It is always a pleasure to agree with a smart, good-looking woman.
Nation editor and publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel is right: we all need
to “Update Our Insults,” and stop calling political opponents Hitlers,
Stalins, Nazis, etc. (Washington Post, March 26, 2006)
“Present differences deserve to be described in contem-
porary terms. The purpose of public speech is not just
to restate anger but to clarify the principles and evidence
that fuel it — in ways that invite discussion, not inhibit it.
The demons are already among us — so let’s muster up
some new analogies and declare a ceasefire on such
[antiquated] demonizing rhetoric . . . “
Sadly, though, I must report that Katrina has raised my expectations,
only to dash them. In the second half of its awkward title, her WaPo
op/ed column today seems to promise “New Names to Call,” in place
of the historically outdated epithets. All we get from her are quotes
from politicians (and actors) calling their adversaries by the old slurs.
There is not even one suggested, modern substitute. As weblogger
Jacques Hawtrey points out, we don’t even get a reference to a re-
cent, infamous eponymous Hurricane from Katrina.
Sorry, K, this workproduct doesn’t “C-GradeG”
merit so much as a C grade. I’d be happy to
make a few suggestions, but that would be
condescending — especially to a woman who
has an entire magazine staff to help her research
and brainstorm.
Maybe a WaPo editor mistakenly cut out the bottom half
of the op/ed piece. Maybe Katrina was too busy preparing
for Sunday morning talk shows. I’ve got a “soft-spot” for
ya, Young Lady. So, you get another week to finish this project.
Please no Electra or Delilah tricks. You might still get a
B+, if you live up to your potential.
Another admission: Mother Nature has let me down,
too, recently. I’m among those described today the NYT op/ed
piece, A Momentary Pause, by Verlyn Klinkenborg (March 26,
2006):
“I have to keep reminding myself that it is only late March.
I have been so eager for spring that it feels as though time
has almost stopped. One reason may be that it was warm
a few weeks ago and then the cold returned, putting the
season on ice. But there is something else going on as well.
Scientists say that spring comes earlier than it used to. The
snow cover dwindles sooner and bud break comes earlier.
And yet our awareness of that makes it feel as though spring
comes even earlier than it is already coming. Global warming
accelerates faster in our heads than it does in fact. March is
not quite the new April yet.”
You’ll find the same over-anticipation of “Spring-like weather” at
the joint haiku weblog UKKU Spring Haiku, and at my own
dagosan’s haiku diary.
late March —
not a lamb
in sight
Of course, we all know that the spring equinox scarcely ever brings
consistently mild weather. But, even those of us who really dislike
summer’s heat, seem to yearn for early Spring. Although few of us
will be mending any fences, we might all try to follow Klinkenborg’s
advice:
“In the country it’s easy to find yourself leaning forward
all through the year, always waiting on the next season,
getting through your life as though you were walking into
a stiff wind. This is one of those days when I catch myself
in that posture — pitched forward into the gale of time. So
I’ll try to slow down and straighten up.”
“THNLogoG” One woman who never disappoints the haijin in me is
our most Honored Guest Carolyn Hall:
thunderstorm —
sunflowers
in a blue vase
Sunday morning
ants on the rim of my
coffee cup
the stranger’s binoculars
from hand to hand
chicks in the heron’s nest
wilderness trail
the manicured poodle
still on a leash
“thunderstorm–” – (I:4, Dec. 1999)
“Sunday morning” – (II:1, Jan. 2000)
“the stranger’s binoculars” – (II:4, April 2000)
“wilderness trail” – (II:11, Nov. 2000)
afterthought (11 PM, march 26): I meant to mention the op/ed
piece today by Washington Post ombusman Deborah Howell,
The Post and the Whole Picture in Iraq. It is an interesting
perspective on how hard it is to please the military, civilians
or reporters, with press coverage of Iraq by the Post. After
noting that many readers see coverage through their own
political filters, Howell states:
“After talking and corresponding with Post staffers and other
journalists with Iraq experience and experts in and outside
the military, I find no easy resolution to the complaints.
“Here’s why:
Comments Off on momentary pausesactin’ naturally: buck owens is still picking and smiling
I was a Buck Owens fan long before I knew it. In my sheltered, urban,
Northeast childhood, “Act Naturally” was a Beatles song, released in
1965, when I was fifteen — the flip side to the most covered song in record
history, “Yesterday” — and the anthem, sung along with Ringo Starr, for my
youthful (and not-so-youthful) romantic failures.
Act Naturally (J. Russell – V. Morrison)
They’re gonna put me in the movies
they’re gonna make a big star out of me
We’ll make a film about a man that’s sad and lonely
and all I gotta do is act naturally
The biggest star in country music in the 1960s made not the slightest
dent on my psyche. Not when he achieved 15 #1 hits in a row, nor when
he adopted the red, white and blue guitar, that became his trademark at the
end of that decade, to show his patriotism, while I concentrated on Viet Nam
War protestation.
“bucLegend”
It took me a few decades to realize that Buck Owens had his first #1
sing the tune together). My ignorance was due in part to city-folk bias
against country music, which also kept me from becoming a fan of the
Washington Post Buck Owens obituary, March 26, 2006)
crystal palace
I missed out on a lot of fun and good honky-tonk music — even after
I became a big country music fan in the late ’70s (thanks to a few friends
who played in country-rock bands). Buck went into a voluntary retirement,
just when I would have most appreciated his brand of guitar-driven, pared-
down, strong beat, “American music”.
Streets of Bakersfield Lyrics
(Homer Joy)
Chorus:
You don’t know me but you don’t like me
You say you care less how I feel
But how many of you that sit and judge me
Have ever walked the streets of Bakersfield?
owens
It wasn’t until he recorded “Streets of Bakersfield,” in 1988, with country star
(and actor) Dwight Yokam (on the Buenas Noches ..” album), that I finally
focused on this remarkable man and musician, who seemed to enjoy himself
so much, even when singing about mean streets and broken hearts — and
even though he had to buck the sappy trend in Nashville country music, to create
his own “Bakersfield sound” in blue-collar California.
yoakam
In 2000, newer generations got to hear Buck Owens sing “Act Naturally” again,
on the soundtrack of Denzel Washington’s Remember the Titans (2000). It
is sadly ironic that it took his death yesterday, to get millions of us to cue up
one of Buck’s albums and enjoy his music today. Buck Owens deserves to
be remembered far beyond the Country Music community. He is surely
still doing what comes most naturally to him — plucking that patriotic guitar,
tapping his foot, and smiling. My foot is tapping, too. Seventy-six years is
not enough for us, Buck, but thank you for taking us along your journey.
You can find a 27-page, multimedia bio, at Buck’s official
website.
p.s. This site with “Act Naturally” lyrics, has this sad link:
March 26, 2006
momentary pauses
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