Another Special Person

The news this week is all about the death of Whitney Houston, a remarkably talented singer whose passing at a young age may be due to her battles with addiction. You can feel sympathy or you can feel that her own irresponsibility was to blame, but neither viewpoint affects the sadness of a death coming too early.

Somewhat lost in the outsized media attention being focused on Houston is the passing later in the week of Gary Carter, also at a too-young age, due to brain cancer.

With two outs in the bottom of the 10th of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, Carter came to bat with no one on base and the Mets trailing the Boston Red Sox 5-3, and three games to two.

Carter hit a single that gave the Mets a ray of hope. Then Kevin Mitchell singled. Ray Knight singled to score Carter.  The Red Sox's Bob Stanley wild-pitched Mitchell across the plate to tie the score and Mookie Wilson hit his fateful roller that went through Bill Buckner’s legs.

The Mets won the game and the Mets won the series.

But Gary Carter is remembered for much more than that one amazin' game.  He was not just a skilled and talented baseball player. He was an enthusiastic participant. Fans loved him. With good reason.

New Old Elements

When we heard the news that two new elements were about to be added to the already-difficult-to-understand periodic table, we thought immediately of this 1959 musical performance:

The Elements Song

Following a three-year review process, an international committee of chemists and physicists first instroduced the new elements earlier this year simply as numbers 114 and 116. Now the same group of scientists has proposed to name element 114 Flerovium (Fl) in honor of physicist Georgi Flerov. Element 116 is expected to become Livermorium (Lv), named for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California, where it was discovered (discarvard).

The periodic table's governing body is expected to officially endorse the names in the coming months. Even more elements, numbered 113, 115 and 188, are still under review.

Maybe it is time for some new math.

Looneys on Both Coasts

In the news this week was a report of a New York woman losing a court case in New Jersey wherein she sought the right to appear topless in public. Men do not have to wear shirts, was her reasoning, why should women? In this article we learn that this was not her first legal go-round on the matter.

In the same news cycle came a report from San Francisco, where a city supervisor has proposed a measure to require that nudists not sit in public without "clothing or other separate material as a barrier” between the nudist and the public seating. In this article we learn that public nudity has been accepted in San Francisco for a while now.

The question that occurred to us upon reading the first report was, of all the real or imagined injustices that exist in this world, this woman thinks that shirt-inequality is the one worth pursuing?

The question that occurred to us upon reading the second report was, of all the actions that could be taken to deal with public nudity, the city supervisor thinks that putting a blankie on the seat is sufficient?

My Jobs Program

Tonight, President Obama is scheduled to give his “jobs speech,” an address to Congress and the nation concerning the current level of unemployment and what he plans to do about it.

Pundits are predicting such things as increased pubic works spending, highway and infrastructure projects, and a variety of initiatives falling under the umbrella term “economic stimulus.”

Republicans, ranging from those already in positions of power to those seeking election, have begun to weigh in with their own ideas, be they plans of their own or just criticism of Obama.

Well, here’s my Jobs Program:

Buy American.

It sounds jingoistic, and it sounds simplistic, but it’s what we need. Years ago, my father liked the line, “All we have to divide among us is the sum of what we produce.” It’s exactly right. As our manufacturing sector has decayed, so has our economy along with it. We cannot sustain an economy on banking, burgers, and back-office support. We have to make things.

Another way to express my Jobs Program might be to paraphrase the current New Jersey governor who, when telling people to evacuate the coastline ahead of approaching Hurricane Irene, said, “Get the hell off of the beach!”

My Jobs Program could be expressed as “Get the hell out of the Wal-Mart!” Shopping solely by price is killing our economy. People like to complain about the evil corporations moving production to Mexico and overseas, but is it us, the consumers, who caused this by demanding low price ahead of all other factors. Looking only at the price tag without considering whether it was made by your neighbor or by a Chinese prisoner has been a road to economic ruin.

You can try to blame the politicians. You can try to blame the corporations. You can try to blame the unions. But the blame belongs on us, the consumers. The more we as consumer demand US-made products, the more US jobs there will be.

These days you have to look past the brand name. Lots of American brand names are today attached to products made elsewhere. Conversely, numerous foreign brands have established manufacturing facilities in the United States. But too few people consider whether an item they are buying is made over here or over there.

And don’t blindly play the “quality” card. People who reject American-made cars are living in 1978. There are plenty of high-quality US-made products made today -- including automobiles -- and there are still plenty of shoddy foreign-made goods. Yes, use quality as a determining factor in your buying choices, but use up-to-date, realistic assessments and think about whose job you are supporting.

Buy American. It’s the best Jobs Program.

Sad Irony

... is found in this news headline today:

Heart Attack Kills Owner of Landmark Philly Cheesesteak Stand

Phone Rage

In our popular culture these days, telephone voice mail systems are the targets of both comedians and critics, for the same reason: It is difficult to connect with an actual living person.

Certain organizations – Verizon comes to mind – are particularly egregious in this regard. And a relatively new wrinkle is the voice mail systems’ attempts to get you the caller to go away by recommending that you visit the organization’s web site. In most cases the reason I have called is because I have already tried the organization’s web site.

But today brought yet another new twist. Today’s call was made to my health insurer, which shall remain nameless but includes the words united, health, and care. The voice mail menu offered an option for callers who were “members” (me) or “physicians” (not me.) I selected the option for members, and was presented with a new set of options that included one for members and one for physicians.

Didn’t I just answer that? It was as if the voice mail was asking if I was really really sure that I was a member.

It got worse. I was then presented with a list of options that included what I wanted, information about referrals. Once I selected that option I was given a new list of options which, you guessed it, included an option for information about referrals.

Maybe the voice mail system is hard of hearing. I SAID, INFORMATION ABOUT REFERRALS!

No wonder people are so on edge these days. The economy is in a tailspin, government is dysfunctional, and you can’t even get a simple answer on the phone.

Harry Who?

In a prior post I referenced waiting for the arrival of the documentary about Harry Nilsson.

Once it arrived, I watched it several times.

It is fabulous.

You can see the trailer here:

Who is Harry Nilsson?

In this trailer, Tom Smothers gets it exactly right when he says that Harry’s name elicits either instant recognition or nothing at all. Harry Nilsson is astonishingly not well known, yet those who do know who he is tend toward fanaticism. Harryheads, they are called. I am one.

In truth, most everyone does know Harry, in that they have heard his music, but likely with no consciousness of composer or performer. Some of this is due to Nilsson’s own decision to not perform in concert, something his record company dearly wanted him to do. Some of it is due to the incredible variety of work he turned out – beautiful ballads, hard-rocking thumpers, wry and irreverent satires, and “standards” long before people like Rod Stewart thought of it.

And some of it is due simply to luck. Nilsson’s “Spaceman” was released at the same time as Elton John’s “Rocket Man.” Harry’s composition and recording is superior, but mega-star John got all the available airplay for a song about an astronaut.

Still, Nilsson was not without success. His compositions were recorded by everyone from the Monkees to Three Dog Night, and continue to be recorded today by artists such as Neko Case and Raul Malo. He was identified by the Beatles as being their “favorite group.” But in an ironic twist, Nilsson’s two biggest hits were his performances of songs he did not write – “Everybody’s Talking,” and “Without You.”

His music can be found in movies ranging from Goodfellas to You’ve Got Mail. He scored the entire soundtrack to Robert Altman’s Popeye. He conceived and produced an animated fable called The Point. He sang the entire closing credits for the Otto Preminger film Skidoo.

My favorite Nilsson recording changes regularly. As I write this, I am currently enthralled by the demo version of “The Moonbean Song,” a meaningless song that is utterly charming and beautifully performed. Hear it here:

The documentary is about much, much more than Harry Nilsson’s music, including his impoverished upbringing and the self-destructive behavior that ultimately killed him at age 52. So get the DVD of Who Is Harry Nilsson (and Why is Everybody Talkin' About Him?) from Amazon or Netflix.