Director’s Credits
In my youth, there was a time when I was floating in anguish. I was lost, directionless, doing drugs, constantly in trouble, contemplating suicide etc. In other words, just another teenager.
What changed was one day, on a whim, I auditioned for a school play called Up The Down Staircase and somehow landed the plum role of the school bad boy. Probably type casting at the time. However, it is what that play led to that changed my life the most.
A friend and fellow thespian, Arlene, asked me if I would like to come be in a show for the local recreation district teen theater group. They were doing Inherit The Wind and needed me to help fill a small role and as a townsperson. I said yes and thus stepped into the world of the Carriage House Theater gang under the direction of Darryl Ferrara.
Darryl was a well-known local actor and, along with his then-wife, Sally (who ran the puppet theater) had taken over the task of shaping a bunch of teens into a well-rounded theatrical troupe. He taught us how to build props and sets, hang lights, run a light board, stage crew, stage manage and when we were done, clean the place up. He imparted skills in stage direction, movement, acting, and singing.
Yet, most of all, he was the epitome of a mentor. He gave us a sense of belonging, of community, and of pride in what we did. He took a bunch of kids at the height of teenage angst and taught us how to live a life full of possibilities.
Remembrance of Things Past…and Yet To Come
Picture this. An old stable and carriage house on the grounds of a post-civil war mansion; dusty, full of various and asunder little critters, cramped, seating 50…well, 48 actually. We took out two seats to put in a spot light.
Within this humble setting magic happened. Peter Pan flew, Cinderella became a princess, fairies protected Babes from Toyland, Mary Poppins popped in, Dorothy found the Wizard, and seven kids as tall as six feet turned into dwarves to romp with Snow White. All this and much more. We would run around the surrounding park drumming up business for a matinee of Comedia Del Arte (Carriage-House Style) or a fractured fairy tale that would entertain the adults as much as the children (though the adults were loath to admit it). For fifty-cents, it was a hell of a deal.
We would then pack the show up into a van and take it on the road to schools, parks, recreation centers, wherever. We toured with Cinderella off and on for two years, and at least once a year it seems we would mount a production of Much Ado About Magic.
The productions became events and an event could become a production. Many times, we would gather around and “write” a script for a musical we wanted to do. It would go something like this:
“So, who saw the Wizard of Oz last?”
(Many “I dids!”)
“Okay, so what happens in the first scene? Next scene?”
(Lots of calling out and writing down.)
“How much can we do here?”
(Lots of mumbling and discussion and editing)
“Okay, we got it. Rehearsals begin tomorrow.”
And that is the way you make a show.
Most actors today do not get that kind of experience, that sense of theater as a whole and we did learn it all. One day the star of the show, the next day sweeping out the stables, and the next selling tickets and running the spot light.
Our theater troupe and our program grew with us and in 1978 our dreams were realized when the Hayward Area Recreation District (HARD) built the 250 seat Little Theater; an accomplishment that took all of us (and many more) to get the project through the tough budget times of those days.
Requiem
Darryl passed away recently and I feel a part of me is empty, and yet fully satisfied. It is difficult to express what has happened. You see Darryl will never die. I suppose it is because he continues to live in the so many kids whose lives he touched during those years.
Here’s a quick look at just a few of us. Penny Hamilton, who originated the role of Snow White in the long running Beach Blanket Babylon, took her career to Los Angeles, had a successful nightclub act and wrote for other performers. (Penny passed away far too young a few years ago.)
Arlene Hood (who started me on this journey) is a dramatic arts teacher at Moreau High School in Hayward. She is also a successful director, taking shows to the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. She has received a coveted invitation from and is taking a show to the Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theatre.
Nancy (McCullough) Engle took over from Darryl at the Little Theater when he moved to Los Angeles with his wife Cindy (another Carriage House Alumni) to pursue a full-time acting career. Nancy has been the Director of the Theater program for HARD for nearly 25 years and I’m proud to have acted in many shows she has directed. Oh, in her spare time she got her law degree and passed the Bar.
Ross Buffington brought his skills to many theaters in the Bay Area while building an impressive resume at some Bay Area banks. He is now the COO for Zero G Software in San Francisco.
Jay Clifton has sung for the San Francisco and San Jose Opera Companies and has played Daddy Warbucks at just about every theater group in the Bay Area. As asideline, he works for UC Berkeley.
John Marchand is a Senior Chemist for the Alameda County Water District and has sat on the board of Zone 7, Alameda County Flood Control and Water Quality for 14 years. He has also been the Keynote Speaker at many industry conventions across the country.
His wife Sue Marchand (AKA Cinderella) is an accomplished Bay Area artist whose murals decorate the walls of the Hayward Library and many other buildings in the area. She recently returned to school to garner her teaching credentials and now teaches grade school in Livermore.
Not bad for a bunch of misfit kids who liked to dress up and put on make-up.
What? Me? What have I accomplished? Well I’m just proud to be living a life that includes a wonderful wife and daughter and allows me to watch my grandkids taking up acting, seeing them on stage…and loving it! Oh, and to be able to write these essays of mine, especially this one.
So you see, I owe Darryl. I owe him…a life.
Fini
Sunday, October 17, 2004
Churning
Okay. I’ve watched all the political debates, the ads, the stump speeches and about as many plaudits, pundits, and Spinmeisters I can take and I have come to this conclusion:
IF YOU ARE VOTING FOR BUSH, YOU ARE NOT PAYING ATTENTION!
How’s that for a partisan slant?
Really, folks, take a look at what is going on today.
Healthcare. Nearly 20% of the American public is uninsured or seriously underinsured medically. This is a subject that is near and dear to my heart. Fourteen years ago I said that health insurance would be at crisis level as it was being ignored. My heart sank in 1993 when corporate greed-mongers and their lackeys, the Republican Party, quelled Clinton’s Universal insurance plan.
If you do not think this affects you, just wait. Your co-payments and premiums are about to jump big time…much bigger than you have experienced in the past. If you are retired, Medicare is going up 17% and the drug companies continue their upward spiral on the costs of drugs. That of course takes away any benefits (if there ever were any) from Bush’s so called Medicare fix that provided seniors with “help” on prescription drugs.
No need to worry? You have healthcare through your retirement package? Get that heart bypass while you can. Companies have been on a rampage dropping retiree benefits as fast as they can. Employee benefits are next.
Jobs. The jobless rate is hovering around 5.2%, but this is very misleading. It does not count those who have not been able to find a job and have dropped off the unemployment rolls as their benefits ran out. Nor does it count those who are underemployed, taking part-time, temporary or full-time employment at far less pay than they had been receiving before being laid off. Taking those factors into account it is estimated that the “un” or “under” employment rate is more like 7% and could be as high as 8.5%. A far less rosy picture than Smirky and friends would have you believe.
Foreign Policy. What foreign policy? Smirky and company have opted out of the rest of the world, other than those countries they have chosen to invade for no reason. The closest they get to international relations is handing out tax breaks to international corporations. The Bush foreign policy is, “We got missiles!” and “Don’t be Evil.” That is about it.
Terrorism. See foreign policy.
I’ve got to tell you, I have no idea why more than half the American public like the way Bush is handling the “WAR ON TERROR.” He abdicated the hunt for Al Queida and Osama bin Laden to invade Iraq (which is quickly descending into another Vietnam.) What the hell do they see that makes them feel safer? Orange Alerts? Sadaam in jail? What does that have to do with 9/11? It certainly can’t be the Patriot Act, which succeeded only in giving our esteemed Attorney General the power to ship you off Guantanamo (sp?) Bay, never to be heard from again. So what is it? His smirk? Dick Cheney’s ability to tell a US Senator to go _________ himself? No really, I would like to know!
Government Spending. The national debt is now at an all time high and rising fast. Why? Tax cuts for the wealthy contributors who keep Bush and his ilk in office. Most corporations pay NO TAXES. That’s right, none, zip, nada. That’s fine for Bush and friends, but it isn’t fine for you or your children. (If you’re thinking “Hey! I got a tax break, too!” Take a look at how much you got back; now subtract the cost of gas, food, healthcare etc. Now tell me about your tax cut.) The national debt has a direct affect on the economy, driving interest rates and inflation up and when all us baby Boomers start retiring soon, you can kiss Social Security goodbye… and that is exactly what the Republican Party has wanted to do since FDR. Every dime we have been paying toward Social Security for the last 20 years has been borrowed by the government to build such needed things as Star Wars Defense systems and to invade that threat of threats to the American Way, Iraq. Don’t think the Republicans don’t know it. They signed the IOUs.
Education. No Child Left Behind; the shining beacon of education reform that Bush shoved through congress with pipe dream promises has left behind about half a million children a year since Bush took office. Why? Bush’s tax cut took away education funding so what you have is a bill that says kids have to do better, but essentially no money to pay for it. Well, that isn’t exactly true. The money has actually been rerouted to such important issues as tax breaks for hog farmers and other pork spread around to Bush and Company. What we have here is a back door attempt to legitimize vouchers. “See, Public schools are not performing! We need vouchers for Right-wing Christian Schools!”
In his book, “What’s The Matter With Kansas?” Thomas Frank attempts to find answers to many questions such as why supposedly bright folk would vote against their own economic interests. For example, why would a blue-collar worker, laid off, no health insurance, and deeply in debt still vote for the corporate interests who put him there? Frank says it is because activist neocon Republicans and Corporate manipulators have fooled the nation into believing that their best interest is morals and down-home talk rather than stands on hard questions of policy. I think it is because they are NOT PAYING ATTENTION!
Fini
IF YOU ARE VOTING FOR BUSH, YOU ARE NOT PAYING ATTENTION!
How’s that for a partisan slant?
Really, folks, take a look at what is going on today.
Healthcare. Nearly 20% of the American public is uninsured or seriously underinsured medically. This is a subject that is near and dear to my heart. Fourteen years ago I said that health insurance would be at crisis level as it was being ignored. My heart sank in 1993 when corporate greed-mongers and their lackeys, the Republican Party, quelled Clinton’s Universal insurance plan.
If you do not think this affects you, just wait. Your co-payments and premiums are about to jump big time…much bigger than you have experienced in the past. If you are retired, Medicare is going up 17% and the drug companies continue their upward spiral on the costs of drugs. That of course takes away any benefits (if there ever were any) from Bush’s so called Medicare fix that provided seniors with “help” on prescription drugs.
No need to worry? You have healthcare through your retirement package? Get that heart bypass while you can. Companies have been on a rampage dropping retiree benefits as fast as they can. Employee benefits are next.
Jobs. The jobless rate is hovering around 5.2%, but this is very misleading. It does not count those who have not been able to find a job and have dropped off the unemployment rolls as their benefits ran out. Nor does it count those who are underemployed, taking part-time, temporary or full-time employment at far less pay than they had been receiving before being laid off. Taking those factors into account it is estimated that the “un” or “under” employment rate is more like 7% and could be as high as 8.5%. A far less rosy picture than Smirky and friends would have you believe.
Foreign Policy. What foreign policy? Smirky and company have opted out of the rest of the world, other than those countries they have chosen to invade for no reason. The closest they get to international relations is handing out tax breaks to international corporations. The Bush foreign policy is, “We got missiles!” and “Don’t be Evil.” That is about it.
Terrorism. See foreign policy.
I’ve got to tell you, I have no idea why more than half the American public like the way Bush is handling the “WAR ON TERROR.” He abdicated the hunt for Al Queida and Osama bin Laden to invade Iraq (which is quickly descending into another Vietnam.) What the hell do they see that makes them feel safer? Orange Alerts? Sadaam in jail? What does that have to do with 9/11? It certainly can’t be the Patriot Act, which succeeded only in giving our esteemed Attorney General the power to ship you off Guantanamo (sp?) Bay, never to be heard from again. So what is it? His smirk? Dick Cheney’s ability to tell a US Senator to go _________ himself? No really, I would like to know!
Government Spending. The national debt is now at an all time high and rising fast. Why? Tax cuts for the wealthy contributors who keep Bush and his ilk in office. Most corporations pay NO TAXES. That’s right, none, zip, nada. That’s fine for Bush and friends, but it isn’t fine for you or your children. (If you’re thinking “Hey! I got a tax break, too!” Take a look at how much you got back; now subtract the cost of gas, food, healthcare etc. Now tell me about your tax cut.) The national debt has a direct affect on the economy, driving interest rates and inflation up and when all us baby Boomers start retiring soon, you can kiss Social Security goodbye… and that is exactly what the Republican Party has wanted to do since FDR. Every dime we have been paying toward Social Security for the last 20 years has been borrowed by the government to build such needed things as Star Wars Defense systems and to invade that threat of threats to the American Way, Iraq. Don’t think the Republicans don’t know it. They signed the IOUs.
Education. No Child Left Behind; the shining beacon of education reform that Bush shoved through congress with pipe dream promises has left behind about half a million children a year since Bush took office. Why? Bush’s tax cut took away education funding so what you have is a bill that says kids have to do better, but essentially no money to pay for it. Well, that isn’t exactly true. The money has actually been rerouted to such important issues as tax breaks for hog farmers and other pork spread around to Bush and Company. What we have here is a back door attempt to legitimize vouchers. “See, Public schools are not performing! We need vouchers for Right-wing Christian Schools!”
In his book, “What’s The Matter With Kansas?” Thomas Frank attempts to find answers to many questions such as why supposedly bright folk would vote against their own economic interests. For example, why would a blue-collar worker, laid off, no health insurance, and deeply in debt still vote for the corporate interests who put him there? Frank says it is because activist neocon Republicans and Corporate manipulators have fooled the nation into believing that their best interest is morals and down-home talk rather than stands on hard questions of policy. I think it is because they are NOT PAYING ATTENTION!
Fini
Wednesday, July 07, 2004
Moore Milk, Please
July 7, 2004
<Fahrenheit 9/11
John chose John, Bush said at least Cheney could be President (not realizing, as my friend Ed pointed out, that he is already President) and all is right with the Democratic Party. Ah, time to relax with a good movie!
So Winnie and I headed toward the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland and took in the matinee showing of Michael Moore’s latest, Fahrenheit 9/11. I loved Moore’s first film, Roger and Me, and thought his second, Bowling For Columbine, was a stinging indictment of the American culture of fear, which in turns fuels the gun culture.
In this film, Moore takes the current administration and the media complacency surrounding it to task. He rakes some great muck and backs most of it up with solid facts. You will note I did say “most.” There are parts of the film where he is obviously reaching, such as suggesting Bush was thinking of his Saudi Royal Family friends after being told about the second plane crashing into the World Trade Center, but I don’t mind. His showing of Bush with that deer-in-the-headlights look is classic…and the question he poses – Why did he sit there for nearly 15 minutes after being told (for the second time) this country was under attack before leaving? – has yet to be answered and will probably remain so.
Moore goes after the current junta full bore, such as smacking them upside the head for flying members of Osama bin Laden’s family to leave the US while all air traffic for everyone else was grounded. He likens it to flying Timothy McVeigh’s family out of the country immediately after the Oklahoma City bombings.
He shows how Bush and his family and many members of his administration have had direct and profitable contact in the past and the present with the Saudi Royal family. Thus bringing up the question just why is it the Saudis where not more actively involved in the investigation…and why didn’t the administration push them?
These are just a few of the questions the film raises. Everyone knows Moore is anti-war and anti-Bush, yet he makes a powerful case for anyone who watches with an open mind to seek answers to many of the questions he raises.
I’ve heard it said that Moore’s film is not a documentary, but a 90-minute political commercial. Maybe so, but then what is a documentary if not a point-of-view of what has or is happening all around us? Many documentaries I have seen push a political view of one or another. Very few documentaries are detached series of photos.
No, Moore’s film is a documentary of the strongest kind. And despite the fanatical right (who haven’t seen the movie) and Fox News bashing him daily, he deserves to be heard by all. See it, and then judge for yourself.
Fini
Tracy
<Fahrenheit 9/11
John chose John, Bush said at least Cheney could be President (not realizing, as my friend Ed pointed out, that he is already President) and all is right with the Democratic Party. Ah, time to relax with a good movie!
So Winnie and I headed toward the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland and took in the matinee showing of Michael Moore’s latest, Fahrenheit 9/11. I loved Moore’s first film, Roger and Me, and thought his second, Bowling For Columbine, was a stinging indictment of the American culture of fear, which in turns fuels the gun culture.
In this film, Moore takes the current administration and the media complacency surrounding it to task. He rakes some great muck and backs most of it up with solid facts. You will note I did say “most.” There are parts of the film where he is obviously reaching, such as suggesting Bush was thinking of his Saudi Royal Family friends after being told about the second plane crashing into the World Trade Center, but I don’t mind. His showing of Bush with that deer-in-the-headlights look is classic…and the question he poses – Why did he sit there for nearly 15 minutes after being told (for the second time) this country was under attack before leaving? – has yet to be answered and will probably remain so.
Moore goes after the current junta full bore, such as smacking them upside the head for flying members of Osama bin Laden’s family to leave the US while all air traffic for everyone else was grounded. He likens it to flying Timothy McVeigh’s family out of the country immediately after the Oklahoma City bombings.
He shows how Bush and his family and many members of his administration have had direct and profitable contact in the past and the present with the Saudi Royal family. Thus bringing up the question just why is it the Saudis where not more actively involved in the investigation…and why didn’t the administration push them?
These are just a few of the questions the film raises. Everyone knows Moore is anti-war and anti-Bush, yet he makes a powerful case for anyone who watches with an open mind to seek answers to many of the questions he raises.
I’ve heard it said that Moore’s film is not a documentary, but a 90-minute political commercial. Maybe so, but then what is a documentary if not a point-of-view of what has or is happening all around us? Many documentaries I have seen push a political view of one or another. Very few documentaries are detached series of photos.
No, Moore’s film is a documentary of the strongest kind. And despite the fanatical right (who haven’t seen the movie) and Fox News bashing him daily, he deserves to be heard by all. See it, and then judge for yourself.
Fini
Tracy
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
A Contender, A Somebody
Brando
My earliest memory of Brando is his singing in Guys and Dolls. Ugh! Why in the world does everyone think this is a great actor?
I next saw him in A Streetcar Named Desire and I then knew why. His quintessential interpretation of Stanley was a lesson in the actor’s art. I later learned that he originated the role on Broadway, his only major stage performance.
Many thought him a method actor, yet he himself said he was not. He simply imitated life he observed, including his own. His was the technique of Brando, unique to Brando and only Brando. He muttered, hesitated, and tossed off lines as if they just popped into his head. His acting was both raw and self-indulgent, yet in the right role, it was brilliant.
In the Godfather, he reached a pinnacle of his career, even though he was only forty. His interpretation of Don Corleone, the tired, old, yet still powerful Mafia Godfather, blew me away (so to speak). I recently saw this film again and you cannot tell he is acting. It is as if the producers went to New York, found this old Godfather sitting in Central Park and asked if he would like to make a movie…and yet, it is acting, pure and simple. Let’s face it; he is Brando, playing Brando’s interpretation of a Mafia Boss. He later spoofs this role in the delightful little movie “The Freshman” with Mathew Broderick. However, I dare you to watch these movies back to back and tell me the difference in the acting. Other than the context and the lines, it is the same.
Apocalypse Now in 1979 shows us a Brando completely unleashed. He was always indifferent to schedules and scripts, but in this role as the unbalanced Col. Kurtz, he explodes, delaying shooting, improvising lines and throwing off the other actors around him with his actions – Col. Kurtz to a tee.
One of his last films was Don Juan DeMarco with Johnny Depp and Faye Dunaway. A pretty good little film in which he plays a psychiatrist (all 300 pounds of him) who must try to cure Johnny Depp from his delusion of being Don Juan. I recommend it, if just for the scenes between Brando and Depp or Brando and Dunaway. Fun
As for On The Waterfront, other than the scene between him and Rod Steiger in the back of the cab, I didn’t really care for it much…just too pat, too dated. I know, blasphemy! But do not take that as a diminishment of the man and his art. He was, after all, a contender, a somebody.
Fini
Tracy
My earliest memory of Brando is his singing in Guys and Dolls. Ugh! Why in the world does everyone think this is a great actor?
I next saw him in A Streetcar Named Desire and I then knew why. His quintessential interpretation of Stanley was a lesson in the actor’s art. I later learned that he originated the role on Broadway, his only major stage performance.
Many thought him a method actor, yet he himself said he was not. He simply imitated life he observed, including his own. His was the technique of Brando, unique to Brando and only Brando. He muttered, hesitated, and tossed off lines as if they just popped into his head. His acting was both raw and self-indulgent, yet in the right role, it was brilliant.
In the Godfather, he reached a pinnacle of his career, even though he was only forty. His interpretation of Don Corleone, the tired, old, yet still powerful Mafia Godfather, blew me away (so to speak). I recently saw this film again and you cannot tell he is acting. It is as if the producers went to New York, found this old Godfather sitting in Central Park and asked if he would like to make a movie…and yet, it is acting, pure and simple. Let’s face it; he is Brando, playing Brando’s interpretation of a Mafia Boss. He later spoofs this role in the delightful little movie “The Freshman” with Mathew Broderick. However, I dare you to watch these movies back to back and tell me the difference in the acting. Other than the context and the lines, it is the same.
Apocalypse Now in 1979 shows us a Brando completely unleashed. He was always indifferent to schedules and scripts, but in this role as the unbalanced Col. Kurtz, he explodes, delaying shooting, improvising lines and throwing off the other actors around him with his actions – Col. Kurtz to a tee.
One of his last films was Don Juan DeMarco with Johnny Depp and Faye Dunaway. A pretty good little film in which he plays a psychiatrist (all 300 pounds of him) who must try to cure Johnny Depp from his delusion of being Don Juan. I recommend it, if just for the scenes between Brando and Depp or Brando and Dunaway. Fun
As for On The Waterfront, other than the scene between him and Rod Steiger in the back of the cab, I didn’t really care for it much…just too pat, too dated. I know, blasphemy! But do not take that as a diminishment of the man and his art. He was, after all, a contender, a somebody.
Fini
Tracy
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
Toddled Milk
June 22, 2004
The Milkman's Son
By Tracy C. Baker
Chicago Is...
My business has taken me to many different cities over the years. Unfortunately, business travel hardly ever provides the time to go and see the towns I visit. Now, with some that is not a problem as the sidewalks are rolled up at 8:00.
Not Chicago. I've "been" to Chicago many a time, but never beyond O'Hare or Midway airports. A new team that I am working for brought me there for a few days last week. We were placed in the middle of the loop at the Allegro Hotel in the Theater District. My sightseer bug itched like crazy and Kevin, the company partner and founder, graciously provided me time to walk the town.
Clint, another partner, and Kevin have both been to Chicago many a time and they pointed me in the direction of Michigan Avenue and I walked all the way to Lakeshore Drive and the shores of Lake Michigan. This stretch of Michigan Avenue is known as the Magnificent Mile and is lined with stores for the shopping inclined.
Look Up!
Chicago, however, is an architect's Mecca and you can see that from your first steps out of your hotel. Along Michigan is the Wrigley Building in all its chewing gum glory. Further down is the Water Tower, one of the few buildings to survive the Great Chicago Fire. It was built in 1869 in a gothic style, resembling something you might find along the Rhine River in Germany, a beautiful sight to behold.
As I stood on the shores of Lake Michigan, I looked out to the East and realized I had now stood on both shores. My Father grew up in Muskegon, Michigan, a straight shot East across the lake. I haven't been back in a long while. I think maybe it is time...
I walked back along Lakeshore Drive with various side trips up streets to catch sights like the Museum of Contemporary Art, Northwestern University, and the Centennial Arc and Fountain. I was getting a little hungry, looked at my watch and realized it was nearly 9:00 p.m. and I had been walking for 2 ½ hours. Time to eat! I headed up Wacker Dr along the Chicago River. 35 E. Wacker caught my attention. It was apparently the tallest building outside New York City when it was built in the mid-1920s. My research shows it originally housed a parking garage on the 2nd through 22nd floors! 333 Wacker is a great example of modern architecture with it's gleaming glass walls that reflect the Chicago River, giving it an Emerald City look.
I ended my evening at the Chicago House of Blues, a blues version of the Hard Rock Café. I love the blues and Chicago is a great spot for both the blues and jazz. The group that night was very good and I had a hard time tearing myself away.
Art, Art Everywhere!
We walked to work the next morning at the Catalyst Ranch in the Haymarket District. As we walked, we passed a rather long imposing building with the name "GENERAL GROWTH" chiseled into its wall. We wondered aloud what this company's product was.
Could it be an annuity firm or a baby formula maker? Could it be a Business consulting firm or perhaps a way for afflicted Army officers to, well, remain "firm", so to speak?
Just then, a young women passing by snapped us back from our wandering minds.
"It is a developer and manager of shopping malls," she said.
Ah...another case of a name not supporting a brand.
We arrived at Catalyst Ranch, a meeting space that was the best I've been in. (Forgive me; I'm a facilitator and trainer. My work depends on the meeting space chosen. I get off on these things!) Catalyst Ranch looks like a giant daycare center for adults. Brightly colored walls, chairs, tables, couches, toys, drinks, snacks, great lunches all combine to make for a highly productive and relaxing setting. Enough of things that make trainers shriek with joy. More sightseeing was about to take place.
That evening, Kevin and Clint took their leave to see a movie. I opted for more walking and made my way around the loop looking at the overwhelming amount of street art.
I first came across the work of Jean Dubuffet, a sculpture known as Monument with Standing Beast. This 29-foot tall white and black fiberglass sculpture sits in the plaza of the Illinois State Building (also known as the James R. Thompson center). Next, I came across Joan Miro's "Chicago" in Brunswick Plaza. This is a forty foot tall statue of a women with arms out-stretched. I loved it...in fact, I stared at it a little too much and began walking down the street, getting a block away before I realized that the Chicago Picasso was directly across the street in Daley Plaza!
I missed the Chagall mosaic in the First National Plaza but I did see one of the two Calder's. Titled "Flamingo" it sits in the Federal Center Plaza. I must admit I didn't know it was a Calder, but it stuck with me as I walked by it, staring 53 feet into the sky.
Dang! Hungry again! As it was a warm, humid night, I decided to dine al fresco and grabbed a burger and fries. Making my way down Randolph, I walked into Grant Park and found a bench overlooking the Buckingham Fountain. I enjoyed my dinner looking out over the park and Lake Michigan.
So much to see and so little time. Winnie and I will return someday.
Chicago is one toddlin' town!
Fini
Tracy
Monday, May 10, 2004
OH MY GOD! LIBERAL THOUGHTS!
Liberal Is NOT A Four Letter Word…Bush Is
The republican party (no caps intended) has, for the last two decades viciously (and successfully) painted the Democratic Party, Judges, Unions, Attorneys…well, anyone who doesn’t agree with them as “Liberal” as if one should wash their mouth out with soap after using the word. John Kerry is the one of the latest targets. This has prompted me, once again, to turn to the dictionary for a definitive look at the word. The OED, definitive as it is, brings up a lot of definitions when used as either an adjective or a noun. Here are just a selected few.
1. Originally, the distinctive epithet of those ‘arts’ or ‘sciences’ that were considered ‘worthy of a free man’; opposed to servile or mechanical. 4: Directed to general intellectual enlargement and refinement
2. a. Free in bestowing; bountiful, generous, open-hearted.
3. † a. Free from restraint; free in speech or action.
4. a. Free from narrow prejudice; open-minded, candid.
b. esp. Free from bigotry or unreasonable prejudice in favour of traditional opinions or established institutions; open to the reception of reform.
5. Of political opinions: Favourable to constitutional changes and legal or administrative reforms tending in the direction of freedom or democracy.
Now, I’m not a worldly, educated man. Perhaps one of you that hold an advanced degree or who took some advanced courses in the English language could point out to me what, unless you are an admirer of Hitler, Stalin, or Macarthy, is so wrong with this wor…Oh, wait. I think I see the problem.
“Free from restraint; free in speech and action.” Obviously we can’t have that. As Bush and the Republican Leadership have pointed out again and again any dissent only proves you are an Osama-loving traitor and should be detained and sent to Guantánamo Bay for an unspecified period of time. Wait, I see another.
“Free from narrow prejudice; open-minded, candid” and “Free from bigotry or unreasonable prejudice in favour of traditional opinions or established institutions; open to the reception of reform.” Oh, my, my, my…tsk, tsk. We’ll have none of that. Everyone knows that 1956 (including the communist witchhunts) is the model for all things republican and we shall have none of this silly future modernism mucking things up.
And then there is that gosh darn political side. “Of political opinions: Favourable to constitutional changes and legal or administrative reforms tending in the direction of freedom or democracy.” Dear God, NO! Constitutional changes are reserved for restrictinng freedom and democracy. As for legal or administrative reforms, only if they prevent the rabble frrom profiting or getting too uppity against our dear friends, the United States (incorporated in the Bahamas) Corporation!
Cover-up, Lie, Obfuscate, Repeat
No, that is not a D.C. law firm. Those four words sum up the last four years of Bush and Company. Richard Clarke, former counter-terrorism director is the latest target of this den of wolves. This 30-year, four-administration bureaucrat has written a book critical of Smirky and Company with regards to their handling of terrorism threats before and after 9/11.
As he did with former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neil, Bush let loose the attack dogs, insinuating Clarke has an agenda to help Kerry, “otherwise, why would he wait to release this information now?” Sounds reasonable, except it was the White House that sat on this book for over three months before giving it the go ahead as to it not releasing any secrets. In addition, Al Franken in his book Lies (And the lying liars who tell them) included these exact charges and his book was released in September of 2003.
So, my question is why did the White House sit on it for three months? I’d make an educated guess that it was to give them time to come up with a strategy to discredit him. By the time they are through with Clarke, they will have the faithful believing that he planned the 9/11 attacks just so he could say ‘I told you so!” As I said, cover-up, lie, obfuscate, repeat!
Fini
Tracy
Copyright 2004, TCB Cameron Consulting
The republican party (no caps intended) has, for the last two decades viciously (and successfully) painted the Democratic Party, Judges, Unions, Attorneys…well, anyone who doesn’t agree with them as “Liberal” as if one should wash their mouth out with soap after using the word. John Kerry is the one of the latest targets. This has prompted me, once again, to turn to the dictionary for a definitive look at the word. The OED, definitive as it is, brings up a lot of definitions when used as either an adjective or a noun. Here are just a selected few.
1. Originally, the distinctive epithet of those ‘arts’ or ‘sciences’ that were considered ‘worthy of a free man’; opposed to servile or mechanical. 4: Directed to general intellectual enlargement and refinement
2. a. Free in bestowing; bountiful, generous, open-hearted.
3. † a. Free from restraint; free in speech or action.
4. a. Free from narrow prejudice; open-minded, candid.
b. esp. Free from bigotry or unreasonable prejudice in favour of traditional opinions or established institutions; open to the reception of reform.
5. Of political opinions: Favourable to constitutional changes and legal or administrative reforms tending in the direction of freedom or democracy.
Now, I’m not a worldly, educated man. Perhaps one of you that hold an advanced degree or who took some advanced courses in the English language could point out to me what, unless you are an admirer of Hitler, Stalin, or Macarthy, is so wrong with this wor…Oh, wait. I think I see the problem.
“Free from restraint; free in speech and action.” Obviously we can’t have that. As Bush and the Republican Leadership have pointed out again and again any dissent only proves you are an Osama-loving traitor and should be detained and sent to Guantánamo Bay for an unspecified period of time. Wait, I see another.
“Free from narrow prejudice; open-minded, candid” and “Free from bigotry or unreasonable prejudice in favour of traditional opinions or established institutions; open to the reception of reform.” Oh, my, my, my…tsk, tsk. We’ll have none of that. Everyone knows that 1956 (including the communist witchhunts) is the model for all things republican and we shall have none of this silly future modernism mucking things up.
And then there is that gosh darn political side. “Of political opinions: Favourable to constitutional changes and legal or administrative reforms tending in the direction of freedom or democracy.” Dear God, NO! Constitutional changes are reserved for restrictinng freedom and democracy. As for legal or administrative reforms, only if they prevent the rabble frrom profiting or getting too uppity against our dear friends, the United States (incorporated in the Bahamas) Corporation!
Cover-up, Lie, Obfuscate, Repeat
No, that is not a D.C. law firm. Those four words sum up the last four years of Bush and Company. Richard Clarke, former counter-terrorism director is the latest target of this den of wolves. This 30-year, four-administration bureaucrat has written a book critical of Smirky and Company with regards to their handling of terrorism threats before and after 9/11.
As he did with former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neil, Bush let loose the attack dogs, insinuating Clarke has an agenda to help Kerry, “otherwise, why would he wait to release this information now?” Sounds reasonable, except it was the White House that sat on this book for over three months before giving it the go ahead as to it not releasing any secrets. In addition, Al Franken in his book Lies (And the lying liars who tell them) included these exact charges and his book was released in September of 2003.
So, my question is why did the White House sit on it for three months? I’d make an educated guess that it was to give them time to come up with a strategy to discredit him. By the time they are through with Clarke, they will have the faithful believing that he planned the 9/11 attacks just so he could say ‘I told you so!” As I said, cover-up, lie, obfuscate, repeat!
Fini
Tracy
Copyright 2004, TCB Cameron Consulting
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