My Favorite Scene from "Awakenings"

Tracked Between Anger and Frustration

I've been home ill today. I tried watching good television and DVDs, but felt crappy enough that I couldn't concentrate on anything worth watching. (Although I did see the last 10 minutes of Body Heat. If you've made it through the past quarter-century without seeing it, then I'll let you in -- Kathleen Turner is alive at the end.) So, instead of watching shows that required sustained cognitive skills, I tried just finding something tolerable on daytime television. This a bad idea -- it just made me wish I had the energy to yell at Alex Trebek and Marc Brown at the same time.

Prime time seems to have provided some relief -- I'm sure the office will be glad to see me some tomorrow.

Jen Caulfield nee Chen

Tony Ortega's Strip column in the Pitch this week has a bit on ClassKC.org, and the challenge for the Star to print the offensive material. Nothing earth-shattering, but it's still pretty funny.

There is No Jenna, Only Zuul!

Shift in Spirit

When you go to ClassKC.com, you get linked to the "Notes on ClassKC.Com" entry in the blog. There used to be an entry regarding "ClasslessKCless.org." After several days of thought, I've changed that. There was a comment posted tonight from Ronnie Terwilliger that expressed eloquently the idea that removing certain books from a childhood also eliminates the opportunties for families to address touchy topics. For whatever reason, it reminded me that I want to address ClassKC.org on merits, not ad hominem attacks. As I've said, I think if the parents have a genuine problem with the curriculum, they are addressing it through proper channels -- it's some of the arguments on the website that really give me pause.

"ClasslessKCless" was originally intended to address the fact that the group isn't really connected with Kansas City, and forwards poor arguments. However, the term "classless" is more loaded than I mean for it to be. It's harsh, and seems rude. The arguments forwarded here and on classkc.org stand on their own. So, I've become a revisionist historian and removed the term.

Yoosij

Recently, I've come across increasingly common usage of the period in dates and phone numbers (1.26.05; 816.555.1212). Although I understand this is a common European usage, I've seen it more and more from my full-fledged Midwestern brethren. It seems like an attempt to be overly-cyber-hip to me (by the recent adopters) , but I still sort of like it. Both dates and phone numbers have lacked consistent standards of expression, and these usages do seem to make for a more consistent image with e-mail addresses. I still use slashes for dates and parentheses and hyphens for phone numbers, but perhaps it is time to change my style.

NPR : Fresh Air from WHYY for Monday, Jan. 24, 2005

Linked above is a great interview with Stephen Colbert from The Daily Show. Colbert notes that by analyzing his humor, he and Terry Gross are making the least entertaining radio program ever. I would disagree, and I suggest that listeners to Gross's program are more than happy to dissect the cute bunny to see how it works.

Colbert speaks openly, if broadly, about his faith. I was unaware of his status as a Believer prior to this interview, but I guess I'm not too surprised. His "This Week in God" segments often have off-hand references to information that could be looked up, but sounds as if it was known. To wit: "Do you realize that 80% of Bush's tax cuts go to Ephesians? [minimal audience response] Oh, that joke KILLED in Tarsus!" (From memory, not transcript -- my apologies if inaccurate.)

He also notes that he tries not to make fun of people for having faith, but rather for the things that people do in the name of faith. Of course, listening to him, one gets the impression that most of that analysis is gut-driven, rather than put up to the making-fun-of-people's-faith measuring stick.

Is It Any Surprise Kansas City Won't Support Light Rail?

I came across this sign as I was at KC's Ward Parkway mall today. It seems like a not-very-subtle form of economic bias, if not blatant racism -- "Don't come to the mall if you don't have a car." The purpose is to keep people from loitering -- I get that and I know that it's a legitimate business concern. But this policy doesn't seem to be the way to address it. It seems to say avoid the mall if you are don't have a car, if you ride the bus, if you have to wait on a cab, or -- taken literally -- if you have walked here from across the street. Our city is very mobile -- the metropolitan area encompasses a lot of land, and almost everyone does have a car. But if we are trying to become a greater city, it seems a poor solution to have corporate policies that smother the use of public transportation. The Ward Parkway mall is pretty much in the center of town. Can you imagine a location in the heart of Chicago or Boston with a sign like that? If I'm wrong -- if these signs do exist in major cities -- let me know, and send me a picture.

Surreal Lunch Experience (Dragon Dynasty, Leawood, KS)

I just had lunch at the Dragon Dynasty in Leawood, just on the other side of State Line at about 123rd. It was a lovely meal with cheap lunch special. However, when it came time to pay my check, I waited 45 minutes while my server, an angry Chinese lady (or an angry lady who happened to be Chinese) yelled into the telephone at -- I presume -- her credit card confirmation service provider. Finally, she brought me one of those manual credit card slips that you run through the machine that goes CHA-CHUNK. It seems they might have thought of that about 40 minutes earlier. Anyhow, I enjoyed the food, but if you aren't going to pay cash, I suggest you look elsewhere.

A Snort . . . A Strike . . . and Johnny Carson

Carson passed over the weekend. Check your personal media outlet for details. I do think its sort of nice that someone released the information recently that he was still sending jokes to Letterman. It makes me think that those around him knew the end was eminent, and wanted a last opportunity for the world to note his greatness while he could still see it. Maybe I'm just projecting my hopes onto the truth, but I'm willing to interpret it as a generous act for a man the world loved.

There will be far too many tributes to him, and his death will push life-changing news off of the front pages, but that's okay by me. He changed the face of entertainment, and always appeared to be a genuinely nice guy.

I Should've Held Out for Twin Peaks

I have watched "Dune" over the last few days, and I'm struck by what a horrible movie it is. I feel like I'm watching the last episode in a television series that's been running for seven years. Visually, it's quite interesting, and I'm sure it's release meant a lot to Herbert fans. Otherwise, it's quite a crappy movie. You can see David Lynch's craftiness, but it's horridly unfocused. He gave up directing Return of the Jedi to direct this. My guess is that Star Wars fans everywhere rejoice at his decision.

Hanging out with the folks

I was in Columbia, MO with my Mom and Dad today, trying to help them with some computer stuff. I don't think I did much other than get Mom to think about what she wants to do with her new Macintosh.

We went out to lunch at Booche's, a pub-type pool hall that has a strong local following. It was pretty crowded inside, probably because an MU game was being played, and we wound up sharing a table with a student and his visiting parents. The fare is pretty simple -- bags of good-quality potato chips and small hamburgers. There are no plates -- the burgers are just served on small pieces of waxed paper. It made me file like what I do at home isn't so horrible. The burgers are pretty thick, and served with onion, ketchup, lettuce, and maybe some mustard, but I don't think so. I'm sure it was available. My Mom couldn't get over the fact that the burgers were all made in about a 4-foot square area wedged behind the bar. Anyhow, a nice time was had by all.

My wife is out of town this week, and so I took her to the airport about 4 this morning. It's been a long time since I've felt this tired.

In Re: The Inauguration

For: The inauguration
Against: Prom attire after high school or before dusk

Soooo Many Words

In an article in the Star last week, ClassKc.org's coordinator, Janet Harmon, stated that part of the justification for the website was that "[t]here weren't reviews available in the school library that gave parents the information they would like to know[.]"

The books, mind you, were available. Everywhere books are sold or loaned. Apparently Cliffs Notes with appendices highlighting vulgarities were not.

Khakis and Denim

Tracy wore all black this morning, mourning the inauguration.* I seriously considered it, but decided not to. I'm not pleased that President Bush has won a second term, but I don't think the time to be disturbed is at the ceremonial transition of terms. Even though it's certainly a Bush-centric event, I think its more important to recognize that it is a peaceful transition of power, which is one of the things that makes our country great. Despite some (maybe legitimate) questions regarding vote counting and Ohio, the public will accept that those who could have challenged have chosen not to, and so we will accept Bush as the winner. There will be protests, but there won't be attempts at coups, or anyone trying to take over the government. The security forces are all out in great number, but it's not to protect the validity of the government -- it's to protect against attacks on people.

Even when I have trouble accepting folks in power, I'm glad that we can accept the process that got them there.

*In proofreading the post, it strikes me that the first sentence seems to come from a second-grade vocabulary primer.

Scorecard Update

The West Wing continues to duck under the scythe. Barely.

AND Vincent Got Beat Up By A Pimp!

For those of you keeping score at home, I have officially given up on Judging Amy as of last night. I like Amy, and I'd think Cheech Marin and Tyne Daley (sp?) could hold my attention for as long as they want, but I'd be wrong.

I think the writers have injected Amy's pregnancy to create something new, but it just feels old -- family crisis, stress in love, Lauren will feel left out. Blah.

So, for your scorecards, I've abandoned Judging Amy and 24 in one week.

Notes on ClassKC.com

Citizens for Literary Standards in Schools (http://www.classkc.org) is an organization attempting to remove certain books from required reading lists in the Blue Valley School District. They specifically state that they are not trying to remove access to the books, but simply make them not mandatory. It smells a bit like censorship, but the organization seems to be doing a good job of steering away from anything that harsh.

Although I feel the group is probably taking appropriate actions (petititoning the school board, lobbying for communication between faculty and teachers), I belive much of their support material is -- at best -- intellectually dishonest, and I've tried to address some of it in the links below:

My word, this is horrible

Jen Caulfield nee Chen

Shift in Spirit

Soooo Many Words

She Was A Teacher or Something. But Whatever

More from ClassKC.org

badideas.php

First the Darwin Thing . . .

She Was a Teacher or Something? But Whatever.

First, please let me direct you to two excellent essays on the ClassKC.org topic, both penned by school Students. The first is a comment here from a student at Lee's Summit North. The second is from Sunday's Kansas City Star and is by Sasha Mushegian at Blue Valley North. Both writers address the points that we release students into the real world and work force, so should prepare them for what they will find, and that we shouldn't shelter high school students in the same manner that would be appropriate for younger children. And, right they are. High School is as much about learning to apply values, and to apply discernment, as it is about anything. If we present only a bleached canvas, how can we ask them to judge it?

Next, please note the companion piece to Ms. Mushegian's essay, an interview with Janet Harmon, one of the leaders of Citizens for Literary Standards in Schools. A few thoughts . ..

Ms. Harmon clearly supports the Bible as being taught in the schools, although I don't think that she is trying to push that topic in this context. However, even though I believe it is the word of God, I certainly think that an objective viewer would find it contains many examples of gratuitous sex and violence.

Apparently, Ulysses was originally posted as an acceptable alternative book, but has since been removed. Ms. Harmon's reply when informed consider it the greatest novel ever written: "Yeah, I think they - the author is Irish or something? But whatever. That's all I'd like to say about that." I wish I had the smallest understanding of that response.

Finally, I note with concern Harmon's comments on Toni Morrison's "Song of Solomon": "It begins with a suicide and it ends with a suicide. The middle doesn't get any better. There are no characters who are noble or who have hope. It was very depressing. I think there are so many other better books to read and the content is much more worthy of discussion." I am reminded of the comments made by Susan Sarandon (as well as other artists) that we are medicating the art out of our children. "Where will the future's artists come from," the argument goes, "when we have given our children so much medication that they can't feel overly depressed or overly exuberant?" From great passion comes great art, and unless one is exposed to feelings that can generate that passion, they can never touch the peaks of what it means to be human. A school should be a protective environment, but it should not pretend that depression doesn't exist. As the two student essays demonstrate, these are things that should be discussed, not swept under the rug.

One Church, Two Church

We worshiped today with Tracy’s sister and her husband in Tulsa. They attend what I believe would be called an independent/unaffiliated bible church. This was probably as comfortable as I’ve been worshiping with them. My guess is that this is a function both of today being a less-conservative service than I have shared with them before and of me becoming a little more tolerant of other worship styles.

The service opened with the congregation gathering in the sanctuary, with a song leader an small choir leading praise songs, which must have been pretty familiar because even I knew most of them. After an opening prayer and announcements, a member offered a solo. She had a lovely voice, and was hindered (in my opinion) by a bad backing track. Then we sang some more, both hymns and praise songs. Generally speaking, I don’t mind singing along with words on a screen – however I was distressed that hymnals were in the congregational seats, the choir was singing from these hymnals, but there was no way to determine where in the hymnal the tune was unless you looked it up in the index after it started. It bothered me, but of course, that’s a pet peeve of mine.

Tracy sang a solo, "I Am," off of a Nicole Nordeman album, and did a beautiful job with it (not burdened by a bad backing track). It makes me want to kick her in the can to start marketing herself and to cut a demo.

The preacher did a good job at delivering a message about the selection of Christ’s believers before the world was made. Generally, he dealt well with the questions, contradictions, and paradoxes that are presented by this belief (this truth), by saying that we can only know what the Word gives us, and that our human brains can’t always wrap around it. I’m willing to buy that. The only thing that really stuck in my craw was the statement (my paraphrasing) that it’s alright to have dissonance in these ideas, but we shouldn’t be in a place where we have contradiction. However, earlier in the message, he had stated that God selects us for salvation, but that he doesn’t select non-believers for damnation. It seems to me that if you say God selects a group for salvation, and that those who aren’t selected are damned, but that he doesn’t select a group for damnation, then that’s a contradiction. But, as I wrote, this is a tricky area to preach on, and if ANYONE only made one disturbing statement during 40 minutes of speaking on it, I’d be pretty impressed.

Overall, it was a nice service, and it made me think about visiting more churches sometime. I’m reminded of the main character in John Grisham’s "The Last Juror" who buys a small-town newspaper, then spends several years (I think) visiting each of the local churches once. That might not be a bad plan if I wasn’t already so happy with my home church. Maybe, though, I could consider visiting a new one once a month or so.

I'm Not Spiritually Toned

I’m out of town, with some of my wife’s family this weekend. We’re having our final Christmas celebration of the 2004 season. I’m enjoying getting to spend a little time away from home, and without many place to be or things to do.

I’m worried lately about my attitude to a bible study / prayer group I’m involved with at church. I feel like I’m not getting a lot out of our weekly meetings, so I’m not investing as much of myself as I should during the week. I need to remind myself that I benefit from the study and prayer done on my own, and that I’m only hurting myself by not doing what I’ve committed to. It’s a lot like exercise, which gives me the same problem. I need to be taking the long view, sacrificing time sleeping in to giving myself a better chance at personal health.

More From ClassKC.org

From ClassKC.org:
****
But isn't Shakespeare also full of objectionable content? Do you also oppose Shakespeare?

This argument is truly a sad one as it shows neither a true understanding of Shakespeare nor a true understanding of the spirit and motives of the classkc.org Web site. Yes, Shakespeare discusses serious subjects such as love, murder, drugs, and violence. But Shakespeare's works contain neither a pervasive nor gratuitous amount of sex, violence, or vulgarity. They do not teach our children about new types of sex nor do they invoke sexually stimulating feelings through explicit passages. Unlike many of our other books, a student or teacher who "talks like Shakespeare" would not be breaking other Blue Valley codes of conduct nor would they be kicked out of school for sexual harassment. Shakespeare's characters do not go through undeveloped, implausible, unresolved, vulgar, sexually-charged, and otherwise morally repugnant storylines found in some of the other books on the required reading list. As Shakespeare's characters work through their humorous, tragic, or dramatic roles, they teach us something about true character and a tremendous amount about the art of creative writing. No, we do not oppose Shakespeare. We consider his works to be an obvious cornerstone of a undamentally sound education in English literature.
****

Look, I don't claim to be a Shakespearean scholar -- at least not in this context. But it seems to me that there could be no better way to demonstrate lack of "a true understanding of Shakespeare" than to say that he doesn't contain pervasive or gratuitous sex, violence, or vulgarity. He's chock full of it. How could he have kept his raucous, drunken crowd enchanted without some of each?

If one thinks that Shakespeare's passages aren't explicit, one doesn't understand the language. Essentially this argument says "Shakespeare is fine, because we can rely on our children's ignorance to keep them from understanding it." Very nice. Further, is it better to have one's children stimulated through implicit passages? Seriously, I've been stimulated four times in my life: Once each from Victoria's Secret, Desparate Housewives, Romeo and Juliet, and the Elephant Man. Each time, same result.

I love the concept of "new types of sex," regardless of where its taught. I think they mean new to the children, but I like to imagine that the Blue Valley teacher's lounges are full of anatomically correct dolls and checklists. "Is this one new?" "Seen it." "How about this one?" "Done it." "Now?" "Keep trying." "I've got to get something ready for Fourth Hour!"

Would you really be able to call a teacher a "whore" in the Blue Valley District and get away with it? Or is the assumption that teachers, like the students, are too ignorant to understand the language?

Shakespeare's storylines aren't implausible, unresolved, vulgar, sexually-charged or morally repugnant? Tamora eats a pie made from her sons! Titus's daugher is raped and has her hands and tongue cut off! Certainly this doesn't happen in every play, but let's not say each work is pristine.

Finally, the suggestion that Shakespeare can show us something of true character and true craft is correct, but why must we limit it to a man dead for nearly 400 years? The analysis on the website doesn't say "this book is vulgar, but well-crafted." It instead calls for the removal of any book with "inappropriate" language to be removed from a mandatory reading list.

The more I read the website, the more I realize that ClassKC wants reading to be a left-brain exercise of dropping words and ideas into particular categories, rather the allowing it to be a right-brain idea involving thoughtful critical thinking.

But Only If You Use The Words Correctly

Linked above is a CNN article on President Bush's admission that his "tough talking" ("bring 'em on," "dead or alive") can have unintended consequences. Certainly, the statement is true, and I'm glad that he can see that. However, here is his first quote in the story: "Sometimes, words have consequences you don't intend them to mean[.]" Nice syntax, Mr. President. Words can have consequences you don't intend, or you can say things you don't mean, but you can't mean a consequence.

badideas.php

So far this page (linked above) is my favorite on the Classkc.org website. The page challenges the reader: "Can you sincerely say that these books are absent of "gratuitous sex, profanity, and violence" per Blue Valley's selection policy 4600?" But then it lists only the "naughty bits" of the book. Note that the name of the page's file is "badwords.php."

Granted, these are phrases I wouldn't spout in church. Yet, I can appreciate that they may be used in an artful or edifying manner when not taken in isolation. Are the makers of this site (self-appointed advocates of "literary standards," mind you) unaware of the fact that it is impossible to tell if language is gratuitous without analyzing the context from which it comes?

First the Darwin thing . . .

Blogkc has pointed out a website (www.classkc.org) from "Citizens for Literary Standards in Schools" that expresses opposition to books used in the Blue Valley School District. My guess is that I will have more to post on this charming endeavor in the near future, but for now, isn't ironic that an organization with the words "Literary Standards" in its name can wrangle its title into the anagram "Class"? And that it's labelled Classkc when they are in neither Kansas City, Missouri, nor Kansas City, Kansas. It would make sense if the group was trying to identify itself to a national audience ("we're the group in the greater KC metro area"), but it is targeting parents of the local school district. Weird. More to come.

Shipping and Handling . . . Priceless

I was reminded at lunch today why I hate brick-and-mortar shopping. In large part, I suppose it is a male-tendencies vs. female-tendencies thing, but when I shop, I want to be able to go to the item, pick it up, and buy it. Cybershopping and search functions obviously make this a lot easier, but they come with the added burden of transaction costs and delivery fees.

So, today I want to the Barnes-and-Noble to look for a collection of shape-note/sacred harp hymns (as on the Cold Mountain soundtrack) on CD. It seems I had plotted myself an impossible task. First, what's the right category to look in? Isn't pop, it isn't classical, and it isn't country. It might be folk (no luck in the folk bin) and it's certainly Christian (but all the Christian selections were contemporary).

So, I tried the magic electronic search machine. But again, browsing was no help, and searches could only be run for song, artist, or album, not for style. So, frustrated, and with the sales person mired in a telephone call, I left. But, running search on the Bn website immediately yielded several results. (I have a BN gift card to use, or I would have taken my business cyberelsewhere).

Does my story portend the death of bookstores and recordstores? Probably not. Good bookstores are great places to hang out and to find something you didn't know you were missing. But chain stores may be smelling the doom and shifting their collective weight towards online marketing and sales.

It's Not Easy Breaking Green

Actress Idina Menzel recently cracked a rib on a trap door while performing in Wicked. Please note that the melting sequence trap door has a bad history. During the filming of the Wizard of Oz movie, production stopped for weeks because the trap door failed to go down all the way, and Margaret Hamilton, while trapped, suffered burns over most of her body.

Contact, 2 p.m., Sunday, 1/9/04

Okay, I have to say this show fell even lower than my already-low expectations. I don't understand why a Broadway show -- that is by all accounts excellent -- would dilute the quality of its product by allowing a horrible non-equity show like this to tour.

Before we get to this production, though, I should address my difficulties with the show. It seems quite didactic, using the so-called "dance play" medium to deliver its message of the necessity of human contact. But, dance is inherently an exaggerated form of the human condition. We don't normally burst into silent rhythmic movement as an expression of our feelings. However, the dialogue and dramatic expressions required to match the exaggerated form lack the subtlety to be taken seriously.

While that subtlety could at least be partially imparted by a strong cast, this collection of single threats failed to deliver. Although a team of excellent dancers, when required to deliver dialogue, the performaces were at best amateurish. As a lone example I offer the Girl in the Yellow Dress. When the script finally offers her an opportunity to express her voice, she demonstrated that she has only two settings: dance and shout.

The stereotypical musical audience isn't always the same as one that appreciates dance. This show has the definite opportunity to open the door from one world to another, but this production fails miserably.