Piano on the Eights: 5/10

For the past eight (plus) weeks, my piano practices have been progressing a bit more sluggishly than I would have liked. And one of the problems that I see is that I haven't defined my short-term and long-term goals well enough regarding what I want to accomplish with piano. Ultimately, I want to be able to play any music that I have a memory of, and that comprises thousands of songs. Also, I would like to be able to play music readily and accurately from sheet music, though not necessarily the extremely demanding pieces. In conjunction with these two goals, I would like to deepen my training in music theory, understanding better how chords are constructed as well as why music is sometimes written the way it is. In the short-term, I need to more assiduously practice my lesson pieces while going ahead on my own learning to play in other keys. And I need also to begin practicing plunking out tunes from memory as well. Also, if I am going to ever be able to play competently, then I need to be better with my timing and rhythm.

Maps

I have always felt a deep affinity for maps of all kinds. World atlases, road atlases, fold-up maps, fantasy-book (like Tolkien's Middle Earth) maps, and star maps all hold great interest for me. When I was around four or five years old, my sister and I used to play a game in our yard we called "Mapland", in which we would imagine different sections of the yard to be exciting, exotic lands, full of adventure, of course. I remember playing a lot of "imagination" games like this as a child, and I wonder whether today's children aren't being deprived of an important growth experience with their video games that provide ready-made images and narratives for them. Once, also when I was a kid, I began to etch, for no particular reason at all, some lined grooves on the seat of an old wooden chair of ours. Soon the idea took hold that I was drawing a map of sorts, and I began to imagine a city corresponding to the roads I was etching. There were schools, stores, the library, my "home", and friends' homes on this street or that. Soon I had covered the entire seat of this chair with a strange, web-like etching. I think it's still there at my old home. I don't think anyone in my family ever knew what that was all about. No one ever asked me and I never told them!

Also, around that time, I caught "collector's fever" and began to collect all sorts of different things. Naturally, road maps became one of my collector's items. On Saturdays, I would leave my house and make the rounds, walking to different gas stations (some pretty far away for a little kid to walk to) and asking the attendants whether they had some road maps (all of which were free then). So I soon amassed a pretty sizable collection of fold-up road maps, although they were mostly either of Miami, Florida, or the Southeastern US. For some reason, even though Broward County (lying directly north of Miami's Dade County) had a very large population, I never could get road maps of Hollywood or Fort Lauderdale back then. It was as if only Miami counted for anything in South Florida!

Nowadays, sometimes I have fun playing around with GoogleEarth on my computer. It really is quite an amazing feature, and seems to be continually undergoing updates and improvements. I remember reading somewhere that foreign governments, such as the Soviet Union, once would deliberately insert errors into their own maps, in hopes of making military conquest by others more difficult. Well, nowadays you can just forget that! What I would like to see in the future with GoogleEarth is a regularly-refreshed view of the Earth, or at least have them update their pictures more often.

Favorite Songs of 1975

1975, a year full of great songs, began for me with a flashback from the past. For some reason, local Miami radio began playing David Bowie's old hit Changes regularly at the beginning of the year. As a result, I'll always associate that great tune with 1975. Donny and Marie Osmond had one of their rare songs I liked with a collaboration, Morning Side of the Mountain. One of the Doobie Brothers' best-ever, Black Water, also came out at 75's start, as did Linda Ronstadt's forceful, angry You're No Good and Minnie Ripperton's sweet, intimate Loving You. As the year went on, other songs came to the fore. Michael Murphey's painful story of a girl and her horse, Wildfire, received a lot of radio play. War became more mainstream with two big single hits: Low Rider and Why Can't We Be Friends. C.W. McCall had a big country/CB radio/trucker hit with his hilarious Convoy. Alice Cooper had a rare subdued, emotional piece in Only Women. The group America's inspiring Lonely People was my all-time favorite of theirs. The Hustle, by Van McCoy, was the best disco song of the year as well as a regular fixture on CBS NFL Football that fall. K.C. and the Sunshine Band had another good dance tune with their Get Down Tonight. John Denver sang the pretty, romantic Fly Away as a duet with Olivia Newton-John. Olivia earlier in the year had a very pleasant singles hit with Have You Never Been Mellow. Love Rollercoaster, by the Ohio Players, was one of my favorite "soul" songs of '75. The German group Silver Convention had another good disco song: the very repetitive Fly Robin Fly. The Scottish group Pilot sounded an awful lot like the Beatles with their Magic. Bob Dylan raged against social injustice in his classic Hurricane, a song about a boxer whom he felt had wrongly been convicted of murder (and who was ultimately exonerated). My #3 song of 1975 was by the Spinners: their philosophical They Just Can't Stop It (Games People Play). The British group Queen had their first stateside hit (and my #2 song of the year) with their wild Killer Queen. And Elton John continued his march to greater and greater superstardom. His Philadelphia Freedom, a tribute to his friend Billie Jean King and her tennis team, was a pleasant, upbeat tune. But my top favorite song of 1975 was Elton's exciting two-part epic Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding, still my all-time favorite piece of his.

Weight Loss and Maintenance on the Eights: 5/7

I have been keeping my weight pretty much at the same level (low to mid-160s) for the past eight weeks. Unfortunately, I've been slipping a bit into binge eating from time to time, although at the same time I've picked up my exercising intensity (mostly by running). I would like to get my weight down to around to 145-150 lbs, which I believe is the optimum level for me to be effective with my running. And then stay there, not dipping below 140. But I'm going to have to watch my caloric intake to accomplish this. One thing that has helped me is that I have begun to drink more water, which helps to take the edge off my "compulsion" to raid the icebox! Also, I need to resume regular weighings, but in general, my weight has stabilized between 163-165 lbs.

Reverend Wright Revisited

If you've been reading this blog, you may have come across a rather rosy piece a few days ago generally praising Reverend Jeremiah Wright (within limits). Well, I wrote that piece just after his interview with Bill Moyers and before his speeches to the NAACP and the National Press Club. In those speeches, Wright tended to revert back to the old aggressive "preaching" style that had brought on so much criticism. The result was that Barack Obama finally had to publicly disassociate himself from his former pastor.

I have to admit that I do not appreciate the way that Wright ridicules other people to make a point. To me, this sort of rhetoric reminds me more of characters like Archie Bunker and George Jefferson. Maybe Wright is still rooted in the 70s and believes that this sort of talk is still generally acceptable. Well, it isn't! I believe that someone can make a point, even one very critical of others, and still be dignified and respectful about it. Adding a tinge of ridicule and cruelty only serves to make the target of criticism seem to be an unfair victim of the speaker's vitriol. In the Moyer interview, Wright restrained himself and, as a result, was much more compelling. But he now seems bent on making as much noise as possible and attracting as much media attention as possible to himself. But why should that necessarily have anything to do with Barack Obama?

Sure, Obama named his book The Audacity of Hope as a sort of tribute to his former pastor, and cited Wright as an inspiration and a source of counsel. But Obama is Obama and Wright is Wright. Neither speaks for the other. How would you like it if some friend of yours made a public spectacle of him/herself and everyone automatically put you down as a result, just because of your past association with that person?

But I recognize the politics of this situation as well. For the sake of argument, let me generalize a little. If all the McCain and Clinton supporters want Obama's campaign to fail, then at this time about three fourths of the people out there are currently "against" the Democratic front-runner. And so the "buzz" is going to be heavily weighted in trying to magnify anything that could remotely be used against him. I expect the situation to change after the Democratic Convention, but I'm sure we'll still have to endure television ads linking Obama and Wright during the general campaign.

Finally, my problems with Jeremiah Wright's beliefs and speaking style notwithstanding, I also believe that he has every right in the world to respond to the severe public attacks and insults aimed at him during the past few weeks. Of course, he's totally wrong in saying that it had nothing to do with Barack Obama, when Obama's success is the only reason anyone bothered to dig up Wright's old sermons in the first place.

Monday Newsbreak: 5/5

--A terrible cyclone swept into Burma causing deaths in the hundreds and possibly the thousands. Quickly, reports came out of the public's dissatisfaction with the military government's slow response to the disaster. Which makes me wonder how much of this sort of thing is real news and how much is contrived to serve an end (in this case, the end of Burma's military dictatorship and return to democracy).

--Tomorrow, for the Democrats, here we go again: another "crucial" primary that's supposed to have a critical effect on who gets the nomination. This time it's North Carolina and Indiana. There has been a problem dogging the Democrats, which is that since the Republicans already have decided on their nominee, many Republican voters are crossing over to vote (usually for Clinton) in the Democratic primaries. Hopefully, this won't happen next election season if party rules are made stricter, to eliminate this cynical manipulation (supported by Rush Limbaugh) of the nominating process.

--Both John McCain and Hillary Clinton have supported a summertime lifting of the 18-cent/gallon federal gas excise tax as an election-year ploy to attract more voter support. Barack Obama, to his credit, doesn't support this tactic. Instead of encouraging consumption, we should be investing in alternative, clean, and renewable sources of energy. Otherwise, we're going to be talking more than five dollars per gallon! All that temporarily lifting the gas tax will do is increase demand, which will in turn increase the price of gas right back up!

--I am enjoying the National Basketball Association playoffs, but I have to admit to quite a bit of disappointment at seeing my Phoenix Suns bowing out so early, losing to San Antonio four games to one. Now I'm on to other teams, and I am very impressed with the New Orleans Hornets this year. And in the East, although I live relatively close to Orlando, I can't help rooting for the scrappy, feisty Detroit Pistons!

Observers of People

About fifteen to sixteen years ago, I attended, at a different church, a Sunday school class run by a middle-aged couple there. This couple was keen on helping younger couples get through the first years of marriage by giving advice and using Biblical precepts. I liked both of them and appreciate their efforts to help others. The woman (to whom I will give the fictional name Doris) one day described herself as an “observer of people”, and explained this through the use of an example. It seems one day that she was eating out in a restaurant somewhere and a pretty young woman happened to walk by. Doris, being the observer of people that she was, set about noticing the reactions of the males around her. And lo and behold, just about all of them looked up at the pretty woman as she passed them. Doris was trying to make the point that men tend to be visually oriented regarding women. But wasn’t she also playing around with her eyes, too? And she had nothing to say about what the women around her were looking at, either.

Many years ago, I was watching one of those ten o’clock prime time TV network newsmagazine shows such as 20/20 or the like. Featured was a segment about an angry woman who videotaped men sitting out in public, obviously on their lunch breaks from work, looking at a pretty woman as she walked by. She would then confront any “offenders” she “caught” on tape and then proceed to yell at them, making a public nuisance as well as a fool out of herself in the process. And the woman passerby? A setup, sent by the embittered, disturbed woman herself to provoke the desired looks from the targeted men. So who stepped over the line here with their eyes?

When I go into a place like a coffee shop, diner, library, etc., invariably I will cast my own eyes around at the people there. It’s not a male thing or a female thing. It’s a normal, human thing. And just as often as not, I’ll notice women sitting around looking at me and others. Sure, men probably tend to rely on visual stimulation regarding the opposite sex more than the reverse. But looking at people doesn’t have to mean anything. Now just staring someone down, that’s an entirely different matter! But neither was happening with the men observed by “Doris” or the video crusader!

Discussing a Religion With Its Believers

I will come right out and admit that, with most of the world's religions, I don't know very much. I know a little about Islam and Judaism. Christianity is the religion that I have the best grasp of, in terms of its doctrine, scriptures, and history. But there is something that I find rather interesting about religions which may be applicable to all of them.

Adherents of a particular religion often point out that if an unbeliever reads their scriptures, then they are likely to get a completely different meaning from them than if they were "in the faith". In other words, the act of reading itself is different between believers and unbelievers. The unbeliever will tend to read a scripture analytically, first trying to understand the passages and then attempting to reconcile the message with his/her own knowledge of how things really are. On the other hand, the believer will uncritically and reverently read the same scriptures, using analysis not to ascertain the truth value of the scripture, but rather for its application to interpreting the real world in the context of the expressed doctrine.

I remember two different items regarding Islam. I remember reading, around the 1980 Iranian hostage crisis, something to the effect that Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini once exhorted Muslims, that if they ever saw an unbeliever reading the Holy Qu'ran, then they were to rip the book out of his hands! But then, after 9/11, I also heard that the North Carolina state university system, for a brief period, required its incoming students to read the Qu'ran (apparently to understand Islam better in order to mitigate anti-Muslim paranoia). But if the message rings differently, depending on whether one reads from within or without the faith, I don't see how that would have done much good.

When a believer and an unbeliever of a particular religion sit together to discuss the content and meaning of its scriptures, it needs to be understood and respected by each side that the other side is looking at things from a vastly different perspective. The believer, focusing on the faith's doctrines, has already crossed over from questioning the scripture's truth, while the unbeliever will often dwell on his/her doubts regarding its validity. This can make for a situation where two people are basically sitting together talking past each other. Which doesn't really accomplish a whole lot, does it?

Favorite Steel Roller Coasters

What is my favorite steel roller coaster ride? Busch Garden Tampa’s bottomless roller coaster Montu. I call it the “Cadillac” of roller coasters because of its incredible smoothness. I’ve experienced some really jerky rides on other steel coasters elsewhere, most notably with Dollywood’s Tennessee Tornado and Wild Adventure’s Hangman, Boomerang, and Swamp Thing. Cypress Gardens has the best, in my opinion, “kiddie’s” steel coaster with their Okeechobee Rampage. Disney World’s MGM Studios has a pleasant coaster in Rock N’ Roll with Aerosmith, but my problem with that one is that it is enclosed, with my view very limited. And seeing how high up in the sky I am is one of the fun parts of riding a coaster (as well as seeing the world turn upside-down during loops)! Magic Kingdom’s Space Mountain is also indoors, and is too jerky as well. Universal’s Islands of Adventures contains two good coasters: The Incredible Hulk and Dueling Dragons Fire (or Ice). The Hulk shoots the passengers out like a rocket at its start, while I prefer a slow gradual rise. And with Dueling Dragons, another bottomless coaster, there is a slow initial rise before the dramatics. But then, that ride is a bit too short for me. Shortness is also a problem with Busch Garden’s much-hyped Sheikra. Their Python coaster is too rough and extremely short. I do like Busch’s Scorpion, though, which though short is very well-designed. I guess my second-favorite steel coaster ride would be Busch Garden’s Kumba. I think that I could spend all day at that park just alternating between Kumba and Montu (with occasional forays over to their great double wooden roller coaster Gwazi). Oh, by the way, another thing making my roller coaster experiences at Busch Garden more enjoyable is that I usually don’t have to wait very long in line to ride them!

Favorite Songs of 1976

During 1976, I grew to enjoy German pioneer techno-rock band Kraftwerk's Autobahn and Radioaktivität, which had come out previously. The same can be said for Elton John's hit Someone Saved My Life Tonight, a long, slow, emotion-laden piece. Al Stewart hit the big time with the release of his Year of the Cat album, which contained several good tracks, notably Lord Grenville, On the Border, Broadway Hotel, and One Stage Before. But earlier in the year, his historical epic Roads to Moscow introduced me to this talented, creative musician with frequent album-rock station airplay. Michael Murphey's Carolina in the Pines was, to me, a better song than his previous release Wildfire. The Canadian band Heart had my favorite of theirs with Crazy on You. The Dutch band George Baker Selection had a pleasant, upbeat summer hit with their Paloma Blanca. The Steve Miller Band went "far out" in terms of imagery and consciousness-raising with their Fly Like an Eagle. Andrea True Connection's More More More was my favorite disco song of the year. Right behind on the dance music scene was Vicky Sue Robinson's boisterous Turn the Beat Around. Judy Collin's Send in the Clowns, another slow, emotional piece, has continued to grow on me through the years. Even more so has George Harrison's sweet, compelling You, becoming one of my all-time top favorite songs now. Emerging superstar Billy Joel, with his Turnstiles album, had two very good songs in 1976: Summer Highland Falls and my #3 favorite song of the year (as I lived through it), his refreshing and exciting piano show-off piece Angry Young Man. John Miles, who briefly had some small fame on the album rock stations, had his best song (and my #2 favorite of the year) with Music, a long "epic", orchestrated piece that more than anything simply expresses the artist's love for his craft. Electric Light Orchestra's Strange Magic was a pleasant diversion early in the year, but they made a big impact on me later on with the release of their New World Record album, and from it, the beautiful single Livin' Thing (my top favorite song of 1976).

Backroads Between Davie and Hollywood

When I attended Broward Community College (in Davie, Florida) during the mid-1970s, I would often commute between home and classes (about five miles apart) by riding my bicycle through backroads. In spite of it being South Florida (a pretty urban community), the route I took definitely had a country feel to it, especially the further north (into Davie) I got. Between Griffin and Stirling Road, there are a series of parallel roads connecting the two. I always avoided the busiest, Davie Road, and usually went down the second road to the east. Making this trip did a lot to instill a peace of mind within me, both before and after school. It was also good physical exercise, although at this time I was also running quite a bit (between three and six miles per day). The land was so flat that I used a simple one-speed bicycle with coaster brakes, something that I quickly changed upon moving to Gainesville (with its hills and slopes) a few years later! I had begun this “tradition” of eschewing motor transportation during my senior year of high school, when one morning I just got up and decided to walk the five miles to school (which was next to Broward Community College). Now looking back, I wish I had begun my bike-to-school habit back in high school!

One late afternoon in 1974, while bicycling homeward out in the semi-country between Griffin and Stirling Roads, I came across a tiny baby bird sitting by itself in the middle of the then-deserted road. I got off my bicycle and looked around for traffic and the bird’s mother. Seeing nothing, I carefully picked up the pitiful little creature, which seemed unhurt except for the fact that it was unable to fly (or walk, for that matter). I walked over a few yards off the side of the road and carefully placed it in the shadows of a tree. I realized then that the little wild bird probably wouldn’t survive its plight, but I didn’t think there was much I could have done. And I went on my way.

In like manner, sometimes I feel that we here in America feel toward others as if we have to “fix” everything in the world, and if we don’t, then we’re somehow being negligent. But there is a limit to how much we can help, and sometimes what we do with good intentions can backfire and actually be counterproductive. Sometimes, with some places, its better to just leave and let things be. To admit that there are some areas that we as a nation are necessarily limited in implies neither weakness, moral deficiency, nor lack of patriotism (are you reading this, President Bush?).

My pleasant habit of bicycling back and forth to school continued into the mid-nineties, when I would often bicycle back and forth to work (nine miles from home, with several hills). I’d like to get back into bicycling, albeit not on the same scale as before. I want to buy one of those mileage devices you can attach to the bike that lets you measure off distances. I'd like to develop my own off-the-road running courses, and using my bicycle to measure how long a course is seems to be a pretty good idea.

Running on the Eights: 4/29

Actually, this is more like "running on the tens", because I inadvertently slipped up and let ten weeks go by instead of the planned eight before writing another installment about my running activities. My running has picked up quite a bit, although I am still concentrating my running on the treadmill. Anyway, here is my running record. It all took place on the treadmill unless indicated otherwise.

DATE...MILES..TIME
2-17...... 0.75......5:27
2-22...... 1.75....14:04
2-23...... 1.00..... 7:18
2-25 ......2.25....16:59
2-27.......1.50....10:57
2-28.......0.50.....3:28
2-29.......1.75....12:34
3-1.........0.50......3:25
3-3.........1.75.....12:32
3-4.........0.75.......5:12
3-5.........2.50.....18:17
3-6.........0.75.......5:29
3-7.........1.00.......7:09
3-8.........1.75......12:53
3-9.........1.00.......6:52
3-12.......2.00.....14:13
3-13.......2.00.....13:55
3-14.......2.75......19:06
3-16.......1.50.....10:22
3-17.......1.00.......7:28
3-18.......1.50.....10:22
3-19.......2.00.....13:36
3-21.......2.00.....13:28
3-23.......1.00.......7:35 (asphalt track)
3-24.......2.00.....13:39
3-26.......2.00.....13:58
3-27.......1.00.......6:48
3-28.......2.00.....13:35
3-30.......3.50.....25.40
4-01.......1.50.....10:27
4-02.......2.00.....13:40
4-03.......2.00.....14:19
4-04.......1.00.......6:47
4-05.......1.00.......6:41
4-07.......3.00.....20:54
4-09.......1.50........9:55
4-11........2.50.....17:55
4-13........1.50.....10:05
4-14........1.00.......6:52
4-15........1.50.....10:05
4-17........2.50.....17:39
4-18........1.00.......6:54
4-21........3.50.....25:37
4-22........1.50.....10:09
4-23........4.00.....32:37
4-24........1.50........9:52
4-25........2.00.....14:18
4-26........1.00.......6:54
4-28........0.50.......3:43

Monday Newsbreak: 4/28

--The report is out that our Florida state government is having to make major cutbacks in its budget that will cause reduction in some services, layoffs of some employees, and increases in fees (like college tuition). Unlike our federal government, Florida must balance its budget each year and doesn't have the luxury of incurring a debt, so its representatives have a more sobering (and realistic) task to perform than our sometimes "head-in-the-clouds" national leaders in Washington.

--Reverend Jeremiah Wright is now making speeches and delivering sermons at other churches. This is noteworthy news, but it certainly doesn't merit the excessive, continuing headline coverage that the cable networks are giving it. There's no doubt to me that Reverend Wright is this election year's version of the 2004 "Swiftboat" movement contrived to defame John Kerry enough to prevent his election.

--In the NBA playoffs, the Denver Nuggets are looking like the most entertaining team to me. Not that they're doing well: they're probably going to be swept by the vastly improved Los Angeles Lakers. No, I just like to watch the show that a couple of their prima donna stars put on late in the game by arguing with the referees and incurring technical fouls. It's kind of like watching John McEnroe's antics in the good old days of tennis. Good circus!

--It looks as if Robert Mugabe is finally going to be out of power in the southern African nation of Zimbabwe, which he ruled since 1981. I believe that, for many years, Mugabe got a "free ticket" from international criticism because he had originally been the first democratically elected leader there upon the relinquishing of power by the (very) minority whites, who had controlled the country (then called Rhodesia) since 1965. I think some were afraid of criticizing him for fear of sounding as if they were racist in some way. This in spite of the fact that many who had allied themselves with Mugabe to bring down white-ruled Rhodesia were in bitter opposition to his regime, often from exile.

Jeremiah Wright's Interview

Last week, I saw Bill Moyer’s interview of Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama’s former pastor at Trinity United Church in Chicago. The interview did much to reverse Wright’s image as an anti-American firebrand. One of the things I noticed was that, in normal conversation, he is very soft-spoken and nuanced in his choice of words. And the short clips of him ranting from the podium like a madman? I’ve seen this style of sermonizing before (John Hagee is one its biggest practitioners). Wright’s “fury” isn’t present through his whole sermon: it only comes out at the culmination of a long chain of building arguments. Only at the end does he add the “flavor” of emotion and rage. This style never has sat well with me, and judging by the nationwide negative reaction to him, it doesn’t come across very well with people in general.

One theme that Wright stressed in his interview was the notion that oppressed peoples would necessarily read the Bible through a more similar perspective to its writers, the Jews (they themselves having been repeatedly persecuted), than those in society who have had it easier in life. Wright believes that it's not enough to just dwell upon the spiritual and heaven: God is very concerned with social justice, as His Word reveals (according to the Reverend).

Reverend Wright explained his critical comments about America by pointing out that the great Old Testament prophets, such as Jeremiah, also had very critical things to say to and about their homeland. The words spoken then were a rebuke and a warning, not condemnation. And Wright believes that at least those governing the U.S. employ a double standard when it comes to valuing human life and dignity, depending on whether the concerned humans reside within our borders or on another nation’s territory.

Wright is also a strong believer in the ongoing narrative of class oppression. He sees himself as someone who understands all of the terrible oppression that blacks and other groups have to endure. The only problem I see with this is that, although I’m sure that there is still racism and discrimination going on around us, most of the problems people experience in their day-to-day living are rooted in their own bad habits and attitudes. And one of these self-defeating attitudes is to carry around within oneself a narrative that everything bad that happens to them is because they belong to an oppressed group. Wright shouldn’t play up to that mindset as he has. To his credit, however, his church has been very active in its community helping the needy and ministering to those in prison.

I appreciate Bill Moyers for having given Reverend Jeremiah Wright the opportunity to react to the publicity he’s received for the past few weeks and to explain his philosophy. I believe that those short clippings of his were taken out of context by Barack Obama’s political opponents in order to defame Obama by association. And Wright is a thoughtful, caring man whom I would feel honored to have as a friend. But having said that, I still believe, as I have written in an earlier blog entry, that the Reverend has allowed himself to be part of a feedback loop that accepts affirming information and rejects contradictory information. The result is, in my opinion, a rather skewed and overcritical perspective on the United States, its history, and its role in the world. But then again, it’s perfectly human to seek out and value more those agreeing with one’s idiosyncratic views and conversely, to block out and reject dissenting opinions. After all, it’s conservatives who to tend to tune in to Rush Limbaugh and liberals who tend to tune in to Keith Olbermann.

Drinking Water

What is the most important food to consume? Some may say carbohydrates; other protein. It’s true that we all need a certain proportion of carbohydrates, protein, and fat in our diets, but there is one item that, although not generally regarded as food, is actually more crucial than the more commonly-mentioned food types: water. Both in the immediate now and over long periods of time, consuming enough water is necessary for life itself, not just for optimum health. The question is how much of it we need to drink over the course of a day.

Although I’ve heard anything from four to eight full glasses of water as a good daily intake, I don’t necessarily see that this is so. What’s the scientific backing for those exhortations, after all? When I’ve stepped up my water intake in the past, it just seems that I spend more time having to run to the bathroom. Although I do believe that we need to drink more water, I have a simpler remedy.

Whenever I feel tired or hungry, I should first ask myself whether I am also thirsty. And then drink a glass of water. Not tea or cola or fruit juice or coffee or milk. Just plain water. From the tap. Nothing fancy, no counting daily glasses. I just respond to what my body tells me and no more.

I also believe that some of the overeating that has been going on is due to people not drinking enough water. One of the things that tells us whether we are hungry is how full our stomachs are. If we drink water at the first feelings of hunger, I believe that the compulsion to raid the fridge for junk food can be forestalled. And then a more healthful meal can then be prepared.

There’s such a thing as drinking too much water, so I don’t want to get rigid about pouring a high number of glasses down my throat. But the main problem is that people don’t drink enough, not the reverse. But water is so readily available and is free if you don’t have some kind of hang-up about drinking it from a tap or fountain.

Rationales for Evil Behavior

In the move The Godfather (Parts One and Two), both Vito Corleone and his son Michael explicitly and repeatedly laid out the rationale for their criminal behavior: anything goes, as long as it is for the sake of their family. And yet, despite this, they only succeeded in destroying their family! In Cuba, the rationale for the Communist revolution there has always been to protect their people from economic exploitation from capitalists. And yet, until just recently, Cubans were prohibited by law from even buying and selling simple appliances!

In most instances of people openly doing bad things to others, the perpetrators rationalize their actions by either portraying themselves as victims (entitled to redress) or protectors of some other supposedly victimized party. Look at the actions of Al-Qaeda under Bin-Laden over the past few years as they “protect” Muslims from Western nations and culture. And who have been their chief victims? Muslims!

Speaking of current events, our current President has kept our country mired in a prohibitively expensive conflict in Iraq for the past five years, with no end in sight. Done ostensibly to protect us within the context of the “War on Terror”, the Iraq War, besides causing more than 4000 American deaths and many more injuries, has caused our government to borrow money at interest from other nations (some who do not have our interests in their hearts) to fund itself and the war. And it distracted us from going after the root cause of 9/11: Al-Qaeda under Bin-Laden. Was President Bush evil when he launched the war in 2003? No, but his overeagerness for the war back then, along with his stubborn refusal to ever admit to a mistake, has put us in this sorry state of affairs today.

In the previous examples (fictional or real), those responsible for rationalizing their aggressive behavior toward others had a great deal of support by many at the beginning. But over time, people gradually came to see each of them for what they were: cynical exploiters who cared little, if at all, for those on whose behalf they were pretending to act. As a matter of fact, in each of these examples, the “leaders” without exception regarded themselves as being in a socially-superior class, far above those whom they purported to serve.

Favorite Songs of 1977

Of all the years that I have reviewed or will review, 1977 has the sad distinction of being the worst one for me musically! There were only two really super-good songs from this year and one of them actually came out earlier! But I’ll still mention a few of the ones that I “moderately” liked. Billy Joel came out with his The Stranger album and with it, two good singles: Movin’ Out and Just the Way You Are. Fleetwood Mac’s Don’t Stop was a positive song that had nothing to do yet with Bill Clinton. Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta teamed up to perform the catchy You’re the One That I Want from Grease. Rose Royce had a good hit with Car Wash, the theme song for the same-titled movie. Manfred Mann’s Earth Band completely transformed a Bruce Springsteen song, Blinded By the Light, with a little help from Chopsticks. K.C. and the Sunshine Band continued their disco stardom in ‘77 when they produce something I actually liked: I’m Your Boogie Man. Stevie Wonder’s Sir Duke, his tribute to the jazz great Duke Ellington, was one of his best ever. Boz Scaggs also peaked with Lido Shuffle. One of my favorite Eagles songs, the melancholy New Kid in Town, came out in 1977. How Deep Is Your Love by the Bee Gees, despite being severely overplayed, still was a pleasant enough tune to sit through. As was Debbie Boone’s blockbuster hit You Light Up My Life. If I were to give a #3 favorite song of 1977 award out, it would probably go to Rita Coolidge for We’re All Alone. Dave Mason sang his heart out with his beautiful We Just Disagree, my #2 favorite song from that song-forsaken year. The best song (to me)? On my local album-rock station, one song from earlier that received a lot of air play in '77 was Song for America by Kansas. It was an epic sort of track that had a very strong classical flavor to it. And it impressed me enough to make it my favorite song from 1977.

Boston Marathon

I was able to watch some of this year's Boston Marathon on the Versus Channel on TV. On the men's side, Kenyan Robert Cherulyot won handily, while Dire Tune of Ethiopia won an extremely close race against Russia's Alevtina Biktimirova. All during the race, I kept hearing the announcers referring to the different cash prizes given to the participants who won, placed, or even set a Boston Marathon time record. So this race obviously had absolutely nothing to do with amateur athletics. And perhaps that's just as well, since the winners came from very poor backgrounds in very poor third world nations. The lofty Western notions of amateurism may seen pretty hollow for people in their situations. But these winners will no doubt compete this year as "amateurs" in the Summer Olympics, and that is where I have a bit of a problem with all this. After all, these professionals have a clear advantage over true amateurs, who have to support themselves and their families with their jobs and don't have the time and financial resources to devote to their sport as the pros do. But when the Olympics come, suddenly the pros aren't pros: they're amateurs for a couple of weeks!

During the race, I felt that motorcyclists and motorists often crowded out the runners themselves. It looked to me as if Biktimirova actually had to shift over once to get out of the way of a straying motorcyclist! Look, it's hard enough to run and finish a marathon, much less do it at a breakneck speed in frantic competition with others. They don't need fools crowding in on them, interfering with their sport! At the end of the race, on both the men and women's sides, I saw officials angrily yelling at friends who were congratulating the winners to get out of the way as well as manhandling the athletes themselves, grabbing and pushing them around to be in the "right" positions for post-race photographs and publicity events. I don't think that I would have been willing to put up with any of these self-important "suits" touching me, much less roughhandling me as they did the runners.

The race itself was an impressive demonstration of the capacity of people to excel under enormous stress. These are superb athletes. But I would not want to compete as an amateur against them in any race in which they would receive money just to compete in it (not that I would be remotely capable of keeping up them). But that is sadly the way things are in competitive running nowadays.

Several Gainesville-area runners competed in this year's Boston Marathon. Here are their finishing times, courtesy of the Gainesville Sun. Seeing how many finished in the 10,000th places and beyond, I wonder how many minutes transpired after the race started before these runners were even able to reach the starting line. And even afterwards, how long would it have taken before they were able to freely establish their own running paces? And yet, how many of them will probably cling to their final "times" as legitimate results? Seeing this, I think that it would be a great experience to run the Boston Marathon. But beyond actually finishing the race, I don't think I would get too hung up over my time.

Starbucks, Beer, and Lines

Well, it seems as if I have gotten something of a handle on my pollen allergies, for I am once again sitting outside of the Magnolia Parke Starbucks on a warm, clear, breezy afternoon. Starbucks has come out with a new brand of coffee they call “Pike Place”, but I can’t for the life of me distinguish it from any of the other regular drip coffees I get from them. I sometimes wonder why so many people go to Starbucks for coffee when they could just brew some at home, and then I answer myself: I DO brew coffee at home, too. But I just like a change of scenery, and to get myself out in public in a setting that is positive. And, by and large, the Starbucks Coffee Company does make having the customer feel well-served and comfortable a high priority. So I’m not really just buying coffee when I come here; I’m also buying the service, the pleasant environment, and a place to sit and write or read. But still, the money spent here can add up over time, even though I usually buy the drip coffee and avoid the espresso-machine drinks.

About four weeks ago, I came out here to this little shopping center to buy a coffee before work, just as I am doing at this writing. But the parking lot was packed, and there were people walking all about. Finally, I came upon a small field adjacent to the parking lot. And on it was a very, very long line of people waiting for something. At its head were some stands and tents. Well, I gave up on trying to find a parking spot, and I went on my way. It wasn’t until later that I found out that they were holding a beer-tasting “clinic” for the public that day! Which made me wonder why so many people will stand for long periods of time in extremely long lines for such a small payoff. These folks could just as easily gone to a store and chosen from a wide variety of beers, to drink at their own convenience. But then again, why do people camp out overnight on Thanksgiving, just to be the first ones to rush into the stores the next morning? Weird!

Monday Newsbreak: 4/21

--Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter met this past Friday with exiled leaders of Hamas in Syria. Hamas, which was democratically elected into power in Palestine, now controls and governs the densely populated Gaza Strip, which is separated from the Palestine-Authority-controlled West Bank by Israeli territory. I’ve heard and read a lot of criticism against Carter for talking with Hamas, which is widely called a terrorist organization. But it makes no sense for President Bush to pretend that he is seeking a comprehensive peace between Israel and the Palestinians while refusing to acknowledge the presence and importance of Hamas in the region. I’m really getting tired of this asinine notion that we can get our adversaries to buckle under and give up by shunning them! Carter is helping us, not hurting us.

--CNN commentator Jack Cafferty is undergoing a lot of criticism from some folks who identify themselves with the Chinese-American community because he called China’s leaders “goons and thugs” and its exports to us “junk”. Those calling for Cafferty’s firing claim that his speech was racist against the Chinese. But although I think Cafferty’s comments were crass and undiplomatic, they were aimed at that country’s political leaders. And his “junk” comment was based on recent scandals about lead in toys and poison in pet foods that were imported from China. What, I ask, does “race” or being a Chinese-American have to do with that? But Cafferty is just one of a increasingly long list of untalented shock-announcers who spew out insults instead of framing and analyzing issues and problems in a constructive and inclusive manner. Aren’t you getting tired of this trend in broadcasting as well as knee-jerk unfounded accusations of racism?

--Pope Benedict XVI continued his successful visit to America, being well-received everywhere he has traveled. May his days be plenty and successful!

--A ridiculous (to me) development project in the heart of an already-overcrowded section of Gainesville has been stalled for more than a year due to a court battle over whether the developers can actually receive certain tax breaks offered by the city to encourage development. Instead of several small businesses that were serving to the surrounding university community, we have, after all the buildings were torn down, a vast fenced-in area of nothingness! But I guess that’s better than what will be when they put up eight-story condominiums after the legal disputes end.

--After the “successful” surge against insurgents in Iraq, the abject failure of the Iraqi government to follow through with reconciliation of that country’s opposing factions is now leading to the inevitable disastrous situation that is now starting to unfold between Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and the government over al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army. And in the north of Iraq, there are signs of Sunni insurgents regrouping as well. So there goes our window of opportunity!

--Tomorrow’s Pennsylvania Democratic primary between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama could help to encourage superdelegates to make their choices public, especially if Obama wins or even just finishes close to Clinton. I may be wrong about this (but I strongly doubt it), but even if Hillary Clinton wins Pennsylvania convincingly, she still wouldn’t have the numbers to wrest the nomination from Obama. So the big question is, after Pennsylvania is over, how is she going to conduct her campaign (if she continues it, as she probably will)? By attacking Obama with increasing desperation and viciousness, or by shifting the targets of her criticism to the November opponents, the Republicans under their soon-to-be nominee John McCain?