3/6

For the sake of a little nostalgia as well as for drawing comparisons, I'm reading David Halberstam's The Unfinished Odyssey of Robert Kennedy. Halberstam was one,excuse me, IS, one of my favorite journalist/historians and I was crushed when he died in a car accident the week my babies were born. Some of his books have been monumentally important on my career as a teacher, and this book is helping me make some direct correlations and comparisons to the current phenomenon of Barack Obama. I'm surprised more people haven't made a connection between RFK and Obama - the hype, the dynamic campaign, the hope their followers possess(ed), and the opposing candidates of monolithic status quo they face(d). I'd like for the connections to end there; obviously we're marking the 40th anniversary of RFK's assassination. This is where the nostalgia kicks in, but I've always been fascinated by the Bobby phenomenon. Maybe because he was cut down or maybe because he was a man of privilege and power who sought to understand life from those who were neither; the politician/plebian/poet, who could quote Aeschylus or Shaw and then sit with Cesar Chavez; one who attended Harvard and then worked in inner-city Chicago neighborhood service organizations. Lawyers both, Kennedy and Obama have, apparently, what such a large minority of Americans seek - charisma, passion, youth, vitality. Neither Clinton or McCain possess a passionate image of vision, and that will be the downfall of both. Whether Obama receives the Democratic nod, he is a future star of the party and a force to be reckoned with, if he continues to elevate the country on the back of his political career.
Finishing The Song Remains the Same, I've decided that, as Robert Cristgau described the band being "Genius Dumb", Led Zeppelin are STILL untouchable. Not heavy metal per se but true rocking, driving, rootsy and bluesy music. The video is terribly dated, but the most unfortunate aspect of viewing this concert film is the fact that there aren't any current bands that possess the talent, ability and drive to make such a spectacle. Say what one will about Zeppelin "possessing neither restraint nor taste", what they did possess was IT.


Duke Ellington - Masterpieces By Ellington
Count Basie and His Orchestra - April In Paris
Woody Allen - 's Movie Music