September 25, 2009
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I am in solidarity with the 9/24 UC walk-out, and I am against the further privatization of the public university system. If you are, too, make this your status for the rest of the week.
The Daily News
Mary Travers, 1936-2009
1 So…Mary Travers walks into a bar…
2 Sad, but not altogether unexpected.
3 For those who don’t know, she was Mary of Peter, Paul, and Mary, a wonderfully harmonious group who made Dylan songs sound pretty.
4 The world has lost a grand gal, that’s for certain.
5 So it goes…
6 Moving on: Turns out I was wrong about the UC fee hikes in yesterday’s DN. A closer look seems to point to a 30% hike by 2010. Unbelieveable, and I fully support the walkout. I don’t like the idea of the UC system rocketing toward privatization, and it’s looking a whole bunch like higher education will eventually lock out a tremendous amount of students.
7 I was already outraged when I thought it was 10%, so 30% is going to create much more of struggle for anyone marginally poor, and can be devastating to many others.
8 It is borderline outrageous.
9 Anyway, I am supporting the walkout, and it seems to me for clearly obvious reasons. I encourage you to join in the outrage. Our entire concept of higher education in America is at stake. It’s downright scary.
10 Moving on, Part the Second: For about the third day in a row I’ve eyeballed the Bartlet Sher revival of the Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic tale South Pacific, now playing at the Golden Gate Theater in San Francisco. I’m not crazy about the Golden Gate after having spent a bit of time in the Orpheum, but it’s still a grand old place with lots of squeaky quirks.
11 The Merc’s Karen D’ Souza gives it a huge hats off says among other things in her review which appeared in this week’s Eye that “You can smell the salt in the air of this intoxicating production.”
12 The revival, which picked up seven Tony Awards in 2008, runs through October 25, and then will head outta town for a national tour.
13 I’ve always loved South Pacific, partially because my parents used to play the music for us on Sunday mornings when I was growing up, and partially because my sister Gayle played Nellie Forbush in our high school production when I was a tad younger than I am now.
14 She sang and danced and brought that entire show right into our home, with cast members coming over, and everybody enjoying the grand music.
15 Loved it then, even though the book has a few holes, and I love it now.
16 Seriously considering going, just worried about keeping up with grading of papers.
17 That’s my only hesitation. I simply can’t grade papers at school; I need an entire weekend at home to get that chore going.
18 I’ll try though.
19 Moving on, Part Three: The update on my songwriting efforts is that I’ve finally hit a wall. I had a grand three weeks, culminating in the workings of six songs, bringing my total of seven in my life to a head. The past few days have been frustrating, only because nothing is really entering my head.
20 I began writing two songs, one called ironically The Daily News, a tune that is aimed at a reporter who wants to work in journalism, and who is excited about reporting the news with whatever slant his boss wants. Fun concept if you know anything about Fox, and Rupert Murdoch. It sort of works, but it’s not quite what I want yet. Offshoot of the Beatles’ Paperback Writer, only nowhere near as clever!
21 The second is called Bistro, a sort of funk popcorn piece that would require a 12-piece jazz group. Tough thing to hammer out on a Yamaha acoustic, to be sure.
22 And some groanfully emo love song that sounds absolutely beautiful, but is almost TOO sad and serious. It also was pretty random, since I have twelve titles I’ve worked with, and have six of them already in some pretty nice shape. Both The Daily News and Bistro were original titles, but this new one is just a beautiful melody but a bit too serious, and we can’t have that.
23 Bistro is the most fun, because it’s a funky tune about hanging out in a coffee house, but it needs a coupla shots of espress to give it more joy and humor.
24 All too too self-indulgent, but then, who isn’t self-indulgent in 2009?
25 It’s all in fun anyway, but interesting to see that it just isn’t as easy as it sounds.
26 Well, that’s the update in the 408.
27 Not much news is always good news, if ya ask me.
28 It’s the weekend, y’all! Love it, enjoy it, and live it to the fullest. One world, one ride. Write it in your heart, willyz?
29 Lovin’ it all.
30 Peace.
~H~
