The Times In Which We Live

A lazy Sunday afternoon...a chance to relax after a week of work and gigs. Watching Stanford B-Ball (my Card currently up by 18 over UCLA with 13:26 to go in the game-- I'm hoping that Stanford doesn't turn it into a nail-biter); I think Trent Johnson, the new coach, is the real deal. This is a team that was 6-7 at one point, losing their first 3 games in Pac-10 play. Then, last week, leading scorer Dan Grunfeld went down for the year with a serious knee injury. So in steps Fred Washington, and Stanford's looking strong for third place in the Pac-10, and hopefully, an 11th consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament. The reserves have come up big when they needed to.

I'm sure some people might find my continued Stanford fandom to be a waste of time, but I grew up playing baseball and basketball. My one year of high school track, immediately after a nasty bout with mono, was mainly to pad my college application, but I improved significantly in the course of the season. The back-of-my-mind fear of getting my jaw shattered by a 98 MPH fastball put the kabosh on my baseball dreams, and my two years of utter futility playing basketball at the Schlessman YMCA in Denver-- in the 4th grade, my team was 2-8, followed by an 0-10 season a year later-- was one of many factors that made me a spectator of basketball. But what attracts me to sports is the element of human possibility and all the intangible factors that figure into the outcome. Heck, following the Card is a low-cost addiction.

To top off my lazy afternoon, I'm listening to WKCR, Columbia University's radio station, online. To Eric Garland: thank your friend Tom for me, for letting me know about the station. WKCR has a tremendous amount and variety of jazz programming. My favorite show is their "Monday Morning in Mono" series-- it's on from 2-5 a.m. (Eastern time), and it features music from the '30's and '40's. Two weeks ago, they played WWII-era Ellington performances, such as the wartime "V-discs" and live recordings-- need I say more? No, but I will anyway. Last week, they played WWII-era Cab Calloway, including some live Cafe Zanzibar performances, and I was absolutely blown away-- Cab had an incredible orchestra. Anyone who dismisses Cab as some novelty clown is way off the mark.

The Bush administration is as contemptuous as ever of human rights, basic fairness, and integrity, but more and more people are starting to push back. And the thugs are fucking up left and right-- witness the whole Gannon/Guckert fiasco. Mr. Gay Porn Goebbels Sex Commando getting picked off of first base in front of millions. Lucy, you got some 'splaining to do.

One actor to watch: Peter Macon. Will look for web links for all y'all. He has performed with us (the Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra) a number of times, reading Langston Hughes's poetry and on one occasion, painting an original work on stage with us.

Stuff

Gotta give it up for the New England Patriots-- winning 3 out of the last 4 Super Bowls is an impressive feat. Funny how Bill Belichick was thought of as an utter flop as a head coach not so long ago; now he has the best playoff winning percentage in NFL history.

It looks like there is finally some tangible resistance to privatizing Social Security...there is more public discourse about the costs of establishing private accounts, and already, the administration is starting to change their language ("privatization" is giving away to "personal accounts").

You want to read about an organization that's truly fighting the good fight? Check out www.ftcr.org-- that's the site for the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. It's a great group that focuses on a variety of issues: consumer protection, health care reform, corporate accountability. No tepid "centrist" bullshit here.