Those of us who are adults remember where we were at certain moments of history. OS admits to his age when he tells you of sitting in his elementary school classroom on 11 November 1963, seeing a tearful teacher poke her head through the door who blurted out: 'Turn on the television! The President's been shot!'
Likewise, the memory of the moment of hearing of John Lennon's senseless murder is burned in the brain. That terrible sense of loss, knowing that a creative voice had just been stilled.
OS has mixed feelings about Mr. Lennon. He was a brilliant creative voice, who emerged from the neighborhoods of post-war Liverpool; as unlikely a success story as one would ever encounter. He and his mates adopted the American (born in the South!) idiom of rock-n-roll, blended it with their own cultural upbringing (including a good bit of English music-hall material, and a more classical approach to melody than they even suspected at the time), and sang it back to us all. They absolutely transformed the culture of the day, and we're still sorting out whether for better or worse.
Mr. Lennon also embodied much of the 'gonzo' wackiness of his day, and publicly participated in and promoted its drug and ego-fueled excesses, for which we are still paying a dear price. But by the time he was taken from us, he had settled a bit. OS heard awoke this morning to the interview of a journalist who had spent three weeks with the Lennons in New York, recording interviews with John. He had embraced fatherhood, and was particularly proud that he had learned how to bake bread. He was not so much interested in recounting the past as planning for his future, at one point saying, 'Look, I'm only forty! Paul's thirty-eight. Think of Elton, Bob Dylan...we may all have forty productive years ahead of us.'
And, then came the end. So we are left with what he did to that point. Which is a sobering thought, since we are none of us guaranteed tomorrow.
Thirty years on, the press coverage of the wacky excesses becomes a curiosity, and the wacky excesses are just that, no more. His vision of 'Imagine' doesn't hold up, no matter how pretty the song. Like all of us, he had the right to be wrong, and unlike most of us, he did it in public.
John Lennon left behind a body of work that still speaks afresh, and universally. Old boomers like OS grew up on his music, and OS's kids embraced it for themselves. Because it's a wonderful body of work--OS raised very sophisticated kids, not easily impressed.
Here's an exercise: Stop for a moment, and quickly sing back to yourself as much of the following songs as you can recall. Don't think about it, just go for it.
Yesterday
Eleanor Rigby
Help
Michelle
You probably can recall most of the melody and lyric. That's extraordinary, because the list could be stretched to twenty titles. That's a body of work.
John and Paul, at their best moments, created a sort of secular hymnody, a common set of songs that ring in the mind, and shape how many people view their world.
Wednesday night, Mr. and Mrs. OS were daubing tears from their eyes as they viewed the final episode from this season of The Choir, on BBC America. (Here's hoping the episodes are re-run, and that you get to see them. Have tissues close at hand.) Young Gareth, the conductor, takes the choir into Abbey Road studio to record an arrangement of "In My Life", and Mrs. OS exclaims, "It's secular hymnody". And she was, of course and as always, spot on. The video below does not include the final performance, but it shows the choir rehearsing this song in this place most associated with the Beatles. The camera catches faces as lines are rehearsed, and one can almost see choir members' memories scanning back to the people they loved and perhaps lost. The song itself gathers the memories for them, and there they are, singing that song in that place. Words fail at moments like this.
For whatever John Lennon may or may not have done or accomplished, he left behind a body of work that will move millions of people to the bottoms of their hearts for many years to come. Very few of us get that privilege, or accomplish a tenth of that sort of contribution to the world.
May he rest in peace, and may his memory be blessed.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Well, Cut My Legs Off And Call Me Shorty: Obama Actually Vetoed HR 3808
...which would have given the banksters free reign to continue their fraudulent practices in the mortgage markets.
The memo is here.
The memorandum is both civil in tone and unequivocal in meaning. That's a first for any Democrat politician for decades. Remember, Bill (It depends upon what the meaning of the word 'is' is.) Clinton is a major hero to these folks.
Had Obama signed it into law, heaven only knows what may have resulted. Thanks to people like Karl Denninger who raise holy hell about this stuff on a daily basis.
The memo is here.
The memorandum is both civil in tone and unequivocal in meaning. That's a first for any Democrat politician for decades. Remember, Bill (It depends upon what the meaning of the word 'is' is.) Clinton is a major hero to these folks.
Had Obama signed it into law, heaven only knows what may have resulted. Thanks to people like Karl Denninger who raise holy hell about this stuff on a daily basis.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Katherine Birbalsingh Throws Down The Gauntlet, And The Parents Rally Behind Her
It takes some chutzpah for a teacher to stand in front of the world and deliver this kind of speech. Eight minutes of inspirational truth-telling, for which her school administrators attempted to run her out of her job on a rail. They were gathering the feathers, and heating the tar to apply to her insolent uppity backside, when the parents of her students rallied 'round.
Katherine is The Left's nightmare, on both sides of the pond.
She is, well, a she. And, she's strikingly pretty to boot.
She is Oxford-educated, articulate, accomplished, experienced.
She is a person of color.
She has a sense of humor, and knows how to use it.
She abandoned the Marxism of her university days as her experience as a teacher, and her conscience, demonstrated the abject failure of ThePeopleInChargeOfSuchThings and their leftist agenda. She saw children's lives damaged by this ideology, and she decided to speak up.
Within the first thirty seconds, she gets to the point: '...the system is broken, because it keeps poor children poor'. It only gets better from there!
A big-ole heapin' helpin' of Green Shoots Award to this brave woman.
And kudos to Cranmer, for raising unshirted hell about her mistreatment.
Katherine is The Left's nightmare, on both sides of the pond.
She is, well, a she. And, she's strikingly pretty to boot.
She is Oxford-educated, articulate, accomplished, experienced.
She is a person of color.
She has a sense of humor, and knows how to use it.
She abandoned the Marxism of her university days as her experience as a teacher, and her conscience, demonstrated the abject failure of ThePeopleInChargeOfSuchThings and their leftist agenda. She saw children's lives damaged by this ideology, and she decided to speak up.
Within the first thirty seconds, she gets to the point: '...the system is broken, because it keeps poor children poor'. It only gets better from there!
A big-ole heapin' helpin' of Green Shoots Award to this brave woman.
And kudos to Cranmer, for raising unshirted hell about her mistreatment.
OS Has A Change Of Heart: So Does Sony--No Pressure
Well, there does appear to be some blowback about the 10:10 set of videos released this week--you know, the ones featuring a teacher, an exec, and a radio producer pushing a little red button and blowing up children, employees, and a voice-over performer. Because they disagree with the idea that they should change everything about their lives in order to combat 'global warming'.
You know, No Pressure.
Sony has back-pedaled away from this bit of evil as quickly as it can, as evidenced here, and many other places across the planet.
The UK's O2 has decided to stand by their favorite fascists, in the tradition of Tammy Wynette; but Eugenie Harvey, director of 10:10 UK, issued an official (if insincere) apology.
This was not some public relations gaffe--an executive caught being a bit too candid, or even the sort of Tiger-Woods-what-were-you-thinking sort of public meltdown.
This was deliberate.
It takes a lot of time, thought, money and energy to shoot three short films; actors to cast, storyboards and scripts to write and get approved by the people who spend the money to make the films, shot locations to secure, crew to hire, editing, special effects, etc. Video/film runs at thirty frames per second, and every frame included is a deliberate decision.
So, OS has had a change of heart, and is making his own deliberate decision to post the video with all three of these evil short films for his readers to peruse. OS has also made another deliberate decision--he doesn't want to live in a world run by the kind of people who would produce this sort of thing, who would approve of their production, and who may even think this approach to private choice and public dissent is desirable. That's been tried again and again, in Germany, Russia, China, Japan, North Korea and Cambodia, to name a few examples from the past ninety years or so. Tens of millions died horrible deaths as a result. (Eugenie's only sincere regret is that her crew got caught in the act of being themselves, portraying the sort of world they have planned for the rest of us.)
Not here, not now, not ever. So, OS's gonna keep on scribbling and working and praying Providence protects his country from the people who run it. And, he's gonna post that piece of evil on his piece of the digital real estate, as a warning to anyone who may stop by to view it. That's what he can do today.
You know, No Pressure.
Sony has back-pedaled away from this bit of evil as quickly as it can, as evidenced here, and many other places across the planet.
The UK's O2 has decided to stand by their favorite fascists, in the tradition of Tammy Wynette; but Eugenie Harvey, director of 10:10 UK, issued an official (if insincere) apology.
This was not some public relations gaffe--an executive caught being a bit too candid, or even the sort of Tiger-Woods-what-were-you-thinking sort of public meltdown.
This was deliberate.
It takes a lot of time, thought, money and energy to shoot three short films; actors to cast, storyboards and scripts to write and get approved by the people who spend the money to make the films, shot locations to secure, crew to hire, editing, special effects, etc. Video/film runs at thirty frames per second, and every frame included is a deliberate decision.
So, OS has had a change of heart, and is making his own deliberate decision to post the video with all three of these evil short films for his readers to peruse. OS has also made another deliberate decision--he doesn't want to live in a world run by the kind of people who would produce this sort of thing, who would approve of their production, and who may even think this approach to private choice and public dissent is desirable. That's been tried again and again, in Germany, Russia, China, Japan, North Korea and Cambodia, to name a few examples from the past ninety years or so. Tens of millions died horrible deaths as a result. (Eugenie's only sincere regret is that her crew got caught in the act of being themselves, portraying the sort of world they have planned for the rest of us.)
Not here, not now, not ever. So, OS's gonna keep on scribbling and working and praying Providence protects his country from the people who run it. And, he's gonna post that piece of evil on his piece of the digital real estate, as a warning to anyone who may stop by to view it. That's what he can do today.
Transcendence: Marines, Sousa Marches, Golf In A Gale, And South Oxhey
OldSouth just returned home from an extraordinary evening, spent in a basketball arena with the United States Marine Band and a large enthusiastic audience. It had been a long day. It was a long drive to the venue. He almost decided against going, and is so grateful he did.
The music-making was extraordinary, on so many levels. As a kid of nineteen, OS sat in a balcony at the Salzburg Festival, and watched Herbert von Karajan conduct Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, with the Vienna Phil in the pit. For them, it was another day at the office. For OS, it was a revelation to hear that music played in its true tradition and context. It was an 'A-ha' moment. 'Oh, that's how it's supposed to sound.'
Tonight was one of those experiences, which (as they always do) came as a surprise. To hear the Sousa marches performed by the organization he so indelibly shaped was revelatory. The music marched and danced at the same time, and the transparency of the scores in their detail became apparent. 'Semper Fidelis' performed with the complement of six cornets and two trumpets seemed almost lighter than air. 'Stars and Stripes' with four flawless piccolos on that countermelody (in tune!) seemed to take wings.
The band presented serious concert literature as well. Paul Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphoses was heavy going at first, but the audience hung in, and were won over. The Persichetti Psalm for Band, potentially as challenging to a lay audience, held their rapt attention.
The patriotic numbers were more poignant and heartfelt than OS was expecting, as the audience sang along on the opening stanza of 'My Country, 'Tis Of Thee', singing and applauding simultaneously as they arrived at the closing line--'let freedom ring', likewise as they sang Irving Berlin's 'God Bless America'. It was an audience full of vets, of soldiers' families, children and friends. These people have true 'skin in the game', in ways your average Ivy League liberal can never understand. No cynicism here, no intellectual's distance to be found between these people and the words they sang.
After the concert, the one band member from Tennessee was surrounded by a small mob of retired Marines, shaking his hand, having their pictures taken with the kid, slathering attention and love on the young man. It was extraordinary--they were all Marines, from the 80-year old guys in the funny hats to the shy 25-year old in his bright red concert dress, holding his trombone.
It was, well, transcendent. The evening was such a contrast to the banality and cynicism of so much of the culture. This music and this experience put the audience in contact with something that resonated deep within them: beauty experienced in community, in a cause bigger than their own entertainment or satisfaction.
And, it's been that sort of week. Mr. and Mrs. OS watched the season's final episode of The Choir Wednesday evening, with misty eyes, as young Gareth takes on the town of South Oxhey, north of London and essentially marooned and forgotten by the county that surrounds it. As the townfolk found their own voices, and learned how to sing and work together, that transcendence made itself known. And, the intrepid young conductor, on a mission to transform a town and then leave, found himself transformed by it, and remaining.
Transcendence.
Two teams of golfers battle the course, the elements and their nerves, until the American doffs his hat, shakes the Englishman's hand and concedes the match and tournament, and it dawns on the Welsh crowd that their boys just won, by one-half of a point. There was that moment of quiet just before the roar as it dawned upon everyone what had transpired.
Transcendence.
OS believes we cannot live without it, but that it must be the real thing; not the pale imitations promised by those who keep trying to peddle us aphrodisiacs, hair implants, weight-loss schemes, get-rich-quick courses, porn, drugs, political utopias and $80,000 automobiles.
Tonight was the real thing.
'Oh, that's how it's supposed to be...'
The music-making was extraordinary, on so many levels. As a kid of nineteen, OS sat in a balcony at the Salzburg Festival, and watched Herbert von Karajan conduct Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, with the Vienna Phil in the pit. For them, it was another day at the office. For OS, it was a revelation to hear that music played in its true tradition and context. It was an 'A-ha' moment. 'Oh, that's how it's supposed to sound.'
Tonight was one of those experiences, which (as they always do) came as a surprise. To hear the Sousa marches performed by the organization he so indelibly shaped was revelatory. The music marched and danced at the same time, and the transparency of the scores in their detail became apparent. 'Semper Fidelis' performed with the complement of six cornets and two trumpets seemed almost lighter than air. 'Stars and Stripes' with four flawless piccolos on that countermelody (in tune!) seemed to take wings.
The band presented serious concert literature as well. Paul Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphoses was heavy going at first, but the audience hung in, and were won over. The Persichetti Psalm for Band, potentially as challenging to a lay audience, held their rapt attention.
The patriotic numbers were more poignant and heartfelt than OS was expecting, as the audience sang along on the opening stanza of 'My Country, 'Tis Of Thee', singing and applauding simultaneously as they arrived at the closing line--'let freedom ring', likewise as they sang Irving Berlin's 'God Bless America'. It was an audience full of vets, of soldiers' families, children and friends. These people have true 'skin in the game', in ways your average Ivy League liberal can never understand. No cynicism here, no intellectual's distance to be found between these people and the words they sang.
After the concert, the one band member from Tennessee was surrounded by a small mob of retired Marines, shaking his hand, having their pictures taken with the kid, slathering attention and love on the young man. It was extraordinary--they were all Marines, from the 80-year old guys in the funny hats to the shy 25-year old in his bright red concert dress, holding his trombone.
It was, well, transcendent. The evening was such a contrast to the banality and cynicism of so much of the culture. This music and this experience put the audience in contact with something that resonated deep within them: beauty experienced in community, in a cause bigger than their own entertainment or satisfaction.
And, it's been that sort of week. Mr. and Mrs. OS watched the season's final episode of The Choir Wednesday evening, with misty eyes, as young Gareth takes on the town of South Oxhey, north of London and essentially marooned and forgotten by the county that surrounds it. As the townfolk found their own voices, and learned how to sing and work together, that transcendence made itself known. And, the intrepid young conductor, on a mission to transform a town and then leave, found himself transformed by it, and remaining.
Transcendence.
Two teams of golfers battle the course, the elements and their nerves, until the American doffs his hat, shakes the Englishman's hand and concedes the match and tournament, and it dawns on the Welsh crowd that their boys just won, by one-half of a point. There was that moment of quiet just before the roar as it dawned upon everyone what had transpired.
Transcendence.
OS believes we cannot live without it, but that it must be the real thing; not the pale imitations promised by those who keep trying to peddle us aphrodisiacs, hair implants, weight-loss schemes, get-rich-quick courses, porn, drugs, political utopias and $80,000 automobiles.
Tonight was the real thing.
'Oh, that's how it's supposed to be...'
Thursday, October 7, 2010
HR 3808: Ai Caramba, Lucy! Wha' Happan'?
This turkey almost became the law of the land, snuck in under the radar by voice vote in both houses of Congress.
Word is that it will be vetoed--unless of course, Himself's price for a signature is met by the bankers. One can never afford to be too optimistic these days.
Denninger explains the details of what it would have meant, e.g. a green light for bank and mortgage fraud to continue unchecked.
This sort of stuff goes to the heart of the rule of law. It passed unread, and almost unnoticed.
So, we can't name and shame those who voted on the bill.
As for the sponsor of this bit of evil--
Rep Aderholt, Robert B. [AL-4]
and the co-sponsors:
Rep Braley, Bruce L. [IA-1]
Rep Castle, Michael N. [DE]
Rep Davis, Artur [AL-7]
...OS hears there is an election day at hand...just sayin'.
Word is that it will be vetoed--unless of course, Himself's price for a signature is met by the bankers. One can never afford to be too optimistic these days.
Denninger explains the details of what it would have meant, e.g. a green light for bank and mortgage fraud to continue unchecked.
This sort of stuff goes to the heart of the rule of law. It passed unread, and almost unnoticed.
So, we can't name and shame those who voted on the bill.
As for the sponsor of this bit of evil--
Rep Aderholt, Robert B. [AL-4]
and the co-sponsors:
Rep Braley, Bruce L. [IA-1]
Rep Castle, Michael N. [DE]
Rep Davis, Artur [AL-7]
...OS hears there is an election day at hand...just sayin'.
Hitler Learns Of The 10:10 Climate Video (You Know, The One That Depicts Children Exploding!)
OS considered posting that horrible piece of trash momentarily, but decided against including anything that totally gruesome on his bit of the digital real estate. The goal is to lift the culture, not pollute it.
But, he is all about having a belly-laugh at the expense of the clown circus currently in charge in Washington. This is just too funny...sometimes, only laughter will do.
But, he is all about having a belly-laugh at the expense of the clown circus currently in charge in Washington. This is just too funny...sometimes, only laughter will do.
Hitler Learns About the Climate 10:10 Video from Steve Hayward on Vimeo.
How Jobs Are Created: Blumenthal v. McMahon
The weekly jobs report released a few minutes ago. It was, well, less awful than expected, but still begs the question--this economy must create about 150,000 jobs monthly in order to run in place vs. the natural growth in population. When politicians begin ranting about 'saving' jobs, they are sucking air, pure and simple.
This amusing two minutes between two senatorial candidates is illuminating.
This amusing two minutes between two senatorial candidates is illuminating.
The Toothless Lion: Pastor Peters
OS contends that the culture started wandering off some time ago, when the American church decided that it was crucial to look/feel/smell like the rest of the culture. Well, it succeeded in that quest, and the results have not been pretty.
There are a few souls who continue to stand up and question the wisdom of that approach.
Pastor Peters has the wordsmith's gift of putting his finger directly upon the raw nerve that we generally wish left alone.
It is the greatest sadness that we pawn off the Church (and therefore Christ) as a toothless lion who can really do no harm but which is really kind of nice once you get used to it... It is to our poverty that we offer the world only a pale imitation of what they already have instead of the radical difference of the Incarnate God who has borne the fullness of our sin and all its grief in order to place upon us the easy yoke of grace and mercy... It is our weakness that we would rather be seen as ordinary than the extra-ordinary among whom God is present and faith apprehends and responds to this presence in the means of grace...
There are a few souls who continue to stand up and question the wisdom of that approach.
Pastor Peters has the wordsmith's gift of putting his finger directly upon the raw nerve that we generally wish left alone.
It is the greatest sadness that we pawn off the Church (and therefore Christ) as a toothless lion who can really do no harm but which is really kind of nice once you get used to it... It is to our poverty that we offer the world only a pale imitation of what they already have instead of the radical difference of the Incarnate God who has borne the fullness of our sin and all its grief in order to place upon us the easy yoke of grace and mercy... It is our weakness that we would rather be seen as ordinary than the extra-ordinary among whom God is present and faith apprehends and responds to this presence in the means of grace...
To Quote Elvis: 'ThankYew, ThankYewVerrahMuch!'
Just passed 5000 visitors since 1 February, when OS began tracking visits.
Hey, it's not the HuffPost, but after all, it's a hobby and it keeps the old boy sane some days.
OS hopes he has improved the day for 5000 or so people this year, because they dropped by to read his scribble.
Ya'll stay safe out theah!
Hey, it's not the HuffPost, but after all, it's a hobby and it keeps the old boy sane some days.
OS hopes he has improved the day for 5000 or so people this year, because they dropped by to read his scribble.
Ya'll stay safe out theah!
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