Cow Country

Which is where I'm from originally. "Cow Country" is not a pejorative term, or it shouldn't be; it's just an accurate one. I also sometimes refer to it as "Big Butt Country" which is more pejorative I suppose, but it's also, well, pretty accurate.

The point is, Wisconsin is the place where I was born and raised, and I love it a lot, although I'm very happy in my choice not to live there currently. Cory and I flew out there last week for a kind of a reunion with my family/birthday party for Grandma. So to get things rolling, here's a photo of Grandma.


There's the guest of honor with my newest cousin, Jacob. One of my aunts is only a few years older than I am, and she and her husband adopted this little guy at the end of last year. He was getting over a cold last weekend, which made Grandpa not want to have anything to do with him, but Grandma was uncowed.


Irrespective of his fear of baby-borne illness, Grandpa was in pretty good spirits. Ornery to the last, of course, but doing just fine. He walked Cory and me around his squash garden and apple trees - including challenging me to throw a blemished apple over the fence into the pasture beyond the lawn that he, at 92 years old, still mows twice a week. I made it (barely), thank God.

The little ones were having a great time, of course. The big party was at my cousin Kari's farm.


There's Cory pushing Anna on the swing with Alex, who is her, what, second cousin once removed I guess.


Here's Alex focused on his driving. This little John Deere is like a kiddie golf cart: brakes automatically when you take your foot off the "gas" pedal, so it doesn't require all that much in the way of coordination, but it zips all over the place. 2 years old this kid is, driving around a farm...


And here's his big brother Jack concentrating on his task at hand. This one is 4, and he has better focus than plenty of grown-ups I know.

They are all children of the corn, of course.


This is my dad and Kari's husband Chad overseeing Alex as he gives Annie a driving lesson.


And last but not least, here's Anna trying to figure out what the hell to do with that larger-than-life creature before her. If you click on the photo, you can make out the dreadlock-ish thing Lady has going on behind her ear.

And then there was the food... For Grandma's birthday party, Mom made spiral ham with all the fixins and then some, and Grandma herself provided brownies, carrot cake, apple pie and ice cream. And beer. The night before, we had pizza at the old family favorite in Madison. With sangria and beer. Then the night after, we stayed in what has to be the most Norwegian town in America and had breakfast there (I had a scrambled egg concoction wrapped in lefse, which is actually one of the few things that it's hard to track down a good version of in New York.) We had another family gathering at Chad & Kari's place again the next day - Anna had gotten sick, so Lori had to take her back to our aunt Jane's place in Madison, and she entrusted me with her Secret Lasagna Recipe. It was a big hit! Good going Lori. We also had mom's skillet zucchini dish. And beer. Then it was back to Madison to meet some of my old high school friends at The Old Fashioned, which has a fantastic selection of Wisconsin foods and cheeses. And beer. Finally, we had a gathering of the other side of the family on Labor Day: Burgers, Brats, Beans, Potato Salad and Cole Slaw, etc. And beer.

Because that's what it's all about.

Did I mention that this is sometimes known as Big Butt Country?

Dear President Obama

Your next Big Speech is tonight. How exciting for you! Everybody's back from summer vacation and ready to roll up their sleeves and work together for a better future for everyone, without the faintest whiff of partisanship or political maneuvering. It's the American Way!

I understand that the first item on tonight's agenda will have to do with Health Care. Good thinking! Permit me to mention a few ideas on the subject: think of them as Talking Points if you like (I'm told that people like Talking Points.) Feel free to refer to any or all of them in your speech if you like. You probably shouldn't feel totally free to avoid mentioning at least one or two of them...

• Health Care is a point of National Pride.
  The World Health Organization ranks the overall quality of the U.S. health system at 37th in the world: a little better than Slovenia's, but not quite as good as Costa Rica. That isn't really good enough for a place that still runs around claming to be the Greatest Country in the World.
  
  
• No One's Health should be compromised for the sake of Anyone's Bottom Line.
  In the face of your less-than-scrupulous adversaries' reckless talk of death panels, you may want to point out that their precious Private Insurers have been denying care to Grandmas and Grandchildren willy nilly, in the form of widespread rejection of claims, and systematic cancellation of policies, even long-standing ones, when the patient's needs become too expensive. Yes, they are accusing you of what they have been guilty of for years. And I do mean guilty: this situation would appall the people who built the insurance industry in the first place - which, after all, is supposed to, um, insure that people get health care, not withhold it from them at just the moment they need it most. The practice is wrong, cruel, and greedy. And it should be illegal.
  
  
• The Whole Point of Insurance is to Spread Risk.
  Not to make a gajillion dollars for companies and their stockholders. You may have to tweak this one, or people will start screaming about Socialism. To do this, I'd refer to the previous point. Assure people that there is not one thing wrong with making a good living - a really good living - providing health care. It's a very important job, and it should be richly rewarded. Profit motive is not necessarily a bad thing, but when we're talking about people's lives and health, I'd think that profit could be a secondary consideration rather than an all-powerful one. And anyone who gets filthy rich by gaming the system - and in the process making the system worse, keeping quality care out of people's reach - is just that: filthy.
  
  
• Catastrophic Care is not good enough for the Poorest of the Poor.
  I'll buy the argument that if you make a decent living and just don't believe in Insurance, for whatever reason, you shouldn't have to get too much of it - coverage for only the severest illness and injury might be enough for you (though you really do need to be covered for that, or the potential costs are too great for you and eventually for the rest of the country.) There is some debate as to whether preventative care is much of a long-term cost saver, but it is universally acknowledged that it helps maintain long-term health. Whatever plan is put into place must provide for an affordable option of ongoing heath care, not just Castastrophic coverage.
  
  
• Core Costs must be held in check.
  Here's a point where you can completely agree with your opposition! Pretty much everybody acknowledges that overall health care costs have skyrocketed and need to be managed. (Well, except for those who will insist on disagreeing with you no matter what you say. Come to think of it, that may be a bigger group than you'd like to admit.) Article after article has been written on the subject, and some of the better ones even discuss some possible solutions. I'm talking about creative solutions, based on experience, with the actual goal of reducing costs, not kneejerk conservative calls for Tort Reform that are actually just gifts to big business (with an assault on the environment thrown in for good measure) disguised as social justice. That transparent maneuver aside, the Conservatives are right, and you probably should grant as much - any real reform MUST address overall costs head on.
  
  
• We need to develop a Culture of Health.
  You're going to need to phrase this better - people get freaked out when you use the C word. Get Jon Favreau to help. But what I'm talking about is spreading actual patterns of healthy behavior (as opposed to lipservice about healthy behavior) across the breadth of society. Getting people to DO the healthy thing more often (nothing crazy - eat better, don't drink too much too often, get enough sleep most nights, exercise a few times a week.) Talk about your easy and obvious ways to improve health care while reducing costs. But to actually put it across? That will take your best effort. And, you'll be criticized for it, just as you were run through the wringer for (even I have a hard time believing this) telling kids to stay in school. Oy.
  
  
• Fight back.
  This stems from the previous point, and again, you'll need smarter people than I to help you finesse it. But please, please go after these dipshits when they say stupid things, and especially when they lie. Which they have done, are doing, and will continue to do until you stop them. You will be called a Socialist when you try to improve health care. You will be compared to Hitler when you advocate education. You will be called a Harbinger of Doom when you engage in diplomacy. Most people (I hope) know that this is crap, and those that don't aren't going to change their minds no matter what you say, so GO AHEAD AND CALL IT CRAP. I know that sometimes it's hard for Democrats to call people out because they don't want to look like hypocrites when they're shown to be sitting in the same corporate pockets as Republicans. Which the Dems should, you know, stop doing. But even before that Hailstorm in Hell, you should give yourself permission to call the truth the truth and call a lie a lie. We'll respect you more for it. Really. Continue to rise above their tactics, by all means, but don't just stand there when they get together to bring you down. Be like a master martial artist and use their own momentum against them. The wackos (and the charlatans who guide them) have been nasty and don't show any signs that they will slow down. What they have shown is that they can be counted on to go to extreme, even absurd, lengths to stand in the way of policies that change some perceived social status quo (or that might cost the richest of the rich a little bit of money.) Reveal their arguments for what they are, and they'll wind up tangled in their own rope.
  

There we go. We did it. We solved health care! Good for us. Tomorrow maybe we can get together and figure out how to get me an agent...

Super Tuesday

New Yo La Tengo record out today. It's called Popular Songs and it's good, of course - at first listen it seems to be more an example of the 'sonic exploration' version of YLT than the "straight-up rocking" version. Let me know if you want to hear it, and we'll have a listening party.

Today also sees a rare release from New Zealand power popsters The Clean. This one is called Mister Pop, fittingly enough, and I haven't heard it yet. So if you have it, remember: sharing is caring.

Tomorrow we'll get Obama's big Health Care speech to Congress. I have a few ideas for the President, and with a little luck I'll be able to post them in time for him to put them in there. Because he's a big follower of mine. I hear he's also looking forward to pictures from the trip out west...

Sunday in the Sun

Yesterday Cory and I met Rashmi, Mark and Michele out at the National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadow for the practice day before the tournament started today. It was a beautiful day, though a hot one, and we had a a great time running around the grounds, watching some top players and doing some stargazing.

One of the highlights for me was seeing one of my personal tennis heroes out of retirement and in action (at least for the moment.)


Yup, that's Johnny Mac himself, whacking a serve. He was playing an informal game with some guy nobody seemed able to recognize. I'm thinking maybe a contest winner, silent auction for charity, something like that. The guy was pretty good too, but what a treat to see one of the guys who got me really into tennis in the first place.



We moved over to the Louis Armstrong stadium and saw Dinara Safina hitting with Carla Suarez Navarro.



It was just practice, of course, but that's the number one women's tennis player in the world and we were there on a beautiful day watching her for free. Pretty rad.


I like this shot a lot. [As usual, clicking on these shots lets you see a bigger, more detailed image. I recommend it.]

And over on the practice courts there was some guy who really grabbed Rashmi and Michele's attention:


Ok, ok, he's not just 'some guy.' That's Marat Safin, Dinara's older bro, and a former U.S. Open Champion and World Number One himself, walking onto the court with his hitting partner. I guess for some reason certain people find him sort of watchable, because there were some fans tucked into a little corner where there was a gap in the hedge bordering the practice courts, and a whole group of fans crowded up to the top of the bleachers for court 4 that let you peek over that hedge.



I eventually got tired of slipping on all the drool that was collecting on those bleachers and wandered around the compound on my own a little.



Fun way to spend a Sunday. Thanks to Rashmi for the invitation!

Food and Where It Comes From

As I was browsing the papers on the internets, I was drawn to this Op-Ed from the Times. Guess it makes sense that as I ramp up for my trip out to visit the remnants of the family farm I'd be susceptible for articles about food and farming.

If Americans want their fish pre-filleted, their chicken breasts excised from surrounding bone and conveniently packed, their offal kept from view and the table,and any hand that touches a slice of ham or lox sealed inside a glove, it is because fear of the innards that will not speak their name, the guts that reek of life, and the germs we all carry has become rampant.

Not sure that I buy the whole nationalist perspective of Cohen's piece (there are Americans who take a holistic view of food and aren't freaked out by its origins) but he is certainly on to something in terms of the cultural approach to what one eats and how the consequences ripple out from that approach. He also left an important point UNmade in terms of the antibiotics, hormones, feed and conditions used in the raising of animals in Agribusiness farms (again, common to America, but not exclusively American.)

Anyway, I'm very psyched about our trip to the farm located in the heart of Little Norway, (although in addition to Norwegian my family is made up of a typically "American" mix of ethnicities: German, Scottish, and even the dreaded French.) I'll surely have pix to share when we get back from that little reunion...

More Adventures in Video

Perhaps you enjoy the music of the Beatles.

It's possible that you harbor some fondness for the Muppets and their Show.

Maybe, just maybe, you like BOTH of those pop culture touchstones.

If so, look no further. The good people at Saturday Morning Central have put together a collection of the Muppets covering Beatles tunes on their TV show. Well worth a click.

The Rumors are True

Bob Dylan will be releasing a Christmas Album this year.



There are skeptics, and they have plenty to say, I'm sure. My attitude toward that (said it before, I'll say it again): Dylan's musicianship is singular, and off the charts. If you listen, you'll probably get it. If you sneer dismissively, you probably won't. No matter what you do, I can't make you get it.


So, maybe you'll be excited to hear the singing cowboy strum his way through "Here Comes Santa Claus" and "Little Drummer Boy," and maybe you won't. It comes out on October 13, which is too early for a holiday record, in my opinion, but all Dylan's royalties are going to Feeding America (and he's also partnering with international hunger relief groups) so if the Columbus Day release helps that cause, I guess it's ok. I guess.

Fun with Health Care Policy

Had enough of the Health Care "Reform" debate? Hope not, because it would seem that it's nowhere near being resolved.

Glenn Greenwald published a pretty good piece on Sunday.

...The co-op plan which Daschle is advocating to Obama and which the White House and Senate Democrats are now leaning towards "happens to dovetail with the interests of many [Daschle's] clients, like the insurance giant UnitedHealth and the Tennessee Hospital Association." What a weird coincidence; it's like those companies won a Bingo game (can you believe our number happened to get called?!? what awesome luck we have).

That's why there's such fervent demands (sic) for a "public option" -- because it's the only thing that can keep costs low and thus prevent this bill from being nothing more than a glorified bailout of the insurance and drug industries, which is exactly what will happen if 50 million people are forced by law to buy their products with no cost-control mechanism but ample government subsidies. Yet still, the prevailing Beltway narrative continues to be that it's those loser fringe Leftists who are impeding true reform by demanding a "public option."

That's just a taste. Go ahead and read the piece. He makes good points about political language: how "Getting Things Done" can usually be equated with acting in the interests of big business.(and, unsurprisingly, the business-dominated media embraces that equation)

Try to bear in mind that opportunities lost are only worth remembering if they represent lessons learned. We can lament that the administration didn't frame this debate with a single player plan as a more loudly-stated goal, thus allowing them to accept the public option as the compromise (which it is). But the more important question is: what's next?

Visiting Hoosiers

My friend Tim was in the city from Indiana for a theater conference, and he brought two of his daughters along with him.


Here's Keri Lynn


And here's Lauren.

I got out of work early one afternoon to show these two around a bit. It was HOT that day, but we covered ground like troopers. Met them in Herald Square, took them through Macy's (hey, it's kind of a big deal for some people. And there are those fun wooden escalators.) Then we got on a subway and went down to Canal Street to shop for souveniers for their family and stroll through Chinatown. Gave them an unintended "real New York moment" by needing to fight with a vendor over a refund (turned out fine.) Then more walking, through Little Italy and the Bowery over to the Lower East Side, where we went to Economy Candy for some vintage fun and goodies for their littlest siblings, and then a quick stop at the Tenament Museum and super yumminess Laboratorio Del Gelato. Then even yet still more walking, back to Little Italy to meet with Tim and one of his friends for some really good pizza.

And that was just one of their afternoons. They'd also hit the 'boken, and done the TKTS booth, and seen In The Heights, and walked around Hell's Kitchen with Cory and me, and gone out for other great meals. We like to take care of our visitors, especially when they're as great as these guys.

Purple Rain, etc.

Cory and I met with a friend who was in from Western Mass (she lives in one of the smaller towns in the Berkshires; I can't remember the name right now) who had been to the Purple Rain singalong screening at Mass MoCA. She had a fantastic time (as much from making fun of the movie's sexism as anything else) but said that there wasn't much of a turnout. Which kind of broke my heart a little bit.

So I wanted to have a private singalong screening at Cory's place (Cory never having seen this movie, much to my shock), and I went to the video store in her neighborhood to get the DVD. I asked the clerk where the musical videos were and she said "We don't really have a musical section - what movie are you looking for?" Putting aside my disbelief that there would be no musical section in a video store (in Chelsea yet!) I told her Purple Rain, and she went off to search for it on the computer.

She came back in a few minutes with a puzzled expression on her face. "This musical, is it, like, a drama musical?"

She had never heard of Purple Rain. I once again swallowed back my disbelief and said "It's Prince!" Fortunately, she had heard of Prince. Not that that helped much, except to restore a very small fragment of my faith in humanity.

File under "Fame is Fleeting"

Somerville Eats

UPDATE - Steve set me straight on the name of the restaurant we went to in Union Square, Somerville. It was the Highland Kitchen, and it was a fine meal indeed. Bitchen mussels, a curried goat stew that was delicious, if a little oily. The waiter was a little clueless (he went a little over the top warning me about the spiciness of the stew, and when I asked him if the goat was grass-fed and humanely raised, he was all "Uhh... sure! yeah!"), but not bad. The bartender was fab: I had a stellar cocktail that was similar to a Manhattan, but was made with rye and cynar. Really good beers on tap too. Didn't take much of a look at the wine list, but I think it'd be safe wager that there's some good vino on there.

Anyway, if you're thinking about a Boston trip, the Highland would be a worthy stop for dinner.

The Vineyard

Monday, I had to choose between getting up at dawn and making a ferry at 9, or sleeping in a bit and catching a boat at 2. Given the night we had on Sunday, it wasn't a particularly hard choice. Teeny bit of drama in Woods Hole when the main parking lot was full and I had to go to an alternate lot, but I caught the shuttle to the ferry to the island just in time to make the 2 o'clock departure for Vineyard Haven.

That first afternoon, after a delicious lunch courtesy of SaraJane, we drove to Edgartown and had a good walk on and around the main strip. Got some really good iced coffee, and headed to the coast.


The 'On Time' Ferries to and from Chappaquiddick, passing in the canal. (They go back and forth pretty much constantly, so timeliness would seem to be a fairly manageable factor.)


Isabella and Madeleine watching the ferries.


A lighthouse near where SaraJane got married.


The kids had a bunch of fun playing near that lighthouse (and during the whole downtown venture.) You can't really tell, but this photo shows Isabella during one of their favorite games du jour: throwing around a teddy bear. The bear did not seem to mind.

Fish tacos and good wine for supper. The next day, SJ, Cory, Madeleine and I took a jeep to one of the beaches where you can, well, drive a jeep on the beach.

This, it must be said, was tremendously fun.

I'd never gone four-wheeling before, and there aren't any photos because, well, I was in the jeep. We all took turns driving - too inexperienced to do anything fancy, especially given that we had a 2 1/2 year-old with us, but still - way fun.


Here's one of my favorite shots from the trip: Madeleine in all her beachy glory.

The rest of the trip was full of lots of the kinds of things you'd associate with Martha's Vineyard: farmers' market, Boggle and Scrabble, more good food and wine (I made a lobster feast one night), more time on the beach, in Chappaquiddick this time, ice cream and iced coffee, blowing bubbles on the deck.

It was a pretty estrogen-y household: 6 gals, ages 10 months to 41 years, 5 of them related to each other, and me. It's been said that men are from Mars and women are from Venus. Now, I don't hold much truck with that proposition, but if we grant it for the sake of argument, I'd like to think I speak Venusian as well as the next guy, and better than most. But even for me, this was a lot of chick energy. This is not a complaint! It was a great vacation. In fact, it was kind of wonderful - exactly the thing for a long summer weekend.

We also took a walk through a quaint and well turned-out town square, ending up at one of Madeleine's favorite places of all: the Flying Horses carousel.



Here we are getting ready to ride. It was fun - very old school. There's a spot inside and one outside where the riders try to pluck rings off the wall. Now I'm not saying that I was the best at that game or anything, but only one person on each side of the carousel gets the coveted brass ring that wins you a free ride, and guess who grabbed it on the outside?

No, I didn't keep the free ride for myself! I gave it to Madeleine, of course.


Given the opportunity, what wouldn't you do for this one?

Somerville

My friends Sue & Steve had just moved in to their new apartment in Somerville the week before I visited them. It was super-exciting, as it's a great place, lots of space and light, beautiful woodwork typical of those robust Boston houses.

If you're thinking of moving to Boston (you know who you are) you could do a lot worse than Somerville - it's on the T Red Line, and they'll be extending the Green Line there too before long. Great neighborhoods: lots of life but not too crowded, some really good restaurants and plenty of good pubs and bars. Don't know anything about the school system, but I dare say that's easily found out. I'm just sayin'.

At any rate, I drove to Somerville on Sunday, the morning after the Bang on a Can Marathon, and after getting the lay of the land with Sue and Steve, we picked up Laura for brunch. Afterward, I lent Laura my car Lola so she could get back to work without taking a cab, and join us for a nitecap at the end of the evening. Then we watched the end of the Red Sox game and took a walk around a couple neighborhoods before meeting Robin for a drink and some dinner. Robin is a great old friend that I've seen far too little of in recent years: he's now a nurse with three (count 'em, three) kids, and doing better than ever. He has begun a tradition for himself of having his children write their names in magic marker on their 5th birthday, and having the signatures tattooed on his arm. He's got one so far - the other two will come as they learn how to write and turn 5. Pretty cool.

We had a great dinner at a place whose name I can't remember. Then we went back to the new House to wrap up the night. As it happened, rather than showing up for an end-of-evening revel, Laura called to say that Lola wouldn't start. I have the habit of turning the lights on when I drive, even in the daytime, because it makes the car more visible. And Laura isn't in the habit of driving at all, and didn't take note of the lights when she parked on a sun-soaked road. Soooooooo, Sue and Steve and I piled into one of their cars and drove over to Bay State Road to give Lola a jump. Fortunately, she started up right away, so we didn't have to deal with buying a new battery first thing Monday morning or anything like that.

That little wrench in the evening out of the way, we said good night to Laura (who wasn't up for coming back to Somerville at that point) and drove back, found parking (not a small task at that time of night) and let our very small party tick away on the pegs of a cribbage board. We finished up with Sue and Steve singing some of the new songs they've written for My Own Worst Enemy - see them at the Cantab if you're around.

Next morning was my trip to the Vineyard... good material for the next post.

Massachusetts Trip

Those of you who've been keeping score at home might remark along the lines of "Ummm... wasn't that trip like two weekends ago?" Well, yes it was, but I've been busy, and away from my apartment/computer/camera a lot lately. Leave me alone.

Here, finally, is the first installment from my New England Whirlwind. Most of today's post will be devoted to the trip Kevin, Max and I took to the farm/petting zoo.

Max really liked the goats.





He wasn't so interested in the piggies, but Kevin and I were impressed.



You can get a sense of how stunning the day was; it had rained buckets the day before. So much so that they had closed roads for flooding, and I still had to drive Lola through a pond of a puddle.



We all loved meeting this calf. Not a newborn the way some of the animals were, but fun for Max to say hello.



The whole time I was in Williamstown/North Adams was fantastic. SO much fun getting to know the little man, and see him interact with his folks and everybody else (including the animals).

And of course we got to go to Mass MoCA for the Bang on a Can marathon. Which was awesome, natch. The Sol LeWitt retrospective was brilliant too. But you'd better hurry if you want to see that: it'll only be in Mass MoCA for another... 24 years.

I'll leave you with a shot of lilies and shadows from the side of Sue & Kevin's house.

Back, Kind of

Yes, I have been on a bit of a hiatus. I couldn't blog until the Red Sox finally won a game. (Thank you, Detroit.)

So, perhaps you've heard that David Ortiz has been directly implicated in the steroid scandal. Sigh... Even though you know most of my opinions on this steroid business, this is sad news. Papi has been such a goodwill ambassador for baseball, no one wants to see him tarnished (well, short of a bunch of cold-hearted ogres, I suppose.)

Still, in the wake of it all, some cooler voices are prevailing. One of my faves comes from the Times (Thank you, Bob Costas):

"Texas didn’t win anything during that period of time, and it’s pretty clear that Texas might have led the league in massive steroid use."

We still love you, Papi. And thanks for the RBI last night. We'll even overlook that crazy baserunning error. Especially if you start hitting again...



I'll post some images from the trip to Massachusetts soon, as well as a couple from my friends' visit to NYC this week. Just need to have the stars line up a bit...

Holiday Music News

Yes, I'm back from New England. And I'll have more to share once I'm a little more caught up, but for now - this post is for everyone, but especially for those near and dear to the 'boken.

Firstly, it has been reported in American and British music press that Bob Dylan may be releasing a Christmas Album. Consider the subject open for discussion.

Secondly, and this is the part for Hobokenites, and those who love them, Yo La Tengo will not be doing Hanukkah shows this year, because they'll be in Japan. Very sad news for us who aren't, you know, actually in the band, but a pretty cool reason for it, I must say. Their ONE show this fall/winter in the greater Big Apple Metropolitan Area will be at Roseland on Sept. 25, and all but general admission is already sold out.

Don't say nobody warned you.

Re. the one-night-only aspect of it all, Ira writes: "We'll do our best to cram eight nights of nonsense into one evening. After all, Anson Williams only turns 60 once, so you know we're going to pull out all the stops."

Sigh...

There has been a certain amount of attention focused on some attacks being made on Barack Obama by the Right Wing punditry of late. I'm referring of course to this "birther" notion, espoused by Lou Dobbs, among others, that Obama wasn't really born in Hawaii, or in the U.S. at all. That he was actually born in, umm, maybe Kenya or something.

And naturally, I'm also referring to the proposition put forth by Glenn Beck, that Obama is a racist. Yes, a racist with a "deep seated hatred for white people." This because the President suggested that it was "stupid" for Cambridge police to arrest Henry Louis Gates for breaking and entering his own home. Ok, the arrest was actually for disorderly conduct, "after exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior" after the cops came in to his house and asked for ID, and Obama called it stupid (then backtracked on that language the next day.) And for that Glenn Beck says he's racist. Or it might be because he (the President) invited the participants in that arrest debacle to the White House for a beer to talk things out. I'm not sure.

And I'm not sure it matters. Here's the thing: I don't think these guys necessarily mean what they say. Is there any chance that Obama was not born in the U.S.? Not really, no. I mean, strictly speaking, sure - anything is possible. (including that some invisible being created the universe 6,000 years ago and that all evidence to the contrary is the work of some other, EVIL, invisible being) But - really? No more than there is a chance that Obama is a racist. Again, sure there's a chance that this man, whose mother (did you hear that? his MOTHER) is white, has some deep seated hatred for "the white culture."

But, I put it to you once again: really?? No, of course not.

So what's the deal? I'll tell you what - and it's surprisingly simple, and you probably already know it, though I think people lose sight of it all the time.

Here it is:

Television News is Show Business.

See? That's it. It's that simple. TV News is not all that brilliant in the way of sharing knowledge, or even information, and most of it isn't even pretending very hard to be. I mean, yes, of course, there are some very important exceptions once in a while, but even those exceptions fall into the category of "we need to make people watch us or our ratings slip and then we lose our jobs."

And - just as important, and even easier to lose sight of - it's true for the people we agree with too! Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow, for instance: they too are there to sell soap.

You may be tempted to sputter "but Maddow and Olbermann are brilliant! They're not evil and devious and subjective the way Glenn Beck is!" I agree, part way: they are brilliant; they are not evil; they aren't that devious; but they are pretty much just as subjective and snarky in their presentation as Beck and Dobbs.

In the case of Olbermann and Maddow, I agree with much of the stuff they say. Beck and Dobbs don't say things that I agree with very often at all. See how that works? There are all kinds of levels of ideology working out there, no matter how 'objective' one tries to be. Even in (gasp!) newspapers.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't resist the Becks and Dobbses of the world. On the contrary, I think you should. Just be careful how much credit you give them.

And I am DEFINITELY NOT saying that those clowns are just as viable as Olbermann and Maddow, or that there is ANY credibility whatsoever to this notion, seemingly in common currency, that making whacked out statements that fit with your ideology 'balances' out contrary statements (no matter how accurate those contrary statements are), or that repeating those assertions over and over and over again makes them true.

What I am saying is: do your homework when it comes to gathering information. Use some critical thinking when you turn that information into knowledge in pursuit of the Truth. (Oh my, I'm trafficking in lofty themes today.) And make a very clear distinction for yourself between publicity and policy. Dobbs can say any wacky thing about Obama's birth. Beck can say what he wants about Obama's 'racist' attitudes. Representative Broun can go on about how health care reform will kill old people. Vice President Cheney can say any reprehensible thing about how useful, heroic and necessary 'enhanced interrogation techniques' were and are.

WHOA. Wait a minute... those last couple are a little different, aren't they? Broun and Cheney have (or should have) a different kind of responsibility, because they fall into the category of policy-maker, and elected ones at that.

These guys can say what they want (it's one of their most fundamental rights) and you can react how you want, but the question you need to be asking is - what is going to happen as a result? As a result of their statements? As a result of your reaction? There is a difference between media reaction, popular reaction and legal (re)action. And there is a big, huge, gigantic difference between calling someone names, and derailing a plan that might help to save the health care system of a nation; or getting off the hook for ordering your citizen soldiers to torture their prisoners, discrediting those who oppose this practice for being unserious about defending the nation, and in the process doing intense damage to that nation's standing, and making it impossible to prosecute those prisoners who were actually guilty of something. Just as an example.

Ave Atque Vale Merce Cunningham

You've probably heard by now that Merce Cunningham has died.

As it seems we've been doing a lot lately, let's celebrate a life as well as mourn a loss.



This Annie Liebowitz portrait is an iconic one, and seems to fit the bill.

I was fortunate enough to attend what must have been one of his last public appearances, and maybe his very final performance event at Dia Beacon. It was incredible, beautiful, stunning, moving. The program shared the oft-stated (Alastair Macaulay writes "almost routinely hailed") contention that Merce was The Greatest Living Choreographer, and I asked someone who is more than passingly familiar with the dance world if they could really do that. Make that claim? THE Greatest? And the response was: "Well, who else would it be?"

Good point.




Love these images from his 1958 piece "Antic Meet," which was designed by Robert Rauchenberg and photographed by Richard Rutlege



Now, while I 've said before and will say again that I'm not a fan of favoritism, so that whole 'The Greatest' thing falls a little flat, I think it's surely fair to say that Merce Cunningham was one of the greatest artists in any medium, not limited to dance/choreography, of the last century or so. I have the sense that if you gave him a paperclip, a ball of twine and a tuba he could turn them into something you couldn't take your eyes away from.

Various media outlets/newspapers have their own obituaries, of course. Among many many others are Macaulay at The Times, Tobi Tobias for Bloomberg, and one from the London Telegraph that has no byline, but that yields some choice commentary:

He was impatient with the quest to discover meaning in art; asked what one dance was about, he answered: "It's about 40 minutes."

...for many years he was derided. Fairly early in the life of his company, a New York reviewer wrote: "Last night Merce Cunningham presented a programme of his choreography, and if someone doesn't stop him, he's going to do it again tonight."

The reception was not always rapturous: in Paris in 1964, when the company was beginning to tour Europe, audiences threw tomatoes and eggs, and Cunningham later recalled that people would leave in the middle of the performance to go out to buy more.

Love those, for their display of his persistence, and for their revelation of his originality and passionate creativity as he worked with Rauschenberg, Martha Graham and (especially) John Cage as well as countless other dancers, artists and musicians.

And the obits (along with commentary as he was still working) make the supremely important point that his work continued to be vital, relevant, important, well past the time he was able to dance with full vigor, or even get around unaided. That event we experienced in Beacon was beyond remarkable: he was creating up until the end, and he'll be missed.

More Kindling

I'm not a luddite, or anything like one. But to add to my earlier mini-rant about the less-than-ideal properties of some of the new technologies, this aspect of the Kindle is the kind of thing that raises the hair on the back of my neck (on those days that I don't get around to shaving it).

Love Orwell. Always have. And this kind of ironic incident just affirms why. And it, you know, kinda scares me a little.



Don't neglect the little Editor's Note: "Amazon said it would not automatically remove purchased copies of Kindle books if a similar situation arose in the future."

How comforting.

On the Waterfront

It's not really news that politics are still dirty in New Jersey. But this would seem to be an extreme case, at least at first glance. Innocent until proven guilty applies, of course, but the allegations are a large-scale, international corruption and money laundering scheme.

Among those arrested is Peter Cammarano, who has been the Mayor of Hoboken for about 20 minutes. (ok, ok - a couple of months) He won a tight runoff election this spring, and celebrated his 32nd birthday yesterday (along with kicking off St. Ann's Festival - the 'boken's annual Saints and Italian Sausage & Zeppoles party) before being arrested this morning.

His electoral rivals accused him of being part of the old school machine (and no, I didn't vote for him), but - holy moly! Brando and Malden are spinning in their graves.

File Under "Are You F*cking Kidding Me?"

This is a joke, right?

I keep looking for the ironic wink of a punch line, or the April 1 dateline. Or something, anything, that will stop me from thinking that I have simply lived too long.

The Gangs of New Paltz

I think I've mentioned here that Cory and I went up to New Paltz a couple weekends ago for a visit with our friends Frank and Amanda and their kids before we headed over to Bard College for the incredible Lucinda Childs Company's performance/film Dance.

People may say (and some do say it) "Oh sure, Mick. Very performance-minded and artistic/edgy - you talk a good game with your Lucinda Childs/Phillip Glass/Sol LeWitt groundbreaking multi-media masterpiece, but you're really heading upstate to hang with your aging college friends and their kids." Well I gotta tell you - these upstate families are not messing around. Check out Callie and Daphne:



"Wait a minute," some of those same naysayers are now exclaiming, "that bartender can't be more than five years old!"

True that. And did you catch that tiger tattoo she's sporting?



And maybe you noticed that not only is a pre-schooler mixing the drinks, she's training her little sister in the fine art of mixology.



Still thinking of them as the Cleavers? Think they can't roll? These guys are hardcore - slapping tattoos on their toddlers and having them run the bar for the big boys.



And don't be fooled by that sweet smile. I'm not saying that she's been specifically trained to deceive by the street gang she calls a family, but this girl is a pre-K killer. I asked her how her summer was going, and she told me how she just passed the test for her green belt in Aikido. I said "Wow! You could probably really kick my butt!" and she gave the cutest little giggle and the next thing I knew I was looking up from the lawn at that smile with a sore shoulder and a headache. I muttered something about the suburbs being tougher than I thought and she put me in a chokehold and said "What suburb? We are an hour and a half from the City and are a self-actualized community with a thriving arts scene and a life of our own."

I stood corrected. Rather, I knelt corrected.

And then there's this one:



Sure, sure - she looks all innocent and pure as the driven snow. And she's too little to do any real damage yet, I guess. But I'd venture to say that her harmlessness (if she really is harmless) will last another 15 minutes or so. And then she'll get ink on her own arm (dragon? cobra? barbed wire?) and take her place at her sister's side protecting their turf.

When I first knew their dad he was working for Greenpeace. Guess those guys learn a thing or two about survival when they chain themselves to oil derricks and giant redwoods. Sheesh!

Carter on Christianity

Crazy what can happen while you're away on business.

Walter Cronkite passed to the Great Newsroom in the Sky on Friday. He was not a ground-breaker the way that Murrow was, and he perpetuated the myth of media objectivity, but he was about as good as his school of journalism gets, and I don't think we'll see his like again any time soon (if for no other reason than that TV news has suffered a severe butterslide of credibility from which it will be tough to recover.)

Not sure why, but I especially like this item from the Times obit:

When he was 16, Mr. Cronkite went with friends to Chicago for the 1933 World’s Fair. He volunteered to help demonstrate an experimental version of television.

“I could honestly say to all of my colleagues, ‘I was in television long before you were,’ ” he said in an interview with CBS News in 1996.

It was poignant to me how close Cronkite's death was to yesterday's 40th anniversary of the moon landing. It still makes me kind of giddy to think of him getting overwhelmed by the immensity of that achievement: this most articulate journalist blown away by the event to the point where he was "Oh jeez! Oh boy!" about it.



But I just found out about something that happened earlier last week that didn't get nearly as much attention. Jimmy Carter (remember him? President of the U.S. for a while?) separated himself from the Southern Baptist Convention because of its reaffirmation that women must be treated like second-class citizens.

A few excerpts from his statement:

I have been a practising Christian all my life and a deacon and Bible teacher for many years. My faith is a source of strength and comfort to me, as religious beliefs are to hundreds of millions of people around the world.

So my decision to sever my ties with the Southern Baptist Convention, after six decades, was painful and difficult. It was, however, an unavoidable decision when the convention's leaders, quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created second to Adam and was responsible for original sin, ordained that women must be "subservient" to their husbands and prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains in the military service. This was in conflict with my belief - confirmed in the holy scriptures - that we are all equal in the eyes of God.

This view that women are somehow inferior to men is not restricted to one religion or belief. It is widespread. Women are prevented from playing a full and equal role in many faiths...

We are calling on all leaders to challenge and change the harmful teachings and practices, no matter how ingrained, which justify discrimination against women. We ask, in particular, that leaders of all religions have the courage to acknowledge and emphasise the positive messages of dignity and equality that all the world's major faiths share...

The truth is that male religious leaders have had - and still have - an option to interpret holy teachings either to exalt or subjugate women. They have, for their own selfish ends, overwhelmingly chosen the latter...

I don't often praise politicians (although I suppose that Carter could more fairly be described as a former politician) but I gotta give credit where it's due: thanks, President Carter. Hope people listen.

Back from Boca

I had to go dark for a while because of that trip I made for the dayjob.  Did I mention this?  It went just fine - quite well actually, as these things go - but it was exhausting, and frustrating at times, and I'm glad to be back.  Really glad.  No photos from that trip, natch, but soon I should be able to post an image or two from our day trip to New Paltz last weekend.

Meanwhile, it is AMAZING this weekend in New York.  I've been relaxing and handling some errands, going out with Cory; went to see the Neos last night, and we even met with a couple friends afterwards.  But mostly relaxing.  Baaaad and boring blog material, but good for me, and kind of necessary.

Independence Addendum

As I was recently reminded, the 4th of July weekend also saw me be initiated to the Guitar Hero video game, and was Cory's first experience playing Wii.

Fortunately, there is no photographic evidence of those events...

4th of July, Just South of Asbury Park

In New Hope, Pennsylvania, as it happened.

It was pretty much a good old fashioned Fourth of July: barbecue in the back yard, tubing on the river (the Delaware river, very near where Washington made his fabled crossing during the Revolution), concert in a big field, followed by fireworks.  Small town fireworks, at that: not nearly as spectacular as the big city variety, but just as much fun in their own way, in among the balloons and the smell of bug spray and the folding picnic tables with stars and stripes paper tablecloths, and the annoying family nearby who kept moving the garbage can closer to us.

We entered the scene as Carl was making some jam.  He had a question about the process, so before I'd even been properly introduced, I was on the phone to mom for some guidance.  She steered us in the direction of a paraffin seal (which saved us a bunch of time and trouble) and not too much later we had us a batch of blueberry jam.

We had brought a case of beer and a bottle of spiced rum (drink of choice of our hosts) and continued to give good help in the kitchen, and it's good that we did, because Carl and Kevin outdid themselves with the hospitality.  SO much fun, and at the perfect time, right between Hamlet and the crazy dayjob Voyage to Boca.

They also have a couple of fun cats to liven up the joint.  Yes, yes, I'm allergic to cats, but it was a big place, and I took drugs to help me through it.  And they were some photogenic felines too, so we had that going for us.  Which is nice.

Here's Oliver, who's a little camera-shy:


And here's Rudy, who came right up to say hi:

And the backyard even had some nice hydrangeas. 

Throw in a late brunch at a Mexican place in Lambertville, NJ with Jen and Charles (love those guys!) and a good drive in both directions with my best gal in the passenger seat and it made for a damn fine holiday.

So, alright, this is an awfully conventional blog entry, but what can I say?  It was Independence Day.  How 'bout if I throw in an appeal to exercise your patriotic duty and contact the President to let him know that indefinite detention is unacceptable (and Unconstitutional.)  

And yes, we listened to The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle on the morning of the 4th.