Happy Birthday, Gents

Two special guys, one still with us, the other not.

Did anyone else catch 60 Minutes tonight? We're going to war with Iran and before summer starts. The Bush Administration, this time, doesn't need to press the issue. This time, let's let the press antagonize an arrogant, ideological thorn and let the the tension drive even naysayers to support invading that ancient Persia. How modern 'civilization' can alter ancient civilization, I guess we'll see. I wonder how many of my former students will end up getting drafted?

Dreams, Realities and Nightmares

I'm previewing an old disc of The West Wing to determine which episode I'm going to show my AP students. Nostalgic or not, I'm pining for the days of yore, when good television could be intellectual and sharp and when a smart, progressive politician with a vision solved every problem in forty-six minutes and hope that all would be good the next morning.

We're not colonialists? And they aren't the Hessians.

Do you think the CIA's already in there?

Who's handing off the hot potato?

Okay...

Next year, right?

Now what?

It's the qquinox; we're finally moving into my favorite season. I love autumn, with the changing of the seasonal guard, the cooling of the weather and the ability to layer my outfits. Holiday season is underway and I look at this as a time for my family, now complete, to celebrate its wholeness and change. Plus, there's something going on in my backyard on October 26th... Early rehearsals show that "Thundercrack"'s being bounced around. I'll poop if it's actually pulled off. Great song, and though while a bit long toward the end, there's more energy to this song than anything written prior to 1975.

I have just four days of school before my two-week quarter break and I'm looking forward to it immensely. Maybe read a little, take my oldest son for walks to see the oak leaves fall and celebrate my tenth anniversary. Oh, and listen to the new album sixty times a day. Along with the Fogerty and Krauss/Plant record!!!!

Highs and Lows

High - I talked to my friend Steve tonight for the first time in a while. He makes me miss living in Fresno.

High - the beautiful weather we're experiencing in Brentwood. I wish I could teach my classes outside.

HIGH - I scored General Admission floor seats for the Bruce show on 10/26. This very well could be the craziest show of his I've seen. Then again, that Concord show blew my doors off.

Low - some plumbing disasters that kept me scrambling, swearing, bleeding and the walls of my house dripping until 10:00 tonight.

Low - my water softener, which is in my attic of all places (WTF?) is adding to my plumbing woes.

Low - my seniors are not only low-skilled but lazy. The number that simply refused to do easy reading as homework was approximately 4/5.

LOW - the number of seniors who will fail simply because they didn't meet a district-mandated community service requirement that they've had six months to work on.

HIGH - the ticket prices I paid to see Bruce.

High - the Internet connection speed my work computer has that allowed me to nail some choice tickets.

Nail Biting

Talk about one of my tourette's-OCD symptoms at its worst these next eighty hours: tickets for Bruce's Oakland show hit Monday morning at 10:00. I haven't heard from Lefty (hint hint) about what he wants to do but one of the most recent shows sold out in one minute. Madison Square Garden went in six. I'm not expecting to get anything. I'm looking to pay a scalper to rape me and steal my life's savings. Sadly, I'm willing to do this simply to say I caught Bruce and the band (probably for the last time) in an arena and not a stadium show. Sweatier than a, well, you know.

It's Saturday night and my wife and I are reading (I'm taking a break, of course), listening to some choice tunage (more in a sec) while watching the PBS fundrive. The musical act this evening is Bachman/Cummings, the two leaders of The Guess Who and for the former, Bachman-Turner Overdrive. BTO was probably the worst popular act in the rockin' 70s, though the Steve Miller Band and Styx gave them a good run for their money. I do, however, have a soft spot for the Guess Who which started the first time I caught the t.v. commercials for "Freedom Rock". I think we can safely say that "Freedom Rock" was ultimately responsible for launching the corporate juggernaut we today know as "classic rock", but in the late '80s, hearing that late 60s/early 70s stuff totally blew my mind. I just "knew" I was supposed to be knowing if I wanted to love rock and roll. Anywho, the PBS thing actually wasn't that bad. The BTO stuff was what it was and Burt Cummings' voice is gone, but who knew Randy Bachman knew more than the prerequistie four power chords all rockers in the 70s knew?

Happy 7th, AF. You and those who matter know.

Did I mention Bruce tickets going on sale? His album, along with John Fogerty's and the VERY interesteing Robert Plant/Allison Kraus pairing hit the stores on October 2nd. My wife and I are marking our tenth on the 4th of that month. We're thinking about going out of town but how do I still hit the record stores to scoop these up on our "romantic getaway" with our three children?

OK, the music's been rolling in and it's great. The Patti Scialfa album is absolutely fantastic. It continues to grow on me as the Alice Peacock discovery last year did. Everything else is jazz. Here's what I've hit and then still need to cover:

Miles Davis: Cookin With... and Steaming With... Two more albums you wonder where they have been your entire life. And yet, as soon as the discs play, you know they've been a part of you or at least expressed a feeling you've always held, you just needed to hear it.

Sonny Rollins + Four: with the Clifford Brown/Roach rhythm section. Great stuff, though I must say it took him to not have a sparring partner to unleash his fury just two months later in May, 1956 on Tenor Madness and the ultimate Saxophone Colossus. Ever have an album drive you to the record store at eleven at night? Yup; thanks, Sonny.

Joe Lovano: Joyous Encounter (2005). What modern jazz is all about; the old, the new, the familiar and the groundbreaking. I nice, relaxing and yet fresh. A great find.

Benny Green: Naturally. Another terrific score. How can you go wrong with Christian McBride and Tain?

to still hit tomorrow: Sonny Clark and Coltrane, '63. Both'll probably stink.

So, Zeppelin's announced a 'one-off' (yeah right) show in January. Tickets on sale by lottery. 15,000 seats. 20 million entries. Was I the only one NOT to enter?

Do I need to discuss Bush's policy shift? Do I need to discuss General Patraeus' cherry-picking of information? How could the diagnosis be so good when the White House's own report card was so bad? Do I need to discuss how the Bush plan apparently is to hand Iraq to his successor, which, knowing cynical Bush, will be, in his mind, a Democrat? A true war criminal if I ever saw one. At least Hitler had the courtesy to kill himself when passing the war off.

Come On and Rise Up

Let us stop and reflect what has happened in those six years. Too much to discuss.
Ironic that on the anniversary, General David Patraeus is on Capitol Hill defending the Bush War and its relevance to the War on Terrorism. I think Iran is secretly running the DOD.

Patti Scialfa's new album is terrific. Not rock and roll but AOR/AC. Great production, her voice sounds great and she is one wonderful lyric writer. This will receive quite a bit of play. Now, if she'd just tour with, let's say, Emmylou Harris...

Still saving those pennies. Next Monday, Bruce tickets go on sale and just about every seat in the joint is a hundred bones. Extremely limited lower priced seats. What's in the cards? Only the shadow knows...

I've been a bit out of the loop today as I "chaperoned" the senior class trip to the waterslide park. Sat in a "cabana" and shot the breeze with colleagues for several hours while not having to work or think about work-related stress. Also was able to read the NY Times all the way through. Wonderful!

Many Thanks

May God bless Sonny Rollins. What the man accomplishes musically today still outpaces musicians less than half his age. Working on his eighth decade and still going strong, Newk is a true inspiration in his humanity and humility. In my seven-year love crush on his music, I can only say that Sonny is truly unique in what he contributes to the art of jazz.

Several of my students ditched their oh-so-fun government class today to see Senator Barack Obama speak at a San Francisco fundraiser. That these sixteen- and seventeen year old students have developed a passion for politics and a candidate they believe in is wonderful. When was the last time the Left offered a candidate that actually inspired? Now, granted, what we don't need is a motivational speaker for president but a qualified, well-connected expert manager to run the nation. That said, the masses still do need someone to make the impersonal real, to make the system designed and run by the 'haves' feel real to those who wish to be 'haves'. Cynicism aside, Obama is the JFK of the early 21st century; As insipid as the Kerry/Edwards campaign now appears, I can still remember being blown away by the young Senatorial candidate speaking on behalf of the Democratic Party and its presidential candidate on July 27, 2004. I just felt that his ability to reach countless people via public address could bring about positive change, even if it meant that the change would be delivered by the efforts of others. I believe that Obama, while a politician, is legit and genuine. Is he qualified? Was Kennedy in '60? Was Bush in '00? Is anyone, for that matter? I'm not endorsing Obama but I would like to see his charisma and energy remain on the national level. Maybe he's running for the Vice Presidency, who knows. All I know is that I will have a half-dozen young ladies in my classroom on Monday going nuts about their experience.

I remember seeing Hillary Clinton speak in the fall of 1992 as her husband was running a tight three-way race. In that campaign I also caught Jesse Jackson and Ross Perot speak, all in Storke Plaza at the UCSB campus. I knew at that point that even as a footnote, those speeches and that campaign were part of history. To feel connected for the first time to something contemporary but also permanent made me feel a greater connection to what the recording of history actually was. I didn't care whether I believed or supported each person, I simply went to be a part of that something bigger than myself. President Bush failed to campaign at the campus himself or else I would have been there; and while nearly twenty years later, I still have yet to savor a presidential victory, I admire my young and hopeful students who see national elections as chances to make change. One of these students, someone whom my wish would be to make it to the Big Apple and study journalism, has such a passion for politics that I wonder if, eventually, she doesn't end up on Obama's campaign herself. When was the last time I was motivated enough to become part of something to believe in? That barely happens at my work, church or local community. Maybe what I need are these young students egging me on to actually participate. Whether naive, hopeful or delusional, for anyone to step up and make an effort of even ditching school to hear a campaign speech is, in many ways, one of the most patriotic acts one can ever do.

The fifty-year old cut "Newk's Time" is rolling in the background; those lines keep laughing.

Agains?

Before I totally lose it, I want to wish my son a happy third birthday. So hard to believe and yet so exciting to see where he is developmentally and personally. He loves Cars, especially Sally, the Beatles, the Muppets, Thomas the Tank Engine and Barney. He loves to sing and kiss his brother and sister. Thanks, pal, for making the last three years so rewarding.

Bruce's latest single and the first from October's "Magic" is "Radio Nowhere", a song I have yet to figure out. Sounding terribly similar to "Jenny Jenny" aka 867-5309, the song is an upbeat rocker with arpeggiated guitar lines, soulful saxophone melodies and a driving melody that makes one forget that all rock music must deliver a clear message. Just rock!!! Lefty and I are "going", and I'm willing to give up my school's homecoming for the Boss's return to the Bay Area.

Here we go again. Wrapped in patriotic, almost-fully focussed and convincing rhetoric and yet so off the mark is Dr. Victor Davis Hanson's latest op-ed piece found in today's SF Chron. I don't hate the guy but yet I feel such disdain for someone whose sole premise for ANYTHING is a simple and yet glaring mistake or fault in logic. Or, in another word, like the last one in Hanson's piece, HUBRIS.
Hanson reminds us, as if we need such nagging, of next Tuesday's dreadful anniversary. How Americans need to remain vigilant and steadfast against an enemy that hates us and willingly risks life and limb in order to harm or destroy us. Here Hanson is right; we as dignified human beings must not allow hate nor religious ideology or political demagoguery distract us from keeping our children safe and happy. And yet, Hanson can't even make it past his own second paragraph before his entire argument derails itself on not just tautological but downright idiotic thinking:

But this six-year calm, unfortunately, has allowed some Americans to believe
that “our war on terror” remedy is worse than the original Islamic terrorist disease.

What Hanson is either oblivious or dishonest about is what the "war on terror" has been in the wake of that dreadful Tuesday morning. The invasion of Afghanistan with the goal of toppling the Taliban was not only necessary but morally right; that this action was supported by the vast majority of Americans left and right as well as the entire world gives creedence to the nation's stated intent of denying a second 9/11. However, the manipulation of a nation into a war of choice with no connection to the above-stated geopolitical tragedy is, in fact, exactly what the nation's leadership has focussed upon over the last six years. For Hanson to claim that those who have decried the Bush War as illegal have "ignored the courage" of our soldiers is blatently misleading. Firstly, are we to praise those who simply follow orders, even when those orders are founded upon a foreign policy of bungling and lying? Are we to praise our soldiers for doing something we don't support? Or are we to simply praise our soldiers for selflessly committing their lives to something other than their own self-interest regardless of the end result? Hanson attempts to scare his readers by reminding us that apparently one in four Muslim-Americans support suicide bombings to defend Islam. Yet he fails to remind his readers that even a year after this nation's illegal invasion of a sovereign nation, more than SEVENTY percent of Americans were fully convinced that Iraq had masterminded the 9/11 attacks. Hanson also decries "liberals" who seek to halt the Bush Administration's efforts to stop future terrorist attacks but again fails to mention the number of times federal judges have ruled so much of Bush's policies as unconstitutional. Hanson also fails to consider how unsuccessful Bush's entire two-term foreign policies and its devisors have held up to international scrutiny, legal limitations and constitutional roadblocks. Heaven forbid if anything like the old and quaint Geneva Conventions, or, for that matter, the Constitution get in the way of Bush accomplishing his mission of bungling the Iraq occupation. Only in the second-to-last paragraph does Hanson mention sarcastically how critics "wonder...who fouled up postwar Iraq?" and yet fails or conveniently chooses to not include prewar Iraq's "War on Terror" status. Enemies exist for all people and institutions but often times those people and things need to create their enemies in order to define themselves. Bush needed to define an enemy and he sloppily did so out of a bogey man; that Bush chased either the biggest windmill or red herring instead of this nation's greatest contemporary enemy is no one liberal's fault nor any single critic's responsibility: those such as Victor Davis Hanson who continue to spit in the wind of history, fact and logic are the ones who themselves reflect their own massive hubris. Stick to your ancients, Vic, and leave the present to others who don't believe in partisan and ideological ghosts.

On another note, Al Gonzales will be leaving in just a week and a half. Actually, the day Bruce tickets go on sale. That Monday's gonna rock!!! And what's up with this Larry Craig clown from the great state of Idaho? Gay or not, that's none of our business; seeking the down low in public places, however, is, if what he does violates the law. Is Craig's guilty plea (which didn't appear coerced at the time the cop caught him motioning for the goodies in the stall) an admission of guilt? Or the fact that he didn't tell his wife? Or constituents? Or Senate colleagues? Or the press? Or his family? So, he's chosen to fight his case. Or not. Maybe he's resigning. Or not. Maybe he's going to fight to overturn his guilty plea and rescind his resignation. Or maybe not. Maybe what we have is a man whose righteous indignation is based on delusional self pity or victimization. Or maybe not. What we really have is a man caught up in a scandal not of a homosexual nature but one of two-facedness. Larry, you can't have everything both ways and expect everyone else to be forced to accept one.

Eagerly anticipating my arrival of The Miles Davis Quintet's "Cooking With..." and "Steamin' With...", Sonny Rollins' "SR+4' and some cool records by Benny Green, Joe Lovano, Sonny Clark and of course, the John Coltrane Quartet. Smokin' stuff. Should I pick up the latest Patti Scialfa disc simply because Bruce plays on half of it? I'm torn on that one...
Off to bed. Why am I awake at 12:30?