THURSDAY--Another Edition of ...............

The weekly flip of the fedora to Jimmy Cannon.

NOBODY ASKED ME BUT......

1)      It’s always a delightful surprise to find that there really are just 6, or something like that, degrees of separation.   I still don’t know Kevin Bacon; but so many others you find to whom you do have a connection. 

2)      How did the Kevin Bacon and 6 degrees of separation start anyway?

3)      Law and Order is finishing but strangely I only really liked the earliest episodes with Moriarty, Ohrbach, Noth, and the first D.A. After that it was formulaic unlike “Homicide –Life on The Streets” with a great cast and non formulaic.

4)      With Cable TV, Internet, Satellite radio, Terrestrial radio, DVR, Smart Phones, and more there really no focused and large audience group anymore.  Advertising creativity is relegated to what attention clicks on a mouse get you. Bottom line; that all this divides us and, artificial virtual communities aside, divides people.

5)      What a shame that Phil Ochs topical music is still relevant.  Or, as Pete Seeger once wrote in his classic “Where Have All The Flowers Gone”---“...when will we ever learn”.

6)      Note that I said “topical”.  Phil Ochs other music is timeless in its beautiful.

7)      If I can just throw out the sports section of the newspaper why can I not avoid the sportscasters on radio in their mandatory use of as many words they can find that equal win or lose---trumped, trounced, flogged, walked over, ad nauseum.

8)      Don’t you think that a Museum of Ad Nauseums would be an appropriate venue to enshrine all the awful clichés, puns, and such?  Who knows it might get SRO and if not it might be a Turkey.  Two more items to add to the exhibits.

9)      If Jeopardy is for the really bright people with trivia queries that require knowledge why are the mundane interviews so boring and the people likewise---including the host?

10)                    I still like newspapers and not having to read them on a screen.  You can be just so current---then again with all this immediacy you can get caught in a current and drown.

                        

TRADITIONS ---NOT THE RADIO PROGRAM

Sometimes things evolve and become "traditional".  What we call "Folk Music" no  longer has to  be just twanging on a front porch.  Play it often enough and recall it over the years and it becomes "folk".  History sometimes has to wait in the wings to be properly written and let the events become digested, so to speak, so they can be more fully appreciated.

The Museum of The City of NY always has some truly interesting exhibits ranging from Charles Adams' NY, NYC through various lens, Robert Moses, and the main one that will be running through October 3 of this year---America's Mayor---NOT Giuliani--rather John V. Lindsay.

                                                      photo:katrina thomas
         Surely you all recognize the gentleman standing to the right of John Lindsay--left in picture

I have said this in another venue---"he was and idealist and not a pragmatist as so many were and are".   Taking office at a time when strife was rampant and disasters ready to unfold for NYC he had some great accomplishments.  Because of his idealism NYC did not burn during the riots of the 1960s as other cities did, NY theater was open to more people through TKTS, the Transit Workers Union was finally not placated each  contract expiration period, and the list goes on---including some missteps .

Best to go to the exhibit and see it all for yourself---or---click here 


There you will see some great videos, take a virtual tour, and you may leave comments of your recollections of The Lindsay Years----I, for one, felt then as I do now that we need people like him in office and, sadly, he much maligned in his years there.   Things were not always in his control but he always took the honorable position as opposed to the "pragmatists" who played by their own rules.   They shall be nameless but recall  those years and the shameful cast of characters that were around at the time.

THURSDAY ---ANOTHER EDITION OF....

A flip of the fedora to Jimmy Cannon

NOBODY ASKED ME BUT......

1)         It seems that people worry about their privacy and then post things on the Internet (Facebook, etc;) with more information than one needs to know.  From medical to dental information and the ever popular bowel matters.

2)         Perhaps people want their privacy protected by the law so that they can annoy the world with their own information.

3)         Other than that the Mafia was not a nation state it seems that Afghanistan is not much different. At least OUR laws strangled

4)         Pete Seeger says it best in song—“...bring em’  home”.  Or better yet—a paraphrase from, who was it—“Jose Jimenez” (of Steve Allen fame)---“...no my job”?

5)         How many times during the day do we hear these statements----“At the end of the day...”,  “Having said that....”, “On the other hand...”.  How about this to end all these overused vamps for time in interviews:  “At the end of the day, I have to say that on the other hand there are five fingers if you are not an amputee of any of the digits”.

6)         I would love to see an interviewer respond with this comment after thanking a guest for appearing and the guest saying “..thanks for having me”----“C’mon I’m not your mother”

7)         Some of the films depicting relations between children and ageing parents are comedic, touching, sad, you name it.  The Mother of them all is the 1937 film ( I could be classy and say “flick”) “Here Comes Tomorrow”---now on DVD.

           Available at The Orangeburg Library (Orangeburg NY) at no charge.

8)         Friday May 21 seems like a great day to head for Garden City to the Our Times Coffeehouse---they have B&B there that night---OK its not Cointreau but what that stands for is a better spirit---Buskin and Batteau.

9)         On May 3 Pete Seeger turned 91 but he may well be age dyslexic since, after seeing him at Tarrytown recently, he seems more like 19.

10)   I am learning not to judge a book by its cover---well, people by first impressions---books are probably best judged by their covers.

11)   Does everyone always have the top doctor in his field for their medical issues? 

      Think of all the interminable tales you hear about a person’s doctor being the head of this or that or the top in the universe.  How do those others make a living?  No one ever says I have a doctor and he is not really well known or the top of anything anywhere.

THURSDAY --ANOTHER EDITION OF ......

The weekly flip of the fedora to Jimmy Cannon

NOBODY ASKED ME BUT......

1)   In thinking of the children of Dr. M L King one has to wonder why one generation creates and the next destroys the legacy with inane squabbles.  Happens a lot.

2)   The Tony awards are limited only to “Broadway Houses” so I guess nothing good ever happens elsewhere even though the Broadway houses now keep shows on that are nothing more than tourist attractions. And keep them on for decades.  Like Television—repeats ad nauseum.

3)   Hard to remember a time when a Broadway ticket price was affordable without the benefit of some air-line pricing and deals.

4)   Since there is a law on the books preventing the parking and idling of vehicles in the Times Square area  and there is a huge police presence (presumably) how is it that it took a street vendor to alert a horseback patrol man (now considered a hero) to the vehicle?   I get a parking ticket after 5 minutes even when legally parked by the dreaded Brownies (well, now they wear blue---big deal).  Maybe we should have the parking enforcement people do security---they love writing tickets---perhaps, though, not danger.

5)   Since there are so few Video/DVD rental stores that carry anything but the latest films—good or bad---would it not serve a great good if libraries stuck to circulating the great and classic films and leave the rest to the commercial outlets?

6)   It seems that with all the internet social networks (Facebook, My Space, etc;) people are losing, not only their privacy(by their own doing),but any semblence of good manners that are left because of the anonymity and distance from a physical contact.

7)   Here is a great DVD tip---Here Comes Tomorrow (1939) just released on DVD.  A classic with a great story to tell---forget special effects---this has only one effect---it affects you.

8)   The Yiddish version of Kisses Sweeter Than Wine by Theresa Tova and Loren Sklamberg are just delightful---and if you tune in to Sunday Simcha (WFDU 10 AM ET---or on the web www.wfdu.fm )on May 16 you will be able to hear it.

9)   Why not click on Facebook and become a fan of WFDU Sunday Simcha---there is a page there.  Updates on the program and also for Traditions from time to time.

10)                    It seems just as thrilling to invest in the stock market as riding a real roller coaster---but more expensive.

 

THURSDAY---Another Edition of......

The weekly flip of the fedora to Jimmy Cannon

NOBODY ASKED ME BUT......

1)      Do retired cops, besides receiving over the top pensions, still get angry when one disagrees with them?  Oh, that controlling and wearing of a uniform is something hard to get rid of.  You know that's personal---right?

2)      Thinking of the above comment makes you thankful that Germany did not win WW2 but we now know that human nature (which includes the U S) is only steps away from the same nature---sadly, human nature.

3)      Think of 3 people at a table and each one is texting---talking about one of the others.  Whole new definition of having dinner with people.  

4)      I am always impressed by folks who, no matter their age, continue to go to educational courses and open themselves up to new ideas.  Would that people who only see things in black and white do that.

5)      Seems like Teabaggers see things in black and white and you have to wonder if they would have been involved in the original Tea Party unless, of course, there had been a Palin type shrew leading the cause---for a hefty fee.

6)      Why do people use Debit cards when they can use Credit cards and let the issuers give you a free monthly ride and if you overdraw a Debit card you may end up paying 37.50 for that 2.50 slice of Pizza you were so hungry and salivated over.

7)      Wasn’t it a wonderful time when telephones made telephone calls and did not become an entertainment center and a venue to pay e bills?

8)      If you don’t see money then you don’t realize you are spending it.  Las Vegas knew that years ago when you purchased chips.

9)      People of age are leaving the stage; as usual.  Whitney Harris died at 97.  The last of the prosecution team at Nuremberg after WW2 and the founder of the first International Criminal Court.  Unfortunately, the crimes go on.

10)                    One has to wonder how it is ever possible to hold anyone responsible of anything in the corporate and industrial world given all the intricate chains of ownership.  Seems like only the person who robs a 7/11 store or mugs someone in the street gets the original version of justice.  Justice for the large gang is elusive---Madoff, excluded---he did get his comeuppance. 

11)                    What a delight to see Pete Seeger (and Fred Hellerman and Ronnie Gilbert) still active and mesmerizing at those grand old ages.  Would that we all had such verve and drive.   Happy 91 on May 3 to Pete Seeger.

12)    Do join me Sunday on TRADITIONS when we celebrate Pete Seeger's 91st.(5/3), mine (5/2)---a bit before that, and re visit a wonderful show of last week in Tarrytown.

More Than Just A Review

While making mention of this on the May 9 Sunday Simcha program and, surely, this Sunday (May 2)when we commemorate the 91st Birthday of Pete Seeger (5/3) and yours truly---not quite there yet-- this is something that has to be mentioned even sooner. A glorious evening that was billed as a concert---and a memorable one it was--but was in fact a most touching and wonderful surprise 50th Birthday Party for a family by the name of Wolofsky and organized by their wonderfully sentimental and caring children. Amazingly it was a surprise---which was a great surprise to me. How do you keep it a secret that you are going to Tarrytown Music Hall from Canada and on that stage will be----Pete Seeger, Fred Hellerman, Work O The Weavers, The Klezmatics---and the biggest surprise to them---Theresa Tova (you have heard her on Sunday Simcha)--along with the perfect image of Woody Guthrie--Rob Tepper (you have heard him on Traditions)? Not to mention some great monologues by Nora Guthrie since this was also a benefit for The Guthrie Archives and for the sloop Woody Guthrie.

More than just a review because those are the basics.  What transpired on that stage was, besides an historical event, a wonderful musical celebration.  From the moment Pete Seeger took the stage the audience was mesmerized and, as it always is with Pete Seeger, involved.  Followed by The Work O The Weavers who keep that wonderful tradition alive and keep updating it and then having Fred Hellerman come on was surely a homecoming for many.  Fred Hellerman calling on Pete to join him ("...I am not used to being alone on a stage") was a brilliant moment as they did an old ---hardly  remembered--favorite, "The Frozen Logger".

While the Work O The Weavers were still on stage an intruder came up----Woody Guthrie.  Had you not known he had passed on you would have seriously believed that Rob Tepper WAS Woody Guthrie.  If one can see his full production (When The Curfew Blows) it is not to be missed.

There you see what I am writing of.   Woody Guthrie re-incarnated.  Or, as Nora Guthrie state--"...I am freaked".  That says it all.

After intermission at this grand old entertainment palace that still lives on we were regaled by The Klezmatics who surely know how to blow a house down.  The big surprise of the evening--for the Wolofsky family at least was the person who joined The Klezmatics for a great rendition (among other things) of Kisses Sweeter Than Wine---in Yiddish.  Prior to that the big surprise of the evening was the elder Mr. Wolofsky running up on to the stage to hug Tova---and idol of his for many years.  The Klezmatics then continued with music that made the rafters ring and the spirits soar.

For a final ending I have to close with this description of it and follow it with the photo you saw at the top since this was a truly historical and personal event---and also benefited some wonderful works of historical meaning---The Guthrie Foundation and The Sloop Woody Guthrie.

For that grand Finale which started with This Land Is Your Land and then had Pete Seeger signalling all the others to come forward; then leading them in Goodnight Irene and have them (Pete signalling) for them to sing the last chorus as the slowly walked off the stage-----What An Evening.