The Stimulus (Not Strictly) Comes Dancing To Chattanooga

This came across the transom this morning, from the Tennessee Arts Commission.

OS adds the bold print.

Grants Bring National Treasure to Chattanooga
CHATTANOOGA - - Ballet Tennessee’s efforts to bring high caliber dance to the community have been rewarded by two national level grants.  National Endowment for the Arts Touring Grant was awarded by the Southern Arts Federation in partnership with Tennessee Arts Commission.  A second grant through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was allocated by Allied Arts of Greater Chattanooga and the National Endowment for the Arts.
The grants enable Ballet Tennessee to host the historic and nationally esteemed ballet company, Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble, in a public performance at the Tivoli Theater, community dance classes for children, and master classes for intermediate through advanced dancers.

The announcement for the event is here, on the Ballet Tennessee site. 

Kinda makes one feel all warm and fuzzy, knowing that, in 2035, someone's grandchild in Dubuque will be paying for this month's ballet in Chattanooga, since the money for the event was borrowed from the Chinese last year.

It is hard to forsee, given the kind of damage being done to the culture and economy by this sort of behavior, how that grandchild will be able to afford tickets for the ballet in 2035, or ballet lessons and shoes for the kids.

This is not good for the fine arts. Ballet dancers, orchestral musicians, coloratura sopranos, conductors, set designers, composers, librettists, etc must devote enormous amounts of time and energy over the years to do what they do so well. And they do valuable work for the culture. But they are not owed a career because of that investment of time and energy, especially not with money borrowed from a farmer's grandchild yet unborn.

The best way to support the arts is to return to sanity in the economy and governance of the country.


Please, take the arts off the dole.


This week's performance of Tosca should not add to the national debt.

United Breaks Guitars Part Trois

So, I'm putting my kid on a plane to London, with three bags--'cuz he's moving there for a year to spend a gap year.

We step up to the United Airlines counter, knowing there will be a surcharge for the extra bag, but knowing that all bags are well under the weight limit. The website quotes extra bags at $125.

'That will be two hundred dollars please.'

What? I ask--nowhere does it quote $200 for one extra bag.

Oh, comes the reply, we do that by destination, and you have to call us to get a quote...

I hand over the card for my haircut, and grimly say, 'Well, at least he's not taking a guitar...'

The chirpy response: 'Oh you saw that video? We now use it as a training video!'

Words fail. They just fail.

They never made the guitar destruction right, never learned anything from the experience. But they do view the video for training, created at someone else's expense.

What do you think the odds are that I ever, ever, ever spend another penny voluntarily with United Airlines?

But, as a zombie company, it will never be allowed to fail, and join Braniff, Eastern and so many others on the ash-heap of business history.