THE WEEKENDER :) A CHUCKLE & A WONDER

NOT THE LIKE THE OLD DAYS

Nothing too heavy since this is a weekend, but

things in the media have changed and gotten very silly.

Jon Stewart's Daily Show often shows how

there is a parrot like mindlessness to what is

said on TV.  Suffice it to say, before huge cutbacks

and before people with seniority were let go because

their pay checks were what they were, it 

didn't used to happen.  You know, the good old days.

Enough!  Just click on this and "enjoy(?)" the

vapid.

By the way despite the disclaimer

at the beginning-it is simply laziness,

  and not editing the copy that was sent to the

smaller news stations rather than some kind of control issue that led to "pushing the envelope."

NOW FOR ANOTHER KIND OF SHILL,

BUT WHAT WONDER

See you down the trail.

IN THE SPIRIT OF THE SEASON

BREATHING DEMOCRACY

LIVING A REPUBLIC

One of the great joys, and thus a reason for

gratitude in this season of thanks, is the 

vitality of conversation and political engagement

at Lilly's, one of the world's most unique coffee shops.

On any day you will see animated cliques of 

conversation as various knots of people gather on the deck.

Actually it is a kind of porch, partially under roof, set

amidst a trellis and arbor like construct that works

only in our mediterranean style climate.

The charm of the place is not the story.

It is the people and the earnestness of

the conversations.  There are conservatives, liberals, libertarians and critics. Musicians,

artists, writers, free thinkers, business people

and educators also abound and everyone

comes with a life of experience. So,

as you might imagine, the conversations

are vivid, eclectic, sometimes loud,

and always completely switched on.

I love it.  By nature, and training,

I want to hear all sides, so just listening is a joy.

It reminds me of an assignment in Brazil years ago.

It was just after the military dictatorship ceded control

to the first elected government in 20 some years.

The place was intoxicated with ideas of democracy

and republic.  Newspapers and radio stations that had

been shut down and boarded by the dictatorship

were opening again.  The cafes and bars were alive

with conversation.  Brazilians were quoting

Jefferson, Madison and American principals.  It

was a heady time.

We are lucky to have a little of that every day at Lilly's.

Thanks.

UPDATE FROM BOB

Here's the latest from my friend and former colleague

Bob Foster.

It's all good. My prayer has been that God would show the doctors what He wanted them to do. He has. Loudly. Clearly. 

One of the Mayo doctors consulting on my case recently attended an international symposium on CLL (chronic lymphocytic leukemia). Research conducted at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, WA, proved that CLL patients, meeting certain criteria, do not need to have their bone marrow below 50% involvement to successfully transplant. 

I meet that criteria. Further heavy chemotherapy only increases the risk of an infection closing this window of opportunity. We will maintain my relatively good health with weekly, low toxicity chemo treatments until transplanting in late January 2012. We are again moving forward.

Transplant is a 50/50 proposition. There is a highly promising, post-transplant clinical trial underway at MD Anderson. That is our back-up plan. Failure is not something I dwell on, but at least we know there is a "plan B." Anyone who worked radio field production with me knows that I lived for plan B. In this case, plan A would be just fine.  

Foster

DAY BOOK

AT THE MARKET

CHEERS!

SEE YOU DOWN THE TRAIL.

TUMBLED BY THE PACIFIC

IN SEARCH OF DRIFTWOOD

Easy assignment.  Help find driftwood for an art project.

The perfect spot is the beach at Shamel Park

in Cambria, just around the bend from Moonstone Beach.

Perfect day for the "task."  Glad to be of assitance.

Lana had very specific dimensions in mind and

she found the right trove.

Depending on season, this beach is a driftwood collector's

dream.

There is always a structure of some sort built

by driftwood architects.

Mission accomplished.

What?  You thought there was real work involved?

See you down the trail.

EXTRAORDINARY MATTERS

THE WINNINGEST

Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images

THE SUPER K's

It was an historic moment when Duke Coach Mike  Krzyewski and his mentor, former Coach Bob Knight

embraced after Coach K surpassed Knight as the 

college basketball coach with the most wins.

And it was special. Touching even.  Coach K

played for Knight at Army and was an assistant to Knight.

I consider it good fortune to have spent time with both

men.  I covered Bob Knight for a couple of decades.

The men admire each other.  Both are brilliant students of the game and they have an unequaled success. And as Knight mentored Coach K, Coach K has mentored many others.  Before moving from Indiana, one of our "farewell tour" events was watching Duke play IU at Assembly Hall.

My WISH TV sports anchor Anthony Calhoun arranged for tickets immediately behind the Duke bench.  What a show!

When Coach K, stood, his assistant coaches stood.  When

he unbuttoned his blue blazer, his assistant coaches unbuttoned their blue blazers, and so it went.

My all time favorite coach was the great Johnny Wooden

who combined class and decorum with brilliance.

Coach K is cut from that cloth. The kids who emulate him

are getting a good pattern of excellence.

Last night as I watched Mike and Bob embrace

I thought that if Bob had better controlled his

emotions and had found, at times, a better and more appropriate channel for his 

extraordinary perception of the game, Mike

might still be trying to better Knight's record.

ONE MORE TIME

GET THE BIG MONEY OUT OF POLITICS

Tea party or OWS activist, conservative or

liberal, regardless of your stance, all should

agree that getting big money out of politics

will make for better government.

In fact experience leads me to believe until

corporate and big dollar influence is limited

we'll continue to see a deterioration of the quality

of government and a sell out to denizens of greed.

NPR presented a brilliant demonstration of the problem

with a focus on how the Nixon administration sold out

to the milk producers.  What was illegal then is noW

appropriate.  This might raise your blood pressure.

Link here for the audio.

DAY BOOK

COASTAL SCENES

 The Big Blue (and turquoise)

 Dunes Hiking

 Well off the beaten path

See you down the trail.

AN IDEA, ARCHIVE AYN RAND & KISSING THE BEACH

PERPETUITY OF IDEA

A WORLD WHERE IDEAS MATTER

Back in University someone said trying to speak

philosophy to the masses was akin to standing

at the shore and trying to stop the waves.

Maybe it is only nostalgia, but it seems there 

was a time when people would debate, discuss

and explore ideas and politics with an open mind

and with respect.

Today it seems everyone has their mind made up,

convinced in the rightness of their view and the

absolute absurdity of those who disagree.

And, there was a time when the media seemed to

see its role as a place to prod, examine, discuss and 

consider even deep philosophic constructs.

Can you imagine a news anchor today

interviewing Jean Paul Sartre on 

on Existentialism?  Well, Charlie Rose perhaps.

A GREAT FIND FROM THE ARCHIVE

Indeed there was a time. Consider this-

Mike Wallace with Objectivist author Ayn Rand

Here, in part 2 they discuss

Rand's belief in limiting the right and power of voters

Incidentally there is more than an historic example in these clips, since many of the Tea Party and conservative

members of congress are followers of Rand's thinking.

Do you think a future blogger will someday

pull a clip of Kim Kardashian, or an interview with

Stephen King to demonstrate how popular media

explored something deep?

DAYBOOK

CARESSED BY WAVES

From tumble to foam

The shore is constantly in change.

Without pressing my point too far, each wave, not unlike an

idea, tumbling, turning grains of sand

into perpetuity. What if we could track

the evolution of our thinking that way?

See you down the trail. 

CLINT EASTWOOD AS HISTORIAN

REEL THOUGHTS

EASTWOOD HAMMERS STONE
J. EDGAR IS MASTERFULLY DONE
Director Clint Eastwood's turn at
contemporary history is a superb film and by most
standards a fair and accurate portrayal of the FBI's late director J. Edgar Hoover, one of America's controversial
public figures. Eastwood handles the history with class and avoids the kind of distortion and overblown perspective
we have come to expect of other film history bio pics.
None of that from Clint Eastwood who has shown
time and time again he is one of the most skilled
directors in film history. 
People familiar with the Hoover story, or the Hoover and FBI histories will commend Eastwood for his even handedness, authenticity and class.
There are many who have paid close attention to the Hoover chapter of Bureau history and the story is fully told in many books and histories. Eastwood does not
reveal anything not already in public attention, but he
plumbs the personality, emotion, psychology and story line of Hoover and the early FBI in ways that brings the material
to a vivid accounting. 
Dustin Lance Black's screenplay is as good as it can get.
He had a huge story and well documented life to whittle and render and he delivered a compelling script for Eastwood.
Black deserves special recognition, especially from historians.
Hoover was complex and so is the story and it is superbly
told with attention to detail, historical elements,
and the pathos of the time and personality.
Birthing a federal investigative agency was not a simple task, trying to protect a democratic republic from threat while preserving liberties is a constant battle, so is the power and money game in Washington and the 
Hoover story as told by Eastwood beautifully displays
those pushes and shoves.  Hoover's insistence on 
professionalism and his own ego feeding are well told.
Hoover's relationship with his mother may be where
Eastwood begins to wander into interpretation, though
it is plausible by some accounts already told.
The same is true of the persistent rumors of Hoover's
relationship with his long time assistant and frequent companion Clyde Tolson. 
I've covered the FBI, have friends who are former agents, some from the Hoover era and some from the modern bureau, I have read and listened to many theories
about that relationship.  In that context I think
Eastwood's handling of that part of the story is
pure genius.  I came away thinking that in many ways
Tolson was a kind of "rudder" of Hoover and for
the greater good of the FBI.  I don't want to say
more, because your own viewing and evaluation on this part of the story-line is important.
As a period piece it is also brilliant.  
DiCaprio should get an Academy nomination for his 
work.  Inspired and simply brilliant.
Judy Dench as Hoover's mother is one of those
haunting performances that you will long remember.
Naomi Watts as Helen Gandy and Armie Hammer as 
Clyde Tolson are superb. Equally brilliant are 
Sian Grigg who did DiCaprio's make up and prosthetic effects and Alessandro Bertolazzi who did the same for
the aging Naomi Watts.  You can not appreciate how
brilliant their work, until you see it.
Tom Stern's cinematography should also win awards.
I marvel at how each Eastwood film gets better at 
mastering the art.  This film will be on 
all time best lists.  There is so much, so good about
this film, and most of it just stays out of the way and/or empowers the story that some may not fully appreciate just how exquisite is the work. 
 This is an extraordinarily intelligent and subtle film.
It tells part of the modern American story and will
no doubt reside as popular memory.  By contrast
I think of some of the work Oliver Stone
 has inflicted upon us.

JFK by Stone may have been the most egregious bastardizing of history, but Stone has substituted fantasy or conspiracy as fact in other efforts.  He has also done

George W. Bush, Larry Flynt, Nixon and the McMartin child molestation trials in LA among others.

Eastwood on the other hand, brilliantly interprets reality.

If more American History could be so told!
And by the way Clint Eastwood even wrote the music.
Maestro indeed!
See you down the trail.

THE WEEKENDER :) COOL

JAZZ MEMORIES

AND

A TALENTED BRO

Last weeks posting of Dave Brubeck's Take Five

and attendant memories, brought one more from the back

of the brain.

I wish I could remember his name, but I am grateful

to an upperclassman  who lived on my freshman

dorm floor. He walked with a brace, the result of

polio, so he had a single room near an exit. With the

extra space he had converted it to a "pad" complete

with shelves, a chair, lamps and a stereo system.

The room was full of jazz albums and on Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons, when most of us were doing the kind of things college freshmen did, he had his door open and the jazz was wailing.  There were no complaints, though he always made sure he was not interrupting study.

Not a likely event!

A few of us would gather into his room and he would

pick tunes and give us a little tutorial.  One of his

favorites, and already one of mine was the

piece the THE WEEKENDER :) offers for your

Saturday Groove.

  and one more cool thing

About a year ago a group of fraternity brothers who

have stayed in touch, re-connected with Steve

who was a married senior our freshman year.

Steve Clippinger has had a marvelous

career as an artist.  Part of the joy 

in getting to know Steve is to see

his incredible body of work.

Here's a WEEKENDER :) bonus

See you down the trail.