Thursday, November 14, 2024

Rock and Write

Wendall -- every other Thursday

When I was little, there were two things that I lived for—books and the radio. 

 

One of my early favorites with a great cover shot by Henry Diltz.

 
Stevie! Never lower than #2 on my annual "15 Reasons to Live" list.

Whenever we were in the car, I would beg my father to stay on any radio station that was playing Stevie Wonder, The Guess Who, or  “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes,” no matter how static-y it might get.

 

My most prized possession was the transistor radio I received in second grade. 

 

Remember these? Just small enough to hide under my pillow.
 

As a pre-teen and teenager, singles and albums were my currency. 

 

One of my first singles--Marvin Gaye's "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby."

A blouse worth four albums was usually a no. If it came down to the newest Linda Rondstadt or a pizza, the choice was easy. I often based my purchase of new artists like Valerie Carter or Warren Zevon on the session players listed on the back cover. 

 

Practically every artist I loved, from Earth Wind & Fire to Little Feat, to Linda Ronstadt appears on Valerie Carter's debut record.

 
This record was a who's who of 70s stars and session players, from Zevon's roommates Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham to Jackson Browne, Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bonnie Raitt, and J.D. Souther, etc.
 

During college I worked at The Record Bar (RIP!) in Chapel Hill, NC and bought three albums a week (they were five dollars then), adding significantly to my collection.

 

Bangles record signed during an "in store" at The Record Bar.
 

I schlepped all my albums to my first job in Massachusetts, to graduate school, cross country in my 1965 Ford Galaxie 500 to California, and to four of my five apartments in LA.

 

Five years ago, with a “media closet” full of not only over almost 2000 albums, but just as many CDs and even more VHS tapes and DVDs, my husband requested a consolidation/cleanout. Fair enough, but it still killed me.

 

I had plenty of albums which, in perfect condition, were valuable. Mine were far from mint. I was one of those people who dropped the needle over and over on my favorite song and the constant moves had left the covers less than perfect.

 


 

 

At the time I was going through my albums, this wasn't available on CD and, in mint condition, was going for $195. I still have it.

I promised to donate at least a large stack of records as long as I had backups on CD and MP3. 

 

One of my donation stacks.
 

 

Another one.  Of course I have Randy Newman in all formats.

As I went through them, I kept seeing tracks that hadn’t necessarily been hits, but that I had loved. As a tribute, I posted one of them, Robert Palmer’s “Mean Old World” on Facebook. 

 


The next day I posted “Runs in the Family” by The Roches.


 

Five years later, I have posted a new “album cut of the day” pretty much every day on my Facebook page. So, for this anniversary, I offer up a few covers of albums I adore.

 

 



I’ll keep going with my "album cuts of the day," hoping music and books get us through, as they always have.

And if you want to hear me talk about how my love for music factors into the Cyd Redondo series, here’s an interview on the Aural Mess podcast about it.

 

The creation of Cyd Redondo’s musical taste: https://www.instagram.com/p/C9UhuV9uXJI/

 

Full interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcZgSUGehcw

 --Wendall 

Wednesday, November 13, 2024

How a Writer’s Drafts Mirror US History: From Revolutionary Beginnings to the Present Chapter of Fear and Uncertainty

Kwei--Wed

Introduction:
The evolution of a writer’s drafts can be likened to critical periods in US history, capturing both aspirations and turbulence. From the raw vision of a revolutionary start to the unexpected, uncertain twists of the present day, each draft stage echoes a different era. This article examines how these stages of writing align with historic American moments, concluding with the current draft. In this ongoing process, the direction remains unclear as sycophantic and extreme influences shape new challenges.


1. The First Draft: Revolutionary Beginnings



The first draft represents the nation’s founding—a period of raw ideas and unpolished ideals. Much like the colonists dreamed of independence, a writer begins with fresh concepts, even if rough around the edges. At this stage, creativity is boundless, and like the Revolution, this draft’s foundation is bold but incomplete. Much more lies ahead in shaping the final product.


2. The Second Draft: Rebuilding Like the Reconstruction Era



The second draft is a time of reflection and structural change, similar to the Reconstruction Era after the Civil War. Writers revisit gaps and inconsistencies, reworking characters and plots for cohesion. Like America striving to unify and redefine itself, this stage is about careful refinement, bridging ideas for a cohesive narrative.


3. The Third Draft: Growth and Progress in the Mid-20th Century



The third draft aligns with America’s mid-20th century, a time of prosperity and refinement. Here, the writer’s vision is mainly realized, with the narrative’s style, tone, and direction honed to reflect a strong voice. Like this historical period's economic boom and cultural richness, this stage is about final touches to create a balanced and structured work. However, all is not sweetness and light. Many inequities and injustices remain. The draft needs work.


4. The Current Draft: Present-Day Uncertainty and Unexpected Revisions



The editorial board has given an unexpected directive in the current draft, paralleling the present political developments. As today’s political landscape reflects a shift toward sycophantic and extremist influences, the writer’s plot must incorporate new characters embodying these traits. The direction is unclear, the revisions vast, and the outcome uncertain. It’s a draft under construction, a stage that could still go in many ways depending on these evolving influences and choices.


Conclusion:
The evolution of a writer’s draft mirrors American history's transformations, from groundbreaking beginnings to periods of refinement, growth, and current uncertainty. Just as today’s political landscape appears conflicted, complex, and, some might say, cataclysmic, this ongoing draft reflects a story in flux, yet to find its final form amidst diverse and challenging influences.

 

Sunday, November 10, 2024

Putting Events in Perspective

Annamaria on Monday


The news of the past few days has been pretty gloomy for me and most of my friends.  Yesterday, I did physically what I think my country did politically last Tuesday.  You know what happened in the election.  For me, I acted it out on my way to get milk for my morning coffee. I tripped and fell down.  Suddenly, I found myself face down in the street.

Those of you who have read my post from last week will recall that I bragged about  my City of New York, referring - among other things - to the fact that if someone falls down, the people nearby immediately try to help.  The three people who were there bore me out.  Immediately, those strangers rushed to help, got me to my feet, and waited to make sure I was okay before they went about their own business.  

If you were going to categorize me in one word, it would be optimistic.  Some would say I'm a cockeyed optimist. The results of the US election last week have made millions of Americans profoundly unhappy.  I was disappointed in the result and spent a couple of days not wanting to think, much less talk about it.  Those New Yorkers, rushing to my aid, put my mind back on track.  For most of us, when it comes to day-to-day life, not much is going to change abruptly.  People are going to continue behaving as they have. 

Life will continue until the new administration takes office.  At least, given the result, we will not be subjected to endless claims of a rigged election.  The people who have been screaming about the cheating and  election fraud suddenly have faith in the process.  My worst fear, attempts at trying to take over the government by force (as happened on January 6, 2020) will not occur.


As far as the changes that Mr. MAGA has promised, I imagine he will try to enforce them.  But will that be easy?  And will the results produce what he told the voters to expect.

Here is what Harvard historian Heather Cox Richardson predicted in one of her "Letters from an American."

Social media has been flooded today with stories of Trump voters who are shocked to learn that tariffs will raise consumer prices as reporters are covering that information. Daniel Laguna of LevelUp warned that Trump’s proposed 60% tariff on Chinese imports could raise the costs of gaming consoles by 40%, so that a PS5 Pro gaming system would cost up to $1,000. One of the old justifications for tariffs was that they would bring factories home, but when the $3 billion shoe company Steve Madden announced yesterday it would reduce its imports from China by half to avoid Trump-promised tariffs, it said it will shift production not to the U.S., but to Cambodia, Vietnam, Mexico, and Brazil. 

There are also stories that voters who chose Trump to lower household expenses are unhappy to discover that their undocumented relatives are in danger of deportation. When CNN’s Dana Bash asked Indiana Republican senator-elect Jim Banks if undocumented immigrants who had been here for a long time and integrated into the community would be deported, Banks answered that deportation should include “every illegal in this country that we can find.” Yesterday a Trump-appointed federal judge struck down a policy established by the Biden administration that was designed to create an easier path to citizenship for about half a million undocumented immigrants who are married to U.S. citizens. 

Let's look back at the results of similarly rightwing presidents of the recent (by my standards) presidents of the past.  Both Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan were elected by even greater majorities of voters than Trump.  And with a greater percentage of elegible voters going to the polls.   


In 1972, Nixon won with 520 electoral votes, to George McGovern's 17!  That win propelled Tricky Dick to way overstep his bounds and eventually to resign in disgrace to avoid impeachment.

  

In 1984, Ronald Reagan got 525, compared to Walter Mondale's 49!.  But his "trickle down”economic approach led to an ever widening gap between the rich and the poor, and many members of the middle class dropping into poverty.  As his second term ended, large swaths of the population became aware that he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease, and the world had discovered the Iran-Contra scandal that smeared his reputation.

Those presidents, with their enormous wins, began to think they could do no wrong.  Truth, as we know, is the daughter of time.

If we look even further back in time, we see that progressive changes keep happing all over the planet regardless of the ups and downs of year by year politics.  Here is the truth about the trends in human experience:

Optimism for the world in general...

I think young people worldwide are growing up more tolerant than other generations have.  We can chalk this up to trends going on for a century or more.  Here is the good news about what the human race has been up to.

Far fewer people live in extreme poverty



Child mortality is also way down.


Illiteracy is waning around the globe.
 



Similar worldwide gains in education show that average education level of the citizens of the world improves enormously every single decade.

You won't hear about this progress on the nightly news.  Why?  Because, by its nature, the news concerns itself more with the unusual and negative than with positive trends.  But if you take the long-term view, the world is heading in a beautiful direction.  And, given what we know about the youth of the world, when people my age turn the reins over to the young, they will not try to push the world backwards.

World wide, women and people of color are more and more taking leadership roles in political life.  this will not go way.



In the year 2000, my husband David and I were in Rome on Election Day, watching the results on CNN in our hotel room.  When the station declared the winner to be Al Gore, we went to sleep happy.  By morning, though the result was changed.  We woke up to the news that G.H.W. Bush had won.  Out on the streets of the eternal city, we met many other American tourists who were down in the dumps.  David was very depressed, seeing his hopes dashed for an environmentally astute president.



"Look around us, David," I said.  "This beautiful city.  Vibrant. Full of energy.  it is gorgeous.  Populated with people leading very nice lives.  Taking their children to school.  Going to work.  Making great coffee in the cafes.  Falling love.  Careening up and down the hills in taxis.  This is a happy place. It was once ruled by Caligula!  And he had no checks and balances on him.  Yet, not even a ruler as miserable as Caligula can ruin human progress forever."

In the words of Mohandas Gandhi:



“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall – think of it – always.”

LOVE ALWAYS WINS

 

Saturday, November 9, 2024

How Could I Have Missed It, Again?


Jeff—Saturday

As you may have heard, something big happened in the US this week...on Tuesday to be precise.  It led me to see what I'd written about a similar occurrence in 2016. Below is what I wrote back then...with clarifying UPDATES marked as such and set off in [Brackets]:

I don’t know why I didn’t see it coming. I mean, I was in Greece for all three of the populist SYRIZA party’s successful elections, in Europe for the populist Brexit victory, and born and raised in western Pennsylvania amid the down-to-earth families making up the heart of America’s steel and coal country.  Think Michael Cimino’s “The Deer Hunter,” and you get the picture.  In fact, I played football against the high school team from the Monongahela River mill town of Clairton where much of the movie was filmed.

My father's friend owned the tractor featured in this opening scene of The Deer Hunter

I also realized from the moment I first set foot in New York City in 1969 that New York City—whoops make that Manhattan—thinks nothing like the rest of the country, until you hit LA, Washington D.C., or a few spots around Chicago.

Yet, the same as practically everyone else in NYC, I drank the media’s and odds-makers’ Kool-Aid and never saw it coming [UPDATE-This time the odds makers got it right].  

Yes, folks, the populist Cubs actually won the World Series! [UPDATE-In 2016 over Cleveland]  Who would have thunk it? 

[UPDATE-In 2024 the New York Yankees got whooped by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series--but Trump whipped both New York and California in the who gets to seriously govern the world competition.]


Cleveland rooters are understandably disheartened. So close, but yet so far.  At least there is solace to be taken in knowing that, “Better luck next year” is far more optimistic a rallying cry than say, “Better luck in four.” [UPDATE-though the latter form of rallying cry worked for Trump after losing in 2020]


And speaking of Pittsburgh (where the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers meet to form the Ohio), I returned for a fundraiser Thursday night, and a book event Friday night at Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Oakmont, Pennsylvania (under new owners, Natalie Sacco and Trevor Thomas [UPDATE-Now owned by Kristy Bodnar and Tara Goldberg-DeLeo]—a town rather far up the Allegheny River from where I grew up.

Mystery Lovers second from left

And with its legendary Oakmont Country Club, known for hosting US Open Golf Championships, a much different community from The Deer Hunter’s Clairton.

Oakmont

Clairton

Both nights’ events were grand times packed with folks, food, and adult beverages, but I want to mention something about the first…the second is old news. 

Wynton Marsalis headlined the non-booksigning event

The event on Thursday night brought together 1100 supporters of The Pittsburgh Promise, a charitable organization offering all students of Pittsburgh Public High Schools, resident in Pittsburgh and in its schools since 9th grade, who graduate with at least a 2.5 grade average and 90% attendance record, scholarships of $7,500 per year for four years toward accredited post secondary education, be it college or technical schools in Pennsylvania.

Since its creation a decade [UPDATE-and a half] ago, The Pittsburgh Promise has raised $194 million toward its funding goal of $250 million, awarded over 6800 scholarships [UPDATE 12,266] totaling more than $89 million [UPDATE $179 million], and seen college-going rates increase from 58% to 68% among graduates of Pittsburgh Public Schools.

The motto of The Pittsburgh Promise is, “Dream Big, Work Hard, Give Back.”

I’d say that’s a solid motto for us all to grab onto in these times. [UPDATE-AMEN]

As for those Cleveland fans out there [UPDATE- and millions of others] still down in the dumps, allow me to pass along a bit of anecdotal advice.  Someone I hold very dear spent a solid two weeks at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center working twenty-hour days as one of those in charge of organizing the victory celebration for Hillary.

Trust me, it doesn’t get much harder on the soul than what happened that night. [UPDATE-though it did, for in 2024 that same soul was charged with organizing the victory celebration for Kamala]


Yet, by today, my friend is back on track, putting the disappointment behind, and doing what one must to go on. 

That’s consistent with what my pappy always said, “The only ones who lose in life are those who give up when they’re down.” 

So, listen up all you Chief Wahoo fans, hang in there for this, too, shall pass. “Go Indians”…unless, of course, you happen to be playing the Pirates in the Series. [UPDATE-There was a pitched battle between those who saw it offensive and those who saw it as tradition for the Cleveland (Ohio) baseball team to continue calling itself the Indians and use "Chief Wahoo" in its branding. In 2021, after one-hundred and six years as the Indians, the team renamed itself the Cleveland Guardians.]


Chins up. [UPDATE-the times are changin' whether we want them to or not.]


—Jeff

Friday, November 8, 2024

A different view of reviews

                                            

                                                        Sorry. But it is funny. Or is it?

Just spent a very bad week on holiday. My edit came back on the Monday I was away which was not bad. Worse was the paperwork I had to prepare before I appeared in court as an expert witness the day after we were due back. And then of course something disastrous happened on the Tuesday. 

In America. 

He was up all night, hitting his head off the wall.

I’m sure you all feel you’ve had enough so I’m not going to comment.

Well not very much.

                                          

I couldn’t really concentrate on the edit because of the court case. But as I was pulling out the cases to pack to come back I got an email to say a plea was now on the table so I wasn’t required. So just to amuse myself, and hopefully yourself, I started browsing through some of the terrible reviews of the hotel we were staying at.

And realised maybe it's time for humanity to think that some people are too stupid to be allowed an opinion on anything, especially politics.

Here are the reviews. And  my responses if I was in customer service...

It's impossible to go anywhere.  This resort is tiny, there are no bars, no restaurants or anything. I was going mad by day two.   You are probably mad already. It's a very small  cove between two very high cliffs. It's very obvious.

People were judging us as if we are weird. There is a terrible atmosphere. We were two woman holidaying on our own and were fed up with filthy disgusting looks.  Please tell me what you were doing to get such looks...I'm  intrigued. 

There were cats everywhere, I found it very upsetting. They should be rounded up. Ahh, the famous cats of Taurito. They have their own Facebook page. There's 12 of them in the bay, all looked after, all friendly If you don't like cats, don't get involved.

It wasn’t proper sand on the beach. They should let you know that the sand is the wrong colour.  All golden sand in the Canaries is imported. Go somewhere else on holiday.

Our sleep at night was constantly interrupted by the noise of the waves. Nobody told us that the sea would be so noisy. When I explained this to the staff they made no effort to make the sea go quieter.   Maybe the middle of the island would be better for you. Or the middle of the sea.  With or without a boat. Are you the person who has just tiktoked that they couldn't believe that cruise ships  sailed at night when it was dark?

Although it shows clearly on the picture that the hotel was built into a cliff it does not say that the cliff is vertical rather than horizontal. Therefore the rooms at the top are quite high up.  I have vertigo. This is disgraceful. I demanded my money back but got no satisfaction. Ah, good point. As the hotel is actually at ground level. But the ground at that level is high up.

I believe the hotel was built in the  60s. Even in the 60s people knew that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. So the  hotel should have been built at a proper angle so that the balconies get the sun all day.    You could have moved your sunbed.

I couldn’t believe that we were one of the few British people there. It was very unsettling. We voted for BREXIT. Some of the staff spoke Spanish.  I rather enjoy not being surrounded by British people because of comments like this.

It is a rip off to call itself an all inclusive hotel as the drinks covered in the all inclusive package are only water, all soft drinks, coffee tea, beer, red white and rose wine, all spirits and 5 of the more common cocktails.  What do you drink?  The blood of virgins? 

They even had the audacity to refuse to put my wine in a glass for me to take to the pool, offering me a plastic one instead.  Please see below.

The rule about no glass around the pool was  not  strictly enough enforced. Why  oh why can people not pay attention to rules.  Please see above.


                                       

                                                 pesky sea, pesky waves, pesky sunny thing in sky!

After going for a swim, I found myself quite wet. Again I complained to the management and I was not offered a discount.  Towel noun

  1. a piece of thick absorbent cloth or paper used for drying oneself or wiping things dry:
    "a bath towel" · "a paper towel"

The food was totally disgusting, none of it was edible and some of it was foreign. Their themed nights are laughable. One whole section of the buffet was for vegans and vegetarians. It does not say on the brochure that this hotel allows such people. I asked for a discount and I wasn’t given one.   Please do not come here again.

The worst thing about the buffet was that the food was cold, especially the salad. I  complained and didn’t get a discount.   Ditto as above.

We ordered champagne, we were advised that it would be 10 minutes before it was at the right temperature. We said we wanted it now. When it arrived it was at the wrong temperature and they refused to deduct it from the bill.    Ahh... that's the drink that's not on the all inclusive.  I wonder what temperature the virgin's blood was at?  36.5?

                                           

                            The infamous desk where accounts were calculated and novel went unedited


I had my child with me, my child is much younger than me. I could not believe the lack of facilities for my child. It was a terrible holiday. I asked for a refund and I got nothing.  Not at this hotel you didn't as it's adults only. If your child was over 18 he should have been able to amuse himself. Has he seen Psycho?

                                                               

                                                                         The holiday book list!

They say they have a gym, it's tiny. There is nowhere to exercise so I asked for a discount, I didn’t get any.  People run on the beach or swim in the sea or in the pool. There's a park between the hotels with circuit equipment. It's a five minute walk.  Was that too far for you because it wasn't on a treadmill?

I am an American, I chose poorly and we’ve ended up with the wrong President. I was refused a discount.    Here's another country and you will be welcome. Our government is also awful but too inept to do much damage...   

Caro