The Town Crier

What's Rove Got on Fitzgerald?

Yesterday on Flashpoints!, one of Dennis' guests was Marjorie Cohn, President-elect, of the National Lawyers Guild,  editor at Truthout.org  and Professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law.  They were discussing Scalito, I mean Alito, Bush's new nominee for the Supreme Court. 

During their discussion, Cohn somewhat casually mentioned that Karl Rove's attorney is a liberal who knows Patrick Fitzgerald well.  She said that in the "11th hour" before the indictments were handed down, Rove's lawyer handed some documents to Fitzgerald and that Fitzgerald is backing off on Rove.  Dennis called her on this and asked her to go into more detail.  She didn't say much more but I wonder what will come of this and if we'll hear any more about this anywhere else in our liberal media.  If you hear anything, please let me know.

Peace out

SK

Thank God November is Here

When the Hell did Halloween get so big?  When I was a kid, we'd carve pumkins and go trick-or-treating.  Now, many adults I know go to tons of parties, spend much too much money on costumes and use Halloween as an excuse for some Bacchanalian orgy.  Straight men seem to use it as an excuse to dress up in drag.  I really don't like seeing high school girls dressed like sluts because it's Halloween.  I know many of them are the other 364 days of the year anyway.  Almost every costume I saw in a certain weekly paper was some version of slut.  I heard in the news that after Christmas, the holiday where people spend the most money is Halloween.  How can you spend more on Halloween than you do on Thanksgiving?  I guess if you're not hosting a bunch of people and you just show up with a pie you don't spend much.  I'm not complaining.  I love Thanksgiving.  The more,the merrier.  I'll take people off the street.  I don't want to hear that you have nowhere to go on Thanksgiving.

But these days, people's front lawns are decorated like a set from some low budget horror movie.  And how much candy do kids need anyway?  My kid eats enough junk as it is.  I'm not looking for razor blades in his candy basket, I'm looking for partially hydrogenated oils, (ubiquitous) ingredient lists that are longer than the credits on most Hollywood films and things that no parent is his or her right mind would let their kid eat.  That's basically the whole lot.  I know, I'm a scrooge.  I'd rather pour sugar cane and chocolate down my kid's throat than let him eat most of the crap that passes for candy these days.  And he's got so much that the only solution is to bring it into work and let adults make their own bad decisions. 

What do you think?  Am I just a Halloween Scrooge?  Well, get ready for the cosumerama that begins, oh, well, it's begun.  Last night I saw Christmas wrapping paper out on the shelves.  Be prepared for another onslaught of buy, buy, buy.  Remember, Buy Nothing Day is the day after Thanksgiving.  Sounds like a good idea to me.

SK

Thank you Sister Rosa

When I heard the news today that Rosa Parks died last night I was saddened.  But I am taken back to a sunny day in October of 1993, exactly one year before D and I will marry. I am 29, he is 31.  We are at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco.  My mother and aunt are visiting me; it is their first visit to California. Ellen is my mother’s older sister and my Godmother. I am closer to Ellen than I am to my mother.

I am living in my first apartment in the city. It’s a one bedroom on Gough Street in Cow Hollow that I cannot afford. D helps me with the rent. He lives in Santa Cruz and he is the reason I moved to California. My friend Karen B calls this place my Mary Tyler Moore apartment. On this visit, my mother is more talkative than usual. It’s as if she has no filter between her inner monologue and what comes out of her mouth. She’s like a small child; everything she sees fascinates her and she must tell it to us in detail. Being with her is exhausting. This is D’s first experience with my mother. I’m concerned and talk to my aunt about it. She thinks that my mother needs her medication adjusted.

There is a free concert at Davies Hall. It’s showcasing San Francisco music of all kinds. My mother likes anything that is free. As we walk over to Davies Hall, we see that a movie is shooting across from City Hall. Ted Danson is on the set not far from us. My mother, who did not watch Cheers in Prime Time, has become a big fan of Cheers in syndication. She says it helps her understand why Dad went to the bar every night after work. My mother sees Ted and starts waving her arms, jumping up and down, "Hi Ted, it’s Barby from Boston!!" she screams, as if he knows her. Her Boston accent is quite heavy; her Barby sounds like Bahby.

As we stand in line to enter the concert, my mother talks to the people standing around us. "M sister Ellen and I are here to visit my daughter. She lives in San Francisco. It’s our fist time here."  D shifts on his feet and looks at the ground as she talks. There are many vendors giving away food at the concert. Ben & Jerry’s has a new ice cream flavor called Wavy Gravy. They are giving away tiny bowls of it. My mother eats 5 or 6 bowls. When confronted with free food, my mother acts like a dog, she doesn’t know when to stop. She was actually fired from a job at a food bank for stealing the food. There is a sign that says you cannot bring food or drink into the concert hall. Mom is wearing a short-sleeved shirt. Back inside, where we sit on the mezzanine level, I notice her extracting cookies from her sleeve. She hands a few to D, who grins, happy to be her co-conspirator now.

A black a cappella ensemble is singing "Sister Rosa Parks." The chorus goes "Tank you Miss Rosa, you are the spark, You started our freedom movement, Thank you Sister Rosa Parks."

Everyone is clapping along with the singers and shouting, after "Thank you Miss Rosa" and at the end of each line. My mother is doing this also, only with much more gusto than anyone else. She’s cupping her hands on either side of her mouth and grunting "Heyuuu" in a very loud and low voice. She’s also a beat off from everyone else. Everyone is staring at her, at us, even the singers on the stage are staring. Mom’s totally enjoying herself. D, my Auntie Ellen and I sink lower and lower into our seats.

After the concert, we walk up Van Ness to the Hard Rock Café. It’s a long walk and it’s uphill but my mother won’t hear of us taking a cab. By the time we arrive, I am physically and mentally exhausted. It is mid-afternoon and I order a drink. I explain to my aunt that I’m not a big drinker but that being with my mom is a lot for me to handle. "Honey, you don’t have to explain to me," she says, "If I hadn’t started Prozac recently I wouldn’t be here. I’m serious."

Later we drive back to my apartment, my mother "oohing",  "aahing" and "Ellie look at that" at every plant, doorway and street.  When we arrive, D says to me, "Honey, I like your mother but please don’t ever do that to me again."  When we get upstairs, before starting the dishes, my Auntie Ellen gets her Sony Walkman and puts it over D's ears.

Thank you Sister Rosa for all that you did and for this memory of Mom in better times.

Why Can't We All Just Be Friends

I learned of  a website called www.rent-a-negro.com  yesterday while reading Bitch magazine.  Until yesterday, I had never heard of this magazine either but I was at a friend's house and picked up a copy.  According to the article, damali ayo, the owner of the site, started it as a commentary on race in America.  She noticed that white friends were always asking her to explain rap music and asking her questions about black people's experiences.  She's gotten lots of requests for her services from the site but she's also gotten some threatening requests and this made her rethink her original idea.   The site has generated lots of cmments, both pro and con.  Check it out today.

Recent episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm and Extras have dealt with white people's uncomfortableness with race.  On Curb, Larry is always asking his friend Wanda for the "black perspective" which she justifiably resents.  She accuses Larry's dog of being rasict when it is aggressive towards her.  On Extras, Maggie is attracted to a black actor she meets on the set, but she's so self-conscious, that she's forever saying awkward things to him because she cannot get past the race issue. 

Why is it that we are so uncomfortable around people who are different from us, whether it's the color of their skin, their religion, their accent or the way they dress?   I claim that I'm not prejudiced, but I don't like to be around a bunch of white, right-wing conservatives.  Or Born Again Christians.  Or stay-at-home mothers who have no interests outside their children.   As a group, I don't like any of them.  But individually, I hope I could find some common ground with one of them.  Today I heard that the most radical thing we can do is to introduce ourselves to one another.  Maybe that's a step in the right direction.   As a rule, I'm open to talking to new people in any type of social situation.  But there are times when I let my preconceived notions prevent me from talking to someone.   And many's the time that I got to know someone I didn't think I'd like like based on nothing more than that.  I found him or her to be much different than the conservative Republican, airhead with a boob job  or (insert stereotype here) that I'd expected.  How many times has someone not gotten to know me based on their assumptions due to my appearance, gender, accent, etc.?   How many times have you done this to another?  And how many times do you think it's happened to you?  So be radical, introduce yourselves to your neighbors, your co-workers, the person in line behind you. Sure, some of them are assholes, but a lot of them aren't.

SK

KPFA Fundraiser: If not now, when? If not you, who?

Friends, the KPFA Fundraiser is happening now.  KPFA and all Pacifica stations get no money from corporations or from the government.  It's up to us.  To me and you and you and you.  So, tune to 94.1 or listen online at:  http://www.kpfa.org/.  You can pledge online at: http://www.kpfa.org/pledge/  Help keep Free Speech Radio alive and well.  We need it now more than ever.

Peace out,

Stella K

Found Footage Festival

I don't know how many of you caught the piece on NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday morning.  The Found Footage Festival is now touring the country and it features a Travel Show on Rio hosted by Arnold.  It displays more of the behavior that he's been accused of for years.  Another proud moment for Californians.  Maybe the people who want to amend the Constitution for Arnie should watch it. 

To listen to the show, go to: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4956950

Website for Found Footage Festival is: http://www.cine-magic.com/foundfootagefest.html

On a related note, Found Magazine has been a favorite of mine for some time.  I have a letter I found on an Air France flight in the seat back this summer that I need to send them.   They'll be touring this fall, so get out to one of their shows.  See: http://www.foundmagazine.com/index.php?fuseaction=events.home for cities and dates. 

The Rescue Artist/Book signing

A comrade of Stella's asked her to post this as her daughter coordinates programs for the Corcoran Gallery of Art in DC.  Please let all your friends inside the Beltway know about this event which sounds very interesting indeed.

SK

The Rescue Artist/Book Signing

Monday, October 17, 2005      @ 7:00 pm

The Corcoran Gallery of Art
500 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006

Main Information Number - 202.639.1700

In a riveting talk about the art of the steal, Edward Dolnick takes the topic of the world of art theft and recovery–sometimes. If you assume that art theft is a rare occurrence, you will learn about this huge and thriving industry, about how paintings by old masters are used to settle gambling debts, and priceless canvases are rolled up carelessly, and about 10% are recovered. We learn that the thieves who steal art works were usually stealing hubcaps a few years earlier. Dolnick’s book, The Rescue Artist: A True Story of Art, Thieves, and a Hunt for a Missing Masterpiece (HarperCollins, 7/05) has received high praise from the NYT, Time, and ARTNews, among others. Book signing follows.

MRI Films, Documentaries and Two Decent Feature Films

Yesterday was a strange day.  Blender Magazine declared This is Spinal Tap the greatest rock movie ever made.  Stella would have to agree.  Back in the day, when you could wait for someone at the gate and not the baggage claim, Stella would regularly hold or see held for her a "Spinal Pap" sign.  You could tell a lot about the paasengers by their reaction to said sign.  Sometimes even the most unlikey people would laugh or nod their head in recognition.  "I met her on Monday, my lucky bun day, ..."  Good times indeed. 

Donated money to KPFA because Pacifica Radio is the only voice on the airwaves not sulllied by ADM like NPR, or controlled by a Bush crony like Clear Channel.  They were airing an audio adaption of McLibel about the folks in the U.K. who took on McDonald's and faced a libel suit.  I'm getting a copy of the documentary it's called McLibel.  For more information on the situation with McDonald's and why you shouldn't eat there, check out: http://www.mcspotlight.org/.  By the way, the largest donation ever to N.P.R. came from the estate of Joan Kroc, widow of Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald's.  She left N.P.R. about $200 million. 

Later in the day, the premium was a documentary called The Oil Factor.  It's one I'll have to see if not buy.  Check out: http://www.theoilfactor.com/ for more information on that film.  And Control Room is a look at the war in Iraq and  shows coverage of it from Al Jazeera's point of view.    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0391024    I particularly like the bit where two women, one is the director of the film I think, are discussing point of view and how any coverage is going to have some slant or bias to it.  Since I'm on an anti-corporate rant, also check out The Corporation.  It's on DVD and is worth watching.  If you want more reasons to hate Bechtel, and who doesn't, see what they're doing to privatize water around the world.  Learn how companies hire child psychologists to manipulate children into loyal consumers at the ages of 3 and 4.  http://www.thecorporation.com/   

I was at an appointment with my mom yesterday with a neurologist at a top medical school in its memory clinic.  Mom has dementia and/or Alzheimers.   I looked at MRI images of my Mom's brains and listened as the doctor pointed to all the areas of deterioration and what it all meant.  I guess we're lucky to be living in a time where this techonology is possible.  But even if we know what is wrong, what can be done?  Not much.  She's on a bunch of meds but I don't think the quality of her life is so wonderful and neither does she.  A recent article in the BBC said that if you start exercising regularly in your 40's, if not before then, you can cut your risk of dementia by 40-50%.  And if you're predisposed to dementia, exercise can cut the risk by up to 60%.  So, get offline and get your heart rate up.    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4304822.stm is the link to the story.

But why the depression you ask?  Oh, I know.  But I did recently see two good movies.  Thumbsucker and Everything is Illuminated.  Since they both have strong performances by talented actors and decent plots, they won't last long in the theaters so go see them while you can.  We cannot watch everything on video or DVD.  http://www.sonyclassics.com/thumbsucker/  and http://wip.warnerbros.com/everythingisilluminated/ are the sites.  And as I mentioned before under the Leningrad band post, the soundtrack to Everything is Illuminated is great.  Ditto Thumbsucker.  The Polyphonic Spree is a band I really like and Elliott Smith's cover of Cat Stevens' Trouble is haunting and beautiful in its own way. 

Saw a car with Fermez La Bush on it. 

What movies are you watching?

SK

In Memory of Spalding Gray

An Unfinished Life

I

It’s a Slippery Slope

He, too, disappeared in the dead of winter;

Flights were cancelled due to bad weather.

His flight to Aspen. He took another route.

The mercury read eleven degrees that night.

Cold waters. He jumped from the Staten Island Ferry.

He knew those waters well

as he did the ferry, which he rode often.

There were many rehearsals along the way,

each one involving water.

Turning his fears, obsessions and neuroses into monologues,

his own talk therapy.

We thought this protected him from the fate that befell his mother.

It’s a total loss situation, it’s a total loss situation, it’s a total loss situation.

Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony sits upon his piano.

II

The Terrors of Pleasure

In that kitchen outside Philadelphia, hearing

You and Terry Gross discussing Swimming to Cambodia.

A New York Jew trapped in the body of a Rhode Island Yankee,

you made your self-absorption our concern.

You at Lincoln Center, 1986

a table, a glass of water, a notepad

and your internal tickertape, which you shared with us all.

Afterwards, dialogue from Terrors

became shorthand between brother Steve and me. 

An Unfinished Life

III

Life Interrupted

Let us mourn him, Spalding Gray:

Who disappeared on that cold day.

Marissa, Forrest, Theo; lullaby,

Morning, Noon and Night

That summer night in Ireland,

If we could just go back again.

And move the car, move the van,

Prevent the accident that changed the man.

Perhaps he found his perfect moment

By jumping into that strong current.

We see him wrapped in the arms of the sea

Off the coast of Phuket, where he longs to be.

The stage now empty, house lights on,

But your presence is not yet gone

Many will miss you and many will weep,

Spalding, we commend your soul to the deep.

Be at peace Spalding Gray.

In praise of friends, festivals, fêtes and feats

This picture was taken last year when Stella and her friends assembled in NYC for the New Yorker Festival and a fêting of Stella's 40th.  Some travelled from across the country, some crossed state lines and a few crossed town or simply walked down the block.  Stella was the only common denominator during this amazing weekend.  Great meals were had, lively conversation ensued and New York in early October is simply glorious.  Sam graciously let us invade his home for a post-Artisanal party.  Bob pulled out all the stops and found a Boston Cream Pie (not an easy feat) which is Stella's favorite. Cigarettes were smoked, coffee consumed and cell phones rang as plans progressed on the fly.  To all my friends who made this possible, thank you.

Stella