than a hotel. For a person who is introverted socially, this accommodation was excellent.

As a researcher, I have often been  given the task of dredging up statistics and applying them to various reports. While most research is presented in this manner, employing statistical reporting with unbiased interpretation of data results, there is another type of research that is valuable when statistical research will not yield useable results. Qualitative Research is a method used to interview subjects and then attempts to find recognizable themes within the interviews themselves. Used most prominently in ethnographic research, it yields a rich body of interview material in thematic content that can then be interpreted, categorized thematically, reported, and then published.

Because Brian is a person with a great deal of traumatic history, Mr. Greenman wisely used qualitative methods to gather the interview material that became this book. Over what sounds like approximately twelve hours of time, open ended questions yielded a rich and meaningful body of information used to assemble I Am Brian. Mr. Greenman undoubtedly spent many hours combing this rich amount of autobiographical reflection that Brian shared with him. The thematic categories, e.g. Home, etc.,  that Mr. Greenman identified allowed him to present Brian's reflections in a set of themes that made the book seem like conversation over a beer on Brian's back porch. Given that Brian is averse to sharing personal information with most interviewers, the distance between Mr. Greenman as interviewer in New York and Brian as interview subject in Los Angeles worked exceptionally well.

Brian and his wife Melinda have a relationship that is strong and supportive. People who visit their home seem to usually comment on how busy and loud the environment is. There are three younger children and two daughters who are now young adults. There are people who assist Brian when he is touring, and at home there are Melinda, Gloria, and perhaps a person who helps with childcare. Brian seems to have set routines that he employs at home and when touring. His descriptions of his life while at home and when playing concerts in this book are enlightening.

The role of long term friends who support Brian emotionally is critical. Several people are identified who love Brian as a friend and enter his life when needed, and are available for calls when Brian needs some advice and/or support. If I read this book accurately, Brian has days where the voices in his head are frightening for him and dominate his conscious mind. However, the hustle and bustle of his home, and the variety of things he can occupy his time with are plentiful. I have read several interviews where Brian has mentioned the Twelve Steps of various addiction support groups as helpful.  What  Brian terms as Spirituality is reflected in his music, and has been there since the early Beach Boys albums. Brian has worked hard in his life to empathize with people in his history who are or were difficult for him to handle. The reflections he makes with respect to his father, Murry, show a high degree of reflection and empathy. The role of shame in his life has receded. His grief at being the last person alive from his childhood family is palpable. Ironically, his mother is not as prominent in his reflections. It would be interesting to know why. She was his confidante when he was a young adult.

The complications related to having immediate family and their families to support financially at such a young age emerge only as passing reflections in this book. The fact that over 25 people were dependent upon Brian for a living when he was in his early twenties seems to have taken a toll on him. His withdrawal from touring was gradual, and his nervous collapse in that airplane flying to Houston was directly related to the load he carried as a songwriter, producer, and performer. It did not help that he was being privately and publically shamed by Murry on a regular basis. Brian mentions the eight page letter his dad wrote, and the mixed emotions that were present whenever Murry made contact. The physical abuse Brian suffered was a direct result of Murry's being physically abused by his father. That Brian vowed not to hit his children and kept that vow is remarkable. That Murry is interred in Whittier and Audree and Carl are interred West Los Angeles speaks louder in silence than any disagrrement while Murry was alive.

Therapists use the term "double-bind" to describe a life situation that has no hope of favorable resolution. Murry had his black belt in slinging double-binds at Brian. He shamed Brian in nearly every encounter they had, and yet Murry was totally dependent upon Brian and the other Beach Boys for the bread on his table. That Brian has a realistic understanding of his father's "racket" is quite remarkable.

Perhaps the most complicated relationship with anyone who is still alive for Brian is his relationship to Michael Love. There seems to be a degree of protective separation that Mr. Love's family and Brian's family have decided to employ. Recently, there was an excellent interview with Mr. Love in which he was able to state the sadness both men probably feel about their current relationship with each other. Brian, in this book, reflects on the pain and the sadness he feels after the early Nineties lawsuit that Mr. Love initiated, and the decision to end the 50th Anniversary Reunion Tour to return to Mr. Love's Beach Boys ensemble minus Alan Jardine and Brian. Money seems to have come between all of the Beach Boys, not just Brian and Mr. Love, from the early Sixties onward. Perhaps Brian and Mr. Love can come together with the surviving Beach Boys and their band members to play one show for the benefit of both men's choosing. This might defuse the injured feelings from the 50th Anniversary reunion tour. The benefit for both men would be a reunion without the financial earning conflicts that have plagued The Beach Boys since the early Sixties. I can also envision the second generation, The Beach Boys' adult children, singing and playing at such a concert.

Brian is blessed to have a supportive wife, and children and grandchildren by Marilyn and Melinda (through adoption) who adore him. He has friends in every port around the world, as sailors term it. He has an abiding faith in the inherent capacity of humankind to love each other and to love whatever higher power that they might worship. Most of all, he has a gift of creating music that millions of people have listened to when in grief, trouble, or unhappiness. He is gifted and has shared his gift unselfishly with the world. If you don't believe me.......read this book.

Text Copyright by Peter Reum 2016-All Rights Reserved

Michael Love's Good Vibrations: Review and Commentary by Peter Reum

Michael Love is descended from Midwestern folks. His mother, Emily Glee Wilson, was a Wilson, a sibling of Brian Wilson's father, Murry. To tell the story of the Wilsons and the Loves, it helps to understand the roots  of both families. There are many facets of both families that are similar. Both families come from hard working backgrounds, with Michael's immediate family on the Wilson side being from Kansas. On his father's side, his dad, Milton Love was a sheet metal worker, as was his grandfather. Michael's family benefitted from the boom in the post World War 2 construction that swept the Los Angeles/San Diego area. Michael's family on his father's side came from rural Louisiana to the Southland, as Southern California is often called. Michael expresses respect and love for his parents and grandparents with the exception of Coral "Buddy" Wilson, who reportedly had a violent temper and battered his wife and children, especially Murry, for reasons known only to himself.

What emerges from Michael's narrative regarding his immediate and earlier ancestors is a solid work ethic and loving parenting with the exception of Buddy Wilson. The writer who helped Michael write his story, James Hirsch, organized Michael's narrative in a chronological format. Mr. Hirsch, asked me to do an interview for the book which I decided to decline. Events that I was personally involved with are well documented in my Reuminations blog. Mr. Hirsch has put together a book that is commendable, quite readable, and that covers many of the phases of Michael's life, before and during his career with the Beach Boys. I have found the narrative to be easy to pick up and difficult to put down. The story that Michael has told and Mr. Hirsch has assembled was easy to read and somewhat illuminating about certain phases of the Beach Boys' careers and family relationships. For example, the section on the period when Charles Manson entered and plagued the Beach Boys' lives is a welcome and fresh perspective, and somewhat clarifies an important dimension of the Beach Boys' story that long term fans of the group knew, but was unknown to the public at large.

Michael's relationship with Brian Wilson, his cousin, is woven throughout the book. Some interviews that I have conducted with acquaintances of the group credit Michael with almost teaching Brian how to socially interact with people his age in the late Fifties and early Sixties. It would not be wrong to say that Michael was a strong supporter throughout Brian's early years composing and producing Beach Boy singles and albums. My personal opinion is that Michael and Carl Wilson's strong support of Brian allowed him the chance to build a self-concept as a top flight composer, producer, and performer. Though Brian disliked the constant touring with the Beach Boys, and would have rathered to be home writing and producing music, his short tenure as a performing Beach Boy helped him learn the strengths of each group member so as to shine a favorable light on the Beach Boys in concert performance.

Michael, as a rule, does not shy away from revealing his life triumphs and lessons from readers. He begins his own narrative in the Beach Boys' story by illustrating a tendency to being impulsive and somewhat juvenile in his life decisions well into his Thirties.

There is a theme of reaping negative consequences from his repetitive impulsive decisions that he made quickly without necessarily seeking out advice from friends and family. The development of his orientation to Eastern Thought and growing self-regulation of his own habit of  "ready-fire-aim" mode of decision-making shows strong growth that might have been absent without his meditation and Eastern Philosophical orientation.

Of course, the story of The Beach Boys is a narrative of "what ifs." What if Brian had released Smile as a solo album? What if the group had taken up several of the opportunities they passed up due to either lack of a consensus about what to do, or an impulsive manner of spending money from record companies and touring revenue as soon as it came in. The results of favorably taking on some of these opportunities are staggering. Bob Moog offered them ownership of his corporation for what was a reasonable price and the Beach Boys declined the offer. At different times, the early version of Three Dog Night known as Redwood, and the Exceptions, who became part of Chicago were given away due to group aversion to making Brother Records a viable entertainment corporation. What if the group had encouraged songwriting by all members instead of waiting for the next Brian Wilson composition? What if Brian had been encouraged to produce outside of the Beach Boys, either within the Brother Records structure, or perhaps outside of it?  One of my close friends calls this line of thought the "woulda, coulda, shouldas." It is a process that is ultimately self-defeating, but worth examining.

Michael looked many years for a soulmate. Sometimes, impulsivity led to relationship crashes.  Other times, the true  lifelong marriage of Michael to the Beach Boys interfered. Ultimately, Michael found his soulmate, just as did Brian. That his life is now more rewarding and stable could be explained many different ways. Suffice to say that Jacquelyne Love has been a strong and unconditionally supportive part of his life.

Every person, by my reckoning, can live fully and satisfyingly in life by using their talents and finding support for their deficiencies. Being a fulfilled son, or a father, or a co-worker, or a grandfather may happen or can be another one of those lost chances that cannot be regained. If age brings perspective, Michael Love seems to have wrestled some of his shadows and found a life about which he feels contented and proud.  He is proud of his career, having received the legal credit for lyrics he wrote so many years ago. That Brian did not confront Murry Wilson about those credits was a painful feeling that did not resolve itself through Brian. Brian's aversion to confronting his father is a possible explanation for these omissions. My hope is that these two talented men can set aside music and just be cousins like it was so many years ago.

Text copyright 2016 by Peter Reum-All rights reserved

Bleeding Blue: Dodgermania! by Peter Reum

When I was 6,  I was introduced to the Los Angeles Dodgers by my Aunt Olivia, a fanatical Chicago Cubs fan. She was a perfect example of the classic Cubs fan, as she had faithfully stayed involved through 80 years of the Cubs not qualifying for The World Series. She came to New Mexico to be near my mother who was her niece. Aunt Liv, as we called her got me interested in baseball, and taught me how tp keep score in the way she did it, which was self-designed. I would hop on my bike, eager to catch a game on her little black and white tv. I had my own yellow legal tablet, and would use my ruler to create my own box score sheet. We would grab some pop, and plant ourselves in front of the small 12 inch black and white television. and watch the games of the week, usually on and CBS and NBC.

The chance to view these games was exotic to me, and filled a big portion of my imagination.  I became a fan of the Class AA Albuquerque Dukes baseball team which was part of the Dodger farm system. My dad and I would hop in the car and drive the 86 miles to Tingley Field to catch a game. The Dukes were in the Texas League, and during the seasons each summer the Los Angeles Dodgers would travel to Albuquerque for an exhibition game with the Dukes. One year I got Sandy Koufax's autograph on a sheet of paper that I happened to find. From then on, I discovered each player's name, and memorized the basic stats for each Dodger. To see the Dodgers live was a major thrill. Famous Dodger pitcher Don Sutton was with the Dukes team that year, and he became a favorite pitcher of mine.

Because I was so strong a Dodger fan, my father's assistant, Ed O'Mara bet me on the outcome of the 1963 World Series. I became quite wealthy that year. I decided I would try to find a radio station that broadcast Dodgers games live. I became determined to listen to every Dodgers game I could find. I happened to find a clear channel radio station in Los Angeles, KFI, that had every Dodgers home game broadcast live, with a distinctive toned announcer named Vin Scully calling the action. Somehow, Mr. Scully had been able to get the announcing job while the Dodgers were still playing at Ebbets Field back in Brooklyn.  The years in Brooklyn were an incredible run for the Dodgers. They were difficult to beat at Ebbets Field, and the intimacy of that historic ballpark made the Dodgers hard to beat at home in Brooklyn.

Vin Scully calling a game for the Brooklyn Dodgers 1956

The familiar Dodger logo

The Brooklyn Dodgers, a team that was progressive and innovative, had been at Ebbets Field roughly 50 years before their relocation to Los Angeles in 1957. Their early and mid Fifties teams had an incredible set of players, including Jackie Robinson, the first African-American to play major league baseball. There were a number of other players who are now in the Baseball Hall of Fame, or are honored as excellent players of that era. There was catcher Roy Campanella, Outfielders Duke Snider and Carl Furillo, Shortstop Pee Wee Reese, Pitchers Don Larsen, Preacher Roe, Johnny Podres, Don Newcombe, and Carl Erskine,  and first baseman Gil Hodges. In 1956 in the fifth game of the World series, Don Larsen pitched baseball's first perfect game against the New York Yankees. The Dodgers were called "dem bums" by frustrated but fanatically loyal fans. The annual ritual of building excitement, followed in the end by disappointment, became a common pattern to the long suffering fans, and "Wait ’til next year!" became an unofficial Dodger slogan.

Ebbets Field - Brooklyn Dodgers Home 1914-1957

Ebbets Field Razing for Apartments in 1960

Iconic View of Main Entrance to Ebbets Field

Jackie Robinson - First African American to Play in Majors

In 1957 the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, some players retired, many younger players stayed with the team. The move to Los Angeles was earthshaking for the National League. The New York Giants moved that same year to San Francisco, and the rivalry between the two teams continued on the West Coast. The Los Angeles Dodgers played at Los Angeles' Olympic Coliseum temporarily. The Coliseum was a cash cow for the Dodgers, who averaged over 3 million fans attending each season there. The Coliseum hosted crowds of almost 100,000 people for the 1959 World Series  against the Chicago White Sox. They won their first World Series after the move to Los Angeles.

The Dodgers had exceptional scouting pros along with  an excellent minor league group of clubs. The Triple A team was in Spokane, Washington, and the AA team was the Albuquerque Dukes. As the Brooklyn players retired, they were replaced by so-called "bonus babies."  This referred to the then huge signing bonuses each new player received after signing on the dotted line to become a Dodger. 

1958 was a transitional year. The Dodgers finished 7th that year in National League standings.

The Los Angeles Coliseum-Home of the 1932 and 1980 Summer Olympics

First Home of the Los Angeles Dodgers

In 2016, after 60+ years of announcing Dodger play by play, the legendary Vin Scully finally retired. His voice on KFI in Los Angeles was my main connection to the Dodgers. My last connection to my "rabid fan of the Dodgers" period, the man who was my main connection to 50+ years of being a "bleeding blue" Dodger fan was gone. He was the last connection in the Dodger organization to Brooklyn, having moved west with the team in 1958. There are so many remarkable players in Dodger history. Some have passed away, and some are still alive. For my era of roughly 1960 through 1971, there were so many outstanding players...Sandy Koufax, perhaps the best pitcher ever--Don Drysdale, a pitcher to be respected, Maury Wills, the first player to steal 100 or more bases in one season. There was Frank Howard, a towering man whose homeruns were amazing to behold. Tommy and Willie Davis, unrelated but were steadfast players at their positions.

Dodger Stadium, the famous home of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the last fifty years is a ballpark that was designed for the fans. It displaced a neighborhood known as Chavez Ravine, home to some of the earliest Hispanic families to settle in Los Angeles. Many Angelenos who loved that old neighborhood were angry to see the neighborhood razed. Still, the Dodgers have become such a venerated organization in Southern California that few people hold grudges about Chavez Ravine. The highlight of my Dodgers fan period was attending a double header in 1964 at Dodger Stadium. Thet were playing the St. Louis Cardinals, and by my reckoning today, I saw 6 Baseball Hall of Famers that afternoon. They were Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Maury Wills, Ken Boyer, Bob Gibson, and Lou Brock. Also playing was Curt Flood, the player whose litigation got rid of the salary structure that had shackled players financially since the National and American Leagues were organized.

Early 20th Century Photo of the Historic Chavez Ravine Neighborhood

Early Sixties Groundbreaking for Dodger Stadium

The Dodgers Home-Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles

For me, the common thread in my Dodger fan history has been Vin Scully, He is the most respected baseball sportscaster alive, and I will miss his calling of Dodger games immensely. His retirement comes at a time when the Dodger franchise is vital and competitive. For me, anyway, he was my connection to the Dodgers for over 50 years. Mr. Scully has been inducted into the Sportscaster Hall of Fame, a fitting tribute to this iconic man. Perhaps now, in retirement, he can just be a fan and enjoy Dodgers games like myself and thousands of other Dodger fans. Thank you, Mr. Scully....

Vin Scully of the 21st Century-An Inspiration to Five Generations of Dodgers Fans

Text copyright 2016 by Peter Reum-All Rights Reserved

Liberal Arts in the Rockies: Colorado College

When I graduated from high school at Los Alamos High School in New Mexico, the world was much smaller to my thinking. I had done reasonably well in high school, at least I thought so. There is an ongoing debate among politicians, academicians, and potential scholars regarding the value of a liberal arts education versus a focused educational program leading to a specialty in medicine, law, teaching, and so forth. I applied for matriculation at 3 public universities and 2 private colleges. I was fortunate to be accepted at all 5 institutions.

There are solid arguments on both sides of the debate about liberal arts and universities designed to offer entry into areas that are traditionally specialized and professional in designation. I am not going to repeat the major points on both sides of the issue. The main criticism of liberal arts colleges has been that an education from a liberal arts college does not lead to a highly paid profession. I would like to address that argument, amongst others in this essay.

Here are some points about my education. I went to school in a predominantly Hispanic and Indigenous elementary school in Espanola, New Mexico through seventh grade. The class sizes were rather large, and most of the students had not had the benefit of kindergarten or Head Start, which came later.

Being from a family with a professional elementary school teacher, my mom gave me the drive to learn to read, write, and do simple math before I entered kindergarten, which my family paid for privately. The teachers I had blamed my mother for making me "over-prepared" for first grade. In reality, I was just one of those kids who was always asking questions and trying to find the answer  to them. I would like to thank the Espanola Schools for hiring the teachers I had from first through sixth grades in elementary school.

I entered junior high school in Espanola, and did not do well as it was a difficult time for me, and I encountered some hostility from peers which today would be called "bullying." I never enjoyed this sort of interaction, and my grades and self-esteem began to plummet. When pressed to divulge why I was not thriving in Espanola Junior High School, I finally confessed that the seventh grade year had been difficult, and why that was true. My mother, the teacher in our family, asked me if going to a different school system would help.

I  was  able to help my parents understand that the kids teasing me were primarily Hispanic, but also some white kids as well. I had begun to understand the dynamics of being a minority, in that my school was 90% Hispanics and Indigenous students, and 10 % white. Poverty in the Espanola Valley has always been a contributing factor to the Valley's insular qualities, and compared with my fellow students, my family was considered wealthy. This was not the case, but it certainly appeared to be true from those student's perspective.

My family decided to place me in Los Alamos Schools  for the remainder of my education, and I thrived in a highly funded, highly competitive academic environment. The last 2 years of junior high, we lived in Espanola but I commuted with my dad 20 miles up the mountain to Los Alamos, where he worked. We moved to Los Alamos for my last 3 years of high school. The difference in my self-esteem and ability to get along contributed to my adjustment. The experience of the Espanola Valley Schools made me make a special effort to reach out to minority students in Los Alamos High School, and I made several lifelong friends that way.

Having graduated from Los Alamos High School,, my next task was to choose a college. I had personal experiences with all five colleges I applied to, and I chose Colorado College. The faculty and administration had persuaded Colorado College to drop their traditional approach to course selection, leading to a load of four or five courses per semester. The approach that replaced it was the Colorado College Block System, which concentrated all classes into a four week term called a "Block." Some courses were sufficiently intense that they were split into two blocks, with the first half in the early block, and the second half the following block. At the time I entered Colorado College, the Block System had only been in place for one year prior to my matriculation.

My curiosity was encouraged in this unusual liberal arts experiment. I sampled many different fields in my freshman year, and learned to write and research in the accepted manner for college level work. Today, I look at the broadly diverse sampling of courses I completed, and marvel at the opportunities I had. I learned how the United States is truly an oligarchy, with guidance from two exceptional faculty members, Fred Sondermann and Alvin Boderman. I learned beginning level Economics from Ray Werner. Classes were never lectures, but rather facilitated class discussions that were lively and whizzed by simply because they were challenging to the way we as high school students had learned.

I declared a major in Religion after taking two excellent courses on Religion in America and Buddhism. My own approach to spirituality was refined and challenged repetitively in the various classes I took. I also decided to use the Block System to develop a better command of the Russian language I had started to learn in Los Alamos. With several friends, I fell in love with the Southern Rockies, and Great Plains. I was able to learn what tall grass prairie had been, and that it was a threatened and disappearing habitat in the Midwestern United States and Front Range of the Rockies. Elizabeth Wright-Ingraham , granddaughter of the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright, explained that the loss of that tall grass prairie ecosystem was highly fatal to the various plants and animals native to it.

Courses on West African Art and Navajo Language broadened my already enthusiastic interest on those topics. The student life at Colorado College encouraged lasting friendships, and my roommates in my second and third years at CC are lifelong friends of mine.

A wonderful benefit of the Block System was the Block Break. After four weeks of rigorous study on one subject, the Block System Breaks of 4 days allowed us to clear our minds and enjoy activities with friends. In those brief periods between blocks, I had the chance to hike in Canyonlands National Park, to view an Ara Parsieghien  coached football game at Notre Dame, and to spend time in the cottage of a fellow student near the Collegiate Range in Colorado. It seemed that there was always an adventure awaiting if we as students took the time to commit ourselves to submersion in the next experienced adventure awaiting us.

There were drawbacks, in that some faculty were full of themselves and did not like eager beavers. The Psychology was completely Skinnerian, with the exception of three courses. I immersed myself in B.F, Skinner, only to conclude that while several of his theories were valuable, I preferred a more person-centered approach to counseling. One Religion Department faculty member, who shall remain nameless, found the whole idea of interests in Indigenous Religion and Buddhism to be unacceptable. Sadly, the guy was my faculty advisor. Despite his closeminded approach to Religion, I had excellent courses in Buddhism.

The benefit of a liberal arts education in the Block System was a boost to my own career later in life. I owned and managed book and record stores, managed a large hospital's materials management department, served as a personnel director, program director, administrative services director, and executive director in human services. I taught in undergraduate and graduate courses in a mid sized university, and worked as a professional counselor and therapist.

The versatility in this litany of my different jobs is a direct result of Colorado College's willingness to allow my mind to enter so many topics in courses without discouragement from advisors and department faculty members from around nearly every department at C.C.

Colorado College's variety of courses, top-flight faculty, willingness to experiment with educational methods, and extracurricular opportunities have made it excel in a number of dimensions that make it the most promising college education that I could imagine for any person whose curiosity about the world will never be satiated. This is the benefit of a liberal arts education.

Copyright 2016 by Peter Reum - all rights reserved