Hey Brother, Can You Spare a Dime...?

I don't know about you but I think that Governor Rendell of Pennsylvania got it exactly right the other day.

He critcized the NFL for postponing the football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Minnesota Vikings on December 26th.

Why the postponement you ask? Ostensibly because of the snow.

Why, really, you persist?

Well Rendell thinks, and I agree, that it's because we, as a people, are unwilling to step up to the hard tasks that encumber our lives.

I'm not talking about all of the men and women who work their fantails off doing the country's business. They are much more the heroes of our culture than the overpaid morons on the field.

I'm talking about the deferring of responsibility and the denial of circumstance that plagues our society.

It's always someone else's fault and we are the victims. Nick Kristoff, in today's Times, writes about teaching our kids Chinese and Spanish as a way of preparing them for the realities of business and daily life that will be theirs in the future.

We don't seem to care about that. We don't see the necessity of being well educated and prepared. We postpone a football game because it will be uncomfortable (and between two teams that live in the snow belt, especially the Vikings to whom snow is a way of life...! Jeez!!)

What would it have been like in the past if people had postponed the chores of their lives because it was "uncomfortable?"

What would the settlers have done? Too hard to plant crops? No food. Too hard to chop wood? No heat in winter. Too hard to hew trees? No house. Too hard to travel over dangerous, uncharted territory to get to the West? No California as we know it.

Too hard to play football in the snow (John Madden, where art thou...?) Are you kidding?

Football is meant to be played in the snow and rain and mud. It's better that way!

Ever see the Mark Wahlberg portrayal of the Eagle's Vince Papale in the wonderful movie, "Invincible?"

There's a scene in which he is playing a pick up touch football game in a parking lot at night lit only by car headlights.

They're playing...OMG...in the rain! And, man, were they having fun. Anybody who has ever done that knows exactly what I'm talking about.

Given the mood of the NFL and the population in general...that pick up game would have been cancelled due to inclement weather. I wonder what Vince thinks about the postponement of the Eagles game. I wonder...

But that's who we have become. We sit on our aft section with a beer and chips and let the world catch up and pass us by because it's "too hard."

Too hard to tell the truth about war(s) and the deficit and health care and Wall Street and obesity and education.

We want everything right now with no personal effort. Push a button or, better yet, give a voice command, and voila...there it is...whatever you want. Without doing anything tangible or effortful to get it.

I walked 5 miles uphill... both ways, mind you... barefoot, in the snow to get to a one room school house so I would have enough learnin' to get out of this one-horse town and make something of myself in the big city. And when I arrived I only had ten cents in my pocket. And look at me now...!

In my dreams...!

Correction

In the post, "Snow Kidding", I erroneously said that the snowstorm Sunday and Monday was not a blizzard.

It was.

I stand corrected.

Unsportsmanlike Conduct

Joe Miller.

Sore loser.

Lisa Murkowski lost to Miller in the Alaska Republican Primary.

Murkowski decided to run anyway.

She apparently has won...by about 10,000 votes.

Miller won't concede. He won't say "Mazel Tov."

Sarah Palin endorsed him. Sarah Palin, you may remember, was, at one time, the Governor of Alaska. She quit to host her own "reality" show and run for President...and make a lot of money...and subject us to the shenanigans of her family.

Miller is acting like a little kid who can't get his way. Murkowski's name has to be spelled correctly in order for the vote to count. Imagine if someone had written "Milla" instead of "Miller." Would he be kvetching then? Doubt it.

It's all about "the integrity of the election."

Bull.

Lisa won and Joe lost. End of story.

Get over it.




NOTE to my Non-Jewish readers:

Mazel Tov = Congratulations
Kvetch = Complain

Snow Kidding!

Ok, folks...let's get one thing straight (and this is meant for those of us who live where it snows)

It snows where we live...!

Yes, I know that it might come as a bit of a surprise to you but...in the winter...above the 39th parallel...occasionally...once in a while...it...wait for it...wait...it...

...SNOWS!

You would think that all of the hubbub about the weather was because we were experiencing some sort of a phenomenon...a once in a millenium, never to be repeated event...a cataclysm of epic, biblical, Noahesque proportions.

Holy Moly! It snowed! We had a bizzard (not.) Travel was disrupted (no...really?) Stores were out of shovels and rock salt (are you kidding me...?) School would have been cancelled (missed that one...darn!)

Roger Cohen had a wonderful piece in the December 23rd New York Times about the unacceptable response in Europe to the snow that has fallen on and off of the Continent. He was right on it.

What is the big deal? Is there no other news? Did nothing else happen? Is nothing else, a bit less Earth-shattering, going on...?

It's winter...it snows.

1) Leave a little early to allow for slower driving.
2) Get a winter coat and wear it oustide.
3) Get big, warm boots.
4) Get warm gloves.
5) Buy a good snow shovel.
6) Pump the brakes...don't crush them to the floor in an attempt to stop. You'll only skid.
7) If you skid, turn in the direction of the skid until you straighten out.

I certainly feel sorry for the thousands stranded wherever and the aggravation at not being able to get your car out of the snow...or the fact that the plows didn't come (and the tax money to pay for the plows/sand/salt/drivers, etc. is coming from where...exactly?)

So...to repeat...

It's winter...it snows.

Get used it.

Or move.

Which makes the most sense. Why do we live here in the first place? Did the Pilgrims, after experiencing their first winter say to one another, "Gee, that was fun...can't wait to do it again!"??

Why not Boca or Cabo...why Bridgeport and New Bedford?

Ahhhhhh...beach, warmth, iced tea.

But if you are an optimist just remember that it's only 190 days until the beginning of summer and 362 days until Christmas.

Happy New Year!!

Shades of Gray

My daughter has a wonderful voice. She's been singing like a pro since she was a very little girl. This is not a case of PPS...Proud Papa Syndrome. I'm not waving her flag here. I do that enough. No, this is what I have heard, consistently, all throughout her young, beautiful life, from friends, family, teachers and total strangers alike. "Wow, she's great. Boy, can she sing!"

This was highlighted again this past weekend when she was invited to be the featured soloist at a concert of Christmas music held at a local church. What made this event even more noteworthy was fact that she had been invited by a congregation of Black Christians.

Here was this beautiful, young, white Jewish girl singing her heart and lungs out with a Black Gospel Choir...at their request!

As I sat in the balcony and kvelled over my daughter I thought of the insane way in which President Obama has been treated by his opposition. It would be more tolerable if he were being criticized for his policies alone. But the fact that so many people on the conservative side of the American political spectrum have pilloried Obama not only for his political philosophy and legislative proposals but they have attempted to delegitimize his presidency because he is Black. And only half Black at that.

They should be ashamed. They represent what is so wrong with our culture, a culture of "us and them", of competition at every level.

It is also understandable why the right has taken this point of view. It is to marginalize Obama in an attempt to make him unacceptable to the American people. If they succeed then their candidate in '12 will prevail whether it is Romney, Huckabee or Palin.

Again, I say, they, and we should be ashamed. Obama is Black. My daughter is White. Jackie Chan is Asian. Alex Rodriguez is Hispanic. Beckham is a Brit. Kidman is an Aussie. Depardieu is French. Barishnikov is a Russian.

And so on as it has always been and will always be. And we persist in judging people by irrelevant characteristics...height, weight, hair, the color of their skin.

In this time of Christmas we should be reminded that Jesus was a Jew who was murdered because he was different.

As was Ghandi, both Kennedys, King and Lennon.

The new political party No Labels wants to be seen as a party of anonymous description.

"Can't we all just get along?"

We can start by being like the Black church that invited my White daughter to sing. They didn't invite her because, or in spite of the fact, that she is white. They invited her because...she can sing.

Hallelujah!

Anchors Away...

John McCain.

Two words that used to inspire admiration and respect. He graduated from the Naval Academy. He was a fighter pilot and then a POW in Vietnam. He has served in the Senate.

He was a co-sponsor of the visionary legislation referred to as McCain-Feingold that attempted to clean up campaign financing.

He represents Arizona which used to be a wonderful place both to visit and to live.

He has overstayed his welcome.

His opposition to Gays in the military is only rivalled by his ultimate gift to the country in the form of the irrepressible Sarah Palin.

First he led by example. He was a so-called "Maverick" willing to go up against his party on behalf of what was good for the country.

Now he panders and takes positions that are both unconstitutional and unconcionable.

What is wrong with Gays in the military, anyway? Are soldiers so insecure that the mere presence of a homosexual will cause them to lose their man or womanhood? If that's true then they are not what we really want on the front lines defending our country and our freedom.

We need real heroes with real bravery. Like the countless Gay men and Lesbians who tolerate discrimination and abuse everyday of their lives from their peers, their families and their bosses. They exhibit real courage by standing up to the endless taunts and bullying that comes from an uneducated and myopic society of narrowminded individuals.

Led by the likes of John McCain. And, for that matter, Sarah Palin.

And he says that we should not put the country through a huge cultural upheaval while we are fighting two wars. What about the cultural upheaval of the wars themsleves? What about the cultural upheaval caused by the Republicans over the past 10 years, in and out of office? Why is it okay to put the country through that Senator?

Don't Ask Don't Tell.

Change it to Don't Bask, Don't Yell.

Don't bask in the glow of this past election. It was a referendum on nothing. It was an exercise in anger and frustration. Voters don't like either major party. They don't even like the Tea Party. In fact they don't like anything or anybody.

And stop yelling about something that most of the country either endorses, is reconciled to or doesn't give a damn about.

Leave the issue of sexual orientation alone. No one cares anymore.

R & R. It was good for you when you were in Vietnam.

It would be good for you now. For a very long time...

Hats Off To Harry

Ok...I admit it.

I love hats. I have a lot of them. Baseball hats. Winter hats. A straw cowboy hat I got in Tulsa. A beret and a straw boater that my mother brought me from Paris.
An L.L. Bean crusher from my friend Mike. My father's old Coast Guard cap.

But, since it's winter, I've taken to wearing a favorite. It's a greenish beanie with a white pom-pom that I got in Amsterdam.

It was given to me by a client when I was doing a production job there a few years ago. Everybody who participated got one. They came in all colors (the hats, not the people, although, come to think of it, there were a few people "of color" there too...) It was a team building conference sponsored by my client who is an international consultancy. They gave out the hats because it is cold in Amsterdam in the winter and they were being climate and location appropriate.

I was glad because I had only brought one of my favorite baseball hats (It says "Padanaram" on it. Khaki with a green bill. A seaside community in southeastern Massachusetts) and the beanie was warmer when I went out for walks to the pot bars and red light district. I looked ridiculous but I was warm. None of the hookers in the red light district looked at me twice and I got some strange looks in the pot bars too. I don't smoke pot but I'm sure the patrons in the bars thought I did because of the hat. And the hookers probably couldn't get past the hat, thinking that a guy who would wear a hat like that wouldn't have much money.

There is something about the winter that allows people to wear really stupid hats. Hats with pom poms. Russian fur hats. Stocking caps with very long tails. Hunting hats with ear flaps. Hats with animal ears or antlers. Or lights.

Very silly hats. And the person wearing them looks equally as silly. But somehow, we don't care. It's winter. I'm cold. The hat keeps me warm. Period.

Now, I would never wear this green beanie with the white pom pom in the summer. I would wear a baseball hat to protect myself from the sun. The only thing worse than a sunburn itself is the accompanying feeling of nausea and fatigue. Better to wear a hat or sit under an umbrella. Any hat will do, really, but a baseball hat is best because it has a bill which is sort of like an awning. You can look out from underneath it and if you've forgotten your sunglasses or lent them to your friend the bill will provide just enough shade so you can see, even if you have to squint which might give you a slight headache which would be exacerbated if you had heat stroke at the same time...from not having worn a hat.

I would never wear it to the Opera. I would go uncovered to the Opera.

I wouldn't wear it to church, either. I would wear it in the car on the way to church but I would take it off before I went in. After all Jesus didn't wear a hat. He would have worn a beret if he had. He was that cool. And he would have had a goatee rather than a full beard. He was the original hipster.

So I wear this ridiculous hat out of necessity. Heat rises and so it does out of the top of my head. Granted I have a nice head of hair, or so I am told, so that provides some insulation but the hat keeps it all in. And I can get away with it because it's winter and I live in a cold climate and everybody else is wearing stupid hats too. This is one case where my mother's nagging maxim, "If everybody jumped off of The Brooklyn Bridge (I grew up in New York), would you?", holds no water.

In this case, it is because everybody is wearing hats like mine that I feel comfortable in putting the damned thing on in the first place.

Cold hands, warm heart? Warm head...cool persona.

So there!