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Archive for October, 2011

Let’s Try a New Analogy

Posted in Current Events, Opinion, tagged on October 10, 2011| 6 Comments »

In the ongoing debate about the financial situation of the United States, there is always an analogy that is used, usually by those on the right,  to justify simply slashing all spending to bring down the deficit rather than raising revenues through taxation.  They usually say that the USA is like a normal family and when you are over budget you must cut back on things.

It’s a nice, simple comparison that even the lowest of our common denominators can understand. 

Now, I’m all for bringing things down to the simplest terms.  I think we all do this for our own understanding of most everything.  But this analogy has always bugged me in that it seemed to lack the nuance and depth of the real problem that it is supposed to represent.  Now, I’m thinking off the top of my head here, but I think you can still use the USA-as-a-family analogy but there needs to be a tweak to better show the reality of the situation. 

 Instead of a simple father and mother and two and a half children as the original analogy infers, I think you can substitute the  Walton family from the long-running CBS TV show The Waltons.  The USA is Walton Mountain and the family represents our citizens.  There is John Sr. and Olivia, Grandpa and Grandma and the seven children– John Boy, Jason, Mary Ellen, Ben, Erin, Jim Bob and Elizabeth.  You have a much more representative cross section here with the addition of the grandparents.

The family homestead, Walton Mountain, is mortgaged to the bank, much as our nation is indebted  to our treasury and foreign lenders such as the Chinese.  John Sr’s lumbering business has been on shaky ground lately and its income has dropped even though it still has all the same bills and financial obligations.  The bank is threatening to foreclose.  Under the simpler analogy, the family would just cut back on extras and everything would work out just fine.  But if you watched the show, these folks were working with a lot of extras to begin with.  Simply cutting out the Christmas ham and shutting out all the lights at 8 PM and buying a yard less gingham at Ike’s store won’t balance their budget.  They need more income.

Now John Boy has become a best-selling author and is making a nice living and paying a nominal rent for his place on Walton Mountain.  Jason had been a musician but things dried up and he lives at home now, helping at the mill in exchange for his rent.  Ben was injured in a logging accident and requires medical care on an on-going basis.  Mary Ellen takes care of Ben around the clock.  Erin works the gardens and does paperwork for the mill.  Jim Bob and Elizabeth are in school still with hopes of following John Boy’s path to an education at Boatwright University.  Grandpa has several prescriptions that are costing the family a lot and Grandma has gotten to the point where she can’t help around the house as much as she once did.

Now, according to the first, simpler analogy, wouldn’t the relatively well-to-do John Boy be asked to give a little more to help out the family?  The John Boy I know would  never turn his back selfishly on his family.  Or would you just cut back on the meds that are keeping Grandpa Walton alive?  Would you take away Ben’s care?  Would you tell Jim Bob and Eizabeth that the path to an education that served the successful John Boy so well was no longer a viable option for them?  There are so many different scenarios in this story that better represent the situation of our nation and its debt and budget than the we’re-a-family-and have-to-watch-our-household-budget mantra that we all hear constantly.  And that’s just off the top of my head.

The answers here are not simple and you can’t really give the whole story with any analogy.  The majority of theAmerican people have been saying for some time  that it will take some cutting and some revenues, meaning taxation, to get out from under the wight of this situation.  Even many of the wealthy John Boys of this country understand and accept this.  But for some reason there is a resistance by some to the only viable solution that is visible.

I don’t know why.  I only know that their simple story is never as simple as they’d have us believe.

G’night, John Boy.

 

 

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Occupy Wall Street

Posted in Current Events, Opinion on October 9, 2011| 2 Comments »

I’ve been busy with little jobs and other distractions as of late and haven’t followed the news as closely as I normally do.  It’s been wonderful.   So I have only recently noticed, with passing glances, the growth of the Occupy Wall Street movement in the last several weeks.  At first, I thought it would be short-lived, a roman candle that burns bright but fades away quickly.  But as the weeks marched on, the movement seemed to grow and it became more than the typical type of protests that accompany financial summits such as the G8 or G20.  You know, a sort of protestapolooza with no real direction and no unified message that verged on pure anarchy.  This movement has taken on different face than those types of protests.

It has a core of anger that is not purely based on a far left agenda.  It is more centralized,  the result of an anger over the failure of oour politicians to listen to the real concerns of  all the people, instead adopting policies and positions that seem to favor the very wealthiest.   Anger borne out of seeing that the vote no longer can change much in the face of the lobbies with deep pockets.  The anger of the disenfranchised, people who don’t see a light at the end of any tunnels.

It’s a dilemma for many people to consider.   I mean, I have no problem with wealth and the corporate world.  I believe that every one should have the right and the opportunity to make as much money as he desires and is able to produce.  But when it comes at the exclusion and expense of the majority of the populace it becomes a problem that must be addressed.  So, while I may understand and have empathy for this movement, maybe it should be directed more at those in government who enable amd have become part and parcel of the corruption that these people are protesting.

  Everything points to a political system that doesn’t function on almost any level right now.  Something must change and the people deserve to have their voices heard.  I’m still unclear on the direction of this movement and where this will go or if it will eventually fade away.  But for now, it continues to grow and the anger builds, only pushed on by the actions and words of those in power.  For instance, the same politicos such as Eric Cantor, who praised the protests of the Tea Party as patriotic  rallies call these protesters “mobs”.   Amy Goodman has a great article that addresses how the powers that be seem to be protected by a police presence that has been bought.  It is an article that is both enlightnening and disturbing.

 The allegiance by politicians and government agencies, if Goodman’s words suggest in this particular instance,  to these corporate supporters is troubling.   If  her observations are true, this could get very ugly before this whole thing is over.

We shall see.

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Rolling Rollie Free

Posted in Favorite Things, Video, tagged , , , on October 8, 2011| Leave a Comment »

My internet connection was down due to modem problems yesterday and it made me think about our relationship to technology, how some of us resist  and, at best, tolerate it  even though we enjoy the benefits it provides.  But some folks take to it as though it were part of our genetic makeup, every nuance seeming easy and natural in their eyes.  While I was thinking about this I thought of this image.  I guess it exemplifies someone who has no fear of technology. Or death. Or windburn.

This photo, perhaps the most famous motorcycle image, if of the legendary Rollie Free at the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1948 as he attempted to break the Land Speed Record.  Earlier in the day he had already shattered the old record by over 12 MPH with a speed of 148.6 MPH, riding the bike in his unusual laid out position which was supposed to reduce air drag.  On that attempt he had been wearing protective leathers .  He felt he had lost speed due to the drag of his gear so he stripped down to a Speedo bathing suit and a pair of sneakers and had another go.  The result was a speed of 150.313 MPH, a record which stood for over 20 years.

The bike he was riding that day was the legendary Vincent Black Lightning.  I don’t know much about bikes although I had a fascination with Triumph motorcycles as a child.  But I do know that the name of the Vincent Black Lightning is one of the most evocative names of any vehicle ever produced.  It sounds ominous, powerful and fast and I suppose it must have been based on the record.  It also inspired one of my favorite songs, 1952 Vincent Black Lightning, from Richard Thompson.  I featured it in an earlier post with a bluegrass version from Del McCoury but this photo deserves the real thing from Thompson himself.

Have a great day and if you must ride your bike in this manner, please don’t text!

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Kupka

Posted in Favorite Things, Influences, Painting, tagged , , on October 6, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Frantisek Kupka was another one of those supremely talented painters from the late 19th/early 20th century who is little known outside the world of museums these days.  You probably won’t stumble across a Kupka calendar or mousepad.  But when I  see the scope and quality of his work I wonder why.  I know I hadn’t heard of him when I first came across his work in a book of Symbolist paintings.  I saw this image shown here, Resistance or The Dark Idol, and was immediately struck by the tension and drama in its mysterious setting.  I was surprised when I saw his other work that was beautifully colored and striking in other ways.

Kupka- The Yellow Scale (1907 Self Portrait)

Frantisek Kupka was a Czech painter who was born in 1871 and died in 1957 in France.  His career saw his work move from the early symbolic work to pure abstraction.  In fact, Kupka is considered one of the founding members of  the group, Abstraction-Creation, that set off the abstract movement.  While I found much of his abstract work beautiful, it was the early work that really pulled me in.  It was obvious that he could have worked extraordinarily well in any style he chose.  But his relative anonymity remains a mystery to me.  Perhaps he never had that one  iconic image or series that became associated with his name.  Monet’s water lillies.  Van Gogh’s starry night.  Gauguin’s Tahiti. Whistler’s mom.

I don’t know the whys behind this.  But his talent is no mystery at all.  It is evident in every piece I have come across. 

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42 Years of SPAM

Posted in Favorite Things, Television, Video, tagged on October 5, 2011| Leave a Comment »

It was 42 years ago today that the BBC first broadcast a sketch comedy show that ran for only 45 episodes over four season but has endured the many decades since, inspiring countless adolescents and adolescent-minded adults such as myself with a brand of humor that was smart and irreverent.  And silly and ridiculous.  I am, of course, talking about Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

While it had a relatively short lifespan on television, the Monty Python name survived through a series of films over the years that have gained cult status including Monty Python and the Holy Grail which became the Broadway hit, Spamalot.  I remember going in high school to first see the film at a downtown theatre that no longer exists.  It was playing on a double bill with a much cruder and pretty much forgotten film, The Groove Tube. I can’t recall much about The Groove Tube but for The Holy Grail I mainly remember laughing with joy, even through the final credits.  I’ve seen the film dozens of times over the years and always find myself giggling like a kid a each.

Many of the skits have become embedded in the consciousness of the population.   You still hear of high school kids today who revere the show and can and do recite many of the skits verbatim, much to the delight of many around them, I’m sure.  Did I say delight?  I meant chagrin.  Okay, the skits are funny– when Michael Palin or John Cleese or the other Pythons are doing them.  But I’m glad that their humor still makes the young giggle in the same way that I experience those many years ago.  Hopefully, when I’m many years older, I’ll be shaking my fists at kids to get the hell off  my lawn and to stop singing that damn Lumberjack song!

Here’s a taste of the Pythons.  It’s their classic SPAM  skit, with all the shrillness that Terry Jones can muster as the waitress.

 

 

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Refocus

Posted in Uncategorized on October 4, 2011| 7 Comments »

Haven’t been doing the blog for the last few days due to some distractions that have been necessary.  Plus, I’ve been at a point where I honestly just didn’t feel as though I had anything meaningful to say at the moment.  There are times every now and then when the mind is distracted and slightly unfocused on those things that I normally keep in front of me, leaving me a little out of sorts and with little to say.  And I believe, even though I haven’t always practiced what I preach, that if you don’t have anything to say you should just keep quiet.  Empty words add nothing to the world.

Besides that, I’ve been doing this for over three years and almost 1100 posts and have resorted to repeating myself.  It’s sort of like being married for a long time, as I am,  and finding yourself telling and hearing the same stories over and over.  Part of you knows that this is the case even as you speak.  It can seem maddening at times but there is a comfort level in this and a reassurance that the other person must really love  you if they are willing to hear the same old dog-eared tales that have been rolled out a thousand times before. 

So, every so often, you try to say something new and different in place of those same old stories.  There’s a certain magic in seeing the other person’s eyes when you can see their recognition of the newness of the words, the thoughts.  You hope it’s enough to forgive the constant retelling of tales.

And that’s kind of where I am here at the moment.  I’m hesitant to tell the same old story to the readers, especially when I’m feeling off-center. So, I try to refocus.  I try to ignore distractions and keep my internal priorities close at hand and give them consideration and time.  Try to bring myself back to center, where the stories don’t feel quite so stale and where I can find different aspects of them that allow me to tell them without feeling self-conscious.

I don’t know if this makes any sense to anyone.  All I know is that I’ve got some homework to do here.  We’ll see how it turns out.

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October

Posted in Favorite Things, Music, Video, tagged , on October 1, 2011| 2 Comments »

October.  The calendar turns once more and all thoughts of summer are put aside.  A time for preparing for the coming winter and enjoying the coolness of autumn with all the color of the changing leaves and the softer light.  A time for reflection on a year that has went by all too quickly.

The woodcut shown here is one made for the month of October in Edmund Spenser’s 1579 work, The Shepheardes Calender, which was a collection of 12 pastoral poems depicting the month-by-month life of a shepherd of that time.  I would include a few lines but, quite honestly, I struggle to get through any of Spenser’s archaic verse and don’t wish that on anyone on a Saturday morning.  I do like the woodcut, however.

Here’s a little easier to absorb interpretation of the month.  It’s hard to be;lieve it has been 30 years since the album October was released by U2.  Here’s the mood piece that serves as the title track for this album.

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