Today's society of misfits

I am aghast with what I had seen the numerous practices adopted by modern youth who have adopted the culture of the deviants, and is excessively trendy, taken from their sports, entertainment, and other heroes they see on television every day. It has come to a point it seems every superstar in our culture (or so it seemed) has numerous body modifications, with professional basketball stars full of tattoos on their arms, and Major League Baseball even ordering players to wear long-sleeved undershirts to cover some of the most heinous body modifications, and part of the Ohio State scandal was based around discounts at a tattoo parlour. And the hairstyles worn by some figures are far worse than the haircuts you may receive at your local barber.

One teenager who just graduated from high school appeared at an event with a bizarre hairstyle that had me aghast and wondering what he was doing, and I considered was he attending college or going for a position other than an entry level position. At least two other teens were at the same event with multiple tattoos – some covering parts of the body that are usually covered by undergarmets, as an intent to expose their body and advertise something inappropriate. Adults are into this also, with many adults choosing to modify their bodies to show their love of popular culture, accomplishments, or their dates. The result is a trend in sleeveless shirts worn by men, and questionable undergarmets worn by both men and women, especially if their bodies (and in the case of questionable undergarmets, shown on things that normally would be covered by common sense people) full of tattoos in order to show their advertising. A friend from elementary school asked what is with the trend, and will they feel guilty years later?

That leads to the story that former Colts running Back Jerry Richardson, now the owner of Carolina, told his newly drafted star player no body modification (tattoos, piercings, et al) would be allowed. Good for Mr. Richardson.

Body modifications and crazy hairstyles would never be approved at a normal place of work, your local business, or even church. Many venues will not accept people with body modifications to work. Common sense has been lost. The money that people are spending for such deviant work is better off going to church, charity, the commodities, the market, healthy foods, reading books, taking arts classes, playing golf, or attending events. This sad trend has to stop with the craziness of body modification, all of which violates Leviticus 19:28, “Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.” ◙

Classic Sports Thursday

Bristol, Baby!"

Anyone in motorsport will assure you that a NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Bristol (TN) Motor Speedway is regarded as the toughest ticket in motorsport, even if the recession has stripped it of its sellout status with 160,000 spectators.

One of the most famous feuds in the 1990's at the famous speedplant was the Terry Labonte - Dale Earnhardt battles in 1995 and 1999, with the score ending as a 1-1 battle between the Childress and Hendrick driver. ◙

The first Feud - 1995


Rattle the Cage - 1999

The bad business of business

Is owning a sports franchise bad business? Should it be? That's the provocative question the always-provocative Malcolm Gladwell asks. Of course, I've always thought any sports franchise owner who expects to make a profit - who things, in fact, that a profit should be guaranteed - is not only insane, but is probably doing pretty well feeding at the public trough.

As a side thought, I was listening to someone talking to Jason Lewis about the scam that is higher education today, and how the whole college thing has been perverted into being something that people have to have just to get the most menial work. Fact is, not everyone ought to go to college, and there should be plenty of jobs that don't require a college degree. And this links to my first paragraph how? Well, substitute "life" for "owning a sports franchise" and you get your answer.

Life can't be measured purely in terms of profit and loss. Sometimes there are things in life - such as the old-fashioned liberal arts degree - that only give you what Gladwell called the "psychic" gain. In other words, they don't necessarily make you richer, but they do help make you more well-rounded. And that's a different kind of wealth altogether. ◙

Charity begins - with the government?

Penn Gillette – the “Penn” half of the comedy/magic team Penn & Teller – is an endlessly interesting man. Now, this doesn’t mean that I always, or even usually, agree with him. I seldom agree with anyone that often, including myself. It does, however, mean that within the contents of any given comments of his, there are bound to be words of interest, ideas that bear exploration, repetition, even agreement. And so when he wrote about his recent appearance with Piers Morgan on CNN (catch Piers soon, by the way, before the British phone hacking scandal claims him), there was stuff that was good and stuff that wasn’t so good.

His atheism, for example, has never appealed to me. (I recall once reading about how he and his partner Teller were so adamant on this point that they even removed the Gideon Bibles from the hotel rooms in which they stayed.) I think he’s dead wrong about faith – requiring certainty about anything, including religion, is a formula for paralysis, in my opinion – but at least I understand where he’s coming from more than I did before. And just because I disagree – strongly – with it doesn’t mean that I can’t at least comprehend it. (I think he’s an outstanding candidate for prayer, by the way. The appearance of a divine intervention in his life might be difficult for him to explain away, which in turn might force him to acknowledge it as something worthy of further consideration.)

And just because I disagree with him on some things doesn’t mean that I can’t agree with him on others. He says that his thoughts on politics flow from the same insistence on certainty as do his thoughts on religion; but his demand for certainty, which fails him in the sacred, serves him much better with regard to the secular. Take, for example, his thoughts on government programs:

It's amazing to me how many people think that voting to have the government give
poor people money is compassion. Helping poor and suffering people is compassion. Voting for our government to use guns to give money to help poor and suffering people is immoral self-righteous bullying laziness.

People need to be fed, medicated, educated, clothed, and sheltered, and if we're compassionate we'll help them, but you get no moral credit for forcing other people to do what you think is right. There is great joy in helping people, but no joy in doing it at gunpoint.

Oddly enough, he might find himself in agreement with the great Catholic humanitarian Dorothy Day, who felt that government welfare programs tended to abrogate the individual’s moral responsibility to provide charity themselves. When you can have the government do your charitable work for you, why bother to get your own hands dirty?

Needless to say, there are many liberals, dedicated to taking your tax money from you to do good, who also contribute their own personal time, talent and money. I’m not saying that all they do is steal from the rich and give to the poor from the comfort of their own homes. But Penn’s comment that “There is great joy in helping people, but no joy in doing it at gunpoint” is a profound one. Make no mistake, he says – “When they come to get you for not paying your taxes, try not going to court. Guns will be drawn. Government is force -- literally, not figuratively.” Which leads to this conclusion:

I don't believe the majority always knows what's best for everyone. The fact that the majority thinks they have a way to get something good does not give them the right to use force on the minority that don't want to pay for it. If you have to use a gun, I don't believe you really know jack. Democracy without respect for individual rights sucks. It's just ganging up against the weird kid, and I'm always the weird kid.

There’s a great deal of truth in that statement. It’s classic libertarianism, and while that’s another –ism that I don’t completely agree with, there’s no doubt that it’s a vital and necessary part of contemporary conservative thought.

And proof, once again, that food for thought can come from surprising places.

(By the way, in the midst of this heavy discussion don’t overlook the hilarious story he tells about a Nobel-winning physicist, a community college teacher, and a talk show host. And no, they don’t walk into a bar together.) ◙

Opera Wednesday

Moses as Bin Laden? Unbelievable but true, in Graham Vick's potentially vomit-inducing (I say that because I have to be fair, having not seen it personally) interpretation of Rossini's Moses in Egypt. Opera Chic has the lowdown here, with additional posts at her site. Here's what Vick has to say about Moses:

"It's true, he resembles Bin Laden -- on the contrary, he's an archetype. Moses summarizes in himself all of the fundamentalists. Let's not forget that every terrorist is also a freedom fighter in the eyes of someone else. And besides, Rossini presents him as always angry and threatening. His war against the Egyptians resembles very much a 'holy war' on which to speculate actual jihad. While rereading the works of Rossini, I felt the need to take into consideration how much had befallen the Middle East in the last ten years."

Doesn't quite sound like Charlton Heston, does it? ◙

Stories of the week

Katie Kieffer takes a shot at the government's fuel economy standards, which are industry-killing ideas to force us into the tiny city cars liberals envision us to be riding as to force as many people into the big cities, where ultra-urban areas are the home of liberalism's biggest pockets.

Seeing too many tiny cars and jacked-up sedans masquerading the jobs of big trucks is senseless.

Colleges are now telling students to attend the Life Enhancement Centres that endorse sexual deviancy, a "proud" goal of colleges trying to tell kids to be indoctrinated into the values of Humanism. Mike Adams finds some disturbing details at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

Max Hastings in the UK discusses the London riots, and how "progressive" leftist teachings over generations has led to youth who refuse to have standards.

Tony Sewell believes, as many of us do, the gangster culture, as shown on MTV, is a dangerous poison.

Both kids and adults are extremely guilty in church (of all places) of wearing tee-shirts and jeans, shorts, or anything very unprofessional and rag-tag to church today. When these Life Enhancement Centres even have ragged dress of the band, and ministers follow along, we are truly troubled. Thomas Langford, however, thinks the societal changes of women in the workforce ended the era of the fancy dresses.

Part of the Problem with American Society today? Even the Girl Scouts are betraying values in favour of the latest fads among liberalism. When the Boy Scouts of America is now helping American Heritage Girls, it's clear the new organisation is on the way up. ◙

Classic Sports Thursday

Sunday's INDYCAR race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway is the first IZOD IndyCar Series race since 1998 at the 1.058 mile speedway, and the first with Bruton Smith, who has INDYCAR races at Texas and Sonoma, in control.

Here was the last INDYCAR race from 1998, and note who is calling the race -- the man regarded as America's premier motorsport voice. (Courtesy INDYCAR.) ◙

This Just In

News item: Tiger Woods dropped by sponsor Tag Heuer. But don't worry too much.

Of Requiem, hatred of industry, and corruption in Washington

Packing It In! We packed the house literally during the first (Sunday) performance of Mozart's Requiem, and for the first time in my singing career I saw a full house (and more, as it was standing room only) for a concert. Big thanks to Susan Kelly, student conductor, Sarah Rich (soprano), Beth Mears (alto), David (tenor) and Lillian (conductor) Quackenbush, David Stephenson (bass), and Frances Webb (Steinway). Big thank-you to the team here guys. Enjoyed it and cannot wait to sing again!

Sarah, beautiful voice and be praying for you – there's a baby on the way for Sarah and her husband, as I had the opportunity to visit with him during dress rehearsals.

Dies iræ! Dies illa. Solvet sæclum in favilla: Teste David cum Sibylla!

Can You Watch What You Wear? Some singers seemingly forgot how to dress for concert. Our bulletin stated “concert dress” for women and men have to wear a white dress shirt, black slacks, and a tie (it's over 90 degrees outside in South Carolina, but I wore my jacket during pre-concert warmup). Two types of female choral dress violations were detected during the concert – sleeveless blouse was one, and the other was the little black dress and no stockings, but most of the women knew the right hem length (¾th or longer; many of the younger singers chose to wear black slacks, a popular trend in orchestra women, since black stockings are typically not required when the trouser option is chosen). Some men chose short-sleeve dress shirts (something I wasn't taught was permitted), and the big no-no was one singer did not wear a tie. What has happened to proper dress anymore anywhere? Most know the rule, but a this is a societal problem today.

The Downgrade and The Crash. Does it sound suspicious the debt limit issue and the downgrade of the debt of the leadership of the country refuse to see the problem lies within the eighty-year downgrade that President Roosevelt ran us through with John Maynard Keynes' philosophy, which is the problem we have had for the years? The excessive sellout to Keynesian economics, which is built on massive government spending, is the root cause of the problem with our economic system.

And a Hatred of Industry. So Obama has now imposed a 54 MPG standard for cars, effectively striking the auto industry to the same tiny cars in Europe, and electric cars, and he is now imposing new energy standards on trucks, buses, and industrial vehicles, which makes it clear he reminds me of the Taliban in that he hates industry and would love us to return to the Stone Age. Is this the country we want where industry is banned while we worship Gaia? We may see electric vehicles for industrial duty do the same things our current petrol and diesel cars use because of an arrogant anti-industry leadership. ◙

(Not) tickled pink

As Mitchell mentioned yesterday, he's left The Three Stooges (Bobby, Steve and yours truly) in charge while he takes some well-deserved time off. Have a good time, chief, and come back refreshed!

A week or so ago I saw the following story over at Uni Watch, the go-to blog for sports fans obsessed with the aesthetic angle. The money line: "The Harvard Business Review has found that using the color pink in breast cancer awareness campaigns is actually counterproductive."

Hah!

I always have suspected that the pink movement, started by the infamous Susan G. Komen outfit, was more about "Hey, look at me and how much I care!" than anything else. Now, before anyone objects, I'm sure that there are hundreds of thousands of well-meaning women and men out there who wear the pink with an abundance of sincerity. And yet, how much good does it really do? As much good as those red AIDS ribbons, or yellow or any other color ribbon that seems to pop up these days. We have become a nation of ribbons, it seems.

(And by the way, just so you don't think I'm picking only on liberals - I never could understand those red, white and blue ribbons that people wore after 9/11. We have a perfectly good symbol for that already - it's called The Flag.)

Anyway, according to this study we now see that the pink phenomenon doesn't even do much good as a symbol of awareness: "[T]hose who saw a pink ad about breast cancer were significantly less likely to say that they’d contract the disease than those who saw an ad with neutral colors." And "[w]hen the site was geared to women, 33% of women recalled the ads. When it was gender-neutral, 65% remembered."

This is so endemic of our Oprahfied culture - when emotion is the most important thing, when we asuage our guilt feelings with symbolic acts, along with that faintly smug air of superiority that hints that "We're better than you."

So maybe the pink campaign doesn't really raise breast cancer awareness. Maybe it doesn't really encourage women to check for cancer. But really, it's all about looking good, right? Because when it all comes down to it, the important thing is to let people know we care. ◙

Summer winds

I know I haven't had much to say the last few weeks, and the loyal readers we do have deserve better than that. So I'm going to formalize my inactivity, and take a little vacation for the rest of the month.

Depending on what captures my eye, I may pop in from time to time. What significant writing I do manage will probably be over at It's About TV! But for the most part, I leave you in the most capable hands of Drew, Bobby and Steve, who will carry you the rest of the way until just after Labor Day. ◙

Classic Sports Thursday

Today is August 4, and an Indianapolis Motor Speedway legend turns 40 today, despite just falling short of reaching an upper level at the Brickyard of all-time race winners because someone else was smarter on strategy than he was a few days ago. Let's celebrate the career of this now 40-year old legend of the Brickyard with a blast from his past.

A fifteen-year old kid runs rampant during a summer meet for sprint car racing in Australia (remember the seasons flip, so this is December or January).

A Formula Vee test in Clermont's Lucas Oil Raceway, once the home of USAC Championship racing, but the track is now used for club racing along with the signature “Big Go”.

ESPN's Thunder interview.

And someone from the first 400 at Indy shot home video of the first finish.

Happy 40th Birthday today to Jeffrey Michael Gordon. ◙

Wish I'd Written That

I realize I’m a partisan, and getting worse, I’m afraid. I’ve long wanted to be a nice, above-the-fray neutralist. But life has not allowed that."

- Jay Nordlinger, National Review Online

I know just what he means, and how it's getting worse. I've always been fond of saying that I've no longer the stomach for these political debates; I'm like a cannon that doesn't have the inclination to move. The only way you're going to get blasted by me is if you stand right in front of the barrel waving your arms and saying, "Here I am!"

But every time I'm ready to say that I'm not going to get involved, that I'm just going to take it easy, along comes the left doing precisely that, waving their arms and standing right in the line of fire. In their manner and their choice of rhetoric, they're never able to leave well-enough alone. One wonders what they might have been able to accomplish in enacting their agenda over the years if only they'd learned the lesson of keeping their mouths shut at the right time. It must be genetic.  ◙

Local news report on Mozart's Requiem

The director of the local ballet company is also serving as the arts correspondent for the Fox affiliate's newscasts, and had this about the upcoming performances of Mozart's Requiem that I'm singing this weekend. ◙

Why cronies are Eastern European, and other troubling issues

Why the Bad Guys are Bulgarian. Last week, while attending a performance of a youth-oriented musical based on Ian Fleming's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, I noticed the enemies were from Bulgaria. It had me thinking on a literary front based on the novelist why the enemy had to be Eastern European.

Mr. Fleming's novels from his best-known literary franchise is known to feature East Bloc characters, considering names such as СМЕРШ, a Soviet intelligence agency based in Ленинград (now Санкт-Петербург) (even though the organisation is used only twice in authorised EON films based on those novels, in 1964 and 1987) dominated, and his novels and related films have carried a storyline of the character battling Soviet and East Bloc enemies. No wonder Chitty had to carry a Bulgarian villain – it would make perfect sense considering how many times СМЕРШ battled the main character of those well-known novels!

E-Readers Concern Me. Amazon's decision with AT&T to start selling advertising-supported Kindle e-readers scares me considering e-readers are rapidly replacing printed books. What if you purchased an e-reader file of a conservative author's book, and while reading it, you were bombarded on your e-reader by advertising for Organising for America, including Barack Obama's re-election or organisations funded by Soros György, which are extreme leftist groups? What if you purchased religious literature and they posted advertising for atheism, humanism, or New Age? What if you purchased literature for your children through the reader and they sent you ads for adult material? This is the type of abuse that can actually happen now, and there may be no recourse in the future. And of course, we have college literature that automatically expires after the school year ends, thus equaling an extra cash cow for the publishers, as they cannot sell them back on the free market to give home-schoolers a way to study advanced material.

The Real Problem. Listening to talk radio discuss the budget impasse, I learned that the bogus “baseline budgeting” that leads to kayfabe cuts when spending increases are embedded into law was based on Public Law 93-344, the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, one of a series of laws that ruling Democrats passed in an era where they had increasing control of Congress as a result of Watergate. If we abolished the baseline budgeting and the mandatory spending increases imposed in those laws, we would definitely solve much of our problems we have now. Liberals have long wanted to keep the Keynesian economic policy and Public Law 93-344 shows it. The laws liberals passed in 1973-80 in the wake of Watergate show themselves to be part of a permanent push to mandate the Left on us, and when we're broke, they want us to spend more.
◙

Weekend Digest

This weekend's digest of thoughts, collected from a gaggle of reads.

Robert Knight: Obama's Assault on the Rule of Law.

George Nethercutt: Maryland Students Go Green . . . but not the Red, White, and Blue. (Schools push the anti-industry, anti-American, job-killing environmentalist agenda.)

Mike Adams: The Rape of Caleb Warner (a student falsely charged with a crime is punished).

Dennis Prager: Ten Ways Progressive Policies Harm Society's Moral Character.

Albert Mohler: Reparative Therapy, Sexual Deviancy, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (Liberals' attempt to bash Michele Bachmann for what husband Marcus' therapy services offer.)

Vincent Vernuccio: Labour's New Strategy: Intimidation for Dummies.

Julie Moore: National Bible Drill tournament (and youth need these events to learn their Bibles). The turning away from the Holy Book has led to the massive push of humanism in society today.

Adam Cooper: Chandok in, Trulli out, for Tony Fernandes' team at the 'Ring.

Paul Magno: Ross Greenburg was not the only problem with HBO (boxing). (Also notes boxing's move from network television to pay-television is part of the sport's downfall.) ◙

Opera Wednesday: it's Opera Camp!

Summer camps are hitting their stride, and one in South Carolina was kid-friendly with plenty of fun. Yes, they had Opera Camp! Friday, the kidlets did their piece, "We Are Who We Are, and We Are The Opera".

Enjoy! Is the next big name soprano, alto, tenor, or bass on the way? This camp is a great way to get kids into opera, and the next generation needs opera singers, not pop drivel!

"We Are Who We Are, and . . . We Are The Opera!" ◙

How much of my youth is gone in just eleven years?

We don't need books. We just need Twitter. Shakespeare in one tweet or not at all. It's like Ray Bradbury said it would be in Fahrenheit 451. Only moving pictures on the walls and little radios in your ear. He was a prophet." -- Ingrid Schleuter

The End of An Era. The death of brick and mortar bookstores continues, and Albert Mohler warned about and now a big one has been claimed. Borders Group, which owned the only local bookstore in town from the mid-1990's (when they bought a chain that Kmart had owned), announced it was doing a Chapter 7 (liquidation), effectively making the prophecy that bookstores are truly declining, as are music stores (as I learned with the demise of the music store I used to purchase my music for Dr. LaRoche). Now the clear winners are Barnes & Noble and Books-a-Million, with the new #2 being a paltry nineteen states. As for what happened when Boarders left town in 2008, we were without a bookstore, devoid of anything for local kids at Prep (Governness' Haley's Hail the Red and Grey) or OCA (the school where Bill Connor is Chairman of the Board) to buy their literature without driving an hour, until the new independent Swift Books came to town.

My Youth Continues To Close. I am only 36, but in the past eleven years, I have seen entire facets of my growth fall by the wayside with this announcement. First it was the school I attended after first arriving in the Palmetto State (shut down in 2000), then the church I grew up attending (shut down in 2001), then the brand of car that I drove for the majority of my driving years at the time (2004), and now the bookstore group where I would frequent many times and we had readers' cards for me to read many books. Progress, yes, but at what cost? Mementos of my own youth -- my green #8 baseball jersey for the Crusaders, my late aunt's minivan (a Voyager), my cars in college (a Cutlass Supreme and a Calais), the bowing alley I remembered (All-Star), and now the local bookstore I frequented are all things that no longer exist.

And Speaking This Sad Thought. National Review lost another of their core members last week. Oh for the times I would drive to that bookstore to buy a National Review.

Laura Ingraham on Civility. Now what are people thinking when they dress like trash to church? Time to put up the old sign at the paddock in church. No shorts, tank tops, or open toe shoes allowed. But the church sign should say No Jeans, No Sneakers, Gentlemen, Jackets Are Required, Ladies, if not wearing a dress, then jackets are required, Business Dress (No Casual) . . .

Ashamed To Be An American. It's time to take down the American flag and trample on it. Raise the Northern Ireland flag on golf courses, and football pitches need to have the Hinomaru raised. ◙

Heat Wave!

When it's pushing 100 in Minneapolis, and the dewpoint is near 80, what says it better? ◙

Retro TV Friday

During a break from practice for the upcoming Summer Chorus II production of Mozart's Requiem, I noticed a picture from a youth opera camp with an instructor teaching youth, and noticed who he was. Two years ago, he was the bass in our production of selections of Haydn's Die Jahreszeiten. With the story that broke out about him, this 1960's song that relates to Retro TV Friday was stuck in my head. Why?

In 1962, Eddie Rambeau was a young teenager whose music was about to be played on "American Bandstand" but was blocked minutes from performing because of a conflict of interest with an ABC employee who wrote the song. It could not be played on ABC owned and operated radio station, which hurt its chart potential. Payola was a major concern at the time. Yet years later, Milton DeLugg recorded an instrumental version of the song, and to this day it is the more familar version of the song, having been used for five different decades.

That song is associated with that vocal instructor and if you understand what happened last month, you can associate the song, him, and the association. What show's theme song was this? ◙

Opera Wednesday

Yesterday we told you about the death of Sherwood Schwartz, the creator of Gilligan's Island, among other TV series. Now, most people would scoff at the idea of Gilligan's Island being highbrow entertainment - but, in fact, here is a series that one could argue was amongst the most learned on television. Why, they were able to present not only Shakespearian tragedy, but dramaticopera - and all in the same episode!

It was October 3, 1966 - the third and final season of Gilligan. This episode, entitled "The Producer," involved famed Broadway producer Harold Hecuba (Phil Silvers), who finds himself, like so many before him, stranded on the island. (Is it just me, or does it seem as if the only people who weren't able to find that island worked for the Coast Guard?) After Hecuba insults Ginger, the castaways decide to show him how talented she really is, by (in the words of Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland) "putting on a show."

"Hamlet: the Musical" is perhaps one of the most creative bits of musical theater ever to find its way into an American sitcom. The lyrics are clever and witty, and yet faithful to the Bard's text.  The musical accompaniment is inspired, running the gamut from Bizet to Offenbach.  Here, for example, is Hamlet's (Gilligan) aria "To Be or Not to Be," from the "Habenera" of Bizet's Carmen.  (For contrast, here is the original as it appears in Carmen, sung by the great Marilyn Horne.)

Not to be outdone, here is Ophelia (Ginger) in her duet with Hamlet, urging him to lighten up, to Offenbach's "Barcarolle" from The Tales of Hoffman, along with the same piece as heard in the opera. Finally, there's the showstopper, as the entire cast lampoons Bizet's "Torreador Song" (again from Carmen).  Not quite the same impact as in the original, perhaps, but not bad.

What is brilliant about this is not only the creativity of the lyrics, but the use of music that, in the days when classical music was actually part of mainstream American culture, would be instantly recognizible to most viewers, even if they didn't know where it came from.  And I can't help but wonder if the writers were aware of the appropriateness of using music from French opera, given that the most famous operatic version of Hamlet is by the French composer Ambroise Thomas.

We may ridicule a show like Gilligan's Island, which was critically scorned but was a massive hit with viewers - but I doubt you'll see anything short of Looney Tunes that makes such good use of classical music. And that is nothing less than a shame. ◙

Sherwood Schwartz, R.I.P.

From today's post at It's About TV:

Sherwood Schwartz, who created the iconic sitcoms Gilligan's Island and the Brady Bunch, died today at 94. Courtesy of my home blog away from home, TVParty!, here's L. Wayne Hicks' interview with Schwartz - who may not have been a critical fav, but certainly was a successful one. ◙

United States Armed Forces, R.I.P.

Well, the Ninth Circus has mandated under the Administration's Intolerable Act in 111-321, to officially lay to rest the Armed Forces, and to replace it with the Department of Social Engineering, Special Rights Division.

Once again, the Gill Agenda is pushed by the Administration to force an agenda opposed by the majority down our throats to show the new power brokers of deviants. ◙

Opera Wednesday

Lucrezia Borgia was a real person, as well as an opera. She lived from 1480 to 1519, and was the illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI (don't ask). Lucrezia, like the rest of the Borgia clan, has a wicked reputation. We don't know a lot about the real Lucrezia, but what we do know is fairly sordid (as one might expect if one is the illegitimate daughter of a pope.  Her life story is full of rumors of incest, poison and murder, and it's become part of the pop culture - even Mr. Peabody and Sherman made a trip to Italy to visit her, where she was suspected of attempting to poison her husband. (She wasn't really bad, though - she just couldn't help herself).

At that, it's likely that the real Lucrezia couldn't hold a candle to the operatic one.  The opera Lucrezia Borgia was composed by Donizetti and premiered in 1833, and is a magnificent example of the bel canto style - one reason why it's become a showpiece for sopranos from Sutherland to Caballé to Fleming. The opera heavily plays upon, and even embellishes, Lucrezia's infamous reputation. In the climax final act of Lucrezia Borgia, Lucrezia, in revenge for past insults, fatally poisons six men - including, unintentionally, her own son Gennaro (whom she had thought had already fled the city).* Horrified at the thought of murdering her own flesh and blood, Lucrezia begs Gennaro to take the antidote, but he refuses, choosing instead to die with his five friends. Devistated at her accidental act of filicide, Lucrezia herself crumples to the ground, dead, as the curtain falls.

*Gennaro, it should be noted, didn't know that Lucrezia was his mother. It's a convoluted plot. But then again, it's an opera. What do you expect?

The body count in this opera is truly appalling, but there's nothing appalling about this performance by the magnificent Joan Sutherland in the title role. This clip of the final scene comes from a 1972 TV production - not sure what show, although offhand I'd guess it's either the Bell Telephone Hour or a program from England.  Though it's not stated, the conductor might well be her husband, Richard Bonynge ◙

Today's news brought to you by...

Independence Digest

Brian Bolduc: David McCollough notes textbooks are helping raise young people who are historically illiterate.

Concerned Women for America: "God" and "Life" are being dumped from historical documents.

The Christian Century: Don't Know Much About History.

Phyllis Schlafly: Court Wraps Video Games in the First Amendment.

Star Parker: Bachmann is Right about the Minimum Wage.

John Ransom: Obama's Price: Ten Dollar Tax for Union Teachers - You Pay.

Mike Shedlock: How Union Busting Helps Kids (and Everyone Else) in Wisconsin.

The Usual Suspects: US Constitution faces liberal threat. ◙

The Spirit of '76

Retro TV Friday - Independence Day edition

At the time, Capital Cities-ABC owned Word, the label and church music publishing company that signed Sandi Patty (please note this is the correct spelling; a printer's mistake from the late 1970's on her debut was not corrected until 1993) and writer Claire Cloninger. (Mrs. Cloninger is still with Word, a Warner Music Group company; Mrs. Peslis now her her own label, Stylos, that is distributed by Warner Music Group and features two other artists -- Super Bowl XLI Champion Ben Utecht and Heather Payne.

Naturally, Capital Cities had to cross-promote the Centennial of the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Weekend (which they had exclusive rights) by having their artist do the National Anthem for the event. Here is Claire Cloninger's arrangement (and the "second verse" is written by her) of the National Anthem, as we celebrate the silver anniversary of a famous moment that launched Mrs. Peslis' career after having won five consecutive GMA Dove Awards for Female Vocalist of the Year (she would have a dynastic streak of 11 when it was snapped following her marital infidelity). ◙

Classic Sports Thursday

In light of the tragic news in Raleigh where a bus driver was killed in a crash, let's remember who he was, and one of college basketball's most famous moments. Dereck Whittenburg's 30-foot heave was caught by Lorenzo Charles, whose dunk at the buzzer is one of the classic moments in sports history. Despite a long minors and European professional career, and only one NBA season, Lorenzo Charles was known for one dunk that gave North Carolina State a surprise victory over Houston's Phi Slamma Jamma (Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler the best known players of that group). Gary Bender with the call. ◙

Peter Falk, R.I.P.

One more thing. There was always just one more thing with Peter Falk.

Twice he was nominated for Academy Awards for Supporting Actor (Murder, Inc. and Pocketful of Miracles). He could have continued as a supporting actor, he could have made a career of playing the heavy. He was nominated for two Emmys for guest-starring roles in early 60s television, wining one. He could have been a terrific television character actor. His first television series, a lawyer drama called The Trials of O'Brien, was cancelled after one season. He could have hopped from one series to another, ala McLean Stevenson and Robert Urich.

All of these things could have happened, but there was always one more thing.

There was Columbo. This will be his crowing achievement, one of the greatest television characters of all time, with plots that were worthy of his talent, and guest stars who were bigger than the featured stars of most series. The story is that Bing Crosby turned down the chance to play Columbo because it would interfere with his golf game. Bing Crosby would not have done justice to the role, not in the same way that Peter Falk did. It was so successful that, after the original series ended, he came back a few years later and launched another version, and it was a hit, too.



This would have been enough for some actors, but there was always one more thing. He didn't stop making movies. He made The In-Laws with Alan Arkin, and everyone who's seen it seems to have a favorite scene.



Now, a lot of TV stars are able to make a good movie or two - ask Helen Hunt. But there was one more thing.

He had a charming appearance in a very strange movie, Wim Wenders' wonderful Wings of Desire, playing himself as an angel  Yup. But it worked.



He played the grandpa in The Princess Bride. A lot of memorable scenes in that movie. Falk was content to stay in the background. But would there have been a story without him?



As I say, there always seemed to be one more thing with Peter Falk. Just when it would have been easy to remember him as he was, to look back in appreciation at what he had done, he came up with something new. And so, when it came out a year or so ago that he had Alzheimer's, it was a bitter pill: not just because of the personal tragedy, but because this time there wouldn't be one more thing, he wouldn't come back to add another memorable moment to his terrific career.

And so when Peter Falk died last week, it was the end. But, of course, it was also the beginning. Because when you look back at what Peter Falk did, the guest apperances and the movies and Columbo and the rest, you realize that as long as that work exists, as long as you can bring it up on your TV or DVD or laptop, there will always be, after all, one more thing.  ◙

More on remembering Nick Charles

I was watching the Braves game on FSN last night, and studio host Fred Hickman spent at least five minutes of the show on a tribute to his long-time broadcast partner.

This from his Twitter: "I will sorely miss my friend and Brother Nick Charles. Please pray for his family."

This was Fred's public letter from March.
No Twitter posts from Katie (his daughter) yet, but here's her account (and noted the appropriateness of the boxing tweets on her Twitter). She is a former track star and the cruelest irony of this might come next April if the former cheerleader who became a cross-country runner at Kennesaw State applies in time for a race she has duly qualified -- having run a fast enough time in the Snickers Albany (GA) Marathon to qualify for the holy grail of marathons. ◙

Trouble for Christian charities with more false marriage

Our little parochial school's baseball and softball teams played games on a field at a denomination-run orphanage, what is now the local chapter of the Connie Maxwell Children's Home, named for the daughter of a Greenwood family who bequeathed the original home in memory of their seven-year old daughter, a victim of scarlet fever in the 1880's).

This story reminds me of the dangerous consequences of Friday night's dastardly passage of a “redefinition of marriage” in New York that changes marriage to the “any two” where it's no longer “I Now Pronounce You Husband and Wife” to “I Now Pronounce You Spouses” as new marriage certificate applications will now state specifically “Spouse A” and “Spouse B”. “Husband” and “Wife”, “Bride” and “Groom”, and “Man” and “Woman” are now banned, replaced by the A/B designation as art of the new “definition of marriage” to advance the Gill Agenda.

As the advancement of the Gill Agenda has now come, in the words of Albert Mohler, has come to the point one out of every nine Americans are now in states where false “marriage” is legalised, the Catholic and Protestant charities such as Catholic Charities, Connie Maxwell Children's Home, and other faith-based charities such as Mercy Ministries are now being punished where Christians are no longer permitted to run their own adoption agencies, foster homes, or help the weakest because their reliance on the Bible violates new standards of “the family” as defined in “civil union” and new “definition of marriage” laws passed in the past decade. Massachusetts, Illinois, Iowa, District of Columbia, and now New York are among areas where Catholic Charities and Protestant organisations the equivalent of Connie Maxwell are now banned from their work of adoption because they only allow adoptions to heterosexual married couples, and ban unmarried couples (“shacking up”) and same-sex “couples” from adoptions, which violate the New World Order that gives sexual deviants special rights, something Public Laws 111-84 and 111-321 have rewarded.

Freedom of Religion, long a basic freedom of this nation, is rapidly in the past fifty years of humanism being eroded. False marriage laws ban churches and religious organisations from doing the charity work of the past. With the one out of nine standard, churches are no longer being permitted to organise their charities as state and federal authorities impose new standards based on the requests of sexual deviants over all others that conflict with Biblical teachings. Churches are now being forced to exit as freedom of religion is replaced by the rights of deviants. No wonder pop culture, sexual deviants in Hollywood, the teachings of modern textbooks, and other pieces of the indoctrination has given us a world where the church is now replaced by the government, and sexual deviants are superior to Christians where they can impose their standards on everyone, while Christians are not even allowed participation in the square. ◙

Nick Charles, R.I.P.

The long battle ended Saturday for Nick Charles, who was finallly claimed by The Big C. Story here. I wrote about him earlier this year here. Not really much to add, except that I always enjoyed his work, liked him as far as I could know him through the small screen, liked him that much more as I read about him, and take solace in the thought that finally his pain and suffering is over. Safe journeys.

UPDATE: One reason I didn't write more: Joe Posnanski, who would make any such effort appear even more feeble.◙

Classic Sports Thursday

Baseball fans recognize Jon Miller as the longtime voice (until this season) of ESPN's Sunday night telecasts, as well as the play-by-play man for the Baltimore Orioles (formerly), and the San Francisco Giants (currently). As baseball announcers go, he's one of the best.

But how many knew that at one time, Jon Miller was the voice of American soccer? I sure didn't, until I came across this footage* of Miller broadcasting the North American Soccer League (NASL) game of the week for TVS in 1978.

*Not that you can actually go directly to it. TVS's online archives don't give you a share link, so you have to go here, page down to "Soccer," and select one of the NASL games.  This one, in case you're really interested, was San Jose vs. Los Angeles.

A few observations:

1. Jon Miller had a lot more hair back then.  And a little less face.  But then don't we all?
2. If you watch the video, you'll notice Miller consistently refers to the upcoming match as a "ball game." Any soccer fan will tell you that this is akin to calling the Mona Lisa a "chick." But in their efforts to sell Americans on this foreign sport, I'm sure Miller was told to make it as American-sounding as possible.
3. But Paul Gardner, I always thought, was a very good commentator.
4. The American brand of soccer at that time was quite different from the rest of the world. The offside rule, for example. Today's MLS plays by the international rules, which I think is for the best.
5. On the other hand, they've got a pretty good crowd there, no? We have to remember that back in the late 70s, when Pele and Beckenbauer and Chinaglia led the way, soccer was a pretty hot sport in this country. It didn't last, though - the roots weren't that deep. For all that, I think the sport in America is probably stronger than ever.
6. The 70s really were a bad time, weren't they? ◙

Opera Wednesday

From 1936, here's a real Mickey Mouse opera. And that's no lie. ◙

Summertime notes

This is to That? Professional wrestling is to wrestling what “popular music” singing is to singing. They are all kayfabe and fake!

A Kick to the Groin and Knocking Down Explicit Programming. Chuck Norris is tired of what is called television today in "Sex, Media, and a Sign of the Times".

Political Correctness in the Workplace. Mike Adams reports on a Cisco worker fired for his statements. Wonder how the Left believes – us only, they can't speak.

Is This Education Today? Pat Buchanan reports on how dumbed down education is today when important facts are ignored – but we talk self-esteem, mandate praise of deviants, and punish Christians. Colour of skin and being a sexual deviant are now praised, real people are oppressed.

Unions' Bill of Rights. The National Labour Relations Board is now a division of the unions. New policies are being imposed in an attempt to create a rise in unionism, in addition to trying to close a newly constructed Charleston (SC) plant for Boeing, and moving those jobs to Seattle. The intent is to create more unionism, and eventually, fewer jobs as those jobs move to the BRIC.

El matrimonio del líder de La Gran Amistad Señor Chang. Congratulations to Serena and Michael! That midweek lunchtime wedding news struck a few of us by surprise. M. et Mme. LaRoche.

Red? The Golf Channel's broadcast of the final round in Congressional's Northern Ireland Invitational, another chapter in the Domination of Europe (USA, Who's Your Daddy?) was a warning that they intentionally omitted “Under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance. Red Skelton warned that censorship of the Pledge was prominent after “Under God” was added . . . and he was prophetic about it!

Thankfully It's Over! A local version of British network Channel 4's Skins was finally canned after advertisers revolted. The excessive raunch of the series, regardless of country, was too much here.

Rude Violence. While the Lowcountry cheered over Rich Peverley's Stanley Cup win, over in Vancouver, they were burning the city to the ground after the whipping (a Congratulations Bruins sign with a Stanley Cup is on Fenway). Diane Medved reflected.

Smoke Wants The Extension! The 1971 Six Hours course (includes the “Back Straight” not used in the full course; the extension was not ready in time for that race when Watkins Glen was rebuilt after the 1970 United States Grand Prix) is used by Sprint Cup cars and not the full course. Jimmie Johnson ran the full course a few years ago when he raced the Six Hours. Tony Stewart took his first voyage on the extension in the Mobil 1 Car Swap, and he made it clear after laps in his car and in a McLaren that afternoon. He wants the extension!

Turn Out The Lights Stateside, Have to Be in Canada for Lights to Flag Action! The next three Formula One races won't be televised, as we know it, to Americans. Our neighbours to the north in Canada will get lights to flag action as the European Grand Prix in Valencia's lights appear at 8 AM (EDT), and the same will be the case for the 8 AM lights both July 10 at the Santander Grand Prix of Great Britain (New Silverstone Wing past Club as the start-finish line with a right-handed sweep at Abbey, not past Woodcote headed towards Copse as familiar for nearly sixty years) and July 24 at the Großer Preis Santander von Deutschland. For Americans, they will be lunchtime tape-delays where anyone who reads the F1-posted blogs will know the results before they even air. Might be better to read who won and not watch the races Stateside! (gasp) (The Blundell and Brundle Show (BBC) will air on TSN at 7:55 AM with a short pre-race in Canada.) The 7:30 AM (EDT) wake-up calls (30-minute pre-race show from W. T. Harris Boulevard) will continue at the Eni Magyar Nagydíj in August. ◙

Classic Sports Thursday

College baseball's major showcase returns to Omaha with a new home at Toronto Dominion Ameritrade Park in the Nebraska city's downtown.

Last year: As I'm driving home from Mass in C Major, and come home to watch Whit Merrifield close out Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium's last NCAA Championship game with an 11th-inning hit to score Scott Wingo. The current Royals prospect (ironic, considering their AAA club moved to the suburbs with a new smaller stadium as their own field was too large thanks to college baseball's 24,000-seat capacity) scored the just-drafted by the Dodgers infielder who will close his college career with the new park.

From a perspective inside.

Radio call by Andy Demetra.

As new traditions begin, let's look at what might be the greatest way to end a playoff. 1996, Louisiana State down one to Miami (FL), runner on third, two out, bottom of the ninth. The way that game ended is a title decider that hasn't seen seen at the professional level. ◙

The joys of the minors

We wish to congratulate Rich on becoming the first Stingrays player to win the Stanley Cup. He played with us in 2005 and was one of the top players in the league that season. As a Bostonian, I grew up watching the Bruins and to see where Richie is and where the team is, it’s incredible. When the Bruins acquired Rich at the trade deadline a few months back, they were hoping he could help them win a Stanley Cup and I believe he has been one of their best players throughout the playoffs. He has played many key roles and scored some big goals. It is a special time for Stingrays fans and the city of Boston."

Rob Concannon, President of the ECHL (Charleston) South Carolina Stingrays. Former players are now sponsoring the current Washington Capitals' AA affiliate, as one is the General Sales Manager for an auto dealership who is now an official sponsor, and another is the team's official oral surgeon (who even has a stingray on his medical practice's logo). Rich Peverley was an undrafted player who signed with Charleston in 2004 and earned an AHL contract in Milwaukee a year later. That led to an NHL call-up, and now the Stanley Cup. I was there for a few of his rookie games in the ECHL, and I can't believe now I've seen a Stanley Cup Champion. ◙

Opera Wednesday

It had to happen. Spoleto is just a 75-minute drive cruising my trusty truck on Interstate 26 to Charleston, and that trip has allowed me three times to attend operas -- all of which have come from composers, let alone operas, whose works I've never seen live in person. In 2001 (twice) it was Puccini's Manon Lescault and Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, while in 2009 it was Charpentier's Louise. It would be again the same old song in 2011, written with a choice of three operas I could attend. One was another (just how many performances is too much in a year) of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, while the second was another opera from the father of Spoleto, Menotti's The Medium (considering I've seen two other Menotti operas in the past, it wouldn't fit Spoleto custom; one led to lore that is known between a Mississippi Squirrel and myself).

So, in the ten-year anniversary of my first opera attended at Spoleto, I kept the "new car smell" and this time, it was the American debut of Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho's story (debuted March 1, 2010 in France) of distinguished French scientist Émilie du Chastelet (actual spelling; the more recognised spelling Châtelet, replacing the s by a circumflex over the a, was instituted by one of her lovers) simply designated Émilie, at Memminger Auditorium. Elizabeth Futral is the scientist (only role in this opera), with Neal Wilkinson as set designer, Austin Switser on video, Mariamme Weems directing, and John Kennedy as conductor. The set and video were an issue, as I'll explain later.

The setting of the opera takes place in her home in 1749, while trying to write letters to her lover, François-Marie Aroue, known by his pen name Voltaire. She had an affair with French poet Jean François de Saint-Lambert and was pregnant with her fourth child, and this opera is based on her letter to a friend that she may not survive this fourth child, and she was fearful of her life. The Neal Wilkinson set had me wondering why was the voice of Miss Futral being blocked by numerous signs, some of them transparent through the videos. While some were scientific and mathematical, in reference to her fields, some pictures shown on those pieces were highly objectionable and in violation of obscenity codes to the point Reuben Greenberg should have been called. It ruined the projection of her voice from my seat.

Interesting, the language dabbled frequently from French to some English and Latin in the duration of the short monodrama (no intermission). It was clear from the voice that the passionate scientific research of the scientist was clear, and she referenced a major work she was writing at the time, the French translation of Sir Isaac Newton's Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (also called simply Principia), that was published shortly before her death. Flames frequented the opera videos, paying homage to her study of fire. The work was about her fears of death, would she finish the French translation of Principia, and the video screens made it look as if the flames burned her, as she walked into oblivion with the haunting piece closing the opera. And yes, even the scientist herself loved the harpischord and sang opera herself.

If the obscene photos and obtuse obstruction of the singer's voice were removed, it would have been better suited, especially with the theme of the opera. But this dark opera has me wondering what her last moments were as she feared for her death, as it reflected on that fateful letter she wrote to a friend. ◙

Don't leave it to "The Beaver"

First things first: Mel Gibson delivers a brilliant performance in The Beaver, Jodie Foster's movie about a man's breakup and redemption. It may well have been his best performance since Gallipoli, and were it not for his current state of disgrace, there would surely be an Oscar nomination in his future. Perhaps even that won't be enough to keep him from a nomination, since there are few things Hollywood likes more than a good comeback story; but I still think it's a longshot. Nonetheless, his portrait of a tortured man hanging on to sanity, filled with loathing for others and himself, had to have given us an insight into the man that one seldom gets from an actor. He wasn't playing a role so much as he was using his own experience to interpret the role. If his own life is anything like this (and I think it is), I have the greatest compassion for him.

There was also a lot to like from the script, which led us down one road, toward the seemingly inevitable feel-good conclusion, and then took us in a completely different direction. Hitchcock, who was a master at mixing light humor with dark terror, often showed us that the most effective horror comes from the inoccuous - and what could be more inoccuous than a motley beaver hand-puppet?

Indeed, as The Beaver opens, we are presented with the portrait of a man - Walter Black - on the verge of self-destruction. He is deeply depressed (although, unless I missed it, we are never told exactly if there was a single episode that tipped him over the edge, only that depression appears to run in the family), unable to find help from any form of treatment (amusingly shown in a montage with voiceover), and his wife (Jodie Foster) has packed up their two kids and left him. Alone and drunk, on the verge of suicide, he discovers the puppet - who, the next thing he knows, has taken over his therapy. And wouldn't you know, the Beaver seems to be the only one who can actually penetrate the fog and reach Black where it counts. (One might wonder if the fact that Gibson voices the Beaver with no attempt at ventriloquism is meant to suggest that the answers have been inside him all the time, blocked by a lack of self-confidence, but the script misses the opportunity to go there. Not the only opportunity it misses.)

So far, so good. Black returns to his family a new man, charming younger son Henry (Riley Thomas Stewart) and giving his wife a cautious optimism. Only older son Porter (Anton Yelchin) remains antagonistic - but Porter has his own problems,* and it's clear that he's already well along on the same road to mental illness that his father and grandfather have already trod. Perhaps we're supposed to feel some sympathy for Porter, but I didn't - I kept thinking someone should have sat down with him a long time ago and laid down the line.

*Starting perhaps with his name? A wimpy name like Porter is perhaps the strongest evidence of how disengaged Walter must have been in this marriage.

And here we start to get into the greatest problem with The Beaver: Jodie Foster herself. Foster has shown some skill in past as a director, and her two Academy Awards are testimony to her talent, but in this role she's completely out of her element. Foster's Meredith is far too much a co-dependent, unable to reach either her husband or her two children, who desperately need parenting and aren't getting it. Foster's great strength as an actress is just that: her strength. And a weak character like this is not for her, not at all. It would not be hard to understand how Walter could come to feel that only the Beaver cares for him; I could not imagine that Meredith ever could have given Walter what he needed. Foster can, and should, play a stronger character - but more about this shortly.

I don't generally like to give away the ending of a movie, but in this case I feel I have to in order to prove my point. [PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD] Near the end, we find out that the Beaver has taken over Walter, convincing him that only he has Walter's best interests at heart, that his family has betrayed him, that everyone else has betrayed him, that he must listen only to the Beaver. (A point of view for which I had some sympathy, by the way.) We now see that Walter, in addition to being depressed, might also be schitzophrenic.* He no longer has control over the Beaver, who now controls him.

*A bit which Anthony Hopkins, Foster's Silence of the Lambs mate, did much better in a much better movie, Magic.

When Walter, sensing this, tries to call Meredith on the phone, the Beaver forces him to hang up, and proceeds to beat Walter up (in a scene that's much more horrifying and less silly than it sounds). Now, we're presented the opportunity for Foster to shine, perhaps directly confronting the Beaver (something she has been loathe to do, always talking to Walter instead), willing to do anything to save the man she loves, even if it puts her own life in danger. 

But no. The plot drums up the lame excuse that Meredith has to stay with an ill younger son, and sends the older son to check on his father. To his horror, Porter discovers that Walter, realizing that he must escape the Beaver in order to survive, has cut his own arm off to rid himself of the puppet.

This was the point at which the film finally lost me. And this is the reason why The Beaver ultimately fails.

In her best roles, I've always thought Jodie Foster had something of Barbara Stanwyck in her. Stanwyck was a tough broad (and I say that with admiration), who didn't take anything from anyone. As the heavy, she could put the fear of God into you; as the heroine, you knew she'd fight to the death for what was right I(and thank your lucky stars that she was on your side). Now, imagine Stanwyck in this role, going to Walter and confronting the Beaver, treating it as if it were alive (as, in a way, it is), screaming "Give me back my husband, damn you!" She wouldn't have been afraid to fight the Beaver, and Walter too, if that were needed. And my money would have been on her. It would have been a ferocious, terrifying scene. And it would have guaranteed Stanwyck an Oscar nomination.

Foster, I think, could have pulled this scene off. Maybe this sudden toughness would have seemed too much out of character. Perhaps, given Gibson's personal history of confrontational relationships, there was some discomfort about the possibility of a physical confrontation between Foster and the puppet, which surely would have meant Foster vs. Gibson. Maybe she and the writer thought such a confrontation smacked too much of a stereotypical thrillier, ala Fatal Attraction. On the other hand, maybe they should have tried doing a drama cum thriller, rather than a comedy-drama.

Alas, we're only allowed to review the movie at hand, not the movie as it might (should?) have been. And that's why The Beaver winds up a failure: a noble one, perhaps, an ambitious one, full of promise (I haven't even mentioned the excellent performance of Jennifer Lawrence as Porter's girlfriend, who shines in a somewhat tortured subplot). But a failure nonetheless. It's best not even to discuss the film's end, which is either a too-pat happily-ever-after finish, or a hopefull, this-is-the-ending-that-might-be that was executed with too much subtlety.

In the last analysis, Jodie Foster the director was let down by Kyle Killen, the writer, and - perhaps more importantly - by Jodie Foster, the actress. For when Mel Gibson, whose strength has always been in action movies, shines as the most sensitive actor in your drama, you know you're in trouble. ◙

Debating the debate, or "Yes, John King really was that bad"

I suppose it says something about my hopeless situation as a political junkie that I chose to watch the Republican presidential debate over the sixth game of the Stanley Cup Final last night.* Yes, as much as I've liked to think that I've moved on since my days as a true political operative, it appears that politics is much like malaria - once it's in the bloodstream, it's very difficult to get rid of it.

*I watched the first debate in April as well, the one in South Carolina, but at least I had an excuse that time - we'd just gotten back from a trip to Greenville ourselves, so (we said) it would be fun to see how much of the city we could recognize in the shots Fox provided. Not having visited New Hampshire for almost twenty years, I have no such excuse for my behavior this time.

At any rate, the best way to watch this debate was in conjunction with the Twitter stream being provided by National Review. That way one could be reassured that John King really was as bad an emcee as it appeared, that the "This and That" segment was pure idiocy, and that Pawlenty did not look good when given the chance to attack Romney vis his "ObamneyCare" crack.

Michele Bachmann looked good, very good. I've taken some good-natured ribbing over the years for my support of her, dating back to when I was a candidate for the state legislature back in 1998 and was impressed with her then, but last night I thought she justified those years of support. I still think she can be a little strident at times, but I think her occasional lack of smoothness might be working to her advantage. I had to laugh at the "pundits" who wondered how she'd do in the unscripted format of a debate - as someone mentioned, her biggest gaffs have come when she's gone off script during prepared remarks. When she's working without a net, as she did last night, is when she's at her best.

Mitt Romney looks and sounds like a casting director's idea of a president, and that can be taken any number of ways. Is he my first choice? No. But he's not my last choice either. His line about how any of the seven on stage would do better than Obama - brilliant. But, to paraphrase William F. Buckley Jr., you might be able to say the same thing about the first 50 names you run across in the phone book.

There's a lot to like with Rick Santorum. I've been critical of him in the past, and that's what makes it difficult, but how many times do we run across this situation, where we run into someone we've already decided we're not going to like, but find ourselves agreeing with him in spite of ourselves? Too often, at least in my case, for it to be a surprise. I still have my doubts, and I don't think he's going to make it, but I like the cut of his jib.

Ah, Newt. As you know, I've been a booster of his since before the last election. And, to the extent that things haven't worked out as I've forseen, I think (with all due modesty) he would have been better off following my advice. But, as is his wont, he made a couple of brilliant observations last night, particularly on the inanity of the false "either-or" choice the media so often wants to foist on everyone. And in those moments, he reminds me of why I supported him in the first place. And why he can be so damn frustrating at the same time.

Herman Cain was a disappointment. Were the expectations for him too high after the first debate?  Same for Pawlenty - while I'm glad the debate wasn't turned into an internecine bloodbath, he really did flub that "confrontation" with Romney. Ron Paul was everything you expected - always interesting, frequently off the deep end, occasionally penetrating, with ideas that are deserving of consideration. Dismiss him if you will, but not what he says.

I would like to see Rick Perry get in, just to spice things up. I still want to hear from Jon Huntsman, to find out of the Democrat talk about him being "the candidate we fear most" is just a diabolical smokescreen. And I dearly hope Paul Ryan takes the plunge - if the Ryan plan is going to be the big issue in the campaign, who better to defend it than its creator?

But for the talk from the pessimists (and boy, aren't they tiresome?) who wring their hands in despair about the supposed weakness of this group of candidates, I still say that I could unhesitatingly support any one of them next year. If anything, that tells you how high the stakes have become.   ◙

Flag Day

Retro TV Friday

Over at the TV blog, I have an in-depth interview with David Von Pein, one of the best of the online archivers of the original television coverage of the JFK assassination. David's archives make my own modest collection look puny by comparison. In the coming days I'll be sharing plenty of fascinating footage both here and there. ◙

Classic Sports Thursday

I've had occasion recently to spend some time rooting around the online archives of the Indianapolis 500, reading articles, watching videos, and listening to audio. By far Johnson's Indy 500 is the best site on the net for historical data - it even tells you who's sung "Back Home Again in Indiana" over the years.

It's not the only site on the web, however, which means that anyone can spend hours - even weeks - surfing through different sites, pouring through clips on YouTube and stories from Google Archives, seeing hours bleed away from your life, hours that you'll never get back - but you likely won't care about that.*

*Such is the life of a cultural archaeologist - or an anal nerd.

For some reason, the 1964 500 has always carried a greater-than-others interest for me. Perhaps it's because it's the first 500 I can actually remember - sort of.  I'd just turned four, and my sole recollection of the event is seeing pictures from the race in the paper the next day.* And there were plenty of pictures, of perhaps the worst, and certainly one of the most graphic, crashes in the history of the 500.

*Back in those days, the race was still run on Memorial Day, unless it fell on a Sunday. In 1964 Memorial Day was Saturday, which meant the Sunday sports section was full of details.

At the end of the second lap, a car driven by rookie Indy driver Dave MacDonald spun coming off the fourth turn and crashed into the inner wall, exploding immediately. The flaming wreck then spun back across the track, clipping several cars and casting an enormous black cloud of smoke across the front stretch, before being hit by the car of longtime Indy favorite Eddie Sachs, which in turn also exploded. Sachs was killed more or less immediately (not from burns, as many thought at the time, but apparently from the sheer impact of the collision), while MacDonald died a couple of hours later, primarily from the fire's damage to his lungs.

Here's video of the crash - I'm linking to it rather than putting it right on the site because some of you might find it a bit graphic. The spectacular burst of flame and smoke came from the massive quantities of gasoline used by both cars - there were no limits to fuel capacity back then, and most cars used gas rather than methanol, which is used today. In addition, the magnesium used to construct the framework of many of the cars was highly flammable, contributing to the overall mess. The race was stopped for an hour and 45 minutes; the first time in Indy history that a race had been stopped because of a crash. A.J. Foyt won, driving a front-engine roadster - the last time a winner would do so. The next year Jim Clark would win in his F1 rear-engine Lotus, and after that nothing would be the same.

As far as I can tell, this is the only crash in Indy history to kill multiple drivers, and one of the last fatal accidents in the race itself (most fatalities since then have happened in practice.) It was the cap to a brutal week in motor sports; the legendary NASCAR driver Fireball Roberts had suffered horrific burns in an accident the week before, from which he would die in July.

In listening to the live radio broadcast of the race, one thing above all is apparent - that racing is dangerous, and that the drivers both know and accept the danger as the price of doing something they love. Implicit in that is a deep respect for the power of a race car, and the risk of being a racing driver. There's no doubt that racing has become safer in the years since; the last F1 driver to die was Senna over 20 years ago, and Earnhardt died at Daytona over 10 years ago.

And this safety is great, but I do wonder whether or not drivers still have the same respect for the sport they had in the past. Especially in NASCAR, the "Have at it" mentality holds firm, so much so that Judie refers to it as "Wrestling on Wheels." Pushing someone out of the way is commonplace, and while "wrecks" are common, major injuries are few and far between - it's the egos that seem to be more fragile.

Is this good? It reminds me of one of the unintended consequences of the mandatory helmet in hockey. Back when helmets were rare, players policed themselves, aware that a stray stick could do serious damage. That's not to say that stick fights weren't common; hockey was a brutal sport even then. But there was a measure of self-discipline to it, one that disappeared as helmets became more prevalent. Watch some footage from a recent game compared to one from 50 years ago and see how much lower the players carried their sticks back then.

The same goes for racing. Perhaps if the drivers remembered how dangerous racing was and is - how these cars are still guided missiles - we might see a little more discipline on the track. Our desire to make life safer and safer, to cut down on the risk involved, isn't limited to sports - as Harry Reasoner once said, no matter how much you try to eliminate risk in life you can't achieve immortality. But maybe, just maybe, if racing were a little more dangerous, a little less protected, the drivers themselves might be a little more responsible. The way it stands now, as commentator David Hobbs often says, one day it will surely end in tears. ◙

Opera Wednesday

The Ballad of Baby Doe was composed in 1956 by Douglas Moore. It was one of the first great American operas, and as Wikipedia mentions, one of the few to enter the standard opera repertory. At that, it's not performed often enough; Baby Doe is one of my poster children for my campaign to question whether we need to continue commissioning new operas (which are seldom performed beyond their world premieres) when there's so much underperformed (or forgotten) opera already out there.*

*For example, does the Minnesota Opera really need to create a program to produce a newly commissioned opera each year, when works by Floyd, Menotti, Barber and Moore are still out there? Of course, to their credit they did produce Herrmann's Wuthering Heights this season, but I see that as the exception that proves the rule.

Baby Doe was one of the great roles for Beverly Sills, one that brought fame to both her and the opera. In this rare TV clip from 1962, part Opera Wednesday and part Retro TV Friday, we see the composer, Douglas Moore, discussing his opera, followed by a performance of its best-known aria, "The Willow Song," by Beverly Sills herself. ◙

This Just In

CITY OF ATLANTA PURCHASED BY TRUE NORTH ENTERPRISES, ALL BUSINESSES MOVE TO MANITOBA: CITY TO BE BURNED TO THE GROUND AND CONVERTED TO LANDFILL AS CITY STAFF MOVES
 

Winnipeg, MB (June 2, 2011) – Officials at True North Enterprises announced that the city of Atlanta, in the state of Georgia in the United States of America, has been purchased by True North Enterprises, and has announced their plans for the city.

Officials announced the city and its landmarks will be purchased, and the city will be burned by True North officials, and spread with salt to ensure a barren land devoid of development. True North's plans are to move all businesses in the city that is being purchased to be moved to the Province of Manitoba as part of the plans to move destroy the entire city into a waste dump. Atlanta will be burned to the ground and become a giant landfill for Manitoba and all regions nearby.

“We are very pleased to revitalise Winnipeg with the major purchase, and we are extremely excited about this conversion by moving Atlanta's premiere companies, Delta, Coca-Cola, UPS, and Home Depot, to Winnipeg. By acquiring an entire city, our new loot will allow us to increase the stature of our city at the expense of a rotten city that deserves to be burned to the ground. As part of the plans, Canadian rock group Nickelback will perform at concerts in Winnipeg that will celebrate each part of burning Atlanta to the ground in order to convert it into the wasteland we envision,” said officials at True North during the press conference. True North officials plan to implode all buildings, bury them, and as plans continue, begin converting a once-proud city into a landfill for everyone to use.

Manitoba officials, ecstatic over the announcement, will prepare the new headquarters immediately and are anticipating the huge number of refugees from Atlanta as they prepare for their new life in Winnipeg and surrounding areas.

The state of Georgia is now preparing plans to move its capital to another area in light of the announcement.

Opera Wednesday

Today's Opera Wednesday celebrates the 66th birthday of Frederica von Stade.

“Non so più” from Le Nozze di Figaro, 1980, Opera Garnier (Paris), Georg Solti, conductor.

Two excerpts (including "Enfin, je suis ici") from Act III of Massenet's Cendrillon, 1979, Ottawa, ON.

Dominic Argento's Aspern Papers, "On the stroke of midnight".

Outrage fatigue?

Over at SI.com, Steve Rushin says he's got outrage fatigue. Good question - especially on the internet, outrage seems to be the default position for most writers. And yet for anyone who has a moral compass, a sense of right and wrong, or even just common sense, there's the inclination to "draw the line" when it comes to behavior. 

My first inclination was to say that Rushin paints with too broad a brush, that some things deserve outrage (the Tressel case is really more about sports: it's corruption, moral deception, taxpayer fraud) - but maybe that's the point. Ronald Reagan (it is said) always cultivated his anger, letting it show only on occasion, when he knew it would make the greatest impact. (Not that I'm copying Reagan, but that's something I do as well.) So do we just learn to be more discerning, to avoid hype, to have some perspective?  ◙