Thursday, June 10, 2004
Music In My Head- Sheryl Crow — "Keep On Growing"
- Polecats — "Make a Circuit With Me"
- Cake — "You Part the Waters"
- L.L. Cool J. — "Mama Said Knock You Out"
- Warren Zevon — "Werewolves of London"
- Paul Simon — "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard"
- Blues Traveler — "All in the Groove"
- Ray Charles — "What I Say" (usually this is listed as "What'd I Say" or "What I'd Say" but Charles preferred this spelling according to the liner notes of his Rhino Anthology)
I wish I had something profound to say about the passing of Ray Charles. Probably, though, it's best just to let his life speak for itself.
Posted by Me at 23:43 link
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
What a World, What a WorldI went a little too easy on Reagan yesterday; I'm just not that great at the whole damning-with-faint-praise thing. Ted Rall skips the faint praise and says it well, if humorlessly. Realize I came to bury Dutch, not to praise him. The only thing good about Reagan was his optimistic charm, which wouldn't hurt any of us to co-opt. Enough (too much) said.
Meanwhile, I've started actively looking for work. Need a computer programmed? I'm your man. Have advice, or amusing anecdotes (about jobs, computers—or just whatever)? Fire away.
I spent the past few days in New Jersey, relaxing, creating a resumé, and exploring the online jobs world. My friend and I backpacked in the Catskills. Also we did some trail maintenance work on National Trails Day. I want to do more volunteer work, and specifically more trail work. I highly recommend it. If you live near the Appalachian Trail, they're always looking for a few good folks....
I've been spending a good deal of time this week with an absolutely wonderful person—who unfortunately bears an uncanny resemblance, in both appearance and speech, to Miss Gulch/The Wicked Witch of the West from Wizard of Oz! That's where the similarity ends. She's generous, energetic, and hilariously thrifty. So far I've taken her to two Dollar Tree stores and a Big Lots. Before she leaves next week, she'll also shop at a Bargain Barn, at least one Family Dollar, at least one Dollar General, a Goodwill and a Salvation Army store. This woman has no need to worry about money; her fixation with extreme discount stores stems (I think) from her childhood during the Depression. Also, she loves it; it's her sport.
She also loves to talk, more than anyone else I've ever known, and as much as I enjoy listening to her, it takes a toll on me. I came back from NJ with a number of black fly bites and rash spots where I'd touched poison ivy. These hadn't bothered me for a couple of days; but, after listening to her talk nonstop for a couple of hours, all these places started itching again! Desperate for relief, this afternoon I slathered myself with hydrocortisone cream, and shortly afterward became so drowsy that I fell asleep, as if drugged (I guess I was). Anyway, I enjoyed a couple of hours of relief from the talking (and the itching).
Yes, I know. I should get a job. I'm working on it.
Posted by Me at 22:04 link
Tuesday, June 08, 2004
Bedtime For BonzoRonald Reagan was the greatest actor of our time.
Not the finest actor, but clearly the greatest. In 1980, he took on the role of a lifetime, a role many (39) had played before him, and completely transformed it. His eight-year performance as "President of the United States of America" stands as the greatest piece of performance art to date. Today, George W. Bush is attempting to reprise the role, but falling woefully short.
To give the matter a little more of the respect it deserves, Reagan leaves a complicated legacy. Sure, the policies of his administration made life worse for women, for minorites, for the poor—and of course for anyone who likes to breathe clean air and drink clean water—but the man always had a lovely smile, he always listened. Personally, Reagan was almost impossible not to like. You knew he meant well, that he truly believed in what he was doing.
Although I had a vague sense that something was rotten beneath the surface, I liked Reagan in the early '80s. When he came to power, America was in a deep slump, depressed, dejected, defeated, our confidence shattered by stagflation, by unemployment and by the continuing Iranian hostage crisis. Reagan's bright optimism and movie-star charm helped us to get our national mojo back up. Who better than the Gipper himself to convince us to get back out there and win one for—well, for ourselves as it turns out.
By the 1984 elecions, I'd turned against Reagan, at first only because all the cool people I knew hated him. I wanted to be cool, so I hated him, too. Only later did I come to understand how the policies of his administration made the rich richer, made the poor poorer, and generally threatened to de-civilize our society. In 1984, knowing that preppies liked Reagan and that punks liked Sandinistas was enough.
But even as I turned against Reagan ideologically, I recognized his genius: clearly, he understood better than anyone else did that, truly, "It Ain't What You Do It's the Way That You Do It". Make everyone like you, and they'll forgive you anything. Say it with a smile and you can rule the world. It's as true today as it was then, and would work as well for the Left as it did for the Right.
Maybe it was cosmic justice that the "Teflon President," who survived Iran-Contra thanks to seemingly-endless repetitions of "I don't recall" was stricken with Alzheimer's—or maybe it was just a coincidence. Surely it was ironic that the "Great Communicator" was lost without a teleprompter.
Regardless, the '80s wouldn't have been the '80s without Ronald Reagan, and we could all stand to smile a little more today.
Posted by Me at 23:14 link
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