Jackson

So, I know this is a bit late.  But I wanted to say something, because wow.  Here’s another one who’s been around my whole life.  How odd and interesting that it took his death to remind people what a fantastic musician and performer he was.  I’m glad people are remembering that as much as everything else.

One of my favorite scenes that I’ve ever written is the bit in Kitty Goes to Washington, when Kitty’s about to go on live TV, rather against her will, and the CD she’s been handed to provide background music is Thriller.  But instead of playing the title song, like everyone expects, she plays “Billie Jean.”  And the MIB’s start tapping their feet.  Because you have to.

Two of my favorites, one from the early days, one from the later days (it is hard for me to express exactly how much I like that video).

panic

We live in interesting times.

We’ve had outbreaks before, the most significant being AIDS.  Bird flu, SARS, whatever killer flu is making the rounds, and recently resurgences of stuff like measles and whooping cough (thank you, anti-vaccination jerks).

But I’ve never seen anything quite like the panic and news coverage and the genuine fear circulating about this one.  Every forum and e-mail list I’m on has discussed swine flu.  And in conjunction with the economic splatterfest, this is making for interesting times.  The worst case scenario of all this is something out of a nightmare sci fi novel.  People are scared.

I’m not sure how I feel about all this.  Part of me feels like it’s another false cry of “wolf!”  But the thing about the story of the boy who cried wolf is:  the wolf eventually showed up.  I’ve never been this close to going out and buying a case of chicken soup, EmergenC, and face masks.

But I think it may be the intersection of two potentially intensely personal disasters that is making the atmosphere out there so squicky right now.  Everyone has had or knows someone who’s had the flu (basic, not swine, but it looks the same).  Everyone knows someone who’s been fired, if they haven’t been fired themselves.

It’s not just that this is a disaster.  I watched 9/11 unfold on live TV (and still can’t watch the footage), and I knew someone who knew someone who worked and died in one of the towers, and I knew people who were in NYC and shared their harrowing tales.  But I wasn’t there.  I didn’t breathe in the smoke.

But this.  If this happens the way it could potentially happen, no one will come out of it unscathed.  I’m not sure it’s the flu itself that people are scared of.  It’s the uncertainty, and the sense of watching the speeding train come at you and not knowing which way to jump to be safe.  Not knowing if maybe it’s just a guy holding a flashlight running at you, and all the panic’s for nothing.

Just remember to breathe, people.

And watch the Daily Show…

happy new year!

Happy 2009!

And remember:

“Aim high.  You may still miss the target but at least you won’t shoot your foot off.”

– Miles Vorkosigan

holidays

One of my favorite parts of the holidays is the music. I put my holiday CD’s in constant rotation and almost don’t listen to anything else. Here are some of my favorites.

“The Nutcracker.” I don’t remember the first time I saw the ballet, and I’ve seen it live probably every 5 years since then. It’s magical, perfect, and as I’ve grown I’ve gotten lots out of it besides the pretty dancing and costumes.  There’s a coming of age story. Drosselmeyer is sometimes a wonderful old man and sometimes a creepy, sinister manipulator. The battle with the mice is frightening — and the music is tremendous. No one writes battle music like the Russians. But my favorite bit is probably the Waltz of the Snowflakes, which is also simultaneously beautiful and sinister (depending how it’s done — I’ve seen it done where it looks like Clara is caught in a blizzard of dancers. Spooky!). A few days ago I was driving with the CD in my car, and it started to snow just as this piece came on. Magic, I tell you!

“Baby It’s Cold Outside.” This one amuses me because it’s so much from another place and time. It’s best when sung by one of the members of the Rat Pack. I haven’t seen “Elf,” but this makes me want to — it’s so sweet, and yet acknowledges the inherent creepiness of the song.

“Il Est Ne.” For all the years I’ve been listening to holiday music, I only pinged to this one a few years ago. It’s beautiful.  The version I like best is by the Taverner Consort.

“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” There are two versions of this. I heard the original for the first time in December 2001, because after 9/11 it was revived — there was a need for it. “Someday soon we all will be together, if the Fates allow. Until then we’ll have to muddle through somehow.” It breaks my heart. Here’s the original with Judy Garland.

“The Christmas Song.” The one that Nat King Cole totally owned.

“The Merriest.” This is an older one that I discovered just a couple of weeks ago. I found a $4.99 CD in the holiday bargain bin, “A Swingin’ Christmas,” and this is the first song, sung by June Christy. It’s great. I usually ping to the music first, but the lyrics on this one got me.

Smiles for the frowners
Salutes to the uppers
Boosts for the downers
May the day be the bowl of cherriest
And to all, the Merriest!

And it just keeps getting better.

And so, to you all, the Merriest!

e-mail trouble

I make the effort to respond to all my e-mail.  I switched to a new program last month and have had some trouble with my outgoing e-mails not actually being sent.  So, if you’ve e-mailed me in the last few weeks and expected a response, but didn’t get one, you might e-mail me again saying “Hey, you never wrote back.”  Then I can apologize to you individually instead of via blog post.

holy cow!

9:30 pm MST and it’s all over. Colorado went blue.  President Elect Obama.

This has been a good day.

in the mail today…

So, I lost my horse Rosie about four and a half years ago now. I kind of gave up horses entirely for a while, because I just didn’t want to deal with the emotions. I moved a few months later, and none of my horse magazines and catalogs followed me, which was just as well. I can only assume that my former housemates, knowing how I was feeling, threw them out.

So imagine my surprise today when I found a State Line Tack catalog in my mailbox. Addressed me and everything, so they’ve finally caught up with me. I can’t remember the last time I looked at one of these, and I actually thought, “Huh, cool. I think I’ll flip through it.” And I was so proud of myself for looking at all the horsey stuff — blankets, bridles, saddles, riding books and shirts, brushes and bandages — and thinking, “Cool” and not breaking down. I thought I was going to get through the whole catalog without breaking down. I almost did.

Then, in the last few pages, I started crying and couldn’t stop. Not really sure why.  So I guess I haven’t quite moved on.

frontline show on the candidates

A couple of nights ago, Frontline on PBS ran a special profiling both candidates. I only caught the last half, but it was very good, and I’d recommend it if you want to learn more about both Obama and McCain, and how they’ve run their campaigns, at least up to the national conventions.

JFK

This post is only tangentially political. It’s mostly about history and perspective.

I’ve had the fun of stumping for Obama in a couple of personal conversations lately. In both cases, my conversation was with someone of the Baby Boomer generation. In both cases, I heard something like this: “I don’t like either candidate. I want to vote for someone I’m excited about. I want to vote for someone like Kennedy.”

But in 1960, John F. Kennedy was not Kennedy. He was a young upstart senator with the audacity to run for president against an established, experienced politician. And to, astonishingly, win. Since then, he’s become mythologized to such an extent I’m not sure the people who invoke his name are really talking about the man himself, or the 1960 presidential candidate, or even President Kennedy. They’re talking about a mythologized idea of the perfect president. By that criterion, no candidate will ever be good enough.

For my part, Kennedy died ten years before I was born. For me, I might as well be talking about Lincoln: they were great men, and great presidents, and so wrapped up in legend that it’s impossible to compare them to anything that’s happening now. All I know is we’ve got this young upstart senator with the audacity to run for president against an established, experienced politician.

political junkie

I’ve been overdosing on politics for the last two weeks — it’s been so easy to do with the conventions on and all. I’ve been resisting making commentary, because this isn’t a political blog, but I couldn’t let this pass:

From John McCain’s nomination acceptance speech:

We believe in the values of families, neighborhoods, and communities. We believe in a government that unleashes the creativity and initiative of Americans, government that doesn’t make your choices for you, but works to make sure you have more choices to make for yourself.

Except for that whole reproductive rights thing. We don’t think you should have a choice about that. Or the choice to marry your gay partner. And I’m sure we’ll think of a few more things you shouldn’t have a choice about.  M’kay?

Oh, and I continue to love Jon Stewart and The Daily Show.