The opening concert of this season's Kansas City Symphony was designed to be a crowd pleaser. Judging from the reaction of the large audience on Saturday eve, it certainly fulfilled its mission. The three works, Jennifer Higdon's popular "blue cathedral", Chopin Piano Concerto # 2 and Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" are not huge blockbuster works, however they worked well together taking us on a sometimes meditative, sometimes nostalgic and finally aurally thrilling journey.
"blue cathedral" is billed as one of the most often performed contemporary works in America. Beautiful, poignant, ephemeral, a drifting cloud of sound that was at the same time not just a directionless mass of chords and special effects. The piece is a life journey, in memoriam to her brother, evoking the passion and sense of urgency of a life too short, finally culminating in the same heavenly calmness from which it sprang.
Stern's well received performance was brisk, illuminating the more dramatic elements of the piece, such as the frenetic brass climax near the end. The soft, transparent closing pages were well conceived, drifting off into silence accompanied by the otherworldly sounds of Chinese jingling balls and the brass playing on water glasses, effects not as easily heard on a recording. A magical piece, concise and moving.
Chopin's two Concerti For Piano are far from flashy. Both early works, the evening's Concerto # 2 in F minor was actually written before # 1 but premiered later. Hailed as a masterpiece of expressive piano writing, the piece is at the same time criticized for its thin and sometimes uninteresting orchestral writing; illuminating Chopin's inexperience with the orchestra.
But of course, with Chopin, the piano is king and thus the orchestra does what it is supposed to do; set up the dramatic scene, punctuate the phrases, add heft to the climaxes and bring everything to a rousing close. The KCS did just that, providing the incomparable Garrick Ohlsson with the base needed to pull off an effortless yet luscious performance. Ohlsson's piano provided a warm, sustained sonority, a Dynaflow (people familiar with classic Buicks will understand that reference)sense of motion well serving the intent of the composer.
The Ravel orchestration of Mussorgsky's "Pictures" is of course the most well known of the many attempts to orchestrate the work originally for piano. Stern and the KCS pulled out all the stops in a grand performance, marred only by a lack of heft in the strings (oh... to have the budget for 3-4 more violins, a viola and cello or two...)causing them to be buried under the power of the brass and winds. The brass shone in this performance, especially noting the great execution of the killer trumpet solo in Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle. Especially fun was a skittering "Limoges-The Marketplace". The Great Gate of Kiev provided a thrilling conclusion with all the bells and well executed percussion.
The large crowd went home pleased, having enjoyed an evening of deservedly popular music played well.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Hate Crimes
Fascinating. The US Senate Passed a Hate Crimes bill, 60-39 or something like that.
The Matthew Shepard Hate Crime bill passed the Senate on Thursday, thus making a battle with Bush and his hate lovers a certainty. The measure has already passed the House. The two versions of the bill must be reconciled before heading to Bush.
They are all like.
The Matthew Shepard Hate Crime bill passed the Senate on Thursday, thus making a battle with Bush and his hate lovers a certainty. The measure has already passed the House. The two versions of the bill must be reconciled before heading to Bush.
Of course, wanting to further be known as the most hard hearted ass ever to sit on the White House Throne, Bush threatened a veto. The Senate's chief sponsor, Sen. Ted Kennedy tacked the bill onto a Defense spending bill as an amendment, making a no win situation for the Asshole in Chief.
Orrin Hatch of Utah (duh) called a bill designed to uphold the rights of all citizens regardless of their sexual identity "unwise, unnecessary and unconstitutional".Hatch said that the term "gender identity" is ambiguous and unenforceable.
They are all like.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
An Open Letter to Daniel Ortega, President of Nicaragua
Dear President Ortega:
Greetings from the USA, from someone who feels your country is one of the most beautiful on Earth, from someone who loves the stories and songs of your land, from someone who has taken his own time and money to come to your country not just to play and drink but to work side by side with your people on many occasions, from someone who loved to hear the stories from those who marched into Managua in July, 1979 (I still mark the Dia de la Revolucion in my calendar), from a "Gringo Pinolero".
Presidente, of all the world's sins, the one I hate the most is hypocrisy. If you have been a faithful reader of my ramblings, I am sure you have noticed that from time to time. Sadly, Dear Presidente, you have become one too.
Daniel, what are you thinking??
* Elected through a rigged, manipulated election. Come on, you know it is true, you have no mandate, and what really happened to Herty?
* Governing only through a vile and cynical pact with your opposition who raped and pillaged the country and you let go unpunished. After your term, will you let Aleman back to power? Is that part of the deal? To hell with the Revolucion and Sandismo? Is is all about you?
* Allied with Chavez in Venezuela, who is rapidly becoming dictator for life, while nothing good comes to his people. Is that your plan?
* Allied with the crazy man from Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who, Daniel, if you really look would kill your now devout Catholic ass in New York minute, you know.
* Slam the US and Allies in the UN with lines like "US leaders continued to dictate what was right or wrong "as if they were God", while poor countries were still afflicted by "oppression and violence and terror". Who is afflicting the countries with violence and terror? What are you doing to stop oppression of the poor, women and sick in Nicaragua Daniel? Jetting off to Tehran is not helping anyone. Where is all this promised money anyway? I have been hearing for 3 years now that Venezuela is building a new road to the coast. Last time I was there, it was still a dirt track.
I know, Daniel, that the US and the Europe are not without sin. But look at yourself sir. Are you not about empire, power and alliances, and feeling you are right and everyone who thinks different is wrong as well?? Are not your friends Mahmoud and Hugo using money and threats to get what they want? Is it all not the same, no matter which side of the fence you are on?
And when the Hurricane struck, who was first there? US based relief efforts. They didn't ask if the victims were left or right, Sandinista or PLC.
Daniel, what I want is to come to Nicaragua in March 2008 as I always do and see people with work. Healthcare for the poor, roads being built. Promised projects finished. A Justice system that works, I want to see Eric Volz free. See Union Frenosa out. Gringos and Nicas working together for the betterment of the people.
I had hopes, Senor Presidente, that you would come true to your promises, a country run on good solid principles of people power, solid investment leading to good jobs, healthcare a priority, raising the standard of living, ending corruption that drains your economy. Instead, we get ranting, raving and more corruption.
And still the Nicaraguan people pray for a better life and a leader that will make it happen.
Many pray that they will not die of disease and starvation today.
Who caused that? Not I, no one but Nicaraguan politicians who from Somosa on have raped and pillaged this lovely land of gentle people.
Be a new Sandino for them Daniel. Would not that be better than all the gold and riches from Cesar and Mahmoud?
Make me proud to say I am your friend.
Sincerely,
Don Clark
Greetings from the USA, from someone who feels your country is one of the most beautiful on Earth, from someone who loves the stories and songs of your land, from someone who has taken his own time and money to come to your country not just to play and drink but to work side by side with your people on many occasions, from someone who loved to hear the stories from those who marched into Managua in July, 1979 (I still mark the Dia de la Revolucion in my calendar), from a "Gringo Pinolero".
Presidente, of all the world's sins, the one I hate the most is hypocrisy. If you have been a faithful reader of my ramblings, I am sure you have noticed that from time to time. Sadly, Dear Presidente, you have become one too.
Daniel, what are you thinking??
* Elected through a rigged, manipulated election. Come on, you know it is true, you have no mandate, and what really happened to Herty?
* Governing only through a vile and cynical pact with your opposition who raped and pillaged the country and you let go unpunished. After your term, will you let Aleman back to power? Is that part of the deal? To hell with the Revolucion and Sandismo? Is is all about you?
* Allied with Chavez in Venezuela, who is rapidly becoming dictator for life, while nothing good comes to his people. Is that your plan?
* Allied with the crazy man from Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who, Daniel, if you really look would kill your now devout Catholic ass in New York minute, you know.
* Slam the US and Allies in the UN with lines like "US leaders continued to dictate what was right or wrong "as if they were God", while poor countries were still afflicted by "oppression and violence and terror". Who is afflicting the countries with violence and terror? What are you doing to stop oppression of the poor, women and sick in Nicaragua Daniel? Jetting off to Tehran is not helping anyone. Where is all this promised money anyway? I have been hearing for 3 years now that Venezuela is building a new road to the coast. Last time I was there, it was still a dirt track.
I know, Daniel, that the US and the Europe are not without sin. But look at yourself sir. Are you not about empire, power and alliances, and feeling you are right and everyone who thinks different is wrong as well?? Are not your friends Mahmoud and Hugo using money and threats to get what they want? Is it all not the same, no matter which side of the fence you are on?
And when the Hurricane struck, who was first there? US based relief efforts. They didn't ask if the victims were left or right, Sandinista or PLC.
Daniel, what I want is to come to Nicaragua in March 2008 as I always do and see people with work. Healthcare for the poor, roads being built. Promised projects finished. A Justice system that works, I want to see Eric Volz free. See Union Frenosa out. Gringos and Nicas working together for the betterment of the people.
I had hopes, Senor Presidente, that you would come true to your promises, a country run on good solid principles of people power, solid investment leading to good jobs, healthcare a priority, raising the standard of living, ending corruption that drains your economy. Instead, we get ranting, raving and more corruption.
And still the Nicaraguan people pray for a better life and a leader that will make it happen.
Many pray that they will not die of disease and starvation today.
Who caused that? Not I, no one but Nicaraguan politicians who from Somosa on have raped and pillaged this lovely land of gentle people.
Be a new Sandino for them Daniel. Would not that be better than all the gold and riches from Cesar and Mahmoud?
Make me proud to say I am your friend.
Sincerely,
Don Clark
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Sunday
Sunday... been a bit busy today, but did get in some time to sit in the somewhat overcast sun and soak the last rays or a dying summer. In fact, it is not summer any longer as of early this AM.
All that aside, the news today of the passing of Marcel Marceau brought memories of my attending several of his shows in the past. His art was subtle and refined. Sadly, with his passing, I wonder if it will survive. He almost singlehandedly saved the art of mime from extinction.
I draw your attention to my friend Shannon's blog ClarkBarred on Myspace. He is no relation as far as I know, but has a lot to say about life behind bars in Arizona.
All for the day, day of rest you know... can't work too hard!
All that aside, the news today of the passing of Marcel Marceau brought memories of my attending several of his shows in the past. His art was subtle and refined. Sadly, with his passing, I wonder if it will survive. He almost singlehandedly saved the art of mime from extinction.
I draw your attention to my friend Shannon's blog ClarkBarred on Myspace. He is no relation as far as I know, but has a lot to say about life behind bars in Arizona.
All for the day, day of rest you know... can't work too hard!
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Saturday NO Pancake Musings: Bacon and Eggs Edition
Ok not real bacon and eggs, fat-boy diabetic bacon and eggs: Turkey bacon and Eggbeaters. You get used to it.
1) I had a revelation about the recent Lyric Opera production of Aida. It works best if you think of it as a dream or fantasy of Radames. In the opening scene, one sees behind a sandy, wavy scrim curtain downtrodden people trekking through the sandy waste. A figure wanders and finally collapses by a rock. To the right is a gathering of nomads on their rugs, obviously better off than many of the wandering masses but still nomadic. The collapsed figure is Radames and he listens to the nomad leader talk of the invasion of their land by the Ethiopians. Radames is drawn in to the discussion and soon his mind is full of fantastic thoughts; he is the warrior savior of Egypt.
So this is why we have juxtaposed visions and traditions of Ancient Egypt, the worshiping of the ancient gods, sacrifices and so on, combined with images of Egypt as an occupied land, foreign soldiers, beating prisoners, the Triumphal March scene from the rear as the masses watch and dissenters are punished. That is why Amneris is seen walking through the burial tomb at the end. A lot is explained by looking at the production that way.
Still a bit contrived and the whole "it is just a dream" shtick is old. I still would have liked a traditional Aida.
The whole town is talking about it and the box is excellent so I guess it works.
2)I am so pissed at the Democrats in Congress who voted to condemn the MoveOn.org ad about General Petraeus. "General Betray-Us" they called him. The Repubs went ballistic. Guess they can dish it out but can't take it. Some say the Dems were showing that they would not stoop as low as that to libel someone.
I say fight fire with fire.
3)Beautiful Day today in KC, low humidity, 80s for high. Rained last night so the grass is nice and green. Great day for the Plaza Art Fair.
4)Happy Yom Kippur (can one have a happy day of atonement??)to my Jewish friends and readers. The synagogues will be packed today. In some temples, you have to pay to go the Yom Kippur service or demonstrate that you have been faithful in attendance to get the best seats for the service. Once I worked as an usher (bouncer more like it) at a Yom Kippur service to keep out the unworthy. Strange!
1) I had a revelation about the recent Lyric Opera production of Aida. It works best if you think of it as a dream or fantasy of Radames. In the opening scene, one sees behind a sandy, wavy scrim curtain downtrodden people trekking through the sandy waste. A figure wanders and finally collapses by a rock. To the right is a gathering of nomads on their rugs, obviously better off than many of the wandering masses but still nomadic. The collapsed figure is Radames and he listens to the nomad leader talk of the invasion of their land by the Ethiopians. Radames is drawn in to the discussion and soon his mind is full of fantastic thoughts; he is the warrior savior of Egypt.
So this is why we have juxtaposed visions and traditions of Ancient Egypt, the worshiping of the ancient gods, sacrifices and so on, combined with images of Egypt as an occupied land, foreign soldiers, beating prisoners, the Triumphal March scene from the rear as the masses watch and dissenters are punished. That is why Amneris is seen walking through the burial tomb at the end. A lot is explained by looking at the production that way.
Still a bit contrived and the whole "it is just a dream" shtick is old. I still would have liked a traditional Aida.
The whole town is talking about it and the box is excellent so I guess it works.
2)I am so pissed at the Democrats in Congress who voted to condemn the MoveOn.org ad about General Petraeus. "General Betray-Us" they called him. The Repubs went ballistic. Guess they can dish it out but can't take it. Some say the Dems were showing that they would not stoop as low as that to libel someone.
I say fight fire with fire.
3)Beautiful Day today in KC, low humidity, 80s for high. Rained last night so the grass is nice and green. Great day for the Plaza Art Fair.
4)Happy Yom Kippur (can one have a happy day of atonement??)to my Jewish friends and readers. The synagogues will be packed today. In some temples, you have to pay to go the Yom Kippur service or demonstrate that you have been faithful in attendance to get the best seats for the service. Once I worked as an usher (bouncer more like it) at a Yom Kippur service to keep out the unworthy. Strange!
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Aida, Kansas City Lyric Opera
Some things should just be left as they are. In the world of Opera, it is fashionable to take an opera and update it or change its locale and time. Often that works well. Bizet’s Carmen has been successfully done as an all black version, set in a dreary East European socialist factory and set in Mexico as well as Spain. Kansas City’s Lyric Opera set a "Die Fledermaus" in the 1920s and had period performers at Prince Orlofsky’s second act ball, it worked wonderfully.
But to me, Verdi’s Aida belongs to Ancient Egypt of the Pharaohs, of Memphis and Pyramids. The version being performed this month at Kansas City Lyric Opera floats in a space-time warp somewhere between Egypt, Turkey, Hollywood and Las Vegas and between 1500BC and 1871AD. It just doesn’t work.
For the Lyric’s 50th anniversary season, a highly anticipated production of the popular Aida was most welcome and opportune; a great way to kick off a celebratory season.
In an interview in the Kansas City Star, the producer Thaddeus Strassberger evoked such terms as “South Korean Olympics opening ceremony”, “Eyes Wide Shut” and “…very Mel Gibson ‘Apocalypto,’” to describe his production. Ok, fine… but the discrepancies and overall “look at me, I am making a statement here” mentality detracted from what was musically a stellar performance. Strassberger just can’t let the opera tell its own story; he has to interject twists (like the strange but more effective Hamlet by Thomas that he directed last season) and all the latest controversial clichés to muddy the water.
The costumes looked more Turkish than Egyptian, burkas and hoods prevailed. Not a glitter of gold to be seen. Instead of amusing herself with the Moorish Slave Dance in Act II scene I, Amneris cavorted on a big bed with a couple of men in string bikinis, looking as if she had just picked them up from Craigslist. And WTF is with a virgin sacrifice, complete with a beating, bleeding heart displayed to all, doing in Aida? Especially one set in 1871?? Did the Egyptians still do that in 1871AD, did they still worship the ancient gods?? Done for shock purposes only, it made absolutely no sense whatsoever.
Also contributing an absurd, sadistic atmosphere was the focus on the beating of the slaves during the triumphal March (!), complete with an Abu Garib-like pyramid of prisoners and a dog on a leash. We saw the seedy back side of the march; the soldiers (dressed in British Military uniforms and carrying rifles with bayonets) marched in back almost in shadow. A nice touch was the trumpets in the balcony providing a wonderful, yet sadly incongruous, celebratory tone to the music. Methinks producer Strassberger emulates his buddy Mel a bit too much. I hate Mel Gibson movies thus a Mel Gibson opera is just too much.
Fortunately, the singing was beyond reproach, some of the best I have yet heard at the Lyric and on par with many productions of larger companies. Jane Dutton as Amneris was wonderful, perfectly haughty and even a tad naughty like a spoiled daughter of a King. Luis Ledesma had a deep commanding voice and provided a sympathetic and ultimately tragic performance of Amonasro. Arnold Rawls as Radames was in fine voice but ultimately was undone by the bizarre staging, such as his almost limping, sullen march across the stage in the Triumphal March and his wandering across the stage and laying beside a huge rock in the opening scene. Karen Slack as Aida was not as strong a voice as was needed, but it fit well with an almost too quiet and subdued staging of her role.
The orchestra under Ward Holmquist was beyond reproach, continuing to show the growth of the orchestra that also doubles for the most part as the Kansas City Symphony.
I desperately wanted to like this adventurous production of Aida, but the incongruity, absurdity and dark, lifeless staging did it in. Go see it, but keep your eyes closed, that is the key.
But to me, Verdi’s Aida belongs to Ancient Egypt of the Pharaohs, of Memphis and Pyramids. The version being performed this month at Kansas City Lyric Opera floats in a space-time warp somewhere between Egypt, Turkey, Hollywood and Las Vegas and between 1500BC and 1871AD. It just doesn’t work.
For the Lyric’s 50th anniversary season, a highly anticipated production of the popular Aida was most welcome and opportune; a great way to kick off a celebratory season.
In an interview in the Kansas City Star, the producer Thaddeus Strassberger evoked such terms as “South Korean Olympics opening ceremony”, “Eyes Wide Shut” and “…very Mel Gibson ‘Apocalypto,’” to describe his production. Ok, fine… but the discrepancies and overall “look at me, I am making a statement here” mentality detracted from what was musically a stellar performance. Strassberger just can’t let the opera tell its own story; he has to interject twists (like the strange but more effective Hamlet by Thomas that he directed last season) and all the latest controversial clichés to muddy the water.
The costumes looked more Turkish than Egyptian, burkas and hoods prevailed. Not a glitter of gold to be seen. Instead of amusing herself with the Moorish Slave Dance in Act II scene I, Amneris cavorted on a big bed with a couple of men in string bikinis, looking as if she had just picked them up from Craigslist. And WTF is with a virgin sacrifice, complete with a beating, bleeding heart displayed to all, doing in Aida? Especially one set in 1871?? Did the Egyptians still do that in 1871AD, did they still worship the ancient gods?? Done for shock purposes only, it made absolutely no sense whatsoever.
Also contributing an absurd, sadistic atmosphere was the focus on the beating of the slaves during the triumphal March (!), complete with an Abu Garib-like pyramid of prisoners and a dog on a leash. We saw the seedy back side of the march; the soldiers (dressed in British Military uniforms and carrying rifles with bayonets) marched in back almost in shadow. A nice touch was the trumpets in the balcony providing a wonderful, yet sadly incongruous, celebratory tone to the music. Methinks producer Strassberger emulates his buddy Mel a bit too much. I hate Mel Gibson movies thus a Mel Gibson opera is just too much.
Fortunately, the singing was beyond reproach, some of the best I have yet heard at the Lyric and on par with many productions of larger companies. Jane Dutton as Amneris was wonderful, perfectly haughty and even a tad naughty like a spoiled daughter of a King. Luis Ledesma had a deep commanding voice and provided a sympathetic and ultimately tragic performance of Amonasro. Arnold Rawls as Radames was in fine voice but ultimately was undone by the bizarre staging, such as his almost limping, sullen march across the stage in the Triumphal March and his wandering across the stage and laying beside a huge rock in the opening scene. Karen Slack as Aida was not as strong a voice as was needed, but it fit well with an almost too quiet and subdued staging of her role.
The orchestra under Ward Holmquist was beyond reproach, continuing to show the growth of the orchestra that also doubles for the most part as the Kansas City Symphony.
I desperately wanted to like this adventurous production of Aida, but the incongruity, absurdity and dark, lifeless staging did it in. Go see it, but keep your eyes closed, that is the key.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Land of the Free??
What were we, as kids, always taught about the USA? Land of the free? Free speech??
Bullshit.
Regardless if he did it before, wanted to confront, was seeking attention, it is 1,000,000% inexcusable to subdue and taser a kid for wanting to speak. PERIOD, PARAGRAPH.
Free? USA has the highest percent of people incarcerated in the world.
Free? According to a study I saw and unfortunately can not find again, the USA is about 83% free, with restrictions on press, incarcerations and restrictions on travel higher than most of Europe and Canada.
I mourn for our country. And mourn more that I fear the electorate will not make a bold move and break the cycle of right wing dictators we have had the past 8 years.
Puggles, would you like to be Queen of Canada?
Bullshit.
Regardless if he did it before, wanted to confront, was seeking attention, it is 1,000,000% inexcusable to subdue and taser a kid for wanting to speak. PERIOD, PARAGRAPH.
Free? USA has the highest percent of people incarcerated in the world.
Free? According to a study I saw and unfortunately can not find again, the USA is about 83% free, with restrictions on press, incarcerations and restrictions on travel higher than most of Europe and Canada.
I mourn for our country. And mourn more that I fear the electorate will not make a bold move and break the cycle of right wing dictators we have had the past 8 years.
Puggles, would you like to be Queen of Canada?
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Happy Birthday Queen Mary
September 1987, Wixom, Michigan. Fall was in the air I would assume. In a sprawling factory just south of Wixom along Interstate 96, pieces of metal, plastic, fabric and glass would slowly work its way down the assembly line. Craftsmen and women would bolt, weld and fasten parts to the frame as it passed. Finally emerging as a 1988 Lincoln Town Car Signature series 4 door sedan. She would be given the VIN # 1LNMB82F6JY669370. 69,369 others had preceded her down the line.
This one was special; she's now mine. I celebrated her birthday this week, as do not know the exact build date, but do know from the data plate that she was built in 9/87.
20 years is not really special for a car, it is too soon to be an antique and is beyond being a new car or even a reasonably new car. But when you think about it, a lot of her sisters didn't make it this far, although you still see a lot of them on the road. But these cars were well built, reliable and still somewhat simple. Easily fixed with parts a plenty, they will be around for a long time to come.
My Lincoln, which I quickly named the "Queen Mary" as a nod to her size and nautical bearing, is still a beauty despite the blemishes of time. She has some scratches, some dings, even some rust that is well hidden by the wide chrome rocker panel covers that are a sign that she is a top line Signature Series and the paint is getting thin. But damn she turns heads still with her graceful crisp lines and dark deep "Cabernet" wine-red color. Her velour interior (how 80's!) is a matching Cabernet as is her vinyl coach roof. The white wall tires (getting hard to find these days) are fitted to stylish turbine spoke wheels, she used to have the optional aluminum wire wheels, but they were in sad shape and missing their caps. She sported an optional leather wrapped steering wheel and automatic load leveling so as not to scrape her bottom when loaded (I hate when that happens). I would have loved to have seen her fresh from the factory, she must have been a stunningly beautiful machine.
Her first owner treated her pretty well, but the rigors of snowy central Illinois took a toll on her undercarriage and she has some rust issues. When I got her, I was the 3rd owner, a 2nd owner had her for a short time. I found her in Bloomington, Il on ebay and bought her to her new home in Kansas City in July 2005.
She has had work done, like many older ladies. New exhaust, shocks, various engine parts, gas tank, fuel pump, drive shaft, alternator, and valve cover gaskets; all the things that wear with age in these beauties. Since a lot of those parts were from junk yards, my cash outlay has been little actually. I would love to get her painted, but the rust precludes a paint job, it would be a waste of cash I do not have.
Starts every time, comfortable (like driving your couch down the highway), powerful and not really all that fuel thirsty, she is a wonderful car.
That is the Queen Mary in the middle with her sister 1989 Town Car on the right and 1987 on the left.
Happy Birthday Queen Mary! Long live the Queen!
This one was special; she's now mine. I celebrated her birthday this week, as do not know the exact build date, but do know from the data plate that she was built in 9/87.
20 years is not really special for a car, it is too soon to be an antique and is beyond being a new car or even a reasonably new car. But when you think about it, a lot of her sisters didn't make it this far, although you still see a lot of them on the road. But these cars were well built, reliable and still somewhat simple. Easily fixed with parts a plenty, they will be around for a long time to come.
My Lincoln, which I quickly named the "Queen Mary" as a nod to her size and nautical bearing, is still a beauty despite the blemishes of time. She has some scratches, some dings, even some rust that is well hidden by the wide chrome rocker panel covers that are a sign that she is a top line Signature Series and the paint is getting thin. But damn she turns heads still with her graceful crisp lines and dark deep "Cabernet" wine-red color. Her velour interior (how 80's!) is a matching Cabernet as is her vinyl coach roof. The white wall tires (getting hard to find these days) are fitted to stylish turbine spoke wheels, she used to have the optional aluminum wire wheels, but they were in sad shape and missing their caps. She sported an optional leather wrapped steering wheel and automatic load leveling so as not to scrape her bottom when loaded (I hate when that happens). I would have loved to have seen her fresh from the factory, she must have been a stunningly beautiful machine.
Her first owner treated her pretty well, but the rigors of snowy central Illinois took a toll on her undercarriage and she has some rust issues. When I got her, I was the 3rd owner, a 2nd owner had her for a short time. I found her in Bloomington, Il on ebay and bought her to her new home in Kansas City in July 2005.
She has had work done, like many older ladies. New exhaust, shocks, various engine parts, gas tank, fuel pump, drive shaft, alternator, and valve cover gaskets; all the things that wear with age in these beauties. Since a lot of those parts were from junk yards, my cash outlay has been little actually. I would love to get her painted, but the rust precludes a paint job, it would be a waste of cash I do not have.
Starts every time, comfortable (like driving your couch down the highway), powerful and not really all that fuel thirsty, she is a wonderful car.
That is the Queen Mary in the middle with her sister 1989 Town Car on the right and 1987 on the left.
Happy Birthday Queen Mary! Long live the Queen!
Saturday, September 15, 2007
More on Vince Greer
I received a note from a member of Vincent Greer's family in response to my earlier entry of September 12th. Sometimes comments to posts get buried and never read, but this one deserved more visibility.
I am a (relation) to Vince Greer, and as close and supportive as our family is, it's nice to see someone who didn't even know him with a true unbiased opinion.
What we have been told is that Vince's hands were bound and he was lethally injected with drugs. His cell mate is being held in solitary for most likely another murder charge if the prison doesn't just sweep it under the rug. However the real issue is now how did the drugs and needle get in through confined prison doors? That's all being investigated now.
I had not heard of this case until I saw an article in the St Louis paper. It is obvious the system and society failed this young man. His family supported him throughout this whole thing, never judging him, never angry with him. They saw a sick boy, one who needed to be treated, not condemned.
We live in the dark ages.
I am a (relation) to Vince Greer, and as close and supportive as our family is, it's nice to see someone who didn't even know him with a true unbiased opinion.
What we have been told is that Vince's hands were bound and he was lethally injected with drugs. His cell mate is being held in solitary for most likely another murder charge if the prison doesn't just sweep it under the rug. However the real issue is now how did the drugs and needle get in through confined prison doors? That's all being investigated now.
I had not heard of this case until I saw an article in the St Louis paper. It is obvious the system and society failed this young man. His family supported him throughout this whole thing, never judging him, never angry with him. They saw a sick boy, one who needed to be treated, not condemned.
We live in the dark ages.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Foreign Language??
TIRE IN ROADWAR MAY HAVE CAUSED I-435 PILE UP
Accident investigators believe a motorist a tire in the roadway and that may have caused an eight-vehicle crash on Interstate 435 Thursday morning.
Actual headline from the online news page of the Kansas City Star.
What has happened to writing?? Spelling?? Grammar???
Accident investigators believe a motorist a tire in the roadway and that may have caused an eight-vehicle crash on Interstate 435 Thursday morning.
Actual headline from the online news page of the Kansas City Star.
What has happened to writing?? Spelling?? Grammar???
Thursday, September 13, 2007
The Show Won't Go On
In the world of opera and to a lesser extent orchestras and instrumentalists, everyone seems to be sick these days:
Tenor Rolando Villazón Cancels Performances Through Year's End, Including Met, Covent Garden, Carnegie Hall
Nathan Gunn Pulls Out of September and October Performances at Met
Tenor Jonas Kaufmann, Taken Ill, Cancels Two Major Engagements
Conductor Claudio Abbado Withdraws from Carnegie Hall Season Openers Next Month
Soprano Dorothea Röschmann Cancels All Engagements for Three Months
Bryn Terfel Withdraws from Covent Garden Ring
Horacio Gutiérrez Cancels Performances Through January 2008
Another Cancellation at Salzburg: Diana Damrau Pulls Out of Tonight's Figaro
In Latest of Several Cancellations, Tenor Rolando Villazón Pulls Out of Salzburg Festival
Anna Netrebko Cancels Salzburg Festival Appearances
Most of these were colds, stress, sore throat, sneezes, sniffles and stress. Only Gutiérrez and Abbado have serious illnesses.
Whatever happened to the show must go on??
Tenor Rolando Villazón Cancels Performances Through Year's End, Including Met, Covent Garden, Carnegie Hall
Nathan Gunn Pulls Out of September and October Performances at Met
Tenor Jonas Kaufmann, Taken Ill, Cancels Two Major Engagements
Conductor Claudio Abbado Withdraws from Carnegie Hall Season Openers Next Month
Soprano Dorothea Röschmann Cancels All Engagements for Three Months
Bryn Terfel Withdraws from Covent Garden Ring
Horacio Gutiérrez Cancels Performances Through January 2008
Another Cancellation at Salzburg: Diana Damrau Pulls Out of Tonight's Figaro
In Latest of Several Cancellations, Tenor Rolando Villazón Pulls Out of Salzburg Festival
Anna Netrebko Cancels Salzburg Festival Appearances
Most of these were colds, stress, sore throat, sneezes, sniffles and stress. Only Gutiérrez and Abbado have serious illnesses.
Whatever happened to the show must go on??
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
The Short, Sad Life of Vince Greer
Vince Greer died in prison this week, he was 24. Early reports suggest he was killed, or was a suicide. For Vince and his family, the main question always will be whether he should have been there at all.
There is no disputing that in November 1997, 15 year old Vince shot and killed his mother with a rifle. His father wrestled the gun from him and held him until police arrived.
Vince was diagnosed as schizophrenic. After a first conviction was overturned, he was retried and convicted again. Sent to prison for life. No treatment.
Bottom line, Vince got screwed. The defense made a blunder and held fast to the hope of an insanity acquittal. He should have realized that juries are a crap shoot at best. The juries opted for the easy way out, doesn't hurt them to put him away. The prosecutor is saying he would have compromised, but that is hotly debated. He could have stepped up to the plate and looked hard at the evidence that Vince was insane and also 15 years old (have I said that enough??) at the time and not prosecuted for first degree murder. It is also such a bullshit double standard that 15 year olds are liable for killing someone, but when they seduce and have sex with someone older, they can't be held accountable. The State wanted Vince put away, they wanted him to die in prison.
They got their wish.
Everyone happy now?
RIP Vince.
VINCE GREER
There is no disputing that in November 1997, 15 year old Vince shot and killed his mother with a rifle. His father wrestled the gun from him and held him until police arrived.
Vince was diagnosed as schizophrenic. After a first conviction was overturned, he was retried and convicted again. Sent to prison for life. No treatment.
Bottom line, Vince got screwed. The defense made a blunder and held fast to the hope of an insanity acquittal. He should have realized that juries are a crap shoot at best. The juries opted for the easy way out, doesn't hurt them to put him away. The prosecutor is saying he would have compromised, but that is hotly debated. He could have stepped up to the plate and looked hard at the evidence that Vince was insane and also 15 years old (have I said that enough??) at the time and not prosecuted for first degree murder. It is also such a bullshit double standard that 15 year olds are liable for killing someone, but when they seduce and have sex with someone older, they can't be held accountable. The State wanted Vince put away, they wanted him to die in prison.
They got their wish.
Everyone happy now?
RIP Vince.
VINCE GREER
Monday, September 10, 2007
Remembering Pavarotti
I don't remember the exact date or even year, but it must have been 1976 or 1977 when I saw the late Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti perform. He was doing an opera and song recital at the University of Illinois' Krannert Center for Performing Arts and somehow I got a ticket.
Pavarotti died September 6th of pancreatic cancer at the age of 71.
Pavarotti possessed a magnificent voice and a commanding stage presence. Always present was his trademark white handkerchief and a big infectious smile. His performances were never dull but rather earthy, fun, exciting and always true to the art of opera.
To the enduring horror of opera snobs, Pavarotti would sing just about anything including commercials, huge outdoor concerts, TV, and with pop stars. His Three Tenors performances with Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras, were also panned by critics but adored by many and sold millions of CDs and videos.
Sadly, as happens to many singers, his voice faded and was not as clear and strong by the end of his career, but that of course did not stop him. Back when I saw him, he was at the top of his game. Fresh, exciting, already popular. He won over audiences with his charm and superb musicianship. Example:
At the concert I saw, I scored one of the worse seats in the house. For sold out performances, the center also sold seats that were behind the stage, also used for a choir loft. The sound was not as good and you saw the performer's backside a lot.
But Pavarotti was different. He knew we were behind him and he was just as happy to see us as he was those who paid more for the prime seats in front. Almost every song he turned and sang to us. At one point, he turned to the main audience and said "Scusilo" Italian for excuse me. He turned to us and sang 3 selections just to us. Even the main audience applauded his magnanimous gesture.
A true artist. RIP Luciano. Grazie.
Pavarotti died September 6th of pancreatic cancer at the age of 71.
Pavarotti possessed a magnificent voice and a commanding stage presence. Always present was his trademark white handkerchief and a big infectious smile. His performances were never dull but rather earthy, fun, exciting and always true to the art of opera.
To the enduring horror of opera snobs, Pavarotti would sing just about anything including commercials, huge outdoor concerts, TV, and with pop stars. His Three Tenors performances with Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras, were also panned by critics but adored by many and sold millions of CDs and videos.
Sadly, as happens to many singers, his voice faded and was not as clear and strong by the end of his career, but that of course did not stop him. Back when I saw him, he was at the top of his game. Fresh, exciting, already popular. He won over audiences with his charm and superb musicianship. Example:
At the concert I saw, I scored one of the worse seats in the house. For sold out performances, the center also sold seats that were behind the stage, also used for a choir loft. The sound was not as good and you saw the performer's backside a lot.
But Pavarotti was different. He knew we were behind him and he was just as happy to see us as he was those who paid more for the prime seats in front. Almost every song he turned and sang to us. At one point, he turned to the main audience and said "Scusilo" Italian for excuse me. He turned to us and sang 3 selections just to us. Even the main audience applauded his magnanimous gesture.
A true artist. RIP Luciano. Grazie.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Going Home Pt 2
One sad fact of life is that you don't get to choose where you are born and are raised. If so, I doubt I would have chosen my home, Decatur, IL., a blue collar berg smack in the middle the Illinois corn and soybean fields. Do give me some points; I got out as soon as I could. If my sister was not there, I doubt I would go back at all.
Decatur has about 81,860 people according to the 2000 census. When I lived there the population was always listed as around 78,000. 1990 it was 83,000 some people. So, since the statistics rarely lie, it is clear that Decatur is far from a boom town.
Shabby. That was my impression this time around. Shabby and declining. Sad really. Even my son Daniel noted it was getting a bit ragged. “Decatur was never all that exciting, but I remember at least the buildings were kept up and were open, there were stores and restaurants and things looked nice”, he opined as I met with him in St Louis on my way home. He observed well.
The yards and neighborhoods are beginning to look unkempt. Even my old neighborhood is getting frayed around the edges. A dry summer didn’t help, but it seemed lawn care was not high on anyone’s priority.
So many businesses that had been there forever were gone. I wrote about the two car dealerships that had passed on, both buildings were empty and deteriorating. The old shopping center near our home had tenants, but some shops that had closed last year were still empty. An old grocery store sat empty, as did many businesses along Pershing Rd, the old main shopping drag to the north. Some of the businesses still there looked shabby and barely hanging on. They used to shine.
Downtown used to have some department stores, a Carson Pirie Scott, K's Merchandise Mart, Myers Brothers that became a Bergner's and lots of small shops and busy streets. Now a lot of it is a big empty lot. It used to be a big hole, but the mosquitoes took over and they finally got the big idea to fill it in. Only a few diehards and a one block area of small boutiques hang on for dear life.
One of Decatur’s big problems is that the town has an inferiority complex, some say rightly so. Springfield to the west has a steady base as the state capitol. Springfield always gets the new stores and services before Decatur. The twin cities of Champaign-Urbana boast the University of Illinois campus and a much more active and vibrant community. Bloomington-Normal, also a pair of cities, have Illinois State University and the base of State Farm Insurance to keep them afloat. Their growth in the last decade has made them a power house in the area. Decatur just never seems to measure up, like a small kid being compared to his genius or athletic siblings. Bragging about the city strikes me as empty rah rah, cheering loudly and foolishly for the losing team.
Decatur was built on blue collar industry. Much of it struggling or gone. Firestone tires, GE, Borg Warner, Essex Wire, all left. The two big factories devoted to soybean processing and agribusiness, ADM and Tate and Lyle (nee A. E. Staley) are doing well but not enough to make up for other losses. Caterpillar tractor has seen some hard times but still hangs on. Nothing big ever seems to come in and absorb the losses.
Decatur has also tried hard to kill itself with a long history of political blunders. The most famous locally and the one that has enduring effects to this day was the blunder involving the annexation of the Hickory Point Mall. Like the surrounding cities, Decatur was ripe for an enclosed shopping mall. But the city powers that be at the time wanted to preserve downtown. Admirable in intention, but the developer had the land, was going to do it no matter what and wanted the city to annex the property for services. After a long debate, they said no to annexation. So the small village of Forsyth said sure, and they got the land... and the tax revenue, and more development. Decatur saw the downtown stores move out anyway, businesses move to the bustling new area and saw tax revenue plummet. They tried to starve it by not having bus service to the mall and faced an uproar. Decatur has made a lot of decisions like that; a failed water park never built even after street and light improvements were made, buying the Holiday Inn and watching it die, again a victim of bad location. Guess what? A new one is planned for Forsyth.
So, home gets more shabby, poorer and older. My generation moved out and many of the later ones did too. There are some who like it there, boosters to the end. Maybe they have more loyalty than I, maybe something is there I do not see.
Decatur has a motto: “Decatur, We Like it Here”. (I think the alternative was “Decatur: Better Here Than Nowhere”
My Motto: Kansas City, I love it here.
Decatur has about 81,860 people according to the 2000 census. When I lived there the population was always listed as around 78,000. 1990 it was 83,000 some people. So, since the statistics rarely lie, it is clear that Decatur is far from a boom town.
Shabby. That was my impression this time around. Shabby and declining. Sad really. Even my son Daniel noted it was getting a bit ragged. “Decatur was never all that exciting, but I remember at least the buildings were kept up and were open, there were stores and restaurants and things looked nice”, he opined as I met with him in St Louis on my way home. He observed well.
The yards and neighborhoods are beginning to look unkempt. Even my old neighborhood is getting frayed around the edges. A dry summer didn’t help, but it seemed lawn care was not high on anyone’s priority.
So many businesses that had been there forever were gone. I wrote about the two car dealerships that had passed on, both buildings were empty and deteriorating. The old shopping center near our home had tenants, but some shops that had closed last year were still empty. An old grocery store sat empty, as did many businesses along Pershing Rd, the old main shopping drag to the north. Some of the businesses still there looked shabby and barely hanging on. They used to shine.
Downtown used to have some department stores, a Carson Pirie Scott, K's Merchandise Mart, Myers Brothers that became a Bergner's and lots of small shops and busy streets. Now a lot of it is a big empty lot. It used to be a big hole, but the mosquitoes took over and they finally got the big idea to fill it in. Only a few diehards and a one block area of small boutiques hang on for dear life.
One of Decatur’s big problems is that the town has an inferiority complex, some say rightly so. Springfield to the west has a steady base as the state capitol. Springfield always gets the new stores and services before Decatur. The twin cities of Champaign-Urbana boast the University of Illinois campus and a much more active and vibrant community. Bloomington-Normal, also a pair of cities, have Illinois State University and the base of State Farm Insurance to keep them afloat. Their growth in the last decade has made them a power house in the area. Decatur just never seems to measure up, like a small kid being compared to his genius or athletic siblings. Bragging about the city strikes me as empty rah rah, cheering loudly and foolishly for the losing team.
Decatur was built on blue collar industry. Much of it struggling or gone. Firestone tires, GE, Borg Warner, Essex Wire, all left. The two big factories devoted to soybean processing and agribusiness, ADM and Tate and Lyle (nee A. E. Staley) are doing well but not enough to make up for other losses. Caterpillar tractor has seen some hard times but still hangs on. Nothing big ever seems to come in and absorb the losses.
Decatur has also tried hard to kill itself with a long history of political blunders. The most famous locally and the one that has enduring effects to this day was the blunder involving the annexation of the Hickory Point Mall. Like the surrounding cities, Decatur was ripe for an enclosed shopping mall. But the city powers that be at the time wanted to preserve downtown. Admirable in intention, but the developer had the land, was going to do it no matter what and wanted the city to annex the property for services. After a long debate, they said no to annexation. So the small village of Forsyth said sure, and they got the land... and the tax revenue, and more development. Decatur saw the downtown stores move out anyway, businesses move to the bustling new area and saw tax revenue plummet. They tried to starve it by not having bus service to the mall and faced an uproar. Decatur has made a lot of decisions like that; a failed water park never built even after street and light improvements were made, buying the Holiday Inn and watching it die, again a victim of bad location. Guess what? A new one is planned for Forsyth.
So, home gets more shabby, poorer and older. My generation moved out and many of the later ones did too. There are some who like it there, boosters to the end. Maybe they have more loyalty than I, maybe something is there I do not see.
Decatur has a motto: “Decatur, We Like it Here”. (I think the alternative was “Decatur: Better Here Than Nowhere”
My Motto: Kansas City, I love it here.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Going Home Pt 1
Be it ever so humble, there is no place like home. Or so the sentimental old song says. The long holiday weekend allowed me some time to visit my home town of Decatur Il and the house I grew up in. My sister sill lives in it and is doing her best to wreck it. My home town is showing its age too, and just like my sister, the city management has done a good job of wrecking the place. I'll deal with that later.
Despite the fact that the house and the neighborhood is getting old and needs some work, I loved going home. My neighborhood on Gregory Ct was unique. We got along, we shared, we played and partied. Every night when we were through with supper and the dishes done some one would pull a lawn chair out and sit out on their driveway. Soon someone else would be there and then another and another. Soon all the neighbors would be gathered in lively conversation, a cooler of beer or soda, snacks and such would appear and the world's problems solved, or at least discussed in length. Us kids would play hide and seek, circle ball, ride our bikes or whatever else was in vogue. The parties did not go too late, usually around 9:30-10PM or when the mosquitoes became annoying. Weekends there was always a cookout somewhere, food and drinks would fly.
Even in 2007, some of the same neighbors are there. Every Sunday, my sister goes to across the street to the Middens like she has for years for brunch. It is just assumed. Several other neighbors from the 60's still live there, though some have moved and some have passed on. It does give one a sense of stability, of belonging. It may not be the ritziest neighborhood in the world, but there is a certain "front porch" mentality that survives there, not the hide in back on the private deck mentality of newer places and younger lives.
We told the Middens we were going to cook out on Sunday PM. My sister said the grill would be hot and come and grill with us. Since we were fixing tuna steaks, Ann and her mom brought hamburgers as mom does not like fish. Potato salad, grilled romaine salad, tuna steaks, fresh tomatoes, pitchers of margaritas, apple pie, it was all there to share. Used to be there were more of us at the parties, but mom and dad are gone, Mr Midden is in a nursing home, the Perks and Sullivans are gone, Mrs Hopkins is gone and her husband was not home, Mr Mickels is gone and Mrs Mickels is down in Texas now, so the cast was a bit smaller.
The spirit of these people were there, watching as we carried on the tradition of a front porch neighborhood that shared, looked out for each other and had a lot of fun.
Despite the fact that the house and the neighborhood is getting old and needs some work, I loved going home. My neighborhood on Gregory Ct was unique. We got along, we shared, we played and partied. Every night when we were through with supper and the dishes done some one would pull a lawn chair out and sit out on their driveway. Soon someone else would be there and then another and another. Soon all the neighbors would be gathered in lively conversation, a cooler of beer or soda, snacks and such would appear and the world's problems solved, or at least discussed in length. Us kids would play hide and seek, circle ball, ride our bikes or whatever else was in vogue. The parties did not go too late, usually around 9:30-10PM or when the mosquitoes became annoying. Weekends there was always a cookout somewhere, food and drinks would fly.
Even in 2007, some of the same neighbors are there. Every Sunday, my sister goes to across the street to the Middens like she has for years for brunch. It is just assumed. Several other neighbors from the 60's still live there, though some have moved and some have passed on. It does give one a sense of stability, of belonging. It may not be the ritziest neighborhood in the world, but there is a certain "front porch" mentality that survives there, not the hide in back on the private deck mentality of newer places and younger lives.
We told the Middens we were going to cook out on Sunday PM. My sister said the grill would be hot and come and grill with us. Since we were fixing tuna steaks, Ann and her mom brought hamburgers as mom does not like fish. Potato salad, grilled romaine salad, tuna steaks, fresh tomatoes, pitchers of margaritas, apple pie, it was all there to share. Used to be there were more of us at the parties, but mom and dad are gone, Mr Midden is in a nursing home, the Perks and Sullivans are gone, Mrs Hopkins is gone and her husband was not home, Mr Mickels is gone and Mrs Mickels is down in Texas now, so the cast was a bit smaller.
The spirit of these people were there, watching as we carried on the tradition of a front porch neighborhood that shared, looked out for each other and had a lot of fun.
Friday, August 31, 2007
When Britain Quaked
August 30-31, 1997 was a weekend. I must have had a boring one, or maybe Jim and I had been to a movie and I was back early. That part is fuzzy. At any rate, I turned on the TV about 5 minutes before the world changing news that there had been an accident in the early morning hours in Paris. Princess Diana had been involved. I sat transfixed.
It was early Sunday AM in Paris, most of Europe was asleep. At around 12:20 a.m. Di and Dodi Fayed her Egyptian boyfriend left the Ritz Hotel (which Dodi's father owned)to head for another Fayed property in Paris. They were passengers in a Mercedes-Benz driven by Henri Paul, the security manager for the Ritz and a bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones.
The rest is history. Diana was larger than life, an institution herself. She was supposed to be leading the "happy ever after" fairy tale life. It was far from that, Diana died because a drunk driver (Henri Paul, the driver the car she died in)and others involved in the incident made some stupid decision. The "People's Princess" died an all too common death.
Watching the events unfold, I knew this would be an event that would reverberate for a long time. 10 years later is still does.
Being of good solid British background, I understand the British way. Reserved, unemotional and stoic. As a running joke goes:
The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist
threats and have raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved."
Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or
even "A Bit Cross." Londoners have not been "A Bit Cross" since the
blitz in 1940 when tea supplies all but ran out. Terrorists have been
re-categorized from "Tiresome" to a "Bloody Nuisance." The last time
the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was during the
great fire of 1666.
Diana's death changed that. The whole facade crumbled, a huge catharsis of grief poured out of London, in York and in Woking. Diana had modernized the Royals and catalyzed the modernization of Britain. Her death shocked the Royals and even British society to be a bit more human, a little more worldly. God the Royals looked foolish. Elizabeth's silence, while understandable, was met with disbelief from a distraught public. Her excuses seemed lame. When they did come to London and viewed the floral tributes that nearly covered the palace, they looked bored and cold. I remember seeing Prince Philip pick up a bouquet and then toss it back on the pile. He was booed. Britain, already changing with the election of Tony Blair and his progressive "New Labor", could not believe their monarch was so cold.
But on the day of her funeral, the world watched and I even gasped as the coffin stopped beside the gate of Buckingham Palace. There the Royal family waited to join in the procession. The Queen stood silently, then bowed to the coffin in respect.
Britain quaked.
It was early Sunday AM in Paris, most of Europe was asleep. At around 12:20 a.m. Di and Dodi Fayed her Egyptian boyfriend left the Ritz Hotel (which Dodi's father owned)to head for another Fayed property in Paris. They were passengers in a Mercedes-Benz driven by Henri Paul, the security manager for the Ritz and a bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones.
The rest is history. Diana was larger than life, an institution herself. She was supposed to be leading the "happy ever after" fairy tale life. It was far from that, Diana died because a drunk driver (Henri Paul, the driver the car she died in)and others involved in the incident made some stupid decision. The "People's Princess" died an all too common death.
Watching the events unfold, I knew this would be an event that would reverberate for a long time. 10 years later is still does.
Being of good solid British background, I understand the British way. Reserved, unemotional and stoic. As a running joke goes:
The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist
threats and have raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved."
Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or
even "A Bit Cross." Londoners have not been "A Bit Cross" since the
blitz in 1940 when tea supplies all but ran out. Terrorists have been
re-categorized from "Tiresome" to a "Bloody Nuisance." The last time
the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was during the
great fire of 1666.
Diana's death changed that. The whole facade crumbled, a huge catharsis of grief poured out of London, in York and in Woking. Diana had modernized the Royals and catalyzed the modernization of Britain. Her death shocked the Royals and even British society to be a bit more human, a little more worldly. God the Royals looked foolish. Elizabeth's silence, while understandable, was met with disbelief from a distraught public. Her excuses seemed lame. When they did come to London and viewed the floral tributes that nearly covered the palace, they looked bored and cold. I remember seeing Prince Philip pick up a bouquet and then toss it back on the pile. He was booed. Britain, already changing with the election of Tony Blair and his progressive "New Labor", could not believe their monarch was so cold.
But on the day of her funeral, the world watched and I even gasped as the coffin stopped beside the gate of Buckingham Palace. There the Royal family waited to join in the procession. The Queen stood silently, then bowed to the coffin in respect.
Britain quaked.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
The Winds of Change
I do not care for change. I get used to something and then poof! it is different or gone. I am a person of routine, don't mess with my schedule and mess with what I expect. Is that too much to ask?
But, as they preach, change is inevitable. Ok, but I do not want to embrace it or like it..ok? Thus a story.
Being follically challenged in the hair department, I see no need to patronize fancy hair salons. I got a gift certificate for $25 worth of services at Shawn's of Westport. Shawn could not find $25 worth of hair to do, so I traded it for something else. Thus, when I came to Kansas City a few years ago, I was happy to find a little barber shop not too far from me. Old fashioned, nothing fancy, 2 chairs, some old waiting chairs and the daily paper. About it.
$7 for a haircut. WHAT A DEAL!
John Barrera had been in the barber business for 50 years. He bought the tiny shop from someone else in the 50's. As of 2007, the shop has now been in business for over 80 years in the same location at 39th and Southwest Trafficway. I don't think much had phyically changed over the years either.
John was always friendly, not obnoxious, but always ready to greet you, treat you right and give you a great cut. A cut always included a trim of your eyebrows and ears and trim your neck with hot cream and a straight edge razor. He even had an ancient vibrating neck and back massager that he would throw in to finish off. For $7. The clientèle was interesting as well. Rich and poor, old and young... and always a cast of characters hanging around not getting a hair cut, but just shooting the breeze.
I thought I died and went to heaven.
50 years is a long time to do anything. And winds of change were coming. Nichols Lunch restaurant, also in the same location for over 80 years, suddenly closed last year. The owner sold out and sold the building. New owners took over and another restaurant is scheduled to go in the place of Nichols. The new owner kept John in limbo for a while and then finally sat down to negotiate a lease.
I think the change and uncertainty took its toll on the master clipper. Now approaching 80 himself (but looking a lot younger),John decided to hang up his clippers. The time was right. An era was ending; just as I was settling in to enjoy $7 haircuts forever. What was I to do?
All is not lost. John's other barber Bob bought the business and is continuing the tradition. He noted that he was only the 3rd owner in 80 years of business. Sadly, the new owner of the building raised the rent, so now a hair cut is a full $10. Inflation you know. But at least he still uses the little massager thing.
Bob has a lease until 2010, so barring disaster, I will continue to have cheap haircuts for a while. John even is planning to come in on Fridays and some Saturdays for the heck of it.
I hope Bob keeps the name "John's Barbershop". Somethings should never change.
But, as they preach, change is inevitable. Ok, but I do not want to embrace it or like it..ok? Thus a story.
Being follically challenged in the hair department, I see no need to patronize fancy hair salons. I got a gift certificate for $25 worth of services at Shawn's of Westport. Shawn could not find $25 worth of hair to do, so I traded it for something else. Thus, when I came to Kansas City a few years ago, I was happy to find a little barber shop not too far from me. Old fashioned, nothing fancy, 2 chairs, some old waiting chairs and the daily paper. About it.
$7 for a haircut. WHAT A DEAL!
John Barrera had been in the barber business for 50 years. He bought the tiny shop from someone else in the 50's. As of 2007, the shop has now been in business for over 80 years in the same location at 39th and Southwest Trafficway. I don't think much had phyically changed over the years either.
John was always friendly, not obnoxious, but always ready to greet you, treat you right and give you a great cut. A cut always included a trim of your eyebrows and ears and trim your neck with hot cream and a straight edge razor. He even had an ancient vibrating neck and back massager that he would throw in to finish off. For $7. The clientèle was interesting as well. Rich and poor, old and young... and always a cast of characters hanging around not getting a hair cut, but just shooting the breeze.
I thought I died and went to heaven.
50 years is a long time to do anything. And winds of change were coming. Nichols Lunch restaurant, also in the same location for over 80 years, suddenly closed last year. The owner sold out and sold the building. New owners took over and another restaurant is scheduled to go in the place of Nichols. The new owner kept John in limbo for a while and then finally sat down to negotiate a lease.
I think the change and uncertainty took its toll on the master clipper. Now approaching 80 himself (but looking a lot younger),John decided to hang up his clippers. The time was right. An era was ending; just as I was settling in to enjoy $7 haircuts forever. What was I to do?
All is not lost. John's other barber Bob bought the business and is continuing the tradition. He noted that he was only the 3rd owner in 80 years of business. Sadly, the new owner of the building raised the rent, so now a hair cut is a full $10. Inflation you know. But at least he still uses the little massager thing.
Bob has a lease until 2010, so barring disaster, I will continue to have cheap haircuts for a while. John even is planning to come in on Fridays and some Saturdays for the heck of it.
I hope Bob keeps the name "John's Barbershop". Somethings should never change.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Penquins Are Trouble
On the surface it looks harmless, "And Tango Makes Three," is a children's book based on a true story about two male penguins who raise a baby penguin. Emphasis on "true" is mine. Why? This true story received the most complaints from parents and others than any other book in 2006.
Why? It promoted homosexuality as "normal".
Good GOD people, get over it. People fuck. Men fuck men and women fuck women. Some do it with both, it is real it is true and it is not a choice. Your kid is going to do it, maybe with his girlfriend or with her girlfriend. Not a goddamn thing you can do about it. Get your head OUT of the sand, out of your ass and get over it doll face, ASAP.
Arrrrrrgh....
Why? It promoted homosexuality as "normal".
Good GOD people, get over it. People fuck. Men fuck men and women fuck women. Some do it with both, it is real it is true and it is not a choice. Your kid is going to do it, maybe with his girlfriend or with her girlfriend. Not a goddamn thing you can do about it. Get your head OUT of the sand, out of your ass and get over it doll face, ASAP.
Arrrrrrgh....
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
There Ought to be a Law
...so Democratic Presidential candidate John Edwards wants to enact what he calls "Brownie's Law" requiring that qualified people, not political hacks, lead key government agencies.
"It's an absolute travesty to have people who are essentially political hacks in a very responsible position," Edwards is quoted as saying.
And it is a law that is needed. Especially after some of the bozo political hacks Bush has appointed. Loyalty to the Throne is more important than knowledge in Bushie's fucked up world.
"Brownie" of course refers to Michael Brown, who was head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency when Katrina struck in 2005. In one of the most surreal moments of a surreal administration, Brown was forced to resign shortly after Bush praised him publicly saying: "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job". Meanwhile devastated New Orleans was in total breakdown and Brown was more concerned how he looked on TV. It was shameful.
Then we have the now resigned Alberto Gonzales, who was supported by no one but Bush. He finally left after totally fucking up the Justice Department...and Bush supported him to the end.
So, if you can't trust someone to appoint competent leaders in government, I guess you need a law. I sure support that one.
"It's an absolute travesty to have people who are essentially political hacks in a very responsible position," Edwards is quoted as saying.
And it is a law that is needed. Especially after some of the bozo political hacks Bush has appointed. Loyalty to the Throne is more important than knowledge in Bushie's fucked up world.
"Brownie" of course refers to Michael Brown, who was head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency when Katrina struck in 2005. In one of the most surreal moments of a surreal administration, Brown was forced to resign shortly after Bush praised him publicly saying: "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job". Meanwhile devastated New Orleans was in total breakdown and Brown was more concerned how he looked on TV. It was shameful.
Then we have the now resigned Alberto Gonzales, who was supported by no one but Bush. He finally left after totally fucking up the Justice Department...and Bush supported him to the end.
So, if you can't trust someone to appoint competent leaders in government, I guess you need a law. I sure support that one.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Toxic Flour
I mourn for the loss of sanity, good sense and reason. I am not sure when it died, but I know it is pushing up daisies now.
Case in point: A running club in New Jersey, specifically two members of the group, sprinkled flour in a parking lot to mark a trail for their run and set off a bioterrorism scare. The paranoid police forced shoppers to evacuate an IKEA furniture store and brought out manpower from all over. The running club members heard about the scare and came back to report it was just a little Gold Medal not Heavy Metal. The police's insane response: "You see powder connected by arrows and chalk, you never know,It could be a terrorist, it could be something more serious. (Yeah like flour.... ) We're thankful it wasn't, but there were a lot of resources that went into figuring that out."
So instead of convicting people who kill and rob, we go after flour droppers.
And soon a legislator will make it illegal to own large quantities of flour without a license.
Case in point: A running club in New Jersey, specifically two members of the group, sprinkled flour in a parking lot to mark a trail for their run and set off a bioterrorism scare. The paranoid police forced shoppers to evacuate an IKEA furniture store and brought out manpower from all over. The running club members heard about the scare and came back to report it was just a little Gold Medal not Heavy Metal. The police's insane response: "You see powder connected by arrows and chalk, you never know,It could be a terrorist, it could be something more serious. (Yeah like flour.... ) We're thankful it wasn't, but there were a lot of resources that went into figuring that out."
So instead of convicting people who kill and rob, we go after flour droppers.
And soon a legislator will make it illegal to own large quantities of flour without a license.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Poor Little Ted
Here is some interesting news: that pitiful victim of self loathing (as taught by the wonderful world of conservative, Bible toting Christians) Rev. Ted Haggard is now begging his former followers and anyone else he can bilk for money.
Listen to his gall, as expressed in an email he sent to supporters:
"It looks as though it will take two years for us to have adequate earning power again, so we are looking for people who will help us monthly for two years. During that time we will continue as full-time students, and then, when I graduate, we won't need outside support any longer."
Haggard and his wife(female one)are studying to be counselors (!) and need the money to live on while they go to school and live in a faith based halfway house in Phoenix, where they will also work as counselors.
But is Teddy really that poor? According to reports he has a bit of cash. Haggard received a salary of $115,000 for his last few months of employment and had received bonus of $85,000 before he left in disgrace. Plus, his church paid severance including a year's salary of $138,000. Plus there are royalties on his books and tape sales.
Far from a poor pauper. This bitch has balls for sure. Now if he would just have the balls to admit he is gay.
Listen to his gall, as expressed in an email he sent to supporters:
"It looks as though it will take two years for us to have adequate earning power again, so we are looking for people who will help us monthly for two years. During that time we will continue as full-time students, and then, when I graduate, we won't need outside support any longer."
Haggard and his wife(female one)are studying to be counselors (!) and need the money to live on while they go to school and live in a faith based halfway house in Phoenix, where they will also work as counselors.
But is Teddy really that poor? According to reports he has a bit of cash. Haggard received a salary of $115,000 for his last few months of employment and had received bonus of $85,000 before he left in disgrace. Plus, his church paid severance including a year's salary of $138,000. Plus there are royalties on his books and tape sales.
Far from a poor pauper. This bitch has balls for sure. Now if he would just have the balls to admit he is gay.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Un-Civil War
Fellow readers of Pato News, we are living in a time of civil war. Or as a character in the old Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon stated: ‘it was not the Civil War, it was the War Between the States, and there was nothing civil about it”. And there is nothing civil about this war, not between the states but between ideologies. Left and right, conservative and liberal both used as derogatory labels. It is not a cold war; it is a hot one, fought everyday in the papers, in the streets, in everyday conversation. The USA is suffering for it.
It began when the right wing was shocked by the 2 terms of Bill Clinton. They could not believe he was elected in the first place and then re-elected. Stung, they pulled out all the lies, waste of money and time (Whitewater, the blow job), and dirty tricks they could pull to keep him occupied and not able to press his agenda. They vilified Hillary since she was smart and dared to ask why our health care system is the best in the world, only for the rich who can afford it. Their daughter, who was not a drugged out drunk like some kids we know, was horribly bullied by a bunch of childish pols and media types.
It is clear that keeping the country focused on bullshit and lies allowed Al-Qaeda to do its dirty work. Of course then the right wing blamed everyone but themselves. Unable to win, they destroy reputations, lie, distort and confuse the voters. Anything they do wrong…it is the Democrats’ fault.
Sadly, we can not have a sane and civil discourse on the issues before name calling and slander rear their ugly head. Criticize the President and you are labeled a “turrerist”. Say you oppose the war and occupation of Iraq and you “hate the troops”. Guess what folks, most of the “troops” hate the occupation too and many are committing suicide to get away from an out of control situation. No one is going to win this one. Yet whoever is the first one to finally throw in the towel will certainly be labeled as an advocate of cut and run.
I realize I am contributing to the whole thing. But I feel I have to stand up and defend my admittedly liberal mindset. I am proud to believe that all people should be allowed medical care at low or now cost. I think the courts and laws are too harsh and biased, we are systematically putting the poor, gay/lesbian, powerless, black, Hispanic and mentally ill away in prison to get them out of our sight. I think the occupation of Iraq is wrong.
You are all free to believe the opposite, just do NOT vilify me for believing differently.
It began when the right wing was shocked by the 2 terms of Bill Clinton. They could not believe he was elected in the first place and then re-elected. Stung, they pulled out all the lies, waste of money and time (Whitewater, the blow job), and dirty tricks they could pull to keep him occupied and not able to press his agenda. They vilified Hillary since she was smart and dared to ask why our health care system is the best in the world, only for the rich who can afford it. Their daughter, who was not a drugged out drunk like some kids we know, was horribly bullied by a bunch of childish pols and media types.
It is clear that keeping the country focused on bullshit and lies allowed Al-Qaeda to do its dirty work. Of course then the right wing blamed everyone but themselves. Unable to win, they destroy reputations, lie, distort and confuse the voters. Anything they do wrong…it is the Democrats’ fault.
Sadly, we can not have a sane and civil discourse on the issues before name calling and slander rear their ugly head. Criticize the President and you are labeled a “turrerist”. Say you oppose the war and occupation of Iraq and you “hate the troops”. Guess what folks, most of the “troops” hate the occupation too and many are committing suicide to get away from an out of control situation. No one is going to win this one. Yet whoever is the first one to finally throw in the towel will certainly be labeled as an advocate of cut and run.
I realize I am contributing to the whole thing. But I feel I have to stand up and defend my admittedly liberal mindset. I am proud to believe that all people should be allowed medical care at low or now cost. I think the courts and laws are too harsh and biased, we are systematically putting the poor, gay/lesbian, powerless, black, Hispanic and mentally ill away in prison to get them out of our sight. I think the occupation of Iraq is wrong.
You are all free to believe the opposite, just do NOT vilify me for believing differently.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Breakfast Jam
As one of the local wags said today, "Bush got his breakfast, we got the jam."
Bushie was in town to speak to his loyal supporters of carnage and war at the VFW convention. Instead of room service breakfast at the Intercontinental Hotel, he had to get his 30 car motorcade out and close down the city at 8am so he could go to the Corner Cafe all the way out in Riverside to meet with a bunch of handpicked rich people. Of course it was the same as the unelected Emperor and War Criminal went back to speak to the VFW where he contradicted himself on Iraq, after expressing frustration at the Iraqi leaders yesterday to day they were great guys doing a hard job... Heck of a job Brownie all over again.
Waste of time, waste of energy and waste of our money. Inconvenience a whole city? Not my problem.
But he left finally, and we the little people are free to go about our business now, Bushie didn't have to see many of us, most were hand picked. The VFW loves him as he promises to be strong and win and rah rah rah! Easy to say, hard to do.
Bushie was in town to speak to his loyal supporters of carnage and war at the VFW convention. Instead of room service breakfast at the Intercontinental Hotel, he had to get his 30 car motorcade out and close down the city at 8am so he could go to the Corner Cafe all the way out in Riverside to meet with a bunch of handpicked rich people. Of course it was the same as the unelected Emperor and War Criminal went back to speak to the VFW where he contradicted himself on Iraq, after expressing frustration at the Iraqi leaders yesterday to day they were great guys doing a hard job... Heck of a job Brownie all over again.
Waste of time, waste of energy and waste of our money. Inconvenience a whole city? Not my problem.
But he left finally, and we the little people are free to go about our business now, Bushie didn't have to see many of us, most were hand picked. The VFW loves him as he promises to be strong and win and rah rah rah! Easy to say, hard to do.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
The Queen of Mean
Ding dong the witch is dead...which old witch? The Queen of Mean, the one and only Leona Helmsley.
She is most famous for going to prison for tax evasion in the late 80's. Her case unraveled when a housekeeper testified she heard Helmsley say "We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes." She soon became one of the little people.
Can you imagine what a wealthy, mean old ugly bitch must have been like to have around? Supposedly at one time, she was glamorous, fun and lively. She and her husband Harry were supposedly much in love and enjoyed showering each other with extravagant gifts and tributes. As she aged, and Harry became incapacitated, she became more tight fisted and controlling. The trial and conviction for tax fraud destroyed what little levity she had left.
She was notorious for treating workers and employees like shit. In one famous incident, she ordered a sales clerk to rewrite a bill to save $4 in sales tax, "That's how the rich get richer", she replied. Her supporters contended that the government came after her to make an example of someone with high visibility. With her mouth and temper, she was an easy target. People lined up to nail her coffin. After her release, she was ordered to do some community service. That was extended because she ordered employees to do some of it for her. The Queen of Mean was notoriously homophobic in a business (hotels) with a large number of gay employees.
As it is always with the filthy rich, nothing touched her, nothing stopped her, she always got what she wanted. I can just see her, throwing something at the devil, DO IT NOW! Maybe Satan has met his match!
She is most famous for going to prison for tax evasion in the late 80's. Her case unraveled when a housekeeper testified she heard Helmsley say "We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes." She soon became one of the little people.
Can you imagine what a wealthy, mean old ugly bitch must have been like to have around? Supposedly at one time, she was glamorous, fun and lively. She and her husband Harry were supposedly much in love and enjoyed showering each other with extravagant gifts and tributes. As she aged, and Harry became incapacitated, she became more tight fisted and controlling. The trial and conviction for tax fraud destroyed what little levity she had left.
She was notorious for treating workers and employees like shit. In one famous incident, she ordered a sales clerk to rewrite a bill to save $4 in sales tax, "That's how the rich get richer", she replied. Her supporters contended that the government came after her to make an example of someone with high visibility. With her mouth and temper, she was an easy target. People lined up to nail her coffin. After her release, she was ordered to do some community service. That was extended because she ordered employees to do some of it for her. The Queen of Mean was notoriously homophobic in a business (hotels) with a large number of gay employees.
As it is always with the filthy rich, nothing touched her, nothing stopped her, she always got what she wanted. I can just see her, throwing something at the devil, DO IT NOW! Maybe Satan has met his match!
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Happy Birthday CD
I almost missed an important anniversary, something I am using right this very second had its 25th birthday this week.
On August 17, 1982, Royal Philips Electronics manufactured the world's first compact disc at a Philips factory in Germany. For all your trivial people the first CD manufactured was ABBA's "The Vistors". Since then, 200 BILLION have been cranked out all over the world. I have bought my share of that 200 billion for sure. Another trivia piece: the length of recording (then around 75 minutes) and thus the diameter of the disc was standardized to accommodate a recording of Beethoven's 9th Symphony on one disc.
In fact many of the first CDs were classical recordings, benefiting from the longer format, making 2, 3 and 4 LP sets obsolete. The first players were released in Japan in November and the rest of the world in the spring of 1983. The CD soon had the LP, introduced in 1948, on the run. Sales began to drop precipitously for the tried andtrue vinyl disc, soon some new released were issued on CD only. The cassette tape soon followed the LP to the audio grave yard.
CDs were almost perfect. AS their name implied, they were conveniently compact, playable in smaller players so autos thus portable CD players proliferated. They were less prone to scratch or get damaged in handling. The "click, click, click" of a scratched vinyl LP was soon forgotten. I kind of missed the clicks and scratches of LPs. I still can't listen to the Beethoven 9th without hearing the spot where my first recording (I played it to death) had an audible pop. They had better sound and were amenable to the revolution in digital recording. The CD also revolutionized data storage, making floppy and small plastic computer discs obsolete.
Of course the DVD is the cousin of the CD, itself revolutionizing video playback.
I was somewhat of a late comer to the CD revolution. I had umpteen thousand LPs and a wife at the time that would not let me have a new toy. So after my divorce and the fact that many new recordings were not being released on LP I got my first CD player. My first disc? The complete orchestral works of George Gershwin. I still have it, sounds good today.
At the tender age of 25, the CD faces an uncertain future. Digital downloads, Ipods and such are cutting into CD sales. I got on that bandwagon early and confess I love to download music to the computer and ipod, instant gratification is always good. But I still use the CD as not everything is downloadable, and I sometimes like the permanence of the CD as opposed to the digital ownership of a download that could go poof at the touch of a wrong key. I think it will be around for a few more years. Nothing else seems to have developed yet that is better.
Happy BD CD! I still love you!
On August 17, 1982, Royal Philips Electronics manufactured the world's first compact disc at a Philips factory in Germany. For all your trivial people the first CD manufactured was ABBA's "The Vistors". Since then, 200 BILLION have been cranked out all over the world. I have bought my share of that 200 billion for sure. Another trivia piece: the length of recording (then around 75 minutes) and thus the diameter of the disc was standardized to accommodate a recording of Beethoven's 9th Symphony on one disc.
In fact many of the first CDs were classical recordings, benefiting from the longer format, making 2, 3 and 4 LP sets obsolete. The first players were released in Japan in November and the rest of the world in the spring of 1983. The CD soon had the LP, introduced in 1948, on the run. Sales began to drop precipitously for the tried andtrue vinyl disc, soon some new released were issued on CD only. The cassette tape soon followed the LP to the audio grave yard.
CDs were almost perfect. AS their name implied, they were conveniently compact, playable in smaller players so autos thus portable CD players proliferated. They were less prone to scratch or get damaged in handling. The "click, click, click" of a scratched vinyl LP was soon forgotten. I kind of missed the clicks and scratches of LPs. I still can't listen to the Beethoven 9th without hearing the spot where my first recording (I played it to death) had an audible pop. They had better sound and were amenable to the revolution in digital recording. The CD also revolutionized data storage, making floppy and small plastic computer discs obsolete.
Of course the DVD is the cousin of the CD, itself revolutionizing video playback.
I was somewhat of a late comer to the CD revolution. I had umpteen thousand LPs and a wife at the time that would not let me have a new toy. So after my divorce and the fact that many new recordings were not being released on LP I got my first CD player. My first disc? The complete orchestral works of George Gershwin. I still have it, sounds good today.
At the tender age of 25, the CD faces an uncertain future. Digital downloads, Ipods and such are cutting into CD sales. I got on that bandwagon early and confess I love to download music to the computer and ipod, instant gratification is always good. But I still use the CD as not everything is downloadable, and I sometimes like the permanence of the CD as opposed to the digital ownership of a download that could go poof at the touch of a wrong key. I think it will be around for a few more years. Nothing else seems to have developed yet that is better.
Happy BD CD! I still love you!
Friday, August 17, 2007
Quoteable
I saw this little quote, don't remember where. This may not be the exactly as was originally written, the sentiment is the same and I could not agree more:
Christianity might actually work... if somebody actually practiced it.
Christianity might actually work... if somebody actually practiced it.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
August 16th, 1977
August 16th, 1977 was a warm, lovely evening for a road trip. My college roommate Steve and I were heading to his parents' place in rural Nokomis, IL a small berg about an hour and a half away. They were retired and lived on a large plot of land out in the country. No farm to speak of, I think there were some horses, mostly just land, a stream and a pond and such.
Steve was a character and for a long time a good friend. Tall, skinny and always full of energy, but also bearing a moody side and could go off easily. Rarely with me, however, mostly with people in authority. Most of the time he was basically a delight. Steve had a thing for older women, thus was involved in our dorm's biggest scandal when he was caught fucking the dorm manager. He found another girl, this time his age, but they broke up even after they announced their marriage. He finally married an older woman after he left college and moved away.
He was devoted to the ROTC and a military career; his biggest goal was to drop a nuclear bomb on the damn Commies, somewhere. His theme song was Tom Leher's "So Long Mom, I am off to Drop the Bomb". In fact, I have Steve to thank for introducing me to Lehrer.
Anyway, Steve had his beloved little early 60's VW Bug and we piled in it for a short get-out-of-town adventure. School had not started yet, but we were both living on campus, so we had time and nothing else to do. Steve's VW had little in comfort except for an AM radio. The radio waves, no matter what the station, were full of one thing that eve. Elvis Presley. Elvis, all of 42 but looking like 82, had been found dead of a drug overdose that day in Memphis. The whole world was in mourning. We got tired of it quickly and turned off the radio.
I never was an Elvis fan, so despite the tragedy of his unfortunate death at a young age, I was not devastated. I never felt what others felt or what others heard in his voice. But ever since his debut in the 50's and for generations after, the "King" has remained ever popular. The postage stamp in his honor was the biggest selling stamp in history. If a devoted fan was forced to choose between saving for little Suzie's lifesaving surgery and a new Elvis album, Susie usually lost. Every album and song recorded is still in the catalog, selling like lemonade at a state fair. I just never got it.
But the reference I read today about the 30th anniversary of Elvis' passing did remind me of an old friend not seen in years. The obituary rekindled memories of an evening when two 20 year olds, still exploring, still excited about the world got away from the pressure of college and life at the time and enjoyed each other's company on a pleasant summer eve.
Thanks Elvis.
Steve was a character and for a long time a good friend. Tall, skinny and always full of energy, but also bearing a moody side and could go off easily. Rarely with me, however, mostly with people in authority. Most of the time he was basically a delight. Steve had a thing for older women, thus was involved in our dorm's biggest scandal when he was caught fucking the dorm manager. He found another girl, this time his age, but they broke up even after they announced their marriage. He finally married an older woman after he left college and moved away.
He was devoted to the ROTC and a military career; his biggest goal was to drop a nuclear bomb on the damn Commies, somewhere. His theme song was Tom Leher's "So Long Mom, I am off to Drop the Bomb". In fact, I have Steve to thank for introducing me to Lehrer.
Anyway, Steve had his beloved little early 60's VW Bug and we piled in it for a short get-out-of-town adventure. School had not started yet, but we were both living on campus, so we had time and nothing else to do. Steve's VW had little in comfort except for an AM radio. The radio waves, no matter what the station, were full of one thing that eve. Elvis Presley. Elvis, all of 42 but looking like 82, had been found dead of a drug overdose that day in Memphis. The whole world was in mourning. We got tired of it quickly and turned off the radio.
I never was an Elvis fan, so despite the tragedy of his unfortunate death at a young age, I was not devastated. I never felt what others felt or what others heard in his voice. But ever since his debut in the 50's and for generations after, the "King" has remained ever popular. The postage stamp in his honor was the biggest selling stamp in history. If a devoted fan was forced to choose between saving for little Suzie's lifesaving surgery and a new Elvis album, Susie usually lost. Every album and song recorded is still in the catalog, selling like lemonade at a state fair. I just never got it.
But the reference I read today about the 30th anniversary of Elvis' passing did remind me of an old friend not seen in years. The obituary rekindled memories of an evening when two 20 year olds, still exploring, still excited about the world got away from the pressure of college and life at the time and enjoyed each other's company on a pleasant summer eve.
Thanks Elvis.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
That's A Joke, Son
I had to run to the bank this AM, specifically to get some money from the ATM. I was behind an old man who was obviously challenged at using an ATM. He finally turned to me and asked if I could help him check his balance.
I pushed him over.
I pushed him over.
Monday, August 13, 2007
The Brain has left the Building
Ever seen a beheaded cockroach?? Even without a head, they run amok, spreading their disease and fear until they drop dead.
If not, then stay tuned to the TV news and you'll see one in the form of G. W. Bush shorn of his brain Karl Rove.
Rove, who has really been the president in the Bush Regime, has announced he is resigning at the end of the month. All the return to my family and crap excuses were given publicly. But would it not be more likely that he is resigning to escape more congressional investigation? Or maybe get while the getting is good? What else can he destroy besides Iraq, confidence in the White House, confidence in America, confidence in justice, fairness, civility?? How many more instutions can be politicized, how many more treasonous acts can go unpunished? Did the body resist the brain and say "no" to invading Iran, depriving the whole of a new food source and place to defile?
This brain has guided the cockroach in a lifetime of evil and destruction. Any attempts to exterminate have been futile. But the end is near, the brain has separated, the cockroach will spin and flail ever more until the final pirouette of death in January 2009. Scary times still lie ahead. I almost fear a brainless, out of control cockroach even more.
If not, then stay tuned to the TV news and you'll see one in the form of G. W. Bush shorn of his brain Karl Rove.
Rove, who has really been the president in the Bush Regime, has announced he is resigning at the end of the month. All the return to my family and crap excuses were given publicly. But would it not be more likely that he is resigning to escape more congressional investigation? Or maybe get while the getting is good? What else can he destroy besides Iraq, confidence in the White House, confidence in America, confidence in justice, fairness, civility?? How many more instutions can be politicized, how many more treasonous acts can go unpunished? Did the body resist the brain and say "no" to invading Iran, depriving the whole of a new food source and place to defile?
This brain has guided the cockroach in a lifetime of evil and destruction. Any attempts to exterminate have been futile. But the end is near, the brain has separated, the cockroach will spin and flail ever more until the final pirouette of death in January 2009. Scary times still lie ahead. I almost fear a brainless, out of control cockroach even more.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Cover Up or Else
I once read, I wish I could give the credit for it, that in the great emigration from England in the 16-1700's, America got the Puritans and Australia got the convicts. All said and done, Australia got the better end of the deal. The US is still puritanical in its desire to punish anyone who septs over the line and in its archaic sex laws.
Witness: A Catholic priest faces an indecent exposure charge after jogging naked (Gasp!!!! Horror!!!!, worse than killing or stealing) alone on a track at 4:30AM. The priest admits it was not a smart thing to do, and admitted it was true. The absolutely stupid thing is that if he is convicted of indecent exposure, he'll be a SEX OFFENDER! GOD NO! NOT THAT HORROR!! What to do what to do! ARRRRRRRGH.
If he sold drugs, he'd be slapped on the wrist and let lose to do it again, like the fucking druggies and pimps who roam unmolested in my streets.
But it is easier to persecute a naked priest than a drug pusher. So that is what our injustice system does.
Maybe I should head to Australia.... I have friends there.
Witness: A Catholic priest faces an indecent exposure charge after jogging naked (Gasp!!!! Horror!!!!, worse than killing or stealing) alone on a track at 4:30AM. The priest admits it was not a smart thing to do, and admitted it was true. The absolutely stupid thing is that if he is convicted of indecent exposure, he'll be a SEX OFFENDER! GOD NO! NOT THAT HORROR!! What to do what to do! ARRRRRRRGH.
If he sold drugs, he'd be slapped on the wrist and let lose to do it again, like the fucking druggies and pimps who roam unmolested in my streets.
But it is easier to persecute a naked priest than a drug pusher. So that is what our injustice system does.
Maybe I should head to Australia.... I have friends there.
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Hitler's "Desert Island" Record Collection
Even as his twisted world collapsed around him, Der Fuhrer Adolph Hitler apparently enjoyed some of his favorite tunes. Or so it seems. A former Soviet intelligence officer, Lev Besymenski, apparently found the 78RPM discs in the storied Bunker after the fall of Berlin. He took them back to the USSR and then never said a thing about it throughout his life. Besmenski died recently and thus the records and some documentation have been revealed.
Surprising to some, even leading some to say it is all a hoax (it would be if they found some Joyce Hatto or Sibelius' 8th Symphony there), is that the collection contained recordings by Jewish artists.
Specifically the talk is about a recording of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto performed by Bronislaw Huberman. Hitler had to have known, or someone would have told him, that Huberman was an exiled Jew and had founded an Orchestra in Palestine in 1936. Recordings by Artur Schnabel, whose mother was killed by the Nazis, were also found. In addition to his beloved Wagner, the collection included some Beethoven, Mozart and other German composers and surprisingly some Russians, Borodin, Mussorgsky and Rachmaninoff.
So was Hitler an opportunist when it came to antisemitism in music? Perhaps; one must realize that in the 30s and 40s, the number of recordings available were not like today. Some theorize Hitler was a bit of a hypocrite when it suited his purpose. He could claim in public that Jews did nothing to advance the art of music, but in private listen to Huberman play. Most dictators are hypocrites, privately luxuriating in the very things they banned as decadent or dangerous to those they sought to control; Brezhnev loved fast, fancy cars, especially Cadillac El Dorados and Lincoln Mark IVs, the Saudi Royal family is supposed to have a huge, fine liquor collection, just two examples. So this is far from the extraordinary. Thus, it is possible this is the real thing.
But questions remain and it may never be known if these are truly Hitler's. But if they are, it is a fascinating glimpse in to the mind of the monster.
Surprising to some, even leading some to say it is all a hoax (it would be if they found some Joyce Hatto or Sibelius' 8th Symphony there), is that the collection contained recordings by Jewish artists.
Specifically the talk is about a recording of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto performed by Bronislaw Huberman. Hitler had to have known, or someone would have told him, that Huberman was an exiled Jew and had founded an Orchestra in Palestine in 1936. Recordings by Artur Schnabel, whose mother was killed by the Nazis, were also found. In addition to his beloved Wagner, the collection included some Beethoven, Mozart and other German composers and surprisingly some Russians, Borodin, Mussorgsky and Rachmaninoff.
So was Hitler an opportunist when it came to antisemitism in music? Perhaps; one must realize that in the 30s and 40s, the number of recordings available were not like today. Some theorize Hitler was a bit of a hypocrite when it suited his purpose. He could claim in public that Jews did nothing to advance the art of music, but in private listen to Huberman play. Most dictators are hypocrites, privately luxuriating in the very things they banned as decadent or dangerous to those they sought to control; Brezhnev loved fast, fancy cars, especially Cadillac El Dorados and Lincoln Mark IVs, the Saudi Royal family is supposed to have a huge, fine liquor collection, just two examples. So this is far from the extraordinary. Thus, it is possible this is the real thing.
But questions remain and it may never be known if these are truly Hitler's. But if they are, it is a fascinating glimpse in to the mind of the monster.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Right Wing Hypocrisy...again
You could hardly miss the headline in the Kansas City Star. Johnson County Kansas DA Phill Kline is seeking the death penalty against Edwin Hall who is charged with a high profile murder of a young lady. No surprise there.
But when is the hypocrisy ever going to end with the right wing? When, I ask WHEN? People with brains want to know.
Being Mr. I made a tough but correct and just decision to seek the death penalty, scores points with the indoctrinated masses who think killing people is a deterrent to crime. Texas has killed enough people to prevent crime occurring there in my lifetime, or one would think. We have imprisoned enough people to certainly have rounded up all the bad guys, haven't we? Phill Kline wants to keep us and the kids safe by taking a person's life. An admittedly poor excuse of a person if he is guilty, for sure, but who gives him this ultimate authority?
What gets me is that the very same Phill Kline rages against abortion as murder. If he were ruler of the world, he would love nothing more but to put abortion providers away for murder, maybe even execute them.
Abortion is taking a human life, and so is signing the warrant to execute some one. Why do they not see the similarity?
These blood thirsty death penalty advocates and anti-choice radicals love to say they have Jesus and the Bible on their side. Oh really now?? Do you. I am not intensely religious, I do not read the Bible daily and would be hard pressed to quote any of it from memory. But I do remember something about 12 commandments... or are they passe? There was one, Thou Shall not Kill. Isn't there? Somewhere, Moses and all that.
Am I missing something?
But when is the hypocrisy ever going to end with the right wing? When, I ask WHEN? People with brains want to know.
Being Mr. I made a tough but correct and just decision to seek the death penalty, scores points with the indoctrinated masses who think killing people is a deterrent to crime. Texas has killed enough people to prevent crime occurring there in my lifetime, or one would think. We have imprisoned enough people to certainly have rounded up all the bad guys, haven't we? Phill Kline wants to keep us and the kids safe by taking a person's life. An admittedly poor excuse of a person if he is guilty, for sure, but who gives him this ultimate authority?
What gets me is that the very same Phill Kline rages against abortion as murder. If he were ruler of the world, he would love nothing more but to put abortion providers away for murder, maybe even execute them.
Abortion is taking a human life, and so is signing the warrant to execute some one. Why do they not see the similarity?
These blood thirsty death penalty advocates and anti-choice radicals love to say they have Jesus and the Bible on their side. Oh really now?? Do you. I am not intensely religious, I do not read the Bible daily and would be hard pressed to quote any of it from memory. But I do remember something about 12 commandments... or are they passe? There was one, Thou Shall not Kill. Isn't there? Somewhere, Moses and all that.
Am I missing something?
Monday, August 06, 2007
Manhattan Dreams
I seldom remember dreams, but this one I do and it was mildly amusing.
I had attended a meeting in the Big Apple, Manhattan. As was so usual with business meetings I went to in fun locations, we were so busy we had little time to get out and see things. So I decided I wanted to see Manhattan, so after everyone left, I stayed over and went out to explore on foot.
I found 8th Ave. "Good", I thought, "the fabulous 5th Ave is just 3 blocks away". Strangely, 8th Ave in Manhattan, New York City, looked more like 8th Ave in Manhattan, KS. Small frame houses, tree lined streets, leaves falling. A kid passed me by on the way to school. "It is true", I observed, "New York City is safer than Kansas City, kids can walk to school by themselves".
I crossed the street in a hurry and found that the streets, at least this 8th Ave., seemed to be made of rubber. As I jumped into the street, it kind of rippled and tossed me onto the sidewalk... in front of Madison Square Garden/Carnegie Hall. I know they are two different buildings, but my dream said otherwise.
I went in to this steel and glass edifice, cold and boring. Madison Square Garden morphed in and out as Carnegie Hall, and vice versa. I wanted a souvenir, but could only find a group of people who were trying on t-shirts and deciding which ones to sell. They let me have a CARNEGIE HALL t-shirt, in dark red with big white letters. They felt sorry for me.
Back on the streets, I found the sidewalks and streets hard to walk upon as they were upholstered. The sidewalks were like the back of a sofa and the streets had buttons. I kept trudging on, wanting to get to 5th Ave. Just like walking on the top of a sofa back, you had to keep your balance or you'd fall on the cushions. Except this cushion was 8th Ave, New York City.
At a corner, I decided to take a shortcut through a house. I was tired of upholstered streets. I walked in to this suburban house, full of New Yorkers talking about New York things, some reading the paper, some chatting, some getting a drink. A scene out of a casual cocktail party with friends. Suddenly, the house moved. It was on wheels and was actually a bus. Off we went south... away from 5th Ave. My fabulous 5th Ave.. I was stuck on this thing... Help!
Anyone want to analyze that one??
I had attended a meeting in the Big Apple, Manhattan. As was so usual with business meetings I went to in fun locations, we were so busy we had little time to get out and see things. So I decided I wanted to see Manhattan, so after everyone left, I stayed over and went out to explore on foot.
I found 8th Ave. "Good", I thought, "the fabulous 5th Ave is just 3 blocks away". Strangely, 8th Ave in Manhattan, New York City, looked more like 8th Ave in Manhattan, KS. Small frame houses, tree lined streets, leaves falling. A kid passed me by on the way to school. "It is true", I observed, "New York City is safer than Kansas City, kids can walk to school by themselves".
I crossed the street in a hurry and found that the streets, at least this 8th Ave., seemed to be made of rubber. As I jumped into the street, it kind of rippled and tossed me onto the sidewalk... in front of Madison Square Garden/Carnegie Hall. I know they are two different buildings, but my dream said otherwise.
I went in to this steel and glass edifice, cold and boring. Madison Square Garden morphed in and out as Carnegie Hall, and vice versa. I wanted a souvenir, but could only find a group of people who were trying on t-shirts and deciding which ones to sell. They let me have a CARNEGIE HALL t-shirt, in dark red with big white letters. They felt sorry for me.
Back on the streets, I found the sidewalks and streets hard to walk upon as they were upholstered. The sidewalks were like the back of a sofa and the streets had buttons. I kept trudging on, wanting to get to 5th Ave. Just like walking on the top of a sofa back, you had to keep your balance or you'd fall on the cushions. Except this cushion was 8th Ave, New York City.
At a corner, I decided to take a shortcut through a house. I was tired of upholstered streets. I walked in to this suburban house, full of New Yorkers talking about New York things, some reading the paper, some chatting, some getting a drink. A scene out of a casual cocktail party with friends. Suddenly, the house moved. It was on wheels and was actually a bus. Off we went south... away from 5th Ave. My fabulous 5th Ave.. I was stuck on this thing... Help!
Anyone want to analyze that one??
Sunday, August 05, 2007
#755
You know you are getting old when you begin a piece "In the old days..", "Back when.." or "In my time...."
Back when...in 1974 specifically, Hank Aaron mesmerized the world and broke Babe Ruth's home run record. It was front page news, everyone talked about it, the event was carried live on TV or at best broadcast as bulletin. It was classy. It was a moment. I was at a minor league ball park when it happened and was announced. Everyone cheered, the game stopped. Even the players rejoiced.
Now Aaron's record is about to be broken, it was tied actually, and it seems few cares.
It happened last night, and there were some cheers. But according to reports, 2 minutes later the next batter was up.
Sports has changed. I used to follow baseball religiously. Now I do not care. High paid thugs, spoiled brats, homophobic, racist, sexist pigs, arrogant.. not a role model for anyone. It is a sign of the time that you have to look at page 8 of the sports section to see who won, the first 7 are about who is in rehab, who is making billion dollar deals or who is not showing up because they didn't like the color of the limousine that came to pick them up.
Barry Bonds, who will soon have more home runs than Aaron, is embroiled in controversy. He is fighting a futile battle to retain any sense of a positive legacy, stemming from the widespread belief that he was a steroid user while earning the National League's Most Valuable Player award multiple times and chasing Aaron's record. Look at the "congratulation" statement made by the Commissioner of Baseball (don't get me started on that clown) :
"No matter what anybody thinks of the controversy surrounding this event, Mr. Bonds' achievement is noteworthy and remarkable. As I said previously, out of respect for the tradition of the game, the magnitude of the record and the fact all citizens in this country are innocent until proven guilty, either I or a representative of my office will attend the next few games and make every attempt to observe the breaking of the all-time home run record."
Surprising to me, even Hank Aaron is staying low key and has all but said he does not consider Bond's legitimate. He likely will not be in attendance at any of the games.
Bonds brought it on himself. We all know steroids were used, look at the dope scandal plagued bike racing world, and continue to be used. Bonds had help to break the record. Ruth and Aaron did it on their own muscle, ability and willpower.
Like athletes worthy of respect should.
Back when...in 1974 specifically, Hank Aaron mesmerized the world and broke Babe Ruth's home run record. It was front page news, everyone talked about it, the event was carried live on TV or at best broadcast as bulletin. It was classy. It was a moment. I was at a minor league ball park when it happened and was announced. Everyone cheered, the game stopped. Even the players rejoiced.
Now Aaron's record is about to be broken, it was tied actually, and it seems few cares.
It happened last night, and there were some cheers. But according to reports, 2 minutes later the next batter was up.
Sports has changed. I used to follow baseball religiously. Now I do not care. High paid thugs, spoiled brats, homophobic, racist, sexist pigs, arrogant.. not a role model for anyone. It is a sign of the time that you have to look at page 8 of the sports section to see who won, the first 7 are about who is in rehab, who is making billion dollar deals or who is not showing up because they didn't like the color of the limousine that came to pick them up.
Barry Bonds, who will soon have more home runs than Aaron, is embroiled in controversy. He is fighting a futile battle to retain any sense of a positive legacy, stemming from the widespread belief that he was a steroid user while earning the National League's Most Valuable Player award multiple times and chasing Aaron's record. Look at the "congratulation" statement made by the Commissioner of Baseball (don't get me started on that clown) :
"No matter what anybody thinks of the controversy surrounding this event, Mr. Bonds' achievement is noteworthy and remarkable. As I said previously, out of respect for the tradition of the game, the magnitude of the record and the fact all citizens in this country are innocent until proven guilty, either I or a representative of my office will attend the next few games and make every attempt to observe the breaking of the all-time home run record."
Surprising to me, even Hank Aaron is staying low key and has all but said he does not consider Bond's legitimate. He likely will not be in attendance at any of the games.
Bonds brought it on himself. We all know steroids were used, look at the dope scandal plagued bike racing world, and continue to be used. Bonds had help to break the record. Ruth and Aaron did it on their own muscle, ability and willpower.
Like athletes worthy of respect should.
Friday, August 03, 2007
8-Track, the Sounds of The 70's
The 70's. Egad! Leisure suits (I had a pale blue one), big white belts (ditto), bell bottoms (yep, those too) disco (anyone remember the Sting Disco in Urbana, IL?), Energy Crisis, Jimmy Carter, Watergate, Vietnam, last of the big cars, it was all there. I am a child of the 70's. Fate decreed it. Graduated in 1975... right in the middle.
So of course all of us baby boomers of the 50's are waxing nostalgic for our high school and college days. And of course, theatre directors and such are happy to oblige.
Thus one of the biggest crowds in memory packed the American Heartland Theatre for "8-Track, the Sounds of the 70's".
Music of the 70's usually means disco. But the early 70's hits were clearly extensions of the "psychedelic 60's" themes of peace and brotherhood, everyone get along, anti war, why are people dying? The disco era highlighted a new wave of Black vocalists that persists to this day. The last of the great ballads, with a lineage back to Schubert and jazz singers made their last stand. The diversity of the music was revelatory. We heard chord progressions, soft rhythms and even soaring melodies that have virtually disappeared from current popular music.
8-Track is basically 90 minutes of nostalgic fun, with a fount of popular and some more obscure chart toppers. Aretha Franklin, the Carpenters, Ray Stevens' "Everything is Beautiful, Tony Orlando and Dawn (this would be a hit in Branson), Barry Manilow, Starland Vocal Band's "Afternoon Delight", "Voulez-vous Couche Avec Moi ce Soir?" (about as dirty as it got then). Even the trucker's anthem "Convoy" got a spin. 10-4 good buddy. The melodies were pouring fast and furious....almost too many to catch. I counted about 45-55 different songs, some complete, some just teasing snippets.
More "serious" fare, included Three Dog Night's "Mama Told Me Not to Come," the Doobie Brothers' "Takin' It to the Streets" Helen Reddy's feminist anthem "I Am Woman," and Marvin Gaye's "Tell Me What's Going On".
The audience was sprinkled with people wearing 70's outfits, including a few wild multi colored afros. Some of the anthems, such as Debbie Boone's "You Light Up My Life" brought out the waving lit cell phone, no one smokes anymore you know!
The 4 singers 2 men and 2 women, 1 black and white each, were uniformly good. Teddey Brown's touching and somewhat funny rendition of Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Alone Again Naturally" stole the show. Bradley Beahen, sort of a Brady Bunch guy, was a little stiff acting but in great voice. Both women could belt the ballads as good as Aretha and Debbie could.
Ok, it was not profound. Sort of superficial, like the 70's. Damn good fun.
So of course all of us baby boomers of the 50's are waxing nostalgic for our high school and college days. And of course, theatre directors and such are happy to oblige.
Thus one of the biggest crowds in memory packed the American Heartland Theatre for "8-Track, the Sounds of the 70's".
Music of the 70's usually means disco. But the early 70's hits were clearly extensions of the "psychedelic 60's" themes of peace and brotherhood, everyone get along, anti war, why are people dying? The disco era highlighted a new wave of Black vocalists that persists to this day. The last of the great ballads, with a lineage back to Schubert and jazz singers made their last stand. The diversity of the music was revelatory. We heard chord progressions, soft rhythms and even soaring melodies that have virtually disappeared from current popular music.
8-Track is basically 90 minutes of nostalgic fun, with a fount of popular and some more obscure chart toppers. Aretha Franklin, the Carpenters, Ray Stevens' "Everything is Beautiful, Tony Orlando and Dawn (this would be a hit in Branson), Barry Manilow, Starland Vocal Band's "Afternoon Delight", "Voulez-vous Couche Avec Moi ce Soir?" (about as dirty as it got then). Even the trucker's anthem "Convoy" got a spin. 10-4 good buddy. The melodies were pouring fast and furious....almost too many to catch. I counted about 45-55 different songs, some complete, some just teasing snippets.
More "serious" fare, included Three Dog Night's "Mama Told Me Not to Come," the Doobie Brothers' "Takin' It to the Streets" Helen Reddy's feminist anthem "I Am Woman," and Marvin Gaye's "Tell Me What's Going On".
The audience was sprinkled with people wearing 70's outfits, including a few wild multi colored afros. Some of the anthems, such as Debbie Boone's "You Light Up My Life" brought out the waving lit cell phone, no one smokes anymore you know!
The 4 singers 2 men and 2 women, 1 black and white each, were uniformly good. Teddey Brown's touching and somewhat funny rendition of Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Alone Again Naturally" stole the show. Bradley Beahen, sort of a Brady Bunch guy, was a little stiff acting but in great voice. Both women could belt the ballads as good as Aretha and Debbie could.
Ok, it was not profound. Sort of superficial, like the 70's. Damn good fun.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Political Transvestite??
The late great Molly Ivins once called political party switchers "political transvestites". They may have switched clothes "to the other side", but underneath was much the same. Is this what is going on with State Sen. Chris Koster from Harrisonville who has switched to the Democratic side from the Republican?
Don't think all Democrats are happy. They remember the years of ridicule from the GOP while Koster was a card carrying member. He certainly never spoke up when Democrats' beliefs, and even patriotism was routinely questioned, simply because they differed from the GOP line. He voted for many of the policies that hurt elderly, workers, poor, disabled, minorities and non traditional families.
See, Koster is a bit of an opportunist. He likely will run for attorney general in the next election and it is speculated had some harder primary opponents in the GOP than he would in the Democratic primary. That earns him the political transvestite label.
But, he did state: “I have consistently for three years tried to push toward the center. At some point, the reality sets in that the (Republican) party belongs to the far right.” He is correct there and of course he is not alone. Other moderate and liberal Republicans have joined him, most notably next door in Kansas, where the GOP is the far right's playground.
For me the verdict is out. I prefer someone who sticks to his guns and knows where he stands, especially in the AG job. But I do welcome him into the party.... for now. He needs to prove that he is a Democrat, one who believes in people and power to the people, and rights for the poor and sick, Gays and Lesbians and believes in positive laws, not more hate filled rights restrictions and throw away the key justice.
Going to be a fun political season.
Don't think all Democrats are happy. They remember the years of ridicule from the GOP while Koster was a card carrying member. He certainly never spoke up when Democrats' beliefs, and even patriotism was routinely questioned, simply because they differed from the GOP line. He voted for many of the policies that hurt elderly, workers, poor, disabled, minorities and non traditional families.
See, Koster is a bit of an opportunist. He likely will run for attorney general in the next election and it is speculated had some harder primary opponents in the GOP than he would in the Democratic primary. That earns him the political transvestite label.
But, he did state: “I have consistently for three years tried to push toward the center. At some point, the reality sets in that the (Republican) party belongs to the far right.” He is correct there and of course he is not alone. Other moderate and liberal Republicans have joined him, most notably next door in Kansas, where the GOP is the far right's playground.
For me the verdict is out. I prefer someone who sticks to his guns and knows where he stands, especially in the AG job. But I do welcome him into the party.... for now. He needs to prove that he is a Democrat, one who believes in people and power to the people, and rights for the poor and sick, Gays and Lesbians and believes in positive laws, not more hate filled rights restrictions and throw away the key justice.
Going to be a fun political season.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Kansas City Symphony: The Reviews Are In
This past spring, the Kansas City Symphony made its first commercial recording in years. I discussed the music here and here and the recording here.
Now, some of the big boys in classical music reviews have weighed in and found the recording and music wonderful!
Click on "Reviews" in the catalogue description.
Bravo Gordon Chin, Felix Fan and Cho-Lang Lin! Bravo Maestro, Bravissimo Kansas City Symphony!
Now, some of the big boys in classical music reviews have weighed in and found the recording and music wonderful!
Click on "Reviews" in the catalogue description.
Bravo Gordon Chin, Felix Fan and Cho-Lang Lin! Bravo Maestro, Bravissimo Kansas City Symphony!
Friday, July 27, 2007
Pato is Rather Occupied
Pato is busy as a one armed paper hanger... now that is busy! So no blog updates for a few days, maybe Sunday.
I am sure Bush, our Boygov and the rest of the screwed up world will do something for me to rant about.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Perverts on MySpace! OH NO!
Well, the "persecutors" in several states aided by the mass hysteria over sex offenders has caused Myspace to delete profiles by sex offenders.
Murderers, drug dealers, kidnappers, thieves, robbers, embezzlers, frauds, etc are ok.
A judge in Texas (of all places) said it best, basically telling the parents of a kid lured to meet a pervert on line, that it was their responsibility to monitor, not Myspace. These "persecutors" and lame attorneys general are looking to looking to make headlines and Nifong more people to win elections. They want laws that, my friends, will destroy every citizen's privacy and right to anonymity. That scares me more than a pervert next door.
Murderers, drug dealers, kidnappers, thieves, robbers, embezzlers, frauds, etc are ok.
A judge in Texas (of all places) said it best, basically telling the parents of a kid lured to meet a pervert on line, that it was their responsibility to monitor, not Myspace. These "persecutors" and lame attorneys general are looking to looking to make headlines and Nifong more people to win elections. They want laws that, my friends, will destroy every citizen's privacy and right to anonymity. That scares me more than a pervert next door.
The Internet's a communication tool, period. What is next... offenders do not get phones or post office addresses? It is wrong headed to control offenders through controlling communication tools. Law enforcement should keep track of sex offenders' actions. Oh wait! They can't! They have to give out parking tickets and sobriety check points.
By the way know what a sex offender is? Anymore it is a boy who slaps a girl on the butt at school, or moons someone, or as a 17yr old has consensual sex with a girl 16, like Genarlow Wilson. Or the mentally retarded young man in Kansas that the evil attorney fuckwad had locked up and registered over a blow job. The kid was in an institution for Christ's sake.
We are more afraid of a blow job than getting blown away.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Wondermark on Harry Potter
I know, this is the lazy way to blog, but I have gotten such a kick out of Wondermark cartoons. This one, lampooning the Harry Potter mania, was just spot on to me!
WONDERMARK
WONDERMARK
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Car Whores On Tour
The Annual Ararat Shrine Car Show was held today 7/23/07 in North Kansas City, MO. Hundreds of antique and some not so antique cars were on display. My friends Steve M and Steve C went with me. When out and about looking at old cars, we call ourselves the Car Whores On Tour. Not many details escaped us, especially when someone tried to pull one over, like using the wrong transmission for the year in question or a non original paint job. Can't fool the car whores!
Here are some of the cars on display:
Unmistakable taillights of a 1962 Mercury Monterrey Convertible.
Rare 1954 Kaiser Darrin
What says 1960s more than a round Ford taillight?? This from a '61 Starliner.
When have you last seen 3 Packard Caribbeans in a row like this??
Wilber H. owns this immaculate and immense 1926 Rollston bodied Packard 8 Tourer
Packard 8 Convertible sedan from the 30s. Rolling sculpture.
48 Lincoln Continental
1919 Studebaker
1966 Thunderbird flipping her top
Click on the pics for full size one! And this was just a sample!
Here are some of the cars on display:
Unmistakable taillights of a 1962 Mercury Monterrey Convertible.
Rare 1954 Kaiser Darrin
What says 1960s more than a round Ford taillight?? This from a '61 Starliner.
When have you last seen 3 Packard Caribbeans in a row like this??
Wilber H. owns this immaculate and immense 1926 Rollston bodied Packard 8 Tourer
Packard 8 Convertible sedan from the 30s. Rolling sculpture.
48 Lincoln Continental
1919 Studebaker
1966 Thunderbird flipping her top
Click on the pics for full size one! And this was just a sample!
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Bulletin Tammy Faye Bakker Has Died
Rest in Peace Tammy Faye. I don't profess to have understood you, yet somehow I believe you were sincere. You came to realize, unlike many so called Christians that Jesus taught that all people were of sacred worth.
Tammy Faye died early Friday, in Loch Lloyd, south of KC.
Tammy Faye died early Friday, in Loch Lloyd, south of KC.
Starting Wars
Well, Boy-Gov Mattie Blunt, has managed to piss off Kansans who work in Missouri by signing a bill eliminating the deduction for real estate taxes paid outside Missouri.
People who pay property taxes in another state had been allowed to deduct them from any MO income tax paid. Residents of Missouri are allowed to deduct their in-state property taxes from their income taxes. This mostly affects Kansas as a large number of Kansas City residents work in Kansas. The St Louis metro area also has a large number of Illinois residents working in St Louis.
When asked about this Blunt said his focus was on reducing taxes for residents in his state.
His comments did not play well in Topeka, or Peoria for that matter.
"That's just an example of Gov. Blunt's youth and immaturity on full display," said Kansas Rep. Kenny Wilk, a fellow Republican.
Good going Mattie, you managed to start a war, just like your Uncle GW.
Speaking of GW, did the Doctors who looked at GW's colon (I'd rather look at 10,000 slaughtered Nuns and orphans)find Cheney and Condi Rice up there too?? Just wondering.
People who pay property taxes in another state had been allowed to deduct them from any MO income tax paid. Residents of Missouri are allowed to deduct their in-state property taxes from their income taxes. This mostly affects Kansas as a large number of Kansas City residents work in Kansas. The St Louis metro area also has a large number of Illinois residents working in St Louis.
When asked about this Blunt said his focus was on reducing taxes for residents in his state.
His comments did not play well in Topeka, or Peoria for that matter.
"That's just an example of Gov. Blunt's youth and immaturity on full display," said Kansas Rep. Kenny Wilk, a fellow Republican.
Good going Mattie, you managed to start a war, just like your Uncle GW.
Speaking of GW, did the Doctors who looked at GW's colon (I'd rather look at 10,000 slaughtered Nuns and orphans)find Cheney and Condi Rice up there too?? Just wondering.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Hit a Nerve
Well! It seems everyone's favorite Pato has struck a nerve. The post from yesterday on the Applebee's purchase by IHOP and my comments on corporate pillaging and greed has spread like a small wildfire. 40 reads as of now. For many blogs, that is an hour's worth of hits. For some, it is all they'll ever see. My average had been dropping, around 6-10 per day. I blamed it on lame writing and summer, more of the latter when I was feeling a bit more generous. But it will skyrocket now!
I must have said what was on many people's minds; that the recent purchase between the restaurant chains is bad for everyone but the big cats. I don't know who all these people are reading the entry, but I like to think my opinion is winging around Applebee's Inc, via email and phone calls. I do know the family of one Applebee's employee read it and commented. Someone from Florida checks in every hour or so.
I wish you all well, Applebee's people. I suspect that the future is cloudy at best. Your CEO who sold you out basically told you what to do. Look out for yourselves... NOW.
When will this end? The greed of stockholders or stakeholders (stakedrivers really) has destroyed so many great companies, TWA, Beverly Healthcare, hundreds of others consigned to history. The big shots get richer, communities suffer, people leave, families break under the stress, our confidence shot.
Good luck Applebee's people. And flip off the big guys for me.
I must have said what was on many people's minds; that the recent purchase between the restaurant chains is bad for everyone but the big cats. I don't know who all these people are reading the entry, but I like to think my opinion is winging around Applebee's Inc, via email and phone calls. I do know the family of one Applebee's employee read it and commented. Someone from Florida checks in every hour or so.
I wish you all well, Applebee's people. I suspect that the future is cloudy at best. Your CEO who sold you out basically told you what to do. Look out for yourselves... NOW.
When will this end? The greed of stockholders or stakeholders (stakedrivers really) has destroyed so many great companies, TWA, Beverly Healthcare, hundreds of others consigned to history. The big shots get richer, communities suffer, people leave, families break under the stress, our confidence shot.
Good luck Applebee's people. And flip off the big guys for me.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Rape and Pillage
I once worked for a company that preached exceptional service to its customers. We focused, all of us, on what made a good experience for any one with whom we had contact in our business. It worked, in my unheeded, irrelevant opinion (according to most business leaders) we had our best years.
Then we began to talk of "stakeholders".....
Warning: if your company starts to speak of stakeholders, you are doomed.
The company I worked for is gone now, swallowed up, sold off, a great diaspora of talent spread amongst the world, some of us doing less than we used to, some more, some retired, some just dropping out.
I just read a KC Star article about the recent purchase of Overland Park Based Applebee's Restaurants by IHOP, the pancake people. I am sure, over the past few months, Applebee's employees have been hearing "stakeholder" a lot, and that is not someone serving a rib-eye.
Listen: "What does this mean for our associates? Well, typically, when costs are significantly reduced, there are headcount reductions, too. It’s expected that, over time, as company-owned restaurants are re-franchised, there will be reductions in positions directly associated with support for those re-franchised stores." ~ From the letter sent to Applebee's worker-bees from the CEO, too chickenshit to face them.
There is more:
"the board of directors believed the sale was in the best interests of shareholders (variation on "stakeholders") 'but is likely to create a level of uncertainty for many of us who have been on this journey we call the BIG Fun TRIP.'"
Oh really???
Then the kicker:
Employees were given two responsibilities, the soon to be richer through Golden Parachute CEO preached, "First and foremost, you will want to be focused on making the best decision for how you continue to support yourselves and your loved ones." (advice, get the fuck out NOW).
But while making that decision,the CEO asked employees to stay focused on supporting the more than 30,000 Applebee’s employees who operate the company-owned restaurants. Note the guilt, don't support us who you now despise, think of poor Billy who manages the restaurant in BFE, supporting his sick wife and kids. BARF! Thus speakest Judas: "Without our continued support, those associates will not be able to keep their restaurants running smoothly - none of us want those associates to lose their ability to support themselves." (Yeah..so fucking what. They will survive, you will survive, I am the one who is fucked, says corporate manager who only wanted to do the best job in Accounting, HR, design, whatever..)
I think they are all fucked.
Someone got greedy. Someone saw a company making money, but not enough for the fat cats, saw an opportunity to rape it and then cast it to the wolves. People will lose jobs, good jobs. Restaurants will close as the franchise people come and go. Mini rapers, in a way, buying a restaurant and then taking what they can.
When is this bubble going to burst?
Meanwhile, support local owned restaurants. They are less likely to rape and pillage. And you get better service too.
Then we began to talk of "stakeholders".....
Warning: if your company starts to speak of stakeholders, you are doomed.
The company I worked for is gone now, swallowed up, sold off, a great diaspora of talent spread amongst the world, some of us doing less than we used to, some more, some retired, some just dropping out.
I just read a KC Star article about the recent purchase of Overland Park Based Applebee's Restaurants by IHOP, the pancake people. I am sure, over the past few months, Applebee's employees have been hearing "stakeholder" a lot, and that is not someone serving a rib-eye.
Listen: "What does this mean for our associates? Well, typically, when costs are significantly reduced, there are headcount reductions, too. It’s expected that, over time, as company-owned restaurants are re-franchised, there will be reductions in positions directly associated with support for those re-franchised stores." ~ From the letter sent to Applebee's worker-bees from the CEO, too chickenshit to face them.
There is more:
"the board of directors believed the sale was in the best interests of shareholders (variation on "stakeholders") 'but is likely to create a level of uncertainty for many of us who have been on this journey we call the BIG Fun TRIP.'"
Oh really???
Then the kicker:
Employees were given two responsibilities, the soon to be richer through Golden Parachute CEO preached, "First and foremost, you will want to be focused on making the best decision for how you continue to support yourselves and your loved ones." (advice, get the fuck out NOW).
But while making that decision,the CEO asked employees to stay focused on supporting the more than 30,000 Applebee’s employees who operate the company-owned restaurants. Note the guilt, don't support us who you now despise, think of poor Billy who manages the restaurant in BFE, supporting his sick wife and kids. BARF! Thus speakest Judas: "Without our continued support, those associates will not be able to keep their restaurants running smoothly - none of us want those associates to lose their ability to support themselves." (Yeah..so fucking what. They will survive, you will survive, I am the one who is fucked, says corporate manager who only wanted to do the best job in Accounting, HR, design, whatever..)
I think they are all fucked.
Someone got greedy. Someone saw a company making money, but not enough for the fat cats, saw an opportunity to rape it and then cast it to the wolves. People will lose jobs, good jobs. Restaurants will close as the franchise people come and go. Mini rapers, in a way, buying a restaurant and then taking what they can.
When is this bubble going to burst?
Meanwhile, support local owned restaurants. They are less likely to rape and pillage. And you get better service too.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Cultural Symbols
Look at any society and note their tallest or grandest buildings. Which structures are central to the community? Which took the longest or most funds to build?
You will discover what is most important to them, what centers their lives, what controls them, maybe even what oppresses them.
For centuries, the tallest and grandest building was the castle of the King or the local lords and landowners. Located on the highest hill or in the center of the town, the castle was the visible symbol of their divinely given authority and wealth; lavish, warm, safe, spacious. Every comfort available. A cadre of slaves and servants to make every wish of the Lord of the Manor come true. If the castle fell, the people fell with it. If it prospered, they were at least allowed to live, for the most part.
Soon the Church became the symbol of the people. The grand cathedrals of Europe, Notre Dame, St Paul's, St Peter's and many lesser ones, dwarfing the shanties and shacks of the surrounding village. There lived the priests and bishops and popes and such, lording over all they see, serene in their divine right to rule. Arbiters of morals, judges of the law and rules, they played both sides of the fence, bending to those whose money kept the cathedral running and putting the fear of God and punishment to the masses. Society kept in check by fear of the unknown, the masses too uneducated to question, the royalty still believing God himself gave them the right to rule.
By the late 1800's the first thing you saw approaching a town were the smokestacks of the new factories, belching smoke and flame, creating a new race of rulers. Suddenly, the factory was the center of society. Making ordinary people either fabulously wealthy or fabulously enslaved. But to be fair, people with skills were able to rise a bit above abject poverty. Most, as the old song went "hauled 16 tons and what do you get, another year older and deeper in debt", their souls sold to the company store.
Is today any different? Castles, cathedrals and smokestacks replaced by banks and Courthouses. All with the same effect; society kept in check by fear of the unknown, the masses too uneducated to question, the royalty still believing God himself gave them the right to rule. Remember the line above? You will discover what is most important to them, what centers their lives, what controls them, maybe even what oppresses them.
You will discover what is most important to them, what centers their lives, what controls them, maybe even what oppresses them.
For centuries, the tallest and grandest building was the castle of the King or the local lords and landowners. Located on the highest hill or in the center of the town, the castle was the visible symbol of their divinely given authority and wealth; lavish, warm, safe, spacious. Every comfort available. A cadre of slaves and servants to make every wish of the Lord of the Manor come true. If the castle fell, the people fell with it. If it prospered, they were at least allowed to live, for the most part.
Soon the Church became the symbol of the people. The grand cathedrals of Europe, Notre Dame, St Paul's, St Peter's and many lesser ones, dwarfing the shanties and shacks of the surrounding village. There lived the priests and bishops and popes and such, lording over all they see, serene in their divine right to rule. Arbiters of morals, judges of the law and rules, they played both sides of the fence, bending to those whose money kept the cathedral running and putting the fear of God and punishment to the masses. Society kept in check by fear of the unknown, the masses too uneducated to question, the royalty still believing God himself gave them the right to rule.
By the late 1800's the first thing you saw approaching a town were the smokestacks of the new factories, belching smoke and flame, creating a new race of rulers. Suddenly, the factory was the center of society. Making ordinary people either fabulously wealthy or fabulously enslaved. But to be fair, people with skills were able to rise a bit above abject poverty. Most, as the old song went "hauled 16 tons and what do you get, another year older and deeper in debt", their souls sold to the company store.
Is today any different? Castles, cathedrals and smokestacks replaced by banks and Courthouses. All with the same effect; society kept in check by fear of the unknown, the masses too uneducated to question, the royalty still believing God himself gave them the right to rule. Remember the line above? You will discover what is most important to them, what centers their lives, what controls them, maybe even what oppresses them.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Infiltrating Wal Mart
One thing I do not understand. How did Wal Mart take over the retail world? Are people really that cheap? The Net says almost 20 million people per day purchase something at Wal Mart. I try not to be one of them, but sometimes you just got to say WTF and not buck the trend.
Each July, a local community group sponsors a program to buy school clothes for low income kids (it is my experience that all kids are low income and high out go actually). We get a kid and buy him or her a set of school clothes, 2 pairs of pants/skirt, 3 shirts, socks, underwear and a back pack. So as not not bankrupt my meager income, I don a disguise, borrow a car and go to Wal Mart. I literally had not been in one for at least 6-8 months. Once I went a whole year with out setting foot in a Wally World, I wanted to see if it could be done. I survived.
The SuperCenter I chose was located on what was once Blue Ridge Mall, a big mega mall built in the glory days of malls. Blue Ridge had fallen on hard times as the neighborhood moved east and south and thus was empty; torn down and made in to a Wal Mart. Fate worse than death. Being new, I figured it was a nice place and would have what I wanted.
I was wrong. Although it seemed to have everything, it had little that I wanted. No size 8 slim kids blue or khaki pants, few boys size 8 briefs, mostly boxers (I did not know the kid well enough to ask “Are you a boxers or briefs man?” Hell, he would not know yet. And no back packs. But plenty of plastic crap and cheap other shit to fill a small country. Being a SuperWally World, it had a food section. The people of Raytown, Independence and East KC must have been hungry as the shelves were bare. The store maybe open 24/7 but they stock shelves only on Tuesday I guess. All the meat and stuff was packaged, nothing fresh. Wal Mart did away with meat cutters when they tried to unionize a few years ago. I did buy a jar of pasta sauce. Because it was there.
The damn places are dangerous too. It seems every spandex encased fat woman in town goes to Wal Mart and drives the little scooters around, Mart Carts they are called; running up and down the potato chip isle, running over odd squealing things as they race to the salty snacks to feed their already bulging bods. Get out of their way, they are merciless. None of them look like they are really handicapped with missing limbs and what not, they are just fat and determined to get that bag of Bugles, no matter who is in their way.
And does every kid that comes in to Wal Mart have to throw a screaming tantrum? Is it a law?? Can we please repeal it if it is?
Then if you find your treasures, there is the check out line. They have self serve lines, but most of the customers find them a challenge and thus are longer and slower than the long, slow full service lines. I got up to be next and something went wrong and the clerk flipped on her blinking light, and waited with hand on hip for a supervisor to come along and do something to make everything right. God forbid if Sam Walton lost a penny. I understand the lanes are also camera monitored so the clerks do not pilfer cash. Trusting souls they are. I went to Target (much more acceptable to society) and got the rest of the stuff. But when I got back, I noted that one of the shirts I got at Wally World was an 8 Husky instead of Slim. Rats. I think I’ll just leave it and feign ignorance. I have had enough of Wally World for a lifetime.
Each July, a local community group sponsors a program to buy school clothes for low income kids (it is my experience that all kids are low income and high out go actually). We get a kid and buy him or her a set of school clothes, 2 pairs of pants/skirt, 3 shirts, socks, underwear and a back pack. So as not not bankrupt my meager income, I don a disguise, borrow a car and go to Wal Mart. I literally had not been in one for at least 6-8 months. Once I went a whole year with out setting foot in a Wally World, I wanted to see if it could be done. I survived.
The SuperCenter I chose was located on what was once Blue Ridge Mall, a big mega mall built in the glory days of malls. Blue Ridge had fallen on hard times as the neighborhood moved east and south and thus was empty; torn down and made in to a Wal Mart. Fate worse than death. Being new, I figured it was a nice place and would have what I wanted.
I was wrong. Although it seemed to have everything, it had little that I wanted. No size 8 slim kids blue or khaki pants, few boys size 8 briefs, mostly boxers (I did not know the kid well enough to ask “Are you a boxers or briefs man?” Hell, he would not know yet. And no back packs. But plenty of plastic crap and cheap other shit to fill a small country. Being a SuperWally World, it had a food section. The people of Raytown, Independence and East KC must have been hungry as the shelves were bare. The store maybe open 24/7 but they stock shelves only on Tuesday I guess. All the meat and stuff was packaged, nothing fresh. Wal Mart did away with meat cutters when they tried to unionize a few years ago. I did buy a jar of pasta sauce. Because it was there.
The damn places are dangerous too. It seems every spandex encased fat woman in town goes to Wal Mart and drives the little scooters around, Mart Carts they are called; running up and down the potato chip isle, running over odd squealing things as they race to the salty snacks to feed their already bulging bods. Get out of their way, they are merciless. None of them look like they are really handicapped with missing limbs and what not, they are just fat and determined to get that bag of Bugles, no matter who is in their way.
And does every kid that comes in to Wal Mart have to throw a screaming tantrum? Is it a law?? Can we please repeal it if it is?
Then if you find your treasures, there is the check out line. They have self serve lines, but most of the customers find them a challenge and thus are longer and slower than the long, slow full service lines. I got up to be next and something went wrong and the clerk flipped on her blinking light, and waited with hand on hip for a supervisor to come along and do something to make everything right. God forbid if Sam Walton lost a penny. I understand the lanes are also camera monitored so the clerks do not pilfer cash. Trusting souls they are. I went to Target (much more acceptable to society) and got the rest of the stuff. But when I got back, I noted that one of the shirts I got at Wally World was an 8 Husky instead of Slim. Rats. I think I’ll just leave it and feign ignorance. I have had enough of Wally World for a lifetime.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Le Quatorze Jullet 2007
Aujourd'hui,le quatorze Juillet, Les Nouvelles de Pato célèbre le Jour de Bastille avec nos amis en France. Il y aura des défilés, des parties, des célébrations officielles, des discours, et des célébrations de famille aujourd'hui et ce week-end.
Bastille Day celebrates the storming of the Bastille Prison in Paris in 1789, an important symbolic act of rebellion by the people against total power of the Royalty. Long used by the royals to imprison those they did not like, the Bastille was a symbol of the corrupt and absolute power of the monarchy. At the time there were not many prisoners and no one especially important inside, and the actual battle killed more attackers than defenders. But the King got the message and the French Revolution had all but begun.
So, celebrate your day my French friends!
Friday, July 13, 2007
Farewell Hazelrigg's
You sometimes just can't help thinking that things that appeared rock solid and would be around forever are in fact slowly sinking away. Birds in the sky, now fireflies are dwindling. Courtesy, customer service, a real voice on the phone. LPs and 35mm cameras, payphones....relics now, confined to museums. Pan Am Airlines, Oldsmobile and Plymouth autos. The 2002 demise of Plymouth recently ended a long established business in my home town. Been there since I was a pup, figured it would be for a long time to come.
Hazelrigg's Chrysler, once Hazelrigg's Chrysler/Plymouth, shut its doors this past April. My sister mentioned this to me recently. I thought they would be there forever, the hard part had passed for them. But the owners were getting older, Jim had died and the youngest brother is around 70. The market was crazy, car sales except for the damn Toyota and Honda brands were down. It was getting hard to make ends meet in a smaller, family owned business.
The demise of Plymouth in 2002 was the death knell for many Chrysler/Plymouth dealers. It took their bread and butter away, of course the bread had been moldy and scarce for a long time. But minivan sales were still good, and the compact Neon made some sales. But the venerable Plymouth brand was dying, Dodge was the hot brand with the biggest selection of models. Chrysler brand had a resurgence with the hot 300M and then the later 300C, but Chrysler was more upscale and thus sales were not at the level of Dodge. Without the full range of cars, Chrysler dealers were struggling.
My dad bought most of his cars from Hazelrigg's. Starting with a used 1956 Dodge, his 1962 Chrysler New Yorker, and ending with his 1977 Chrysler New Yorker. My sister had that car for years and Hazelrigg's kept it running as well. I even bought a car there, a 1990 Plymouth Voyager minivan, back in my family man days. Ok, we were not their best customers, but damn it we were loyal for sure. Dad had known the Hazelrigg's for years, they had originally been across the street from his office in Downtown Decatur on Prairie St. The move to North Oakland (practically the suburbs) took place I think in the late 60's. It was their only home for a generation or two of car buyers.
Chrysler is now sold at the Brady Automall, along the Interstate with the rest of the businesses that abandoned downtown and even midtown Decatur. Somehow, it will be not be business as usual. The same staff, the same people who knew you at the shop or the business office, no one to call and say "Paul, the big Chryslers are going away soon, better get one now." North Oakland will not be the same either with Tallman Cadillac being empty as well, another icon of Decatur auto lore gone.
I somehow think we are losing something important, or at least anchoring and familiar. Like the firefly. And flocks of birds.
Hazelrigg's Chrysler, once Hazelrigg's Chrysler/Plymouth, shut its doors this past April. My sister mentioned this to me recently. I thought they would be there forever, the hard part had passed for them. But the owners were getting older, Jim had died and the youngest brother is around 70. The market was crazy, car sales except for the damn Toyota and Honda brands were down. It was getting hard to make ends meet in a smaller, family owned business.
The demise of Plymouth in 2002 was the death knell for many Chrysler/Plymouth dealers. It took their bread and butter away, of course the bread had been moldy and scarce for a long time. But minivan sales were still good, and the compact Neon made some sales. But the venerable Plymouth brand was dying, Dodge was the hot brand with the biggest selection of models. Chrysler brand had a resurgence with the hot 300M and then the later 300C, but Chrysler was more upscale and thus sales were not at the level of Dodge. Without the full range of cars, Chrysler dealers were struggling.
My dad bought most of his cars from Hazelrigg's. Starting with a used 1956 Dodge, his 1962 Chrysler New Yorker, and ending with his 1977 Chrysler New Yorker. My sister had that car for years and Hazelrigg's kept it running as well. I even bought a car there, a 1990 Plymouth Voyager minivan, back in my family man days. Ok, we were not their best customers, but damn it we were loyal for sure. Dad had known the Hazelrigg's for years, they had originally been across the street from his office in Downtown Decatur on Prairie St. The move to North Oakland (practically the suburbs) took place I think in the late 60's. It was their only home for a generation or two of car buyers.
Chrysler is now sold at the Brady Automall, along the Interstate with the rest of the businesses that abandoned downtown and even midtown Decatur. Somehow, it will be not be business as usual. The same staff, the same people who knew you at the shop or the business office, no one to call and say "Paul, the big Chryslers are going away soon, better get one now." North Oakland will not be the same either with Tallman Cadillac being empty as well, another icon of Decatur auto lore gone.
I somehow think we are losing something important, or at least anchoring and familiar. Like the firefly. And flocks of birds.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Joke Time
I could talk about the Bush regime's ongoing destruction of the USA, or the injustice system, or loony people in general. But I have realized that just makes me depressed. So here is a silly joke, a short interlude in the cacophony of tis screwed up world:
What is the technical term for an Amish Baby??
Of course, silly an "Am-let"
HA! *rimshot... thank you thank you....
What is the technical term for an Amish Baby??
Of course, silly an "Am-let"
HA! *rimshot... thank you thank you....
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Flooding can be Fun
You kind of wonder who is screwing this lady, referring to Katie Smith, the new Missouri Director of Agriculture. I know that is sexist, but hey.. reality is reality. I worked in state government, it happens.
This is a response from Ms Smith during an interview, I think she has seen a farm but that is about it:
"We started out when we did that flood tour, which was a great way to get out on the road. It was unfortunate — obviously, flooding is devastating, especially to ag. But it was a good way to get out on the road and do a lot of fun things and meet a lot of people... And I think once you start talking to people… they recognize that I do know ag, I’m not totally clueless. And I know how our farm works and I can relate our farm to other farms around the state."
Since when is visiting flood devastation "fun"? And if you have to defend yourself against claims of being clueless, you are Blanche, you are clueless.
Of course, our boy Gov must be drooling over her.
This is a response from Ms Smith during an interview, I think she has seen a farm but that is about it:
"We started out when we did that flood tour, which was a great way to get out on the road. It was unfortunate — obviously, flooding is devastating, especially to ag. But it was a good way to get out on the road and do a lot of fun things and meet a lot of people... And I think once you start talking to people… they recognize that I do know ag, I’m not totally clueless. And I know how our farm works and I can relate our farm to other farms around the state."
Since when is visiting flood devastation "fun"? And if you have to defend yourself against claims of being clueless, you are Blanche, you are clueless.
Of course, our boy Gov must be drooling over her.
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