Another Year...

2009 brought its fair share of disappointments and challenges, but we end on a positive note.

I'll see you on the beach.

...more Band-Aids...

Here is the 12" (extended) version. No actual video, but the full audio. Worth listening to for Phil Collins' drum solo and the assorted comments that begin at 2:50.

...and there won't be snow in Africa this Christmastime...

This tune got some attention back in 1984. Can you believe it's been 25 years?

Nowadays, it's easy to cynically dismiss humanitarian efforts by entertainment megastars as grandstanding at worst, or politically naive at best, and in most cases one or both are correct. However, I must admit I felt a little different about the whole Band-Aid effort. To my knowledge, it was the first recording by a supergroup specifically for the purposes of charity, and certainly the first for this generation of musicians. It's hard to question Bob Geldof's sincerity, particularly since he's given up much of his musical career for the sake of causes greater than himself, and Do They Know It's Christmas? was where it all started.

We Are The World and Live Aid would follow within a year, and before the decade was over we'd see Farm-Aid, Ferry-Aid, and various other permutations.

The slippery slope theory held true, and the sincerity of the celebrities became diluted almost immediately, but Geldof and his pals deserve credit not only for inventing the charity single (and reinvigorating the concept of a benefit concert) but also for giving a generation of self-absorbed stars -- including the one who first appears at 1:24 -- at least something of a conscience.

Finally, it's refreshing to hear the word "Christmas" used so freely in a completely secular recording. And it still gives me chills -- maybe because of where I was in 1984, or maybe because it's an absolutely brilliant song.

Ten Years Ago continued

The world we avoided. I only saw this commercial once, now it lives on courtesy YouTube.

A Great Season

Ten Years Ago

This happened.

Game 5 of the 1999 Division Series between the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox was one of the most memorable baseball games I ever saw. Boston had lost game1 in Cleveland in the bottom of the ninth, then got blown out in game 2 before the series moved to Boston. Nomar Garciaparra was not able to play game 3, but Boston rallied behind John Valentin and won 9-3. In game 4, the Red Sox scored three touchdowns and a safety to win a blowout, 23-7, and force the series back to Cleveland.

Pedro Martinez had perhaps the best season of a starting pitcher since Bob Gibson in 1968, winning the Cy Young and being jilted out of the AL MVP award because of perennial BBWAA voter stupidity, but that shouldn't detract from his 23-4 record, winning AL Pitcher of the month four times and, oh by the way, All-Star MVP in his home park. Nonetheless, Pedro pulled a muscle in his back in Game 1 and had to leave the game and looked to be done for the series.

The aforementioned box score tells the story of the game, but suffice it to say that the first two Red Sox pitchers failed to hold leads, the the Sox turned to Pedro, hoping he could give them an inning or two. Against an Indians team that featured Kenny Lofton, Roberto Alomar, Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez, Harold Baines, Wil Cordero, Travis Fryman, and Richie Sexson off the bench, Pedro entered when the game was tied and proceeded to throw six innings without allowing a hit.

The Indians, meanwhile, imploded -- earlier in the game, they had intentionally walked Nomar to pitch to Troy O'Leary. O'Leary responded with a grand slam on the first pitch. In the seventh inning, Nomar came up again with first base open and was intentionally walked again. Up came O'Leary who, again, homered on the first pitch, giving the Red Sox a lead they would not surrender.

One rarely if ever should accuse a professional sports team of "quitting." Overmatched, maybe, not never "quitters." But in this game, the Indians did quit. After the second O'Leary home run, with Pedro already looking invincible, Jacobs Field became as boisterous as a tomb, and the Indians hitters walked liked zombies from the dugout to the plate and back. Indians manager Mike Hargrove didn't even go to his bench to try and shake things up -- maybe get a hit or something. Pedro blew away the final nine batters and the Sox would face the Yankees in the next round.

...which was more or less forgettable, but it was still an exciting end to a decade that had began somewhat dramatically as well.

So, even losing the first two games of a 5-game series (or, for that matter, the first 3 games of a 7-game series) doesn't mean it's over. It's been done before. I'm not sure what made me think of this...

The Editors Weigh In

NRO's honchoes speak out on Oslo's latest gaffe, making many of the same points I made in my previous post -- they say it better, but I'd like to point out that I said it first. For once.

"Wake up, Michelle!"

"...we didn't get the Olympics, but..."

John J. Miller on NRO appears to have been the first responder on this, and, as usual, I couldn't have said it any better.

Part of this reminds me of episode 30 of Hogan's Heroes, where Hogan tries to bolster Klink in the eyes of the Kommandant's prospective step-daughter by telling her that Klink is not only a Baron and the recipient of the Iron Cross, but also the Victoria Cross because even the British admire him. What's next? HEADLINE -- "OBAMA ELECTED EMPEROR OF JAPAN"

It's just not been a good decade for the Nobel Peace Prize. We've gone from General Marshall, Dr. King, the Red Cross, Mother Teresa, Lech Walesa, Elie Wiesel and the Dalai Lama to a failed secretary-general, an anti-semetic ex-president who lobbied shamelessly for the award for 20 years, an agency and its head who are more interested in appeasement than non-proliferation, and a filmmaker with some questionable scientific views.

So, since the turn of the century, if you bashed America, Israel, or just Republicans, and if you raised your profile by jet-setting around the globe doing the same, you could expect a call from Oslo.

Rather pathetic credentials in the eyes of this reporter, but credentials nonetheless. Now, as we embark on a new decade, it appears that the standards have been lowered even further to simply looking good on TV. Make a few good speeches, say the right things, and you're right in the running even if your resume could fit on a business card. Sorta like those baseball publications every March that project the "Rookie of the Year" winners for the upcoming season -- yeah, the potential's there, but they . . . haven't . . . done . . . anything.

So goes the world. It's just a shame to see a once-prestigious award that should be beyond politics being further debased. One last analogy -- that of the commentator in the 1880's who allegedly remarked that the progression of the presidency from Washington to Grant was the strongest case he knew against Darwinism.

Fools, Students, the Sleeping and the Wise

For some reason, I was thinking of this ancient proverb today:

He who knows not and knows not that he knows not is a fool; avoid him.

He who knows not and knows that he knows not is a student; teach him.

He who knows and knows not that he knows is asleep; wake him.

He who knows and knows that he knows is a wise man; follow him.

Change of Seasons

This time of year brings us our two major sports simultaneously for two months, and always makes me think of the comparisons between the two drawn by George Carlin (text version here).

And there's always Tom Boswell's comparison from his classic anthology The Heart of the Order, reproduced here. Granted, a few of the items (43, 44 & 66, for example), are obsolete, but it's still worth reviewing a few times a year. I think #30 is my favorite...

Seventy Years Ago

No, that's not a reference to a Twila Paris song...

Today (9/1/09) marks the 70th anniversary of Germany's invastion of Poland, which sparked World War II. The maps featured with this posting are scans of actual newspaper Londaon clippings I acquired in the early 1980's and have scrapbooked away.

It is also the 20th anniversary of a certain college sophomore being the only person in a class of about 700 who knew the significance of this date at that time, which was of course the 50th anniversary.

Remember me, Dr. Hess? (No, not Rudolf)

61* in '61

I finally got around to watching Billy Crystal's HBO movie 61* -- that is to say, I finally found it at the Library and didn't have to pay for it. Even a member of the loyal opposition can appreciate the history of the Evil Empire, and the heroics of Mantle and Maris nearly 50 years ago.

On one level, there is a great deal of nostalgia. Whether Crystal was trying to depict it or not, even a baseball movie from as recently as the decade in which I was born makes you yearn for day games, reasonable salaries (Mantle made about $70,000 that year, which less than Babe Ruth had made in his prime more than thirty years earlier), and accessible ticket prices. Baseball truly is -- or was -- the people's sport, being played every day with the intent that you can take your son or sweetheart to the game that afternoon without a great deal of saving, planning or a second mortgage.

Unfortunately, however, while 61* is about baseball's most accessible era, Billy Crystal makes it inaccessible to young fans. Why he finds it necessary to include a plethora of foul language and a little too much detail on the Mick's extracurricular habits makes the movie unsuitable for children, much like today's game (with 8:30 PM starts and decent tickets starting at $100) is also out of reach.

One other minor complaint -- several times in the movie, the Whitey Ford character addresses Mantle as "Slick." In fact, Slick was Ford's nickname (and the title of his autobiography), because Ford was the "City Slicker" of the bunch.

Some viewers also find fault with the film being bookended by the performance of Mark McGwire in 1998, breaking Maris' record, given how McGwire has disgraced himself since then. A fair enough criticism, although it should be noted that 61* was made in 2001, when McGwire still held the record and was still active (Bonds set the new record later that year). This viewer found it a curious cinemagraphic tool which probably made sense in Crystal's mind in 2001 -- who would have expected it to be somewhat jarring to the audience eight years later. Those who feel more strongly may want to Give It Back to Maris.

For Diehards Only

And for Red Sox fans with a lot of time on their hands, click here.

Good Luck, cont'd

One other thought on "Good Night and Good Luck" -- there's a scene where the Fred Friendly character (played by George Clooney) interrogates a military officer, asking him (amongst other things) who made the decision and if those people "were elected." An interesting thought coming from a member of the Fourth Estate.

Good night, good luck, and merry Christmas.

Being an old media hack, I figured I'd take in Good Night, and Good Luck. It's certainly well-filmed and well-cast (although the ridiculous subplot, which you can read more about in this review (scroll down!), may be the worst I've ever seen).

I won't nitpick the details with a view towards exposing the prejudices of the filmmakers, because we already know the conclusion of that. Since all I know about the 1950's is what I've read, or heard, or seen on Happy Days, I'll leave much of that judgment up to people who were there.

However, I do find it interesting that a movie full of caterwauling about the integrity of the media and its centrality to the preservation of democracy, produced by a cadre of well-known leftists, leaves us wondering how, exactly, Edward R. Murrow and his colleagues would evaluate the current state of media proselytizing, particularly their awestruck worship of the (eventual) commander-in-chief over the past 18 months or so, and their failure to find any flaws in his administration since January. I'm not naive enough to expect total impartiality, but I would like to see something close to the incisive and tenacious journalism that See It Now employed against the junior senator from Wisconsin.

Good night, and good luck -- to all of us -- that we would be saved from ourselves.

Hemmingway on Hughes

Interesting article on John Hughes by Mark Hemmingway.

I haven't seen too many of his movies, although I did see The Breakfast Club about 3 times, and I never decided if I liked it or not. I supposed I should have, since I was in high school when it came out, but I wasn't sure if I was John Bender, Andrew Clark or Brian Johnson. Maybe a hybrid.

Sheriff at the Gates

For those who appreciate great satire, with a Shakespearean twist.

Watch out for the "Fool" in Act III.

Born on the Fourth of July, cont'd

Taken earlier today a few miles from my home. Three observations --

(1) Yes, the sign is still up, 3+ weeks after the holiday with which it is affiliated.
(2) No, they haven't fixed the fairly obvious typographical mistake, and
(3) Yes, these people are retailing highly combustible, unstable and dangerous materiel to the general public.

Is this really happening?

You couldn't just stop at inciting further racial hatred and making police work more difficult. Now you have to invite everybody to the People's House (at the people's expense) "for a beer."

Ah, yes -- ALCOHOL. The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems, as Homer Simpson might say.

I really can't believe I saw this.

Real Heroes

Yeah, sure, Walter Cronkite, journalism legend and whatnot. Most trusted man in America, etc., etc. If I've lost Walter Cronkite, I've lost Middle America. And that's the way it is. WHATEVER. "Uncle Walter's" politics -- like that of his successor -- were no great mystery, and there are not a few of us who consider his anchorship to be the beginning of the slippery slope away from any manner of objectivity in the major media. And we can probably thank him for keeping the somewhat shaky reporting of the Watergate scandal alive when Woodward and Bernstein were floundering.

There are newsmakers and newsbreakers, and Cronkite's reporting began the blurring of the two where the reporter became the story. Personally, I'd rather see more reporting today on a Henry Allingham, a real hero from World War I who passed away a few hours after Cronkite. Now there are only four of them.