Daily Blues & Views

 Sometimes it does seem as if we are every age we’ve ever been. When the Fire dept. showed up at my neighborhood “Safer Together” block party and let all the kids climb over their shiny red engine, I  regressed to a 9-year-old. Watch me catch a fish and I’m 12 again. Watching a baseball game with the Giants playing I become all ages. But in the last few decades of our lives, something decidedly different occurs. Expression of those differences becomes problematic. Having spent the better part of my life as a high school teacher, I am comfortable around young people, especially adolescents.  Consequently, I often acknowledge them when walking in public, forgetting sometimes that they don’t think of me as a familiar, albeit trusted teacher they know. When that happens, I get either no response, a cold eye roll, or a rapid look away. Being perceived as a threat or inappropriate may be the last thing on my mind, but it frequently happens. In fact, it seems lately that most pe...

 It's hard not to live in the past these days.  At the risk of pining for the good old days, I miss more and more some of the things I previously thought would always be there.  Newspapers, for example.  Not only do we not rely on them for news,  I have come to call my local paper the $3.00 crossword puzzle.  Now, I could argue for retaining local and national papers,  but most of the people who would benefit from that argument would never read or hear of it.  At some point, all of us over 50 have faced the reality that technology has mapped out our future and left many of the familiar and favorite things we came to depend on in its wake.  But at what cost? People seem distracted and speedy these days.  That might explain why I see so many people drive right through Stop signs.  One of the streets in my neighborhood almost requires drivers with a clear right of way to slow to a stop when they come to a corner where side streets have...

 With the war between Israel and Hamas has come a huge rise of antisemitism.  That’s less surprising than the fact that hatred toward Semitic people is as old as time. Lost in the current strife is the fact that both Arab and Jewish people are considered Semitic. It comes down to the language groups originally spoken by people who historically hail from the Middle East. But when we speak about antisemitism and its rise, we’re talking about hatred and prejudice directed toward Jews. In a complex situation like Palestinian and Israeli land claims and rights, the situation is further complicated. How alike and how dissimilar are these people? Isn’t it true that some Israelis and Palestinians have lived side by side peacefully for decades?  Nevertheless, hatred toward Jews and the vicious stereotypes that often accompany it is very much alive and on the rise. For some, it’s a matter of indolence. Too lazy to change their thinking about the old tropes. Thus when an elderly gue...

 Timothy Egan has done it again.  This writer is an American treasure.  His books cover essential topics from America's past that resonate today and allow for historical perspective that is needed and necessary. In A Fever in the Heartland, Egan traces the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in middle America.  When we think of the notorious Klan, most of us automatically think of the South.  But shortly after World War I, with the country in the throes of a postwar moral dilemma, the infamous Klan rose to prominence and swelled its ranks in the states of Ohio and Indiana.  We are talking of a membership in the hundreds of thousands. Under the direction of a few prominent personalities the Klan leadership first co-opted the Protestant Church and its ministers. Then it went on to recruit and bribe various political officials from members of Congress to local politicos and judges, law enforcement agencies, and any other decision-making entity that might be of use. ...

  Early Morning Walk Fall is diminishing on this new day, Tell me what you saw, Jung lives in graffiti and a bag of potatoes on the sidewalk, A man wearing a fez gestures emotionally, Children stare from a glassed-in playroom, But we can only wave and smile before Being ushered away silently. Motorcycles or motor-psychos have their own Brew now. A vegan patio, a robed tattoo artist, a bookstore that knits. None of this is surreal, just unreal, There is a difference, you know.

 About 35 years ago, while roaming through an uptown antique store in the Carrollton district of New Orleans, I saw something that stopped me cold. It was a piece of sheet music from the early 1900s.  I have a small collection of old sheet music, not for playing the tunes, but because of the imagery.  I have used pop culture items in my classroom to illustrate racial attitudes and the proliferation of racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, and distorted imagery.  In front of me was just such an image, but of such unique quality, I was dumbstruck.       There has long been a tradition of racist imagery in the development of music in America.  The genre popularly known as the "Coon Song," was in its prime around the early part of the 20th century.  Derived from the minstrel show tradition, the song lyrics of this period unabashedly use the terms nigger and coon as if they were accepted in everyday usage.  They were.   Sh,  here ...

 As if we didn’t need another major news trauma to occupy our fearful minds, here comes that old nemesis  the latest version of the Arab-Israeli conflict to bring new heights of despair to the airwaves. Of course, what we are dealing with these days is the unprovoked attack by Hamas on the state of Israel. Yes, I know using the word unprovoked here is debatable, but for now it will have to remain. This conflict is as convoluted and complicated as it is frustrating. It is not a simple matter of just making sure the Palestinians have a homeland. If that were the case, surely a compromise satisfactory to both sides could be hammered out. I turned an International Relations class of high school seniors loose on this conflict 25 years ago and after looking at the arguments on both sides, and spending time with maps of the region, they came up with a solution that allowed Israelis and Palestinians to live and prosper side by side in the land they have both occupied for centuries. Wo...

 I love bittersweet chocolate ice cream. The trouble is, very few companies make it. That wasn’t always the case. A few years ago the Three Twins company made a wonderful bittersweet chocolate. Like many things we love, it disappeared when the company went out of business. That happens all too often these days. We find a product we love and then it’s suddenly gone. I have a long list of things I always looked forward to that have disappeared.  So it goes. A few months ago, while browsing the ice cream freezer at my local grocery, I chanced to see the words Bittersweet Chocolate on an ice cream container. Well, not exactly. It was a cashew milk frozen dessert boldly displaying my favorite flavor. With lowered expectations, I purchased the product and was delighted to find it was really good. The flavor I’d been missing was now back in my life.  Not for long. This product, manufactured by the Forager company suddenly disappeared. No store that had previously carried the fla...

       About 55  years ago, when I was in my Junior year of college at UCLA, I participated in a most exciting activity.  On a large bulletin board on the ground floor of Royce Hall, far away from the ads for typewriter service, and upcoming concerts and speakers, way up in the right-hand corner a little experiment was taking place.       an anonymous group of students was exchanging ideas and opinions under pseudonyms.  It was the age of flower children and war resistors.  It was smack dab in the big middle of the Civil Rights movement.  Nixon was the President, and the Beatles were still a relatively new group.  Dylan was transitioning from Folk to Rock, Janis Joplin was about a year away, and the Rolling Stones were a competent blues band of British blokes.       There were no cell phones or computers.  Gas costs about a quarter a gallon and tuition for arguably one of the best universities...

 I just finished a thousand mile road trip. One of the things that happens When you spend the better part of your day in a car is that you hear things on the radio that you might normally have missed. While I often listen to music while driving, I mostly listen to NPR stations from city to city, state to state. It’s always fascinating to hear the differences between the larger cities versions of NPR and those national stations emanating from smaller or university towns. So it was last weekend while driving back to Portland from the Bay Area I chanced to hear the name and then the voice of a former student of mine. It was on one of those Sunday afternoon NPR programs that deal with important subjects, but that many people miss because they aren’t in their cars at that time. The topic was AI and other recent computer consequences that our culture is bracing for. I was vaguely listening, concentrating more on passing large semi trucks and noting the distance to the next town. When I h...

 I probably won’t be around to see it, but I’m fascinated by how the era of Donald Trump and his impact on American politics will be portrayed. IF, in time he is seen as the sociopath who would be President, then the real emphasis must fall on those who enabled him. Trump is who he is. He’s remarkably consistent at that because he used the same defense mechanisms repeatedly. He projects, denies, and rationalizes with unabashed frequency.  It is not I who am lying, it’s you.  I did not lose the election, my opponent did. I am not racist, you are. Ad nauseam.  As a noted psychologist put it, “It is easier for him to lie than to tell the truth.” He checks all the sociopath boxes. He is who he is. So, the question now turns to his supporters.  It’s fairly to see where his base is coming from. He speaks truth to what they consider the real harmful perceived power in their lives. He does so without shame or accountability.  He oversimplifies issues and that plays...

                It's always about the money.  No surprise there, but something is happening to professional sports in America, resulting in consequences for amateur sports.  I'm not talking about the salaries, that's another story, albeit inter-related to my topic.                  Time was when a baseball player could play an entire career for one team.  Mention a name like Al Kaline, or Ted Williams, and only one team comes to mind.  Most folks forget that Jackie Robinson was traded to the Giants right before he retired.  He never played for them, but had he gone on with his historic career, it would have ended in a Giants uniform.              I never thought that Willie Mays would ever leave the Giants.  Seeing him in a Mets uniform was tough, but at least he had the familiar NY on his cap again. There is ...

     I recently discovered the newsletter of Kareem Abdul Jabbar, the famous basketball player, now retired.  I subscribed and found his take on various events in the news both well-written and most enjoyable.   I'm not surprised, as I've read some of his books and followed his on and off-the-court career for years.     We go way back, Kareem and I.  I'm about 6 months older than he, and we shared some of the same classes in college at UCLA.     Most noteworthy were the two African-American history classes taught by Dr. Ron Yakaki in 1967 and 1968.  These were among the first Black history courses in the University of California system.  As history majors at UCLA, it was probably inevitable that our paths would cross in a classroom or two.       Occasionally I'd see Kareem on campus walking to class like any other student.  He was hard to miss.  I recall he often walked with a woman who may ha...

      Psychologists have long studied the nature of play in and for children.  Often, the bottom line here is imagination.  The essence of play for many children is the ability to imagine and then model the people and things we see.     But Play, like most social institutions is changing...rapidly.  Kids don't play the way they used to, quite simply.  Something is lost and gained because of that.  Take three generations and sit them down and discuss the nature of play.  What and how did you play as a child and how does that differ from kids today and how did it differ from your parent's generation?     The technology developed in the last few decades seems to be the driving factor in describing these differences.  Today everything is virtual as opposed to real.  Sure kids still play Monopoly and maybe even Clue but they rarely invent their own games.       I think my childhood, growing up...

      With the release of the long-awaited work of the late blues scholar Mack McCormick, I decided to read what blues enthusiasts and ethnomusicologists were crowing about.  McCormick was reputed to be the best source on the subject of Robert Johnson, the Mississippi Delta bluesman that is generally regarded as the force for much of what later became Rhythm and Blues and Rock and Roll.      His archive was enormous if organized.  Filled with notes, photos, records, and clippings, and Mack was always going to write a book.  After his death, the entire bundle went to the Smithsonian. Fortunately, the book that was always promised came to light posthumously.  It did not disappoint. However, it is not the last word on Johnson, whose short life, (he died at 27) was always shrouded in myth and legend.       Slowly, the veil is lifting and the real Johnson is beginning to emerge after decades of misinformation and just plai...

 Going to the barber shop is an entirely different experience in 2023 than it was as a kid in the 1950s and 60s.  Back then,  it was a man's world with calendars, magazines, and conversation. It was all male-centered.   There was one barber who specialized in cutting women's hair, but I only saw him do that a few times in my first 20 years.  Today, I go to what I like to call, "my hipster barber shop."  Depending on the time of day, you can sip a beer or some good whiskey while waiting.  There are a few coffee table-type books but most folks just amuse themselves on their smartphones.  Those phones are used for obtaining appointments and making payments, including tips for the work done. In my barber shop today, the haircutters are both men and women.  An equal number usually.  But what I like most is the conversation I enjoy with my favorite barber there.  He's young, 26, and loves to chat.  He's also very good at what he...

 On the eve of my 25th Wedding Anniversary  Our slow dance continues,    We walk this silver path together  into a new forest. We have received the greatest gift of all,           Time The best rest on this sojourn is the    Space we find available...always. We are only alone with ourselves when it matters,    Beyond fear and despair, The music plays ever slowly for partners     Who care, and are there.

      It was bound to happen.  A shooting at a high school graduation just seems par for the course these days.  I can't think of a worse place for panic.  As a veteran of at least 30 high school graduations, I've seen them decline in quality and substance.  For that reason, I volunteered to run the tryouts and judging of grad speakers at my high school.  I did that for about 10 years.  Of course, there were other judges that included students and parents.  A well-balanced approach.     What I noticed is that the ceremony of the graduation became increasingly less formal.  So much so that it began to feel like a mockery.  Aside from students dancing or romping, or strutting across the stage, the parents often were most out of control.  The "ceremony was so noisy on the occasion that no one could hear anything.       It got so bad that most educators I know couldn't wait for it all to end....

 Hovering out on the ragged edge of civilization right now is the phenomenon we’re suddenly hearing so much about called AI. Thinking and conceptualizing beyond the human mind. Already teachers are becoming increasingly wary of who or what is doing the writing on tests and assignments. Is the intelligence human or artificial? Think of it as Photoshop for the mind. Just as you can take a simple photo of a dog and instantly put him in a desert, a ship at sea, or in outer space, so too can essays and treatises be written by tapping into the vast database of what exists or what is possible. Like most of us, I barely understand all this myself. However, what seems to be screaming at me is the question, how on earth will we ever be able to tell what is real and what is not? Think of the consequences. Will our collective personalities become increasingly skeptical or paranoid? What a life huh?  Much like the inception of nuclear energy, human nature is truly going to be put to the te...

 In a recent interview, author Nana Kwame Adjei Brenyah talked about transcending cynicism. He says we have to be willing to do that. I couldn’t agree more. But finding the will to act is no easy matter. The reasons we’re experiencing what feels like an epidemic of cynicism are many. some days it feels like piling on. Daily we see people instantly becoming the victims of mass shootings (200 already this year), we see the senseless war in Ukraine, the thousands swarming the Southern border, and the breakdown of the political process in our country. The difficult economic times have always triggered a sharp rise in hate speech, racism, and violence. When a package of crackers costs almost $8.00 and a cup of coffee is over$2.00 it’s easy to be cynical. Just when we think we’ve rounded up these big issues, others appear fully blown. The climate crisis and the rise of AI both bring new stress lines to our faces. Animals continue to disappear and water looms as the challenge for future s...

      Books have always been important to me.  I wish that were true for everyone, but living in a country where more than half the people did not read a book last year, it's clear that reading a book is not high on the list of priorities.  Hell, many folks don't even read actual books these days. The ever-popular handheld devices do everything for them electronically.     In the last few years, I have downsized my book collection.  I used to love to be surrounded by my bookshelves and had them everywhere.  The bedroom, living room, office, den, and even bathroom usually had some sort of bookshelf.  No longer.  In my household, we share books and pass them along.  Usually, something comes back to us from that effort too.     When I first retired from teaching I found that my reading time increased 10 fold.  I could finally read whatever and whenever I desired.  I even went to my bookshelf and read some ...

      I'm at that age.  The age when people you know and people you have followed all your life begin to die.  Just last week I heard of a high school friend that is now in hospice care.  Since my retirement, I can count six former colleagues that have passed on.  Seems like almost daily I hear of the death of a musician, an entertainer, a politico, or an athlete that I admire(d) that has recently died. It comes it the territory.     On the other hand, there are idols of mine that are still around.  I was musing about Willie Mays to some friends the other day.  My first idol, I had to have his baseball cards and a signature glove.  That glove was magic to me.  As a Giants fan growing up in LA, it was difficult to find.  My dad and I rode the bus downtown to United Sporting Goods where they had a wall of gloves.  The McGregor Willie Mays model was there and I was over the moon.  Three years later, in the...

 So now some folks in Florida are trying to prevent their kids from seeing Michaelangelo's famous sculpture of David because his entire body is exposed. A principal was even fired because allowed the renaissance sculpture to be seen by his students. This famous piece of classical art has been around since___ but suddenly in 2023, it is considered pornography by some overzealous parents. It is, no doubt, the offshoot of time people trying to ban books from school libraries.   If you've wondered about the word sanctimonious lately since Donald Trump applied his invented word de-sanctimonious to Ron Desantis, the governor of Florida, this is a good example.  When a person or group of people are sanctimonious they are making a show of being morally superior.  That applies nicely here.  Of course, the way Trump uses the word is more of his nonsense as desanctiminoius is not really a word.  Trump could hardly be morally superior to anyone or anything, having...

    I once knew an old Kentucky "good ol' boy" who was fond of saying,  "The things you see when you ain't got a gun." If he saw something outrageous like a poorly dressed person, or perhaps something truly ugly, it could be funny.  But the things you see can be a lot more than that.         It's often said that the things you see as a young person set the tone for much of your later life.  These are usually things that initially came as either a surprise or shock or perhaps an affirmation of something you wondered about as a child.  Are there evil people in the world?  Does the society I live in treat all people equally?  Does money talk?  Does anybody really win a war?     We know that people who grew up during the Great Depression forever retain that "Depression mentality.  They waste nothing.  They constantly worry about the vagaries and vicissitudes of the economy.  Having enough food, a decen...

 I recently saw another news story about the current teacher shortage.  The lack of qualified professionals is only one dimension, another is that young or beginning teachers are leaving the profession at an alarming rate.  Lots of one-and-done careers. As a retired teacher who went the distance(34 years), I am concerned and outraged that the powers that be don't do something drastic.   We need to maintain the notion of a public school system that values equality and adequately provides the type of education that our kids deserve.  Who would want to enter a profession that undervalues all the time and effort it takes to educate a person?  If we vetted and tested candidates for public office they way we attempt to vet teachers, we'd have a Congress that could pass some legislation that would properly fund school systems.   Everybody agrees that teachers should be paid more, especially given the demands and the time required to effectively do t...