Tuesday, November 30, 2004

Three cheers for the Supreme Court

Every once in a while the Supreme Court surprises. It did that yesterday when it decided not to take up the right-wing generated challenge to the Massachusetts High Court's approval of gay marriage. (For full story)

Saturday, November 27, 2004

Frank Rich on Nicolette Sheridan/Terrell Owens

Frank Rich on Nicolette Sheridan/Terrell Owens
Frank Rich, as usual, sheds his clear light on the media nonsense over the Nicolette Sheridan-Terrell Owens Monday Night Football encounter. Rich puts it in the context of media madness about the recent election. (See New York Times, 11/28/04)


Sunday, November 21, 2004

Dumb quote of the week

"There will be people who see Alexander the Great's bisexuality [in the film "Alexander"] as applauding that lifestyle, and unfortunately it will lead some young boys, young men down a path that I think they'll regret someday," said Bob Waliszewski, a film critic with Focus on the Family, a Christian group. (New York Times, 11/20/04, B14).

A taste of Thomas Frank

For a taste of Frank try his post-election analysis in New York Magazine "What the Democrats Missed at the Populist Revolution"
"It is almost a ritual in Washington: The Democrats are handed some stunning defeat...and the powerful Democratic Leadership Council (DLC)...announces that the Democrats in question have lost because they foolishly clung to the party's old, liberal, thirties identity." (To read the full article).

Saturday, November 20, 2004

Post-elections feelings

More and more these days I am feeling a great kinship with Alice. I too feel as if I have fallen down the rabbit hole into a world which makes absolutely no sense. Black is white, lies are truth, incompetence is rewarded and everything is upside-down. There is much to understand about what happened and where to go from here.
A good beginning is What's the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives won the Heart of America by Thomas Frank (Metropolitan Books. Henry Holt and Company). Frank may help us crawl out of the rabbit hole.
One thing we have going for us is that the Right Wing will almost surely over-reach as do most rulers with too much power and too few brains.
More soon.

Monday, November 15, 2004

music weekend

What a weekend!
Wall-to-wall music.

Friday night we went to the Friends Meeting House to see one of the true musical geniuses of our time: jazz pianist, composer and broadcaster (arts reporter for the CBS Sunday morning with Charles Kuralt) Billy Taylor. In the very friendly and intimate atmosphere of the Friends Meeting House, Taylor played solo and with pianist/composer Michael Wolff. Between songs Wolff talked to Taylor about jazz and his music. An evening not soon to be forgotten.

Then last night (Saturday) we heard Charlie King and Karen Brandow at the Peoples' Voice Cafe. We have been fans of Charlie and Karen's for many years. They continue to enlighten the political scene with their music. And right now we need their light-hearted musical vision more than ever.

On Nov. 20th Peoples' Voice will feature MacDougal Street Rent Party, a quintet of political and labor artists, and Chris Lang and The Whole Shebang, a country rock and blues fusion band. I don't know either of these groups, but we'll try to get there and find out more about them.
(For more info about the Peoples' Voice Cafe: www.peoplesvoicecafe.org )