South Of Someplace: December 2015

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

My Favorite Simon and Garfunkel Song

I treated myself last evening to dinner at my favorite Italian restaurant. Within two minutes of my being seated, my favorite Simon and Garfunkel song played over the sound system.

"Hey, let you honesty shine, shine, shine, now
Da-n-do-da-n-do-da-n-do-da
Like it shines on me
The only living boy in New York
The only living boy in New York"

What a delightful experience! :-)

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Winter Weather Lyric

Walking in the rain today, I recalled a lyric from a song that I wrote in the winter of 1980-81.

"The mornings are hell
After the dreams, you're just a reality
Don't wince at the finality
Don't be surprised
I've taken wavering steps for a long time."

On the surface, the song is about Vincent Van Gogh and his fatal struggle with mental illness. I included some of Vincent's own words taken from letters that he had written to his brother (e.g., "my steps are wavering").

Suddenly, I'm intrigued with the idea of recording this song. After waiting patiently for half a lifetime, it deserves to see the light of day. 2016 objectives list, here we come.

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Gender-Based Social Conditioning

A video making its way through the social media lately documents comments that are made to women but not to men. The video calls this treatment sexism. Perhaps it is, but I would lean toward calling it gender- based social conditioning. Boys get just as much of this treatment as girls, and it begins at an early age.

We are told that we have to be tough, brave, rugged, and resourceful. We are encouraged to be bold, daring, and aggressive. We are STRONGLY discouraged from a young age against showing our emotional responses to things unless those emotions support the aggressive, combative ideal to which we are supposed to aspire. We are taught to respond to insults with physical violence, despite the fact that such violence can get us into trouble. If we don't respond aggressively, or if we simply choose to avoid conflict, we are taunted mercilessly with any number of demoralizing labels - wimp, sissy, pussy, weakling, baby, loser, quitter. "Don't be such a baby! You're acting like a little girl!" - Boys hear this kind of judgmental criticism every day. We hear it from our peers, from our friends, and quite often from well-meaning adults.

Do you really believe that women are being treated worse in this regard? Why? Because they get comments on their appearance? If someone said to a boy, "Oh, look at you! You're so handsome!" it would feel awkward, but it wouldn't be as soul crushing as being called a pussy in front of a group of our peers. Maybe we should accept that both sexes endure conditioning based on gender stereotypes.

Saturday, December 12, 2015

Denying Benefit to 9/11 First Responders

What is it that Republican lawmakers hope to gain by denying benefits to 9/11 rescue workers? What do they hope to gain by denying benefits to the disabled veterans that they sent into battle with such fanfare are the 9/11 attacks?

How is this blatant inaction seen as a positive by Republican voters (and the talking heads who tell them what to think)? Is this part of that greedy, petty "they don't deserve special benefits" perspective?

When Mexican immigrants and Syrian refugees became convenient scapegoats, Republicans claimed that we should take care of our homeless veterans instead. Okay, great! Put your money where your mouth is, Republicans, and HELP SOMEBODY! Somebody other than your billionaire donors, that is.

All I can infer from watching this spectacle of unwavering stinginess is that America has quietly morphed into Dickensian England, a place where greedy Scrooges hold all of the power, desperate Bob Cratchits work themselves to the bone for poverty wages, and the truly needy - personified by Tiny Tim in 'A Christmas Carol' - wait in vain for the assistance that would alleviate their suffering.

God might have blessed America once, but that's not who's in control here today.

Thursday, December 10, 2015

How America Makes Policy Decisions

The Problem: Two radicalized Muslims armed with AR-15 assault rifles kill fourteen people in San Bernardino, California.

Proposed Solution: Send ground troops to Syria and ban Muslim refugees from entering the USA.

Focus the blame on: Islam

Problem: A man armed with an AR-15 assault rifle kills six adults and twenty kindergarten students in a Connecticut elementary school.

Proposed Solution: Do nothing. Guns keep us safe.

Focus the blame on: Schools, for not permitting teachers to keep a loaded gun in the classroom.

Monday, December 7, 2015

Stupid Ideas

As we age, we lose patience with stupid ideas. This is unfortunate, because people keep thinking up new ones.

Friday, December 4, 2015

Scott Weiland

I never met Scott Weiland. I'm sad to say that I never saw him perform live. But I have spent countless hours listening to the music that he wrote and recorded with Stone Temple Pilots, amazing, unpredictable, sometimes challenging music that was always fresh, deeply felt, and never, ever marred by clichés or an adherence to trends.

Every minute listening to Weiland's music was a treasure. His songwriting was as impactful for its inventiveness as for its emotional gravity. He marched to his own drummer, in the words of Thoreau, and he did it beautifully.

I winced each time I saw one of those headlines: Scott Weiland arrested on drug charges. I feared that one day the news would be worse.

We lost Scott last night. We lost his person. We lost his talent. But we'll never lose his soul. It pours out of the bits and bytes burned into the CDs that he recorded as a solo artist and with his bands Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Underground.

"Leaving on a southern train

Only yesterday, you lied

Promises of what I seemed to be

Only watched the time

Go by"

Scott Weiland was 48.

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Good Deeds and Postal Codes

Good deed for the day: my not terribly fluent linguistic skills came in handy this morning as I helped a couple of tourists from Spain buy their first Metro Card for the Subway.

Why is it that European credit cards never work in automated kiosks in the US (and vice versa)? The machine asked for a ZIP Code, which you're supposed to enter on a numeric key pad. Other countries don't have ZIP Codes. They have Postal Codes, and in many cases they contain letters as well as numbers. Luckily, the couple had a $20 bill. It's much easier to pay in cash!

South Of Someplace