Monday, December 30, 2013

A Book and One Blistery Blast



Several times during the school year, teachers from Washington Junior High School bring a group of kids over to spend some after school time with me.  Teenagers frighten adults for some reason.  I learned that quickly when I began teaching high school years ago.  Small talk about careers serves as a great conversation starter when meeting new people, and new people I met always smiled and nodded appreciatively upon learning that I taught.  But, when the learned that each day, I stepped into a classroom filled with adolescents, their attitudes changed.  Their mouths opened in horror and many offered me condolences.  In general, most thought my life was in danger every minute of every hour spent in the classroom. Nothing could have been further from the truth. 

Perhaps because I taught electives  - Theatre History, Acting Lab, Speech, Creative Writing - my student population might have been a bit different than those of required classes.  My kids had drive, edge, imagination.  Above all, they were honest.  I always knew where I stood with them.  That kept me alert and I learned quickly how to adapt lessons and curriculum requirements to methods that best suited their needs (and whims) at any given moment.  

And the point is?  These WJHS kids are terrific and I wish that adults could see them as I see them.  They come in, engage in conversation while exploring.  Some are shy, at first, but that changes quickly.  Others get right to work, quizzing me to see how much I really know about books.  They have filled me in on the hot titles - The 4th Stall being the current must read.

These books are so much fun - a cross between The Godfather and "Happy Days".  Remember how Fonzie kept an office at Mel's Diner?  Same concept.  Check out the publisher's  summary of Book 1; yes, this is a series and I can't wait to move on to #2.  No pun intended.

What else am I reading?  Lots of plays.  I'm trying to narrow down a show, a murder mystery and a children's play for UW-Manitowoc.  There are too many possibilities. 


Publishers Summary: Do you need something? Mac can get it for you. It’s what he does—he and his best friend and business manager, Vince. Their methods might sometimes run afoul of the law, or at least the school code of conduct, but if you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can pay him, Mac is on your side. His office is located in the East Wing boys’ bathroom, fourth stall from the high window. And business is booming.

Or at least it was, until one particular Monday. It starts with a third grader in need of protection. And before this ordeal is over, it’s going to involve a legendary high school crime boss named Staples, an intramural gambling ring, a graffiti ninja, the nine most dangerous bullies in school, and the first Chicago Cubs World Series game in almost seventy years. And that’s just the beginning. Mac and Vince soon realize that the trouble with solving everyone else’s problems is that there’s no one left to solve yours.


Amazon as Shakedown Artist?...Surely you won't be surprised to learn that Amazon is ruthless, greedy, and unethical...right?  

In a review of Brad Stone's book The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon in the December issue of Harper's, deputy editor James Marcus reported on what he labeled "Amazon's newest shakedown.  Some publishers are now being pressured to pay the equivalent of 1% of their annual net sales to Amazon--levied on top of any existing fees--simply for the privilege of presenting their lists to the marketing team and buyers. In the case of the larger houses, this sum could run between $500,000 and $1 million--and failure to pay will make it awfully hard to get an Amazon buyer on the phone."

In a footnote, Marcus wrote that an Amazon spokesperson "denies this latest practice, and several publishers, when contacted by Harper's magazine, were understandably leery of revealing the specifics of their own agreements with the company. What came through clearly was a general repugnance toward Bezos' tactics. Describing Amazon's appetite for 'creative destruction' as 'somewhere between scary and disgusting,' one New York publishing executive told Harper's: 'When you go to work each morning with a battle-ax, everything looks like a head to be chopped off.' "


Monday, December 23, 2013

Monday, December 9, 2013

The Sound and Some Fury


Last week's live broadcast of the stage version of "The sound of Music" prompted me to grab a book I have been saving as a gift, should the proper occasion arise.  Several years ago, I picked up a copy of The Story of the Trapp Family Singers for .50 at a rummage sale.  Returning home, I discovered the book was autographed by Maria Von Trapp and several of her children.  Assuming it to be quite valuable, I went back to where I bought.  The owner said he just wanted things gone.  There was sadness in his voice and eyes.  It was then that I decided to save the book as a gift, hoping that some day my talented friend Emily would play Maria, and then the book could be hers.  

Let me be honest here, I have never been a big fan of the musical - not a fan of sentimentality in general. But, I do respect theatre and the richness it brings to my life.  Maria Von Trapp tells this story with gentle words, sincerity and an admirable reverence.  Some details differ from the script.  For some reason, the script writers changed the children's names, and did not include reference to the sick child that was to be Maria's main concern.  I learned that Maria was not asked to leave the convent because she was too spirited, but rather because her health suffered due to the dramatic change from the freshness of pure mountai  air to the conditions in cloistered life.  Maria was cautioned to remember that she was only "on loan" from the convent, and was to return in one year.  We all know that didn't happen.  Many of the stage plays lines have been taken directly from Maria's autobiography.

In the final pages, she writes of the Captain's death - a long drawn out cancer battle that had been misdiagnosed by more than one doctor.  For the longest time, Maria believed the doctors, but she had always promised Georg she would tell him when he was reaching the end of his life.  When that fact becomes evident, she does as she had promised, keeping vigil, praying and singing with the children throughout.  

The live TV telecast, and especially Carrie Underwood, has met with lots of negativity.  My first reaction, too, was that she tanked.  But I eased up eventually.  Underwood didn't miss a note.  She delivered her lines without the tiniest of baubles.  She hit all her marks and knew where the cameras were at all times.  Her delivery was flat, but maybe this was too much too soon for her.  And, a performer's learning curve is on full display.  Golfers can practice in private; artists draw in the privacy of their studios, but performers have go live to discover what they have yet to learn.  Maybe Underwood's managers, handlers or others including the production's director ill advised her.  If you watch her perform on music awards show, you know she's got it, she just needs the right team to coax it out of her in other genres.  And, come on, Captain Von Trapp played by a rather experienced actor, did not sert the screen  afire either.  Audra MacDonald?  Love her most of the time, but my TV set is still shaking from that vibrato.  

My last ranty bit on the subject is this - during a time when we should be reflecting on other subjects like the incredible life and work of Nelson Mandela to name just one, why are so many people picking on Carrie Underwood?  Too many priorities are out of whack.  Maybe 2014 will be the year we put entertainment back into perspective and let more significant issues take center stage.

Thanks for stopping by.

Monday, December 2, 2013

Weekend Travel


Travel weekend...both by car and by armchair.  Saturday marked the final Art VS. Craft show in Milwaukee.  After ten strong years, this urban/outsider art event is ending which is so sad.  I always found the most unique gifts at this show - small items, quirky items, playful items and even some items that could be considers so ugly they are cute.  Everything is hand made, mostly by regional artists, and each item is one of a kind.  After the show, I gave my friend Karen a quick tour of the Third Ward, and then returned home to empty my dog.

On Sunday, I went to Italy with Frances Mayes.  Although I am not nearly as daring as she (who is?) I felt the fear, the joy, the excitement, the anxiety and the satisfaction right along with her.  Mayes took me with her on a brave journey, and I enjoyed every word.  The reality of what she did rang so much deeper and truer than Eat, Pray, Love, for example.  While I liked that book, especially the section on Indonesia, the author spent too much time inward time; but I guess that was the purpose of her story.  In Mayes' book I got to know the people and the traditions.  She let me experience a fierce electrical storm with her, taste olives freshly picked from her own trees, and inhale the aromas of field flows and herbs on every path she travel;led.

"Go slow.  Be polite" she advised herself as she faced comunication challenges along with  owls flying in  through unscreened windows, inadequate septic system, and a plethora of other daunting disasters  fierce enough to send most professional city girls screaming back to the comforts of the home.  But not Mayes.  she toughed it out.  I know it sounds cheesy, but she learned a lot about herself along the way, and shared it in a most entertaining way.  Want a suggestion?  Pick up a copy of this book and save it.  Save it for a day when you're snowed in and there's nothing else to do but take a little trip - and let Frances Mayes be your guide.

Go slow.  Be polite.  Pretty simple words to live by.  I think I'll try that in 2014.  Help me to remember that, will you?

Thanks for stopping by.