“a place where you can go and be alone with your thoughts and emotions”

On the Transmigration of Souls

When the New York Philharmonic asked John Adams to create a musical commemoration for the victims of the 9/11 attacks, to be premiered a year after the tragic events, it must have seemed one of the most challenging commissions in the history of music, whether in terms of subject, timescale or expectations. Adams responded with, On the Transmigration of Souls, a work that is neither an official public memorial, nor a personalised response, but rather what he describes as “a memory space – a place where you can go and be alone with your thoughts and emotions”.

We’re Doomed

Obama Coaches Students to ‘Get Serious’ and Study:

“The future of America depends on you,’’ the president declared, in one of the few departures from his script.

Seriously, is this going to make American kids buckle down and study?

The cackles from the Right and Left over President Obama’s back-to-school address have been amusing. Parents should discuss current events with their kids; they can use the speech as a teachable moment with their kids, mentioning where they agree or disagree with the president. But does anyone really think that the Prez telling students to study is going to raise achievement in this country? OK, I’m not saying that some people won’t be inspired. It’s a nice warm-and-fuzzy thing for the president to encourage the citizenry. But get real. It’s Mom and Dad who are on the front lines as far as developing a person’s appreciation for education. If a family does not value education then kids will pick up on that. The president saying “Study hard!” isn’t a bad thing, but he’s not going to be actually helping students with their vocabulary lists and quadratic equations.

The fall term began last week, which is just as well because my studies keep me busy and away from too much news coverage. Maybe academics makes me grouchy, but it seems that just about everything in the news annoys me these days: bailouts for the rich, entitlements to everyone else, my property taxes going up, the Mets suck. This is one reason why I haven’t posted here much lately: I hate to write when I’m in a crabby mood.

A Toast!

rrgirl writes in Bipolar Holidays:

well, happy days appear to be on the horizon here. after all these months, I’m going back to work.

What wonderful news! Congratulations!!!

I’ve been doing some decompressing here, recovering from summer classes and gearing up for a new job hunt. Hearing of your success gives me inspiration and hope.

Raising a glass to you and yours ….

Famous Last Words

“Your boy, Lester, will never learn music.”

    — Les Paul, Guitar Innovator, Dies at 94

Oy.

Les Paul, the virtuoso guitarist and inventor whose solid-body electric guitar and recording studio innovations changed the course of 20th-century popular music, died Thursday in White Plains, N.Y. . He was 94.

Mr. Paul had and continues to have a massive influence on music and culture, but I don’t suppose the media will beat us over the head with obituaries, commentary, etc. as was done after Michael Jackson died.

And Eunice Kennedy Shriver died just a few days ago and her obituary has already been pushed off the front page of the Times.

A sister of President John F. Kennedy and Senators Robert F. Kennedy and Edward M. Kennedy and the mother-in-law of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, Mrs. Shriver never held elective office. Yet she was no stranger to Capitol Hill, and some view her work on behalf of the developmentally challenged, including the founding of the Special Olympics, as the most lasting of the Kennedy family’s contributions.

“When the full judgment of the Kennedy legacy is made — including J.F.K.’s Peace Corps and Alliance for Progress, Robert Kennedy’s passion for civil rights and Ted Kennedy’s efforts on health care, workplace reform and refugees — the changes wrought by Eunice Shriver may well be seen as the most consequential,” U.S. News & World Report said in its cover story of Nov. 15, 1993.

Edward Kennedy said in an interview in October 2007: “You talk about an agent of change — she is it. If the test is what you’re doing that’s been helpful for humanity, you’d be hard pressed to find another member of the family who’s done more.”

    — Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Influential Founder of Special Olympics, Dies at 88

I’ve been a bit detached from the news this summer due to the usual summer tasks (house and garden) plus taking taking classes. I foresee the fall being about the same, with another class and hopefully a new job. I’ve felt a little guilty at times for not being better informed, especially about The Battle Over Health Care (What?!? Death Panels???), but it’s actually been rather refreshing to step away from the 24/7 News Cycle. And calling it the “News Cycle” inflates its stature as more and more of it is not news but gossip and sensationalism. So while I know I could be better informed it’s not like I’m going to lose any sleep over it.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

The Helping Hand That Led Geese Safely Across Road Now Holds Ticket:

“Make Way for Ducklings”?

Not if the Fairfax County police are around.

The popular children’s book, about a family of ducks escorted across a busy street by a Boston police officer, apparently is not on the reading list in Fairfax. When Jozsef Vamosi, 60, tried to help a family of Canada geese cross the Fairfax County Parkway, he was given a ticket by a Fairfax officer — for jaywalking.

Sheesh. No wonder Good Samaritanism is going out of style.

And don’t you dare get involved if you think someone is trying to break into your neighbor’s house:

Caller Says Race Wasn’t Mentioned to Officer in Gates Case:

Lucia Whalen, whose 911 call led to the arrest of the Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. at his home, made her first public comments Wednesday, saying that at no time had she mentioned race to the responding police officer.

Ms. Whalen’s statements contradict the police report filed by Sgt. James Crowley, who said she told him outside Mr. Gates’s home that she had seen “what appeared to be two black males with backpacks” on the porch of the yellow single-family house.

Ms. Whalen said that the only words she exchanged with Sergeant Crowley in person were, “I was the 911 caller.” She said that he responded, “Stay right there.”

Ms. Whalen, 40, her voice cracking and body shaking, said she was deeply hurt by the reaction to the incident on July 16 and had been the target of threats. She said she was reluctant to speak out earlier but finally decided to do so with the support of her husband, Paul, and her family.

“When I was called a racist, I was the target of scorn and ridicule because of things I never said,” she told the reporters gathered in a park here at midday. She added, “The criticism hurt me as a person but also hurt the community of Cambridge.”

I’m not sure if Professor Gates’ cabdriver was black. If so, wouldn’t Ms. Whalen have been correct to report that both men on the porch were black? I mean, if you are trying to give a good description you are going to mention all distinguishing characteristics. Certainly, to assume “black” when someone says “possible burglary” is racist. But if I see a white guy breaking into my neighbor’s house I’m calling 911 and saying “There’s a white guy breaking into my neighbor’s house.” And if it’s a black guy I’m saying “There’s a black guy breaking into my neighbor’s house.”

At any rate: the poor woman. She didn’t even get invited over for beers. At least Prof. Gates sent her some flowers; a very gentlemanly thing to do. And the poor Geese Rescuer. Maybe PETA will send him flowers.

It was 30 Years Ago Today

This piece is right up there with KO’s essay.

Remembering Munson:

It was one of those bitter cold days. The kind where the wind whips your face, where your fingers ache and even your eye lashes hurt.

Diana Munson doesn’t remember the year, but recalls the afternoon when she and her husband, Thurman Munson, the captain catcher of the New York Yankees, were running errands in Manhattan and drove into a gas station.

“The guy wouldn’t come out, so Thurman got out and started pumping the gas,” Diana said. “He was wearing jeans and a flannel jacket and boots – kind of a typical Ohio guy out of place in New York at the time.”

Diana sat in the car as her husband pumped the gas and a car pulled in behind theirs.

“I remember, the guy said, `Hey buddy, when you’re done with that fill this one up,’ ” Diana said. “If he only knew who he was talking to – he never would have believed it. The cutest thing about this story is he filled it up for him.” …

Manhood Support Group: the Political Edition

I read this editorial a while back: The cheap collateral damage of sex scandals

Four boys for Steve McNair. Four boys for Mark Sanford. Four children for David Vitter. Three daughters for Eliot Spitzer. Three children for John Ensign. Three children for John Edwards. Three children for Kwame Kilpatrick. Those two dozen children are enough, without even reaching back a decade for Chelsea Clinton, to demonstrate the impressive swath of psychological destruction for the dalliances of dads.

Even assuming that we all make mistakes, it never ceases to boggle the mind how men, particularly those who stake out high moral ground in politics or build a pristine image in the community as athletes, lay waste to it all in an act of passion. …

And it just came to me that the Republican and Democratic National Committees should establish Manhood Support Groups just as the NFL is doing.

Of course, picking the right mentors will be important. Like, Bill Clinton isn’t the first guy you’d call ….

Yo, Dog: The Michael Vick Fan Club

Not.

Way too cute:

Reader Dog Photos

When the Vick dogfighting story broke I heard and read over and over that people needed to understand Vick’s background and his culture, which condoned dogfighting. That kind of “culture” I don’t need.

This is my culture: People who go ga-ga over puppies and poor Pakistanis who will help an American reporter search for her lost dog in Islamabad —

The Puppy Diaries

That soft fur, those floppy ears, that quizzical look that draws an “awww” from the most hardened cynic. Yes, puppies are cute.

They are also a project that can require the patience of Job and the stamina of the most selfless parent.

Puppies tie you down, drag you out for a walk even when it’s sleeting and sink their tiny teeth into your favorite shoes. They offer boundless love, granted unconditionally. They also provide their share of frustrations.

But in a nation where more than 45 million households own dogs as pets, raising a puppy has become an essential part of American life.

In a series of columns, Jill Abramson chronicles the ups and downs of a puppy’s first year. Scout, a golden retriever, arrived at the household in early June. Follow along through the columns, photographs and videos as she and her husband, Henry Griggs, take Scout from puppyhood to her first birthday.

Ahu & Me: A Dog Is Lost, Hope Is Found In Pakistan

The inhabitants were astonished and amused to see us, but they were neither rude nor threatening. Dirt-streaked boys surrounded us and eagerly took the fliers; shopkeepers listened politely to our story. “Madam, do not worry, we find your dog,” one old man selling a pile of eggplants promised gallantly.

Rashomon in Cambridge

And maybe with a side of testosterone, too.

Now, I’ve — I don’t know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts …

And while I have not read a whole lot about the situation I don’t see why I shouldn’t spout off on it. I mean, heck, everyone else is.

Indignant declarations abound regarding the situation between Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (aka: oppressed black man, uppity nigger, etc.) and Sgt. James Crowley (aka: law enforcement officer, racist white pig, etc.) President Obama chiming in didn’t help things. Yo, dude, sticking up for a pal is fine, but you’re the Prez. You gotta watch what you say.

Every word that comes out of your mouth, you’re responsible for.

(I always wondered what happened to Tony Kubek.)

I’m glad President Obama apologized for his comment. Some feel that he shouldn’t have, but considering that he made it without knowing the facts of the matter an apology was in order. Saying “my bad” doesn’t make him less of a man, it doesn’t mean he’s giving in to whitey.

(But since he didn’t actually use the word “apologize” did he really apologize? At least he didn’t give one of those lame If-I-offended-anyone-I-am-sorry nonapologetic apologies.)

I volunteer with an organization that provides services for the elderly. A while back my task was to deliver a Thanksgiving meal to a gentleman in the northeast section of town. The northeast section of town here is, to put it gently, the “bad” part of town. And — can I say this without sounding like a racist? — it’s the black part of town. I guess it does sound better if I say “The neighborhood has a high proportion of African Americans.” (That’s what I would write if I were writing for the New York Times.) At any rate, I’ve seen worse, like the South Bronx. But the northeast part of town here is where a lot of poor people live and consequently it is a neighborhood beset with a lot of crime. My initial reaction, upon learning where I was to deliver the dinner, was “Oh, great.” But I would be driving up there at about noon, so I figured “Hey, it’ll be broad daylight” and that made me feel safer. And as I drove to the man’s home on Thanksgiving I saw a police car a few blocks ahead of me and that made me feel safer, too. But then this thought came to me: “I wonder if the people who live in this neighborhood feel safer when they see a police car.”

I guess just about everyone’s awareness level goes up when they see a police car in their neighborhood. I know mine does. Heck, it means that something is going on. But I’ve never had a bad experience with the police, so seeing a police officer doesn’t raise my hackles. I feel secure knowing that if something indeed is going on then there’s a police officer nearby. I certainly don’t know what it’s like to live in fear of the police, as seems to be the case for many minorities.

So I can’t say I truly understand what Professor Gates felt when he came face-to-face with Sgt. Crowley. And never having been in such a situation where I am face-to-face with a very mad guy I can’t say I understand what Sgt. Crowley felt. The only people who know what happened are those two men. And, as Dowd mentions in her column, what the two men “know” about the situation is filtered through the prisms of race, class, and testosterone.

And as Rashomon shows, no one really does “know.”

(It looks like the whole movie is posted here. If you’ve never seen it before, you really should.)

The Testosterone Follies

In the N.F.L., What It Means to Be a Man:

We are clueless as far as what manhood really is.

I didn’t realize it was such a mystery.

I mean, every season — every NFL season, every NBA season — you hear athletes declare: “I’m a man.”

I don’t recall ever hearing golfers say it. Or tennis players.

For the first time, two N.F.L. teams — the Giants and the Baltimore Ravens — have instituted player-driven mentorship programs in which rookies are paired with a team of veterans. The idea is that the veterans will shepherd young players through the minefield as if they were younger brothers and even sons. This means sharing triumphs and failures, painful experiences and embarrassments, and generally engaging in a level of discourse that is rare, not simply among athletes, but between men.

OK, so it’s not a bad idea.

But the idea that they even have to have Manhood Support Groups is pretty sad.

Still, a Manhood Support Group may have:

• Kept Michael Vick from bankrolling a dogfighting ring
• Made Pacman Jones understand that making it rain was a bad idea
• Led Plaxico Burress to understand that sticking a gun into the waistband of his sweatpants was not a prudent maneuver
• Made Michael Phelps think twice before taking a hit from that bong (Maybe swimmers need a Manhood Support Group, too)

So, hey, if it works, great.

But pick those mentors carefully. Steve McNair seemed like quite a leader and a good role model, a family man with four children. But then he was murdered — by his 20-year-old girlfriend.

Yikes ….