Thoughts on arts, life, and current events

I have just returned from this total gem of a bookstore where Quinn Bradlee, the son of Ben Bradlee and Sally Quinn was discussing his new book. It was amazing to see this young man who I had met at the White House when he was only a child now today talking about overcoming the challenges of his learning disabilities and health issues. Some of his challenges can resonate with anyone who knows young people who struggle with just some of these issues let alone doing it in the spot light and shadow of highly visible parents. I have so many friends who in spite of wealth or privilege had significant difficulties stemming from their parents success whether it be professional or personal. Rather than seeing the DC “power” couple tonight it was a family of loving parents standing by their child.  The last question was so poignant as a woman rose and spoke of caring for a sick cousin, how the over protective parents sheltered the child from the world and functioning in it.  In response to the question, which was do you worry about your son when you are gone, a tough question for any parent, SQ responded, “I now know Quinn will be fine without us.”  (I didn’t take notes so that is an approximation.)  It was a very moving genuine poignant moment shared with a room of mostly total strangers.

One could easily spend hours at P&P looking at books or downstairs in the cafe. The constant variety of programs of authors is so wonderful. I forget sometimes how many exceptionally interesting people live and visit Washington DC. I look forward to reading Quinn’s book in the weeks ahead and thank him for sharing his story.
Here is a link to Quinn Bradlee being interviewed which I found on the internet:
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/04/17/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry4952549.shtml

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“When G-d created the first human beings, G-d led them around the Garden of Eden and said: ‘Look at my works! See how beautiful they are—how excellent! For your sake I created them all. See to it that you do not spoil and destroy my world; for if you do, there will be no one else to repair it.’” (Midrash Kohelet Rabbah, 1 on Ecclesiastes 7:13)

After watching PBS documentary last night “Poisoned Waters” I am led to wonder why would we destroy our own planet? How could we lack the political will, the self discipline, the vision to not anticipate where our actions would lead?

Are there other animals which destroy their homes? I watch the robins and doves building their nests. I watch the ducks and geese lay their eggs. I witness the passages of time through the small gestures of nature visible while living in the city and am horrified by what we have done.

The other day there was an event for chefs at a restaurant that I stumbled upon. The seafood whole saler had tables arranged with fresh (some still alive) fish and shell fish. The variety of colors, shapes, sizes were magnificent. I will try to download the photo I took with my cell phone. There are species we will never see in our lifetimes that exist all over this planet. It is not ours to destroy.

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I have been preoccupied not with the new Obama puppy nor the President’s trip to Mexico but with the following:
WHC Rabbi Haberman’s 90th Birthday celebrating 45 years in the Rabinnaneate (spell check), Ion at the Shakespeare Theatre, shopping with girl friends - spring time!, the Leukemia Cup fundraiser with Gary Jobson, Green Day, readying boat to sail, work, the closing of the Georgetown Safeway, the closing of stores across the City, and have not really had time to do all these things proper justice. In the interim I am thrilled to see the Folger will be performing Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia.

The first Stoppard play I saw performed was in London starring Diana Riggs some twenty years ago. It was phenomenal for its acting, the story, the writing. I have been a Stoppard fan ever since. Please if you love the English language, theatre do try to see this. My fingers are crossed for the production.
Reviews

from The Oxford Times

JOKES, JIBES - PUNS AND PARODY

What might you label the choice of Stoppard’s Arcadia for an amateur company of players, even one so distinguished as our own City of Oxford Theatre Guild? High risk or safe cert?

The high risk factor is the sheer sustained polish required to interpret Stoppard’s intellectual games and verbal pyrotechnics. his switches of time and place, his breathtaking flow of jokes and jibes, puns and parody, insight and obfuscation.

Stoppard gives no quarter. A missed cue, fluffed line or false move and the enchanted castle collapses. The very props piling up on the schoolroom table must be just so. And that includes the tortoise.

Add to that the daring decision to hand over to sixth-formers responsibility for three main parts and the music! It really is tightrope-walking stuff.

The safe cert is the bankability of Stoppard himself, now greatly boosted by the Shakespeare in Love phenomenon, while the prescence of Arcadia on the A-level syllabus (a true Stoppardian ‘cert’) guarantees substantial coach-party attendance.

Combine the two and you have a warmly-expectant audience and a cast psyched-up but with the assurance that comes from intensive rehearsal. Then you notice the directors are two of the Guild’s greatest stalwarts, Peter Malin and Georgina Ferry. You are in safe hands. The performance is superb and the theatre’s jam-packed.

Arcadia is no child’s play, though it’s protagonist is a teenage maths genius, Thomasina. Stoppard keeps us at full stretch - if not panting in his wake - as he shifts between the picturesque Byronic disorder of 1809 and the feuding academic researchers and telly-dons of today. The pace quickens, the themes interlock, the centuries mingle in the final waltz.

The company, finely-honed, keep the glittering dialogue moving, on Peter Ledwith’s classic geometric set subtly lit by David Long. Even their gaits are apt - a strut for the cuckold rhymer Chater, a bumptious stamp for the naval bonehead Brice.

The sixth-formers all excel - Noonie Al Abbas as buxom Chloe; Ben Speedy as Gus and Anna Glynn as Thomasina - too distracting for her tutor, Septimus (James Moore). For the moderns, Lindsay Sandison is outstanding as the sharp Hannah. Rob Reynolds as the cad Bernard delivers his bogus-lecture brilliantly.

They get it all wrong, of course. The past is another country. But “better to struggle on” as Hannah says, and mankind still does.

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So our favorite pirate radio station seems to be off the air for the past week. If anyone knows why or what happened, please let me know! Meanwhile, I’m posting a playlist of my favorite songs heavily influenced by that station:

Schooner Fare\Day of the Clipper\06 The Drunken Sailor
Kenny Chesney\The Road And The Radio\07 - Beer In Mexico
Kenny Chesney\Me And You\04 - Back Where I Come From
Various Artists\AM Gold- TV Themes of the 60’s\03 The Addams Family (Main Theme)
Various Artists\Greatest Cowboy Songs Ever\09 Don’t Fence Me In
lonestar\Lonestar - Mr Mom
Elvis Costello\elvis costello - The Girl From IpanimaVarious Artists\Stay Awake- Interpretations of Vintage Disney Films\07 Medley Four (All Innocent Children Had Better Beware)- Feed the Birds
Kenny Chesney\Lucky Old Sun\03 - Boats
Rogers and Hamerstien South Pacific\South Pacific - Younger Than Springtime
Jimmy Buffett\Meet Me in Margaritaville- The Ultimate Collection Disc 2\16 A Pirate Looks at Forty [Live]
Various Artists\Greatest Cowboy Songs Ever\10 Happy Trails
..\Downloads\09 - On The Coast Of Somewhere Beautiful (Live)
Richard Rodgers\Victory at Sea [Original Television Soundtrack]\10 Beneath the Southern Cross
Various Artists\Greatest Cowboy Songs Ever\04 The Yellow Rose of Texas
Jimmy Buffett\One Particular Harbour\05 One Particular Harbour
dylan and stuff\buffet\Jimmy Buffett - Margaritaville (lost verse included)
Various Artists\AM Gold- TV Themes of the 60’s\22 The Green Hornet Theme
The Chieftains\Irish Evening\11 Medley- A Murch’s Hornpipe-Sliagh Geal Gcua Na Feile-The Wa
Austin Lounge Lizards\Creatures from the Black Saloon\10 Keeping Up With the Joneses
misc\Oldies - Frank Sinatra - Blue Moon
lonestar\Lonestar- Amazed
Music\Charles Mingus\Charles Mingus - Haitian Fight Song
Austin Lounge Lizards\Creatures from the Black Saloon\08 Didn’t Go to College
Various Artists\AM Gold- TV Themes of the 60’s\06 Peter Gunn Theme
Amazon MP3\Frank Sinatra\All Time Greatest Hits Vol. 2\19 - In The Blue of Evening
Amazon MP3\Kenny Chesney\Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven\01 - Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven (With The Wailers)
Music\bear\Dexter Gordon - Eddie Lockjaw Davis - Sonny Rollins - Lullaby of birdland
Various Artists\Greatest Cowboy Songs Ever\03 Cattle Call
Various Artists\Greatest Cowboy Songs Ever\02 Buffalo Gals-Polly Wolly Doodle
Various Artists\Greatest Cowboy Songs Ever\07 (Ghost) Riders in the Sky
Music\Jimmy Buffett\Meet Me in Margaritaville- The Ultimate Collection Disc 2\12 Cowboy in the Jungle
Madeleine Peyroux\Careless Love\01 - Dance Me To The End Of Love
The Mermen\mermen2002-02-16-d1t03_vbr
Jimmy Buffett\Feeding Frenzy\14 Margaritaville
Disney\Disney - Mary Poppins - I Love To Laugh (1)
Music\archy\kate bush - the man i love (1)
Amazon MP3\Bing Crosby\The Bing Crosby Collection Vol. 2\16 - Brother Can You Spare A Dime
eartha kitt\eartha kitt - let’s fall in love
Music\dylan and stuff\Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Southern Cross/>
Music\Jimmy Buffett\Meet Me in Margaritaville- The Ultimate Collection Disc 2\04 Son of a Son of a Sailor
Music\misc\Surf Music - Hawaiin Luau Hula
brat misc\Frank Sinatra - Ain’t That A Kick In The Head
Rogers and Hamerstien South Pacific\06 Some Enchanted Evening (from ‘South Pacific’) - Perry Como (1).wma
Cocktails With Cole Porter\12 - I Love Paris
Dick Dale & the Del-Tones\King of the Surf Guitar- The Best of Dick Dale\18 Pipeline
The Mermen\mermen2002-02-16-d3t03_vbr
Jimmy Buffett\Meet Me in Margaritaville- The Ultimate Collection Disc 2\17 Sail on Sailor
Miles Davis\Miles Davis - So What
Various Artists\Greatest Cowboy Songs Ever\08 San Antonio Rose
Soundtrack\The Wild West- Essential Western Film Music Collection Disc 2\11 Rooster Cogburn [From True Grit]
hawaiin\Israël Kamakawiwo’ole - Somewhere Over The Rainbow Finding Forrester
edith piaff\Edith Piaff - La Vie En Rose
Various Artists\AM Gold- TV Themes of the 60’s\24 Theme from Adventures in Paradise
bear\Men At Work - Who Can It Be Now (1)
Jimmy Buffett\Feeding Frenzy\07 One Particular Harbour
Amazon MP3\Kenny Chesney\No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems\09 - No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems (Re-Tracked_Master Vers
Amazon MP3\Django Reinhardt\Lady Be Good\16 - Avalon
Various Artists\AM Gold- TV Themes of the 60’s\14 Hawaii Five-O
Various Artists\Greatest Cowboy Songs Ever\01 Home on the Range
Irving Berlin\Irving Berlin Songbook\01 There’s No Business Like Show Business
archy\11-little_big_town-boondocks (1)
Amazon MP3\The Jack Million Band\In the Mood for Glen Miller, Vol. 2\01 - Pennsylvania 6-5000
King’s Singers\king singers\King’s Singers - Loch Lomond (1)
Various Artists\Greatest Cowboy Songs Ever\05 The Streets of Laredo
Music\Disney\Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - Chu-Chi Face
Music\lonestar\Lonestar - My Front Porch Looking In/>
Various Artists\Greatest Cowboy Songs Ever\06 Tumbling Tumbleweeds
Amazon MP3\Kenny Chesney\When The Sun Goes Down (Deluxe Version)\01 - There Goes My Life
Ennio Morricone\Cinema Paradiso- The Classic Film Music of Ennio Morricone [Silva]\12 Sergio Leone Western Film Suite- The Good the Bad and the Ugly
Various Artists\AM Gold- TV Themes of the 60’s\04 Route 66 Theme
Music\louis Armstrong\Jelly Roll Blues - Louis Armstrong
Music\king singers\King’s Singers - Loch Lomond(1)
Roy Orbison\The All-Time Greatest Hits of Roy Orbison, Vols. 1 & 2\19 Blue Bayou
Roy Orbison\The All-Time Greatest Hits of Roy Orbison, Vols. 1 & 2\01 Only the Lonely
Louis Armstrong\What a Wonderful World [GRP]\01 What a Wonderful World

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I am impressed with President Obama’s enthusiasm for sports. I already posted my Dick Vitale interpretation of DC and the Obama White House but having attended numerous Easter Egg Hunts during the Clinton Administration I have never seen such a sporty President. Usually Presidents shake hands and pose for photos. I can not recall President Clinton, Reagan, Bush Sr. or Jr. picking up kids, shooting hoops, racing after kids. Makes me wonder why did this man want the job as he seems to really enjoy family, children, sports and life as a President is so restrictive?  (That would be a rhetorical question.)

When I would escort guests of the DNC and the First Family to the Easter Egg event there were many corporate sponsors who would donate toys, food, ice cream.  I hope in the bad economy some of them are still providing items for these kids.  Back then there were many people who would wait online to gain access.  Now the tickets are distributed in advance which I think makes much more sense.  It was awful to see parents and children camping outside to get in for this event.  I am glad that technology has made the online process a reality.

I was also pleased to see 2000 DC public school kids were able to attend the event today.  I can’t recall that ever happening in the past.  The security issues Post 9-11 have changed the realities of WH access but it is wonderful to see this particular tradition continue.  Too bad the weather was not better.

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This was a pirate report from June 2006 that I sent to a friend back in 2006.  You can see the details on Somalia in the report although many other places are mentioned as well.  I am relieved the Captain was rescued from these thugs.  Interesting to me that this issue has not gotten any attention until this episode.   Since the experiences of the Clinton Administration were disastrous - Blackhawk Down, Secretary Les Aspen took responsibility for this failure, we have not been back in the region in any noticeable way.  Although on the news today they said the US military is training some local tribes against Muslim fundamentalists.   I do believe the US bombed factories in Somalia after the African Embassy bombings but Clinton was criticized for wagging the dog.  The issues of the war lords and thugs of Somalia, the pirates is not new. Weekly Piracy Report:
> 28.05.2006 at 2215 LT at Chittagong anchorage “B”,
> Bangladesh.
> Ten robbers armed with long knives in an unlit boat
> approached a
> container ship from stern.  D/O raised alarm and
> crew
> mustered and
> fired
> a rocket flare. Boarding was averted.
>
> 24.05.2006 at 2100 LT in posn: 03:10.2S - 106:20.2E,
> south of Bangka
> island, Indonesia.
> Ten pirates armed with guns and long knives boarded
> a
> product tanker
> underway. They stole master’s and crew cash and
> escaped in their boat.
>
>  24.05.2006 at 0350 LT at Lagos outer anchorage,
> Nigeria.
> Two robbers boarded a tanker at stern using a rope.
> They assaulted duty
> A/B and tied his hands. They stole ship’s stores,
> property and A/B’s
> personal belongings.
>
> 23.05.2006 at 0100 LT in the vicinity of Sacramento
> rock, Visayan sea,
> Iloilo province, Philippines.
> Twelve pirates armed with rifles and pistols
> attacked
> a fishing vessel
> underway. Five pirates boarded and hijacked the
> vessel
> and demanded
> payment. Crew managed to overpower the pirates and
> handed them over to
> Philippine national police.
>
> 22.05.2006 at 1815 LT in position: 01:57N-045:31E,
> 10.5nm SE of
> Mogadishu, Somalia.
> D/O on a general cargo ship underway noticed a
> target
> at range of 1.5nm
> on radar. He alerted two armed security guards on
> board. At 1910 LT
> duty
> A/B spotted a speedboat approaching from stern.
> Pirates in the boat
> opened fire at the ship and security guards fired
> back. Boat stopped
> and
> moved away.

In February I met a Dutch Captain missing fingers from a pirate attack.  The thugs claim they are entitled to funds for the access to the water ways of these tankers.  I wonder why the Muslim world doesn’t help the starving poor of Somalia?  Who is providing these War Lords and thugs with weapons?

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