Dick's Doings

RSVP - The Road Home

2011-12-14T17:25:00.000-08:00

Every choral group aspires to make a CD, a permanent monument to the best performances they can muster. And there have probably been hundreds, maybe thousands, of CDs made by choruses throughout the world in recent years, and I’ll bet that most of them are outstanding efforts. But few get promoted beyond members, family, friends, and audiences. It makes you wonder how many deserve national recognition.

I think I’ve found one.

Rocklin (CA)-based RSVP, Reconciliation Singers Voices of Peace, is a community-centered mixed choir, composed of professional or semi-professional singers. All their concerts are designed to benefit some local (or sometimes distant or national) charity. And they present an eclectic mix of music that is always of professional quality.

That’s especially true of their new CD, The Road Home. I’ve just finished listening to it 4 times: 2 in the car and 2 through headphones in my office, and I’m truly impressed. The music is all contemporary (as far as I can tell), but quite varied – with styles that might be described as jazz, folk, “classical,” and pop, and others that I just can’t characterize. Going in, the composers I was familiar with were Eric Whitacre, Morten Lauridsen, and Franz Biebl, but none of those for the remaining 12 tracks were familiar to me. And that’s great, because I was introduced to some amazing new music. And it wasn’t just the music that I found so appealing: I encountered lyrics that were profound or touching or wonderfully playful. I found the track called “How Can I Cry?” to be particularly moving. And the title track, “The Road Home” is sweet enough to bring tears to one’s eyes.

The thing that struck me about this collection, though, apart from the diversity of music and and the versatility of RSVP, was the consistent professional quality. The directing was so very sensitive, the blend of the voices was so satisfying, and the accuracy of pitches and purity of sound so engaging that the whole thing just carried me to a different place. I have to add that there is a soprano in the group (or maybe more than one) who delivered high notes of such purity that I found myself looking forward to every time she had the opportunity to do her thing. And that’s saying a lot, coming from a bass. I especially enjoyed hearing her in the track called “Voice Dance.”

If you take my advice and purchase this CD, please don’t just play it in your car stereo and put it aside. Listen to it through headphones (or earbuds). It makes such a difference when you can hear the choir members breathe. In fact, I think the sound of the breathing could perhaps be considered part of the music. And with the headphones, you pick up more of the lyrics and the beautiful nuances that characterize each of these pieces.

This modest choir, under the direction of founder Julie Adams, is committed to doing good works. And The Road Home is really good work. You can find out more about RSVP and order the CD through their website, www.rsvpchoir.org.

Fathom Events

2011-12-12T11:08:00.000-08:00

In maintaining the Placer Performance Calendar (www.perfcal.com), I have become familiar with Fathom Events, the organization that arranges (often live) performances of artistic events at local movie theaters throughout the US (and the world, for that matter). I first became aware of them in connection with the live broadcasts of Metropolitan Opera performances, "The Met: Live in HD" series. And this past summer, I saw their wonderful series of Shakespeare productions from the Globe Theatre in London. Recently, I saw their presentation of the 25th anniversary of Andrew Lloyd Weber's "Phantom of the Opera" and the Christmas Festival of the St. Olaf choirs -- all of them brilliant performances of the highest quality. Now, I'm looking forward to Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic's performance of Mahler's 8th Symphony live from Caracas on February 18.

Why go to a movie theater for productions like these? For one thing, the sound system is terrific. For another, the camera work is of the highest professional quality: you get close-ups that can't be matched when you're in the audience. And seeing these events on the big screen really brings you into the experience, with productions that just aren't available on TV.

The sad thing is that the audiences that have shared these wonderful experiences with me have been pitifully small. I just hope that my local theater won't lose heart and will continue to offer these events.

If you're in Placer County, California, you can track the Fathom Events offerings through my Placer Performance Calendar website. Otherwise, check them out at the link below. So much of what they offer are truly life-enriching experiences.

www.fathomevents.com

Ian Ethan and the Double-Neck Guitar

2011-09-03T18:22:00.000-07:00

New music? I've experienced a fair amount of what might be called new music, and most of it I've found to be unapproachable, boring or annoying. Last Thursday, though, at an impromptu concert at the Christian Science Church in Grass Valley (CA), I experienced new music that was completely enthralling.It was a performance by a new young artist by the name of Ian Ethan, whose principal instrument is the double-neck, 18-string guitar.

Through most of the hour-and-a-half concert I was alternately trying to figure out how he was playing the instrument and amazed at the incredible variety of sounds he coaxed out of it. And then, seeking an even wider variety of sounds, he performed on the fretless guitar and the kalimba.It was a remarkable evening of exploration of pleasant sounds and immersion in a kind of music I had never before experienced. I left with the distinct feeling that my life had been enriched. The others who gave him a standing ovation must have agreed.

Ian is in the early stages of his professional music career, and you'd be lucky if you could catch him at a small, intimate event, such as the one I experienced. I'd urge anyone whose interest is piqued by my experience to visit Ian's website. If you act soon, you'll be able to catch the streaming versions of one or more of his compositions, and I wouldn't fail to view the videos to see this artist at work. He is a virtuoso in a fresh new medium. Next time he performs in Northern California, I'm going to urge friends and family to attend: I know they'll thank me.

The Curse of Viral E-Mails

2011-08-18T10:15:00.000-07:00

We're in the midst of a crisis of conflict and incivility in national discourse. Conservatives get all their information from Fox News and radio talk show hosts. Liberals get their information from NPR, network TV, Huffington Post, MSNBC, etc. Passions are stirred up as ideological positions harden. Why?

I think a big part of the answer is gullibility, believing what you want to believe, failing to question, and responding to emotional instead of rational appeals.

You can see it in the tidal wave of misleading, viral e-mails -- which people believe because they want to believe them and which people disseminate because they're gullible. Why gullible? Is it lack of education, lack of intelligence, predilection to emotionalism, loyalty to their political tribe? I can't say, but I think that these e-mails do enormous damage because so many people are so quick to accept them at face value.

And all of these misleading e-mails that I've seen over the past few years have come from conservatives. I haven't seen one written from a liberal perspective, let alone a liberal-leaning one that gave incorrect "facts" to back up its outrage. Why is it that some conservatives are driven to create these outrageous messages, and others are so quick to pass them along without checking their facts? Where is respect for the truth? What are they really afraid of?

This morning I received from a conservative friend I rarely hear from the e-mail at the bottom of this post, which enumerated a lot of specific criticisms of Congress. As I do with anything that's supposed to make me incensed, I checked it out with Snopes.com and found that most of the "facts" it reported were lies or exaggerations. I wonder if anyone else on the distribution list bothered to do any checking whatsoever.

I responded to my friend, pointing out the errors and challenging him to send a correction to everyone he had forwarded the e-mail to. I'd suggest you do the same. Something has to stop the madness.

Dick Frantzreb

Here's the e-mail:

Unexplainable, Inexcusable

I challenge you to read this and NOT have the will to pass it on to your 20+ or more.

No one has been able to explain to me why young men and women serve in the U.S. Military for 20 years, risking their lives protecting freedom, and only get 50% of their pay. While Politicians hold their political positions in the safe confines of the capital, protected by these same men and women, and receive full pay retirement after serving one term. It just does not make any sense.

Monday on Fox news they learned that the staffers of Congress family members are exempt from having to pay back student loans. This will get national attention if other news networks will broadcast it. When you add this to the below, just where will all of it stop?

35 States file lawsuit against the Federal Government

Governors of 35 states have filed suit against the Federal Government for imposing unlawful burdens upon them. It only takes 38 (of the 50) States to convene a Constitutional Convention.

This will take less than thirty seconds to read. If you agree, please pass it on.

This is an idea that we should address.

For too long we have been too complacent about the workings of Congress. Many citizens had no idea that members of Congress could retire with the same pay after only one term, that they specifically exempted themselves from many of the laws they have passed (such as being exempt from any fear of prosecution for sexual harassment) while ordinary citizens must live under those laws. The latest is to exempt themselves from the Healthcare Reform... in all of its forms. Somehow, that doesn't seem logical. We do not have an elite that is above the law. I truly don't care if they are Democrat, Republican, Independent or whatever. The self-serving must stop.

If each person that receives this will forward it on to 20 people, in three days, most people in The United States of America will have the message.. This is one proposal that really should be passed around.

Proposed 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution: "Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives; and, Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States .."

You are one of my 20+
Now, what are you going to do about it? Read and delete, or work for reform

To find out the truth of all these assertions, click on this link:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/medical/28thamendment.asp

The San Francisco Symphony Chorus

2011-05-24T08:51:00.000-07:00

Back on May 8, my good friend Harry and his wife, Jo, invited my wife and me to join them to take in a performance by the San Francisco Symphony of Mahler's Symphony No. 2 in C Minor. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I've never heard the SF Symphony before, nor even been in Davies Symphony Hall, their magnificent home. It was a treat, just to see the venue.

I went into the experience with a little prejudice, thinking I didn't particularly like Mahler, but the concert changed all that. Under the direction of Maestro Michael Tilson Thomas, the orchestra played brilliantly, with power, precision, sensitivity, and nuance that had to be appreciated by all. I counted a little more than 100 instrumentalists in the program, but it seemed there were more. In the end, their work earned a standing ovation and loud cheers from the full house.

There was also a chorus of more than 120, though their part didn't come until toward the end of the piece. Scanning their names in the program, I thought I recognized one, and looking up, I thought I picked out a friend from the Mastersingers USA men's chorus that I have participated in since 1996.

I sent him an e-mail to confirm that it was he, and he responded by giving me some interesting insights into what it's like to be part of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus. The program explained that the Chorus is made up of 30 professional and 112 volunteer singers. Here's some elaboration that my friend provided:

"It was a remarkable performance, one where 'everything came together.' We only did the Mahler 2 twice this year .. it's a 'warm up' for the summer European tour, when the Symphony will be doing it (but not the chorus, they will pick up local choruses). We did it four times last year. It was good on Saturday, but Sunday was special. As we were about to sing for the first time, the previous 70 minutes of remarkable music was synthesized into a single focused message -- 'Up to this point, it's been magic ... don't blow it now!' The orchestra is so extraordinary. Hats off to them. We just try to be as good. I am in my seventh year with them. It's been a thrill, including our performances of the Mahler 8 a couple of seasons ago; the live recording of those performances won three Grammy awards last year.

"Re-auditions are this week and next. We will sing in quartets (SATB) for half an hour with Ragnar [the Chorus Director], with two prepared pieces (or parts of pieces) and a sight singing exercise to do. Then, three weeks hence, the letter arrives. They are all thin. Either you are back in or you are not. If you are back in (and most returning singers make it), the letter lists what your commitment is for the coming year. Next year the group is doing Mahler 3 (women only), Brahms Requiem, Verdi Requiem, Handel's Messiah, a Holiday set, something by Debussy (ballet?), 'American Mavericks' (including Bates' 'Mass Transmission'), Barbary Coast (music from the American West of the late 19th early 20th centuries -- who knew?), and Beethoven 9. The volunteer singers sign up for as many as they want to do, and if you get back in, they tell what you are doing, and then you sign a contract with them. There are about 120 volunteers and 30 paid singers, who are amazing! Different pieces require different numbers of singers, ranging from 60 (the paid singers plus 30 volunteers) to a full deck, like what you saw yesterday."

All I can say is, what a commitment, but what an experience for singers like my friend!

Fair Game

2011-05-09T10:55:00.000-07:00

I saw a movie on DVD several nights ago, and it blew me away. First, some background.

Surely your remember back in July of 2003 when Valerie Plame was identified as a CIA agent in a newspaper column by Robert Novak. As we later learned, he was given the information by Richard Armitage of the State Department. The suspicion is that Armitage was acting at the direction of Scooter Libby, who was then on Vice President Dick Cheney's staff. Early in 2007 Libby was convicted of obstruction of justice, though not of the more serious crime of disclosing the identity of an undercover agent. George W. Bush commuted Libby's prison sentence a few months after his conviction. Though presidential advisor Karl Rove and Cheney himself were suspected of playing a part in the disclosing of Plame's CIA connection, none of them have been formally charged.

Why would they take such an action against an agent of the U.S. government? Revenge. Plame's husband is Joseph Wilson, a retired U.S. ambassador. Because of his knowledge of central Africa, Wilson was sent to Niger in 2002 to investigate reports that Saddam Hussein was trying to buy yellowcake uranium from that country. It would be evidence of Saddam's determination to develop weapons of mass destruction. In fact, Wilson found no such evidence. Despite Wilson's findings, George W. Bush declared as part of his State of the Union Address in January 2003: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." This so upset Wilson that he wrote an "op-ed" piece for The New York Times entitled "What I Didn't Find in Africa" on July 6, 2003. This was after the start of the war in Iraq in March of that year and "Mission Accomplished" on May 1. By undercutting the rationale for the war, many people believe that Wilson enraged the White House, leading to the retaliation against his wife, Valerie Plame.

Even though all these events dominated the news in 2003-2007, I did not follow them closely. Yet I was aware that a movie of the events, Fair Game, had come out in November of 2010, and I knew I wanted to see it. When I viewed it several nights ago, I found it to be an excellent, compelling piece, brilliantly acted by Naomi Watts and Sean Penn, who played Plame and Wilson, respectively. Still, I found myself wondering how accurate it all might be.

Just before ejecting the DVD, I decided to check the "Special Features," and there was the option of enabling commentary by the real Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson. I listened to a little of it and quickly realized how significant it was. So I watched the entire movie again with their commentary. It was simply fascinating to hear them confirm the accuracy of the various details. A skeptic might argue their credibility, but I don't believe there would be many skeptics left after hearing them comment on the details of this movie for an hour and a half. It was simply one of the most engaging movie-watching experiences I have ever had.

Another Viral E-mail

2011-01-19T15:42:00.000-08:00

(Two days after I wrote the following, the Washington Post published its own critique of this e-mail at the following link: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2011/01/judges_letter_on_health_care.html.)

My wife received the following e-mail from a well-meaning friend today:

YOU ARE NOT GOING TO LIKE THIS:

ObamaCare Highlighted by Page Number

THE CARE BILL HB3200

THIS IS THE 2ND OFFICIAL WHO HAS OUTLINED THESE PARTS OF THE CARE BILL

Judge Kithil of Marble Falls,TX - HB3200 highlighted pages most egregious.

Please read this........ especially the reference to pages 58 & 59.

JUDGE KITHIL wrote:

Page 50/section 152: The bill will provide insurance to all non-U.S. residents, even if they are here illegally.
Page 58 and 59: The government will have real-time access to an individual's bank account and will have the authority to make electronic fund transfers from those accounts.
Page 65/section 164: The plan will be subsidized (by the government) for all union members, union retirees and for community organizations (such as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now - ACORN).
Page 203/line 14-15: The tax imposed under this section will not be treated as a tax. (How could anybody in their right mind come up with that?)
Page 241 and 253: Doctors will all be paid the same regardless of specialty, and the government will set all doctors' fees.
Page 272. section 1145: Cancer hospital will ration care according to the patient's age.
Page 317 and 321: The government will impose a prohibition on hospital expansion; however, communities may petition for an exception.
Page 425, line 4-12: The government mandates advance-care planning consultations. Those on Social Security will be required to attend an "end-of-life planning" seminar every five years. (Death counseling..)
Page 429, line 13-25: The government will specify which doctors can write an end-of-life order.

HAD ENOUGH???? Judge Kithil then goes on:

"Finally, it is specifically stated that this bill will not apply to members of Congress. Members of Congress are already exempt from the Social Security system, and have a well-funded private plan that covers their retirement needs. If they were on our Social Security plan, I believe they would find a very quick 'fix' to make the plan financially sound for their future."

Honorable David Kithil
Marble Falls, Texas

All of the above should give you the point blank ammo you need to support your opposition to Obamacare. Please send this information on to all of your email contacts.

*************************************************

This arrived with multi-colored highlighting, and I reluctantly decided to draw up a response for my wife's friend -- but I bet she doesn't send it to the person who sent her the e-mail in the first place.

* * *

First of all, this e-mail is nearly a year old. It refers to a bill, more properly designated as H.R. 3200 that was not passed. The bill that was passed is H.R. 3962 or H.R. 4872, as finally amended and sent to the President for signature. Many of the sections cited below, which misinterpret H.R. 3200 anyway, are not in the final law: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

You can see how misleading this e-mail is, even about H.R. 3200, if you’ll check what the non-partisan PolitiFacts website said about H.R. 3200. The link is: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2009/jul/30/e-mail-analysis-health-bill-needs-check-/. Or check FactCheck.org (from the Annenberg Public Policy Center): http://www.factcheck.org/2009/08/twenty-six-lies-about-hr-3200/.

As for the existing law, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-111publ148/pdf/PLAW-111publ148.pdf):

- Illegal immigrants are excluded from the rights and protections of the new law: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/22/us-healthcare-bill-illegal-immigrants.
- A search of the actual text of the law (see above link to the Government Printing Office) shows no mention of individual bank accounts or electronic funds transfers from individual bank accounts.
- The new health care law subsidizes the cost of health care for small employers (business and non-profit): http://money.cnn.com/2010/09/22/smallbusiness/health_reform_small_business/index.htm. There are no special provisions in the law that apply only to labor unions or their retirees. ACORN no longer exists.
- The suggestion that “Doctors will all be paid the same regardless of specialty, and the government will set all doctors' fees,” could not apply to the new health care law because it includes no public option (in which the federal government pays for services). Under the new law, it is the insurance companies, not the government, who decide what physicians are paid, and they are paid, not according to their specialty, but according to the services they provide. If this comment is aimed at the new law’s changes in Medicare (where the government does pay physicians), those reimbursement rates have been established and updated for 45 years, and are based, again, on specific services performed. And they don’t affect all doctors – only those who take Medicare patients. And although doctors, like all Americans, have different views about the new health care law, the American Medical Assn. supported the law, and you can get a realistic view of the law’s impact on doctors from the AMA’s booklet, “What Health Reform Means to Physicians and Patients”: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/399/hsr-booklet.pdf.
- Sec. 3138 of the Act says that costs of cancer hospitals can be compared to those of other hospitals treating cancer patients, and their reimbursements reduced if there is a discrepancy. The intent is to treat hospitals fairly. And there is nothing to say that any reduction in reimbursements to cancer hospitals should be based on the age of patients or that cancer hospitals are required to ration their care in any way.
- Sec. 6001 of the Act limits hospital expansion, but only for hospitals owned (or invested in) by physicians who are referring so many of their Medicare patients as to require expansion of the hospital beyond its existing capacity. It’s a way of limiting certain physicians’ ability to make money by referring patients to their own hospitals. The section does not apply to all hospitals across the board.
- No version of health care reform ever mandated advance care (end-of-life) planning or advance directives. Early on, there was a provision to allow reimbursement to physicians when patients chose to have end-of-life discussions with their doctor, but that was removed from the bill. H.R. 3962 had this wording: “Sec. 240. Nothing in this section shall be construed (1) to require an individual to complete an advance directive or a physician’s order for life sustaining treatment or other end-of-life planning document; (2) to require an individual to consent to restrictions on the amount, duration, or scope of medical benefits otherwise covered under a qualified health benefits plan; or (3) to promote suicide, assisted suicide, euthanasia, or mercy killing.” The final text of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act contains no wording at all about advance care (end-of-life) planning or advance directives.

So in the final analysis, there is little in this breathless e-mail that was true at the time it was sent, and virtually nothing in it is true now (1/19/11). But did any of the hundreds or thousands of people who forwarded it care? It fit their prejudiced opinions, and that was enough.

Health insurance reform may be found to be unconstitutional in the courts, and Congress may change it or even repeal it. But this critique, for all that it was attributed to a judge, does not point any real weaknesses that may presently exist in the law. It is just lies and inadvertent or intentional misunderstanding. And gullible people will unfortunately continue to be duped by it.

Capital Punishment

2010-09-28T13:22:00.000-07:00

I would like to describe a journey. It began with one of my law school classes: Criminal Law 101. We started with the reasons for criminal penalties, and there are only five: protection of society, deterrence, reformation, restitution, and retribution. I didn’t think much about the implications of these reasons until around November of 1997 when I chanced to see an episode of ABC Television’s newsmagazine, “20/20,” which featured a prison interview of Karla Faye Tucker, who was facing execution in Texas within several months for two murders she had committed in 1984. What was compelling about her case was not that she would be the first woman executed since 1984 (and the first in Texas since 1863) – it was that she had so thoroughly reformed.

Because of a dysfunctional home life, she was involved in drugs and sex by the age of 12 and prostitution shortly thereafter. She was briefly married at 16 and hung out with motorcycle gangs in her early 20s. When she was 23 and after a weekend of drug use, she and her current boyfriend went to the apartment of an ex-boyfriend with theft on their minds. Finding him with his new girlfriend, violence ensued with the other couple being killed, in part by a pickaxe. Karla Faye Tucker confessed defiantly to all of this at her trial, and the horrified jury condemned her to death.

Before her trial was even over, she began to reevaluate her life and turn to God. A church with a prison ministry took her under its wing, guiding her reformation. She eventually married the pastor of the church, and ministered to other female prisoners. When I saw her and heard her speak after 14 years of this transformation, I was stunned. I remembered thinking to myself, “Why, this is a righteous woman.”

I was appalled at the idea that in a matter of months this person, who had been so completely regenerated, would be put to death. If any case cried out for clemency –commutation to a life sentence at the very least – surely this was it.

After brooding about this issue for weeks, I drafted a letter to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles (see link to my letter below). I got no response, so I sent a personal letter to then Texas Governor George W. Bush. I got a form response, saying that he was committed to implementing Texas laws and had no leeway to act independently. Meanwhile the Board had voted against commutation. However, the case was gaining awareness on the part of the public and opinion was building for leniency. Then the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke in January, 1998 and captured the public’s attention. Karla Faye Tucker was executed on February 3.

These events ignited my passionate opposition to the death penalty. Fundamentally, my reasoning is this. Take the five reasons for criminal sanctions – protection of society, deterrence, reformation, restitution and retribution – and weigh them against the practice of execution. Incarceration certainly does as good a job of protecting society as putting someone to death. OK, how about deterrence? Doesn’t the prospect of being put to death for his deed make a criminal think twice about taking the life of another? Unfortunately, the answer is “no.” Many studies have shown that the possibility of execution does not deter would-be murderers. (See this link.) Reformation? If this were truly valued in our penal system, someone like Karl Faye Tucker would have been spared. Restitution is not a factor since nothing can bring back the person who was murdered. So what’s left? Retribution, or as it’s more commonly known: revenge.

When you get down to it, the only reason for executing criminals is revenge, either standing in the place of the victim’s relatives and effecting, by proxy, their thirst for blood – or acting on behalf of society’s outrage at the heinousness of the crime.

The proponents of death call for “justice,” but is this anything more than a modern version of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”? As other wits have said, follow this rule, and soon the whole world will be blind and toothless. What is “justice” more than a self-righteous expression of the thought: “I have played by the rules. You haven’t, therefore you must pay.” Pay why? Is it perhaps payment as compensation for the righteous person’s self-restraint?

I don’t see how a Christian, especially one who claims to be “pro-life,” can uphold the death penalty. What, indeed, would Jesus do? He certainly taught forbearance instead of revenge. He healed the severed ear of the servant of the high priest. He rejected the ways of the world and asked God to forgive those who crucified him. How can we, then, allow ourselves to be so overwhelmed by evil that we feel we must exterminate it? Jesus’ path was clearly to overcome evil with good, to love until the hate and hurt is overcome.

The worst part of the Christian’s advocacy of the death penalty – something that amounts to a sin in itself – is depriving the criminal of the opportunity for reformation and regeneration. Isn’t this (learning to do good) what we’re here for, what God wants us to do? There are countless examples of people who have used their incarceration to reexamine their lives and find the opportunity to be and do good while in prison. And there are many examples of such people being executed after prison has essentially accomplished its highest goal of reformation. That is what was so horrific about the case of Karla Faye Tucker. It’s like executing the butterfly for the sins of the caterpillar.

Most of us (thankfully) are repulsed by the idea of executing children. But at what age does a person no longer deserve this protection – 21, 18, 16, 14? Is it really a question of age at all? Psychologists say that teenagers often lack the capacity for restraint or for evaluating the consequences of their actions. Does attaining a certain age prove that one has acquired that ability? I, and I’ll bet you, too, have known people who didn’t “grow up” or achieve a decent degree of wisdom and humanity until their 20s, 30s or even later.

That brings up the question of the mentally deficient. Most of us wouldn’t countenance execution of an insane person or a person with the mental age of a child. Maybe there is no hope for improvement of such people, but the murderer who lacks self-restraint, or ignores the consequences of his action is similarly mentally deficient. But most such people have the ability to “grow up,” to see the error of their ways and change. Why can’t we give the “caterpillar,” the opportunity to become a “butterfly”? Isn’t doing so an imperative for a Christian?

One of the most frightening prospects that the death penalty holds for anyone with a conscience is this: what if we execute an innocent person? Scores of death row inmates have been exonerated by DNA evidence over the past two decades. But what was it that put them on death row in the first place? Answer: a faulty judicial system. We want desperately to believe that our system of justice is just. But it relies on a contest between prosecutor and defense attorney that is often unequal . Prosecutors have been known to withhold evidence; defense attorneys have often been overworked or simply incompetent. Opponents of the death penalty (30% of the population according to a June 2010 Rasmussen poll) are systematically excluded from juries. (What can you say about those who are left in the jury pool?) Judges, typically elected to their posts, sometimes bring their prejudices with them. Appellate courts are designed to catch only mistakes of law, not fact. Governors, who have the power to commute death sentences, almost never do so because they are political animals who are less concerned with mercy than they are with the public opinion that will help them get reelected. (Given the current public opinion climate, no politician could ever be elected governor of a state if they were opposed to, or even had doubts about the death penalty.)

Earlier this year I read a book titled, The Autobiography of an Execution by David R. Dow (2010, Twelve – Hachett Book Group, 271 pages). The author is a Texas lawyer who has represented over 100 death-row inmates over the past 20 years. In this book, he describes in detail his handling of one case, the details of which he disguises. His client was ultimately executed. He observes (pp. 254-255): “Of the hundred or more deathrow inmates I’ve represented, there are seven, including Quaker [the subject of the book], I believe to be innocent. They get sentenced to death because they have incompetent or underpaid trial lawyers, and because human beings make mistakes. They get executed because my colleagues and I can’t find a way to stop it. Quaker won’t be the last.”

Here is another telling point that Dow makes (pp. 115-116): “Almost all my clients should have been taken out of their homes when they were children. They weren’t. Nobody had any interest in them until, as a result of nobody’s having any interest in them, they became menaces, at which point society did become interested, if only to kill them.”

That brings me to my letter to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. (Click here to see the text.) As I said above, it wasn’t answered, but I did get an answer to a similar letter to Governor George W. Bush. (Click here to see the text.)

Another quotation from Dow’s book explains my experience with these communications (pp. 219-220): “Our death-penalty regime depends for its functionality on moral cowardice. In Texas, the most gutless of all is the governor. If he wanted authority to decide for himself whether a convicted murderer should be spared, the legislature would give it to him in a heart-beat, but he doesn’t. He hides behind the jury, and behind the courts, and most of all, behind the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. The Board consists of seven feckless people who gave him a lot of money. The governor appoints them to six-year terms, and they do what they think he wants them to. If the Board recommends that an inmate be spared, the governor can go along with that recommendation or not, but if the Board votes against the inmate, then the governor’s hands are tied. Governors, like George W. Bush and Ann Richards, want the Board to turn the inmate down, and, through back channels, they let their cronies know that. Later, they stand outside the governor’s mansion and shrug their shoulders and say that the inmate received a fair trial, that it was reviewed by the courts, that his appeal for clemency was turned down by the Board, and that there is nothing they can do. Then they head off to dinner at the Four Seasons and talk about bearing the weight of permitting someone to die. Is there any phrase in the English lexicon more immoral than There was nothing I could do?”

If you and I repudiate the death penalty, there’s a benefit for us, as well as for the condemned. Condoning the death penalty requires us to sacrifice some of our humanity in order to willingly and systematically snuff out the life of another. It is contrary to our nature and hurts us in a lasting way. For one small example, see the article “Former Warden ‘Haunted’ by Executions: Death Penalty Scars Prison Staff, he says” (at this link).

As support for the death penalty slowly erodes in this country, an organization at the forefront of reform is the Death Penalty Information Center. If you’ve read this far, I strongly urge you to sample their work at www.deathpenaltyinfo.org.

Hands-Free Cellphone Calls

2010-08-20T15:26:00.000-07:00

I heard on the news yesterday about the latest "zero tolerance" day. Local law enforcement issued nearly 600 citations to people for using hand-held cell phones while they drive. I might have been at risk myself until about 6 weeks ago when I found my answer to hands-free cell phone use.

I read an article in PC Magazine extolling the Jabra Cruiser, so I decided to get it. It had a suggested retail price of $100, but I quickly found online sites offering it for about $75. I eventually purchased one for a "buy it now" deal on eBay for about $45 (plus $8 for shipping). It was delivered in a few days shrink-wrapped.

I've been using it now for more than a month, and it fits my requirements perfectly. It charges via a USB connection so I charge it from my computer in a couple of hours, or use the accompanying charger that plugs into my car's power outlet. After my first charge, I "paired" it with my iPhone, a process that I found to be quite easy. (It can actually pair with two phones.)

Once the device is set up, you attach it to your visor and turn it on. A synthesized voice confirms that it has established the connection with your phone, which can be anywhere on your person or in the car. Then when a call comes it, you press the top of the Jabra Cruiser to answer. I find the sound quality to be excellent while I'm driving, and the tiny microphone in the device works like a champ -- no complaints from those I've talked with.

When I initiate a call (dialing on my phone), the Jabra Cruiser siezes the call as soon as the dialing is done. Pressing the top of the device terminates the call.

But wait...there's more! You can push a button on the side of the device and transfer the voice of the person you're talking to onto a channel of your FM radio. And if your phone plays music, the Jabra Cruiser can play your phone's music through its speaker -- or the car's FM radio. If your phone has the capability, you can also dial by voice, reject calls, redial, mute a call, and handle third-party calls.

One of the features I like best is the long-lasting battery. I don't talk a lot in the car, and I have gone weeks between charges. (The ads say you can get up to 10 hours of talk time and 13 days of stand-by time.) One feature that helps this is that the Jabra Cruiser turns itself off if your cell phone is out of its range (30 feet) for more than 10 minutes.

I just checked, and Amazon.com is selling the Jabra Cruiser for $48. Stores on eBay are offering it for as little as $35, not counting shipping charges. For hands-free phone conversations in the car, this little device is the perfect answer for me. Maybe it will be for you, too.

Snopes.com

2010-08-09T20:42:00.000-07:00

Let’s face it, there’s a lot of misinformation floating around the Internet. Where does one turn to sift the fact from the fiction? For years, I have relied on Snopes.com as an impartial authority on urban legends, e-mail hoaxes, etc.

But now I’ve had a couple of experiences where my conservative friends have sent me alarming e-mail reports, which I’ve checked on Snopes.com, found to be false – and then they’ve come back to me with more e-mails that Snopes.com isn’t to be trusted because it has liberal leanings.

The latest e-mail alarm stated that Obama had redecorated the Oval Office, removing its patriotic red, white and blue décor – and replacing it with “with middle eastern wallpaper, drapes, and décor.” I checked out this report on Snopes.com and found that it was false. As Snopes.com pointed out, the picture that supposedly proved the redecorating of the Oval Office was of the East Room in the White House. And all you have to do is check the website whitehousemuseum.org to see that red, white and blue was not the color scheme of the Oval Office under any president of the last 70 years, except perhaps John F. Kennedy. I sent the Snopes.com link to this friend.

But instead of acknowledging the error of the e-mail she had sent me, my friend sent me another e-mail copying an attack on Snopes.com. I’ll reproduce that below (with commentary), but before I do, consider that Snopes.com is widely respected as an honest source of information, as witness recent articles by:

The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/15/technology/personaltech/15pogue-email.html?_r=2
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/05/technology/05snopes.html

The National Review(!)
http://old.nationalreview.com/seipp/seipp200407210830.asp

Reader’s Digest
http://www.rd.com/your-america-inspiring-people-and-stories/rumor-detectives-true-story-or-online-hoax/article122216.html

Congress.org (“…a nonpartisan news and information Web site devoted to encouraging civic participation. Our mission is to provide information about public policy issues of the day and tips on effective advocacy so that citizens can make their voices heard.”)
http://www.congress.org/news/2009/11/30/six_tips_from_snopescom_on_ emails

FactCheck.org (“…A project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.”)
http://www.factcheck.org/2009/04/snopescom/

And TruthOrFiction.com (a competing urban legends research site)
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/s/snopes.htm

Sure, it takes only a few minutes of research to find plenty of websites that vilify Snopes.com -- but who are they? What are their credentials? What is their history? And are they any less prejudiced than they claim Snopes.com to be?

But in the final analysis, who is on your side doesn’t matter. Snopes.com documents their findings – naming names, giving website address, citations for articles, etc. If you don’t believe them, check their sources.

Here’s how the people at Snopes.com answer this key question, “How do I know that the information you’ve presented is accurate?” “We don't expect anyone to accept us as the ultimate authority on any topic. Unlike the plethora of anonymous individuals who create and send the unsigned, unsourced e-mail messages that are forwarded all over the Internet, we show our work. The research materials we've used in the preparation of any particular page are listed in the bibliography displayed at the bottom of that page so that readers who wish to verify the validity of our information may check those sources for themselves.”

The e-mail I’ll reproduce below attacks Snopes.com on the grounds that the people behind the site are liberal. What if they are? (They’re not; see the online articles cited above.) Does that mean that their facts can’t be checked? Is no information acceptable unless it comes from people who agree with you politically and confirms your strongly held opinions?

Enough. Here’s the e-mail, with my comments in bold.

(received via e-mail 8/5/10; typos left uncorrected)

Snopes receives funding from an undisclosed source. The source is undisclosed because Snopes refuses to disclose that source. (Snopes says they get their funding from advertising and occasional small contributions. What is your evidence of an additional, undisclosed source?) The Democratic Alliance, a funding channel for uber-Leftist (Marxist) Billionaires (George Soros etc.), direct funds to an "Internet Propaganda Arm" pushing these views. (Any proof of a connection between this organization and Snopes?) The Democratic Alliance has been reported (by whom?) to instruct Fundees to not disclose their funding source.

For the past few years (www.snopes.com) has positioned itself, or others have labeled it, as the 'tell-all final word' on any comment, claim and email. But for several years people tried to find out who exactly was behind snopes.com. (What if there were no one “behind” it? How could you prove the absence of a sinister backer?) It is run by a husband and wife team - that's right, no big office of investigators and researchers, no team of lawyers. It's just a mom-and-pop operation that began as a hobby. David and Barbara Mikkelson in the San Fernando Valley of California started the website about 13 years ago and they have no formal background or experience in investigative research. (They’ve been at it since 1995. Does experience count? Is special training required to make phone calls, do Internet research and tell truth from falsehood? Would you really trust a team of lawyers?)

The reason for the questions - or skepticisms - is a result of snopes.com claiming to have the bottom line facts to certain questions or issue when in fact they have been proven wrong. (No one’s perfect, but is what follows below the only evidence that they’ve been proven wrong?) Also, there were criticisms the Mikkelsons were not really investigating and getting to the 'true' bottom of various issues. (Criticisms by whom? And over what issues?)

A few months ago, when my State Farm agent Bud Gregg in Mandeville (Mandeville is in Louisiana, and your firm is where?) hoisted a political sign referencing Barack Obama and made a big splash across the Internet, 'supposedly' the Mikkelson's claim to have researched this issue before posting their findings on snopes.com. In their statement they claimed the corporate office of State Farm pressured Gregg into taking down the sign, when in fact nothing of the sort 'ever' took place. (No one disputes that the sign went down. Did Bud Gregg just change his feelings about Obama?) I personally contacted David Mikkelson (and he replied back to me) thinking he would want to get to the bottom of this and I gave him Bud Gregg's contact phone numbers - and Bud was going to give him phone numbers to the big exec's at State Farm in Illinois who would have been willing to speak with him about it. He never called Bud. In fact, I learned from Bud Gregg that no one from snopes.com ever contacted anyone with State Farm. (This is nothing more than “he said, she said.” Who could Gregg have contacted at this gigantic firm who could say with assurance that Snopes.com had never contacted anyone there?)Yet, snopes.com issued a statement as the 'final factual word' (their report doesn’t use words like these) on the issue as if they did all their homework and got to the bottom of things - not!

Then it has been learned (By whom? Where is the evidence?) the Mikkelson's are very Democratic (party) and extremely liberal. As we all now know from this presidential election, liberals have a purpose agenda to discredit anything that appears to be conservative. (But of course, conservatives don’t have a “purpose agenda” to discredit anything liberal.) There has been much criticism lately over the Internet with people pointing out the Mikkelson's liberalism revealing itself in their website findings. Gee, what a shock? (Who are these people, and what is their reasoning?)

So, I say this now to everyone who goes to snopes.com to get what they think to be the bottom line fact 'proceed with caution.' Take what it says at face value and nothing more. Use it only to lead you to their references where you can link to and read the sources for yourself. (Not bad advice.) Plus, you can always search a subject and do the research yourself.

I have found this to be true also! Many videos of Obama I tried to verify on Snopes and they said they were False. Then they gave their liberal slant! (If you could give one example, it would be helpful, so people could check and draw their own conclusions.) I have suspected some problems with snopes for some time now, but I have only caught them in half-truths. If there is any subjectivity they do an immediate full left rudder.

I have recently discovered that Snopes.com is owned by a flaming liberal (“Flaming” shows a bit of bias. Do you mean someone other than the Mikkelsons? Can you name a name?) and this man is in the tank for Obama. (Do you mean that anyone who supports Obama is inherently untrustworthy?) There are many things they have listed on their site as a hoax and yet you can go to You tube yourself and find the video of Obama actually saying these things. (Got any examples? Do you automatically believe everything you see on video? Have you heard of the recent Dept. of Agriculture fiasco created by blogger Andrew Breitbart and falsely accusing Shirley Sherrod?) So you see, you cannot and should not trust Snopes.com, ever (Really? Ever?) for anything that remotely resembles truth! I don't even trust them to tell me if email chains are hoaxes anymore. (Who do you trust?)

A few conservative speakers on MySpace told me about Snopes.com. A few months ago and I took it upon myself to do a little research (Is all this the fruit of your “research”?) to find out if it was true. Well, I found out for myself that it is true. (What convinced you? Do you think your simple assertion is convincing me?) Anyway just FYI please don't use Snopes.com anymore for fact checking and make your friends aware of their political leanings as well. Many people still think Snopes.com is neutral and they can be trusted as factual. We need to make sure everyone is aware that that is a hoax in itself.

Thank you,
Alan Strong
Alan Strong CEO/Chairman
Commercial Programming Systems, Inc.
4400 Coldwater Canyon Ave.
Suite 200 Studio City, CA. 91604-5039

Me again. This is nothing more than a rant, with minimal evidence. There is certainly nothing here to conclusively discredit Snopes.com. In fact, there are numerous versions of this “letter” floating around the Internet. One is at this website: http://thehuffingtonriposte.blogspot.com/2010/05/snopes-exposed.html#ixzz0osKwmKIs. And you can check this link to see what Snopes.com itself says about the Bud Gregg issue: http://www.snopes.com/photos/politics/chicken.asp.

It’s easy to spread lies via e-mail; it’s not so easy to check them out. Read critically, look for facts, check them out, look for prejudice, be wise. Most of these alarming e-mails are sent out by liars who are trying to manipulate the gullible. Of course, they want to try to discredit the truth-tellers. Are you committed to believing the liars just because they’re telling you what you want to hear?

Piano Adventures

2010-04-10T18:29:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a piano concert by Jim Chappell, a world-renowned recording artist and composer of contemporary piano music, and I wish you could have been there. He's a 50-ish man of slight build and a wry manner. Having listened to his recorded music for the better part of two decades, it was my great pleasure to sit in the front row while he played live for an hour and a half.

I call his style "contemporary piano." Wikipedia calls it "smooth jazz." And others may call it (unfairly) "new age." Whatever you call it, his music is complex, varied, and eminently listenable, whether a given selection is soothing or rousing.

For each piece, Chappell recounted the story that served as his inspiration for the music: running down a mountain, breaking up with an old girlfriend, thinking about his young daughter, etc. You can even read many stories that explain individual compositions in his website, www.jimchappell.com. The website also has a lot of samples of the music itself.

Chappell is fundamentally an improvisor, and a brilliant one at that. At one point, he asked for a suggestion from the audience for the subject of an improvisation. Someone asked him to use a book he liked as his inspiration, so he sat down and played an ethereal, on-the-spot composition that was evocative of the book, "Jonathan Livingston Seagull." Then someone suggested he improvise with the thought of a cioppino dinner at an Italian restaurant. Not a very helpful prompt for an improvisation to my mind, but Chappell closed his eyes and produced another beautiful, soulful, thought-provoking piece of music. The most impressive demonstration of his genius, though, was a little later in the program, when he asked someone to come up and give him three random notes on which to build an improvisation. The result should have been recorded: it was absolutely stunning.

During the course of the hour and a half, he played two pieces that were very familiar to me: "Dawn" and "Heart Song." And all of this was presented to an audience of fewer than 50 who were assembled in the 100-seat "concert hall" at the Sherman Clay & Co. showroom in Roseville. And the grand piano he played on has to be one of the best in the Sacramento area. A performance by a world-class musician in a good acoustic setting, on an impressive instrument -- all for $8.

This is now the fourth concert that I've heard at the Sherman Clay facility in Roseville in the past six months. Each concert has been different: classical, Broadway, rock, and smooth jazz. And each was brilliant.

I am friends with at least eight excellent pianists in this area, and none of them was present at any of these concerts. But it doesn't take a pianist to appreciate what I've heard. These concerts are ongoing, and are inexpensive and in many cases free. Do yourself a favor and attend one. I'll cover them in my Placer Performance Calendar, but better yet, get on the Sherman Clay e-mail list. Send an e-mail to sacramento_info@sclay.com or call 916/771-0808, and ask to get their notifications of coming events. I know you'll be glad you did.

And by the way, if you're a fan of classical piano music, you can visit any of the Sherman Clay local websites, that of the Roseville store, for example -- www.shermanclay-sacramento.com -- and at the bottom left of the page, there are two buttons under the heading of "Media." Click on "Audio Player" and you can listen, on-the-spot and free, to hours of virtuoso performances of major classical piano pieces. Click on "Video Library," and you'll get a collection of YouTube videos featuring Steinway Artists and other great performers.

Nor-Cal Sings - Uh-Oh

2010-03-30T11:26:00.000-07:00

(See post-competition follow-up below.) I'm not quite sure what I've gotten myself into, but I'm in. I'd been seeing e-mail blasts from something called "NorCal Sings" addressed to the Sierra Community Chorus, and I didn't pay much attention to them. The messages announced a singing contest: think "American Idol" for Northern California (but not the San Francisco Bay area). Preliminary competitions for singers of all kinds of music, aged 7 to 30+ were scheduled for Fairfield, Santa Rosa, Roseville and Sacramento.

I didn't think much about this competition until I got a call from my friend, Nick Lynch, who, I was surprised to learn, was helping with the promotion of this undertaking. He called to ask whether I had suggestions about judges and venues for the final competition. I gave him a number of suggestions in both categories, but his call made me curious enough to check out the Roseville competition which was about to be held at Borders Books in Roseville.

I watched 3 of the 4 hours of the event. Most of the dozens of singers were very young, though there were a few older competitors, including one man who had to be of retirement age. Most could sing pretty well, and it was interesting to see what they could do a cappella in the one minute they were allowed to sing.

I didn't think much more about NorCal Sings until I got another call from Nick the following week, asking if I'd be a judge. What! I didn't see myself as qualified, but Nick was persuasive, and after all, I've devoted a very large chunk of my life to singing and performing. So with quite a bit of trepidation, I accepted.

So now if you go to the NorCal Sings website (www.norcalsings.com) you'll find my picture on the home page, right below Dave Bender, the weatherman on Sacramento's CBS-13. My job is to judge the semi-finals on Sunday, April 25 (it took some soul-searching to decide to get a substitute for church that morning). At this point, I'm philosophical: I'll give it my best shot, and it should certainly be an interesting, unique experience. When I was in law school, it was my ambition to be a judge. Voilà!

Posted April 26:
That was fun! The semi-final competition was held at the old Guild Theater in Sacramento's Oak Park neighborhood, and it ran from 12:30 to 5:30, with about 60 competitors. They had 3 minutes to show what they could do, with any kind of accompaniment they chose (or none), and they were grouped by age range and style (i.e. classical vs. everything else).

Nearly all these people were highly talented, and quite a few were amazing. Interestingly, it was the youngest group that wowed us the most, especially that little 10-year-old with a big voice and amazing stage presence. But then, there was the 84-year-old who sang "The Lady Is a Tramp" à la Frank Sinatra, who had a remarkably good voice and who strutted his stuff like a seasoned entertainer.

The variety of styles was itself refreshing, and I wasn't bored for one moment during those 5 hours. What I was feeling was anxiety: we four judges were expected to give the contestants verbal feedback, and it was a constant struggle to think of something new, accurate and encouraging for contestant after contestant. (OK, I may have exaggerated a bit and told a few white lies. I was, though, brutally honest on the ratings I gave: up to 50 points for vocal quality, up to 35 points for showmanship, and up to 15 points for appropriateness of song choice.)

Another highlight of the event was meeting the other judges. I sat next to Ruthie Bolton, the only Sacramento Monarchs player to have her number retired, winner of two gold medals for womens' basketball, key player on two Auburn University women's basketball teams to reach the Final Four, etc., etc. I was really fascinating to talk to this accomplished woman, who mentioned that she had her two Olympic gold medals out in the car.

I also enjoyed meeting Ashley Williams, a Good Day Sacramento (Channel 31) reporter -- a delightful, articulate, gracious young woman. It was also a pleasure to work with Shawn Ryan, a successful entertainer with a Grammy nomination, CDs, live shows, acting gigs, etc. to his credit. He was the one with the most articulate comments to Sunday's performers.

Some time today, they'll announce the names of those who will go on to next week's final competition at the State Street Theater (Auburn Placer Performing Arts Center) in Auburn. There will be multiple winners, and they will receive a cash prize, a photo shoot, a 2-song professional recording, free work with a voice coach, and their own music video.

I don't know yet whether I'll attend, but I'll be interested to see how this event plays next year. I know from experience that there is an awful lot of talent in our area beyond what I saw on the stage yesterday, and the organizers' plans for next year are for "bigger and better." I guess that leaves me out.

Another Amazing Opera

2010-03-28T12:56:00.000-07:00

The problem with attending shows I have never seen before is that, if they turn out to be spectacular, it's often too late to let my friends know about them. Well, you folks who read this blog in time have just had a reprieve.

I've seen some brilliant productions in the Metropolitan Opera's "Live in HD" series. The very best was the production of "Carmen" back in January. Perhaps the second best was "Les Contes d'Hoffmann" that was staged back in December. The production was absolutely eye-popping, with so many creative, outlandish elements. And the performances were also remarkable. In particular I've thought often since of the fascinating performance of Kate Lindsey: brilliant singing, but even more mesmerizing acting in a serio-comic role. The whole thing was amazing: more amazing still is that it will be broadcast as part of the Great Performances at the Met series on public television. That will take place in the Sacramento area on KVIE2 (one of KVIE's secondary stations; it's channel 190 for Roseville Comcast subscribers) between midnight and 3 a.m. on Monday, April 5. By all means, record it if you can. If you have trouble getting into it or seeing why I like it so much, fast-forward to the segment where the little Asian lady with the big gold crown is singing: she, too, was amazing.

Here's a postscript. Possibly the season's third best production (to my taste) was that of "Hamlet" by Ambroise Thomas that was broadcast in theaters yesterday. It will be re-broadcast on Wednesday evening, April 14 at various theaters around the world. Especially if you haven't seen one of these Met productions, this would be a good one to see -- if you don't find it engaging, maybe opera (even at its best) isn't for you.

And then there's the last "The Met: Live in HD" production of the year on Saturday, May 1. In the Sacramento area, you can see it live starting at 10 a.m. in any of the Century Theaters in the area. It's been described as a "fanciful and magical tale," and I have great hopes for this one.

Bike Safely: Wear a Helmet

2010-03-27T21:16:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's me on the front page of today's Roseville Press-Tribune (and Granite Bay Press-Tribune). The picture accompanies an article with the headline, "Bike helmet saves man's life."

Three years ago, I was hit by a car while bicycling. I walked away from the accident, but my helmet was cracked. So although I've worn a bicycle helmet for my last 15 years of riding, that experience made me notice helmet usage even more. And lately I've been appalled at the large number of people I see riding on streets without a helmet.

After thinking about doing so for more than a year, I sent a letter (by e-mail) to the editor of the Roseville Press-Tribune, recounting my experience and noting how common it is to see people riding without helmets. She e-mailed back asking if I'd be willing to be interviewed for a story. I said "Yes," and here is the online version of what came out today: http://rosevillept.com/detail/145796.html.

I've had great fun exploring Roseville and surrounding communities by bicycle, and I recommend it to anyone. But be sure to stay safe: (1) obey traffic laws, (2) make your movements predictable to motorists, (3) stay alert to your surroundings, and above all, (4) wear a helmet.

Support Local Performances

2010-03-09T17:16:00.000-08:00

You don't have to go to the "big city" for good entertainment. I've had an inkling of this for a long time, but I've seen it proven time and again since I've been managing the Placer Performance Calendar (www.placerperformancecalendar.com). It covers nearly 80 performing organizations in south Placer County (and Folsom), and I've been trying to attend as many of their performances as possible. As often as not, I've been delighted, even amazed.

Apologies to those of you who don't live nearby, but I'll give some examples. I've seen excellent shows at Roseville's Magic Circle Theatre, including "Big River" and "Anything Goes." Two more great shows were Sutter Street Theatre's (in Folsom) "And Then There Were None" and "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change," which is still playing and which features outstanding acting and singing. I saw a mind-blowing tap dance show put on by Folsom's Stages/Northern California Performing Arts, and a brilliant dance show by Roseville High School's Dance Department.

That leads me to emphasize the terrific shows I've seen at high schools. For example, the acting in the production of "The Crucible" in Vista del Lago High School's black box theatre was top-notch. I was delighted by the energy and good acting at Woodcreek High School's production of "Arsenic and Old Lace." The boy who played Mortimer looked and acted like a reincarnation of one of the matinee idols of the 1950s. And where did Rocklin High School get 3 boys who were such good singers and actors in the school's recent production of "The Wiz" (which featured a 20-piece orchestra)? And just last weekend I was blown away by the comedic skills of the kids at Oakmont High School's student-directed production of Neil Simon's "Rumors." I think I got more laughs out of that show than anything I've seen in years, and if one of those girls isn't destined to be a regular on "Saturday Night Live," I'd be amazed.

What's happening here? Our local schools and studios are where talent is being identified and cultivated, and their standards of professionalism have risen over the years. And with these young performers, you often see energy and risk-taking that is, by itself, engaging to watch. Of course, it's not all great, but I find that even when a show is full of technical problems or has a lot of so-so talent, there is almost always one -- and sometimes many -- performers on whom one can focus and who, by themselves, justify your time and the modest cost of your ticket.

So I say: "Patronize your local performing arts organizations!" Find out who is really doing the best work, and have fun! You don't have to go to the "big city" for good entertainment.

Flowers and Art

2010-03-07T07:07:00.000-08:00

Six years ago, Ginger and I were in San Francisco, spending an afternoon with our daughter, Jessica, before she moved to start her new job in England. It was a beautiful spring afternoon, and we were casting about for something to do, somewhere to go, when someone suggested the Legion of Honor. This is an art museum in a beautiful setting overlooking the Bay, and in the several decades I'd lived in Northern California, I'd never visited it. So we went.

To our surprise, there was a special event going on there. Flower arranging clubs (and other organizations related to flowers) were in the midst of a 4-day event at the museum. Each club took a single work of art, a painting or sculpture, and created a flower arrangement that was inspired by, or evocative of, that artwork. It was art inspiring new art in a new medium.

I'll confess that I've never been especially interested in fine art. I've visited many museums, including some of the most famous in the world, and I've perused their collections. Often I've seen things that have impressed me, but it has been from the perspective of someone who never bothered to study fine art. My appreciation was limited, and frankly, I had (and still have) no motivation to go deeper.

Nothing I've seen in those famous museums stirred me like what I saw at the Legion of Honor that day. The wonderfully creative flower arrangements, drew me into the original artwork to see things that I might not have seen otherwise. The flower arrangements presented similar colors, similar lines, similar effects -- and I found myself studying both the flower arrangements and the original paintings or sculptures in more detail than I would have imagined beforehand.

This, I discovered, was an annual event. And in all the intervening years, I haven't returned: I've always remembered it too late in the season. But I was sharing this experience with friends recently, and it prompted me to do some Internet research.

What I found is that this year's event, called "Bouquets to Art" will be at San Francisco's de Young Museum, April 20-24. I've found the website listed as either http://bouquetstoart.org/ or http://www.bouquetstoart.org/, but as of this writing it appears to be down. Still, one can (and should) order tickets in advance through the de Young website.

I apologize to my friends outside Northern California for this "teaser" that you can't take advantage of. And to those in Northern California, I urge you to experience this unique event.

I Don't Listen to the Radio Anymore

2010-01-05T16:40:00.000-08:00

I used to, though. I would get in the car, and as I drove, I'd hit one after another of my programmed buttons, hoping that the disc jockeys would choose one of my favorite songs or that I'd be able to catch something interesting on NPR.

Those days are gone, thanks to Internet radio. There are many forms of "Internet radio," but my focus is on the 3 examples that I'm really enjoying at the moment.

The first is "Pandora" (www.pandora.com). To use this service, you set up a free account with your e-mail address as your username and a password. Then you can start making your own "radio station." One way is to choose a genre. I began by selecting "New Age" from among the 19 genre categories. Then I chose "New Age Instrumental" from among the 7 subcategories under "New Age." With that, I had my first "radio station." When I clicked "play," I began to hear songs from one after another of my favorite artists, including artists who were new to me. If they played a song that I didn't like, I clicked on the "thumbs down" icon, and the song immediately stopped, and another song came up. In this way, I've had hours of music that I really like, with negligible commercial interruptions.

The other way to set up a "radio station" in Pandora is to choose an artist or a song that you particularly like. I think the first I chose was the Oak Ridge Boys. Having made just that much selection, I had a new station with just music from the Oak Ridge Boys and similar groups. I've gone on to make new stations based on Fleetwood Mac, Steve Winwood, Sarah McLachlin, and Clannad. When I navigate to Pandora, the last "station" I was listening to starts playing. One click, and I can change stations.

Now here's the coolest part. Pandora has an application for the iPhone that coordinates with one's account on the Internet. I open the Pandora app on my iPhone, and there are all my "stations," and I can choose among any of them. Connecting my headphones to my iPhone, I can listen to my favorite music anywhere. And when I'm in the car, I connect my iPhone to the auxiliary input on the car stereo, and Pandora plays through my car's excellent speakers.

I'm beginning to forget what the buttons on the car radio are set to. Why should I listen to those stations anyway?

Another service, called "Slacker" (www.slacker.com) is similar, and I use it, too. There, you can also create a station by genre, or by artist or song, but when the station is created, you get a long list of similar artists, whom you can individually include in or exclude from your new "station." Slacker, too, has an iPhone app that links to the account I set up on their website.

Finally, there is the NPR iPhone app that I mentioned in an earlier post. Any time of the day or week, I can listed to "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" or "Morning Edition" or "All Things Considered" or whatever -- on demand.

Is it any wonder that I don't listen to the radio anymore?

Why I Favor Health Care Reform

2010-01-03T15:44:00.000-08:00

It started on March 17, 2007 at noon. That's when I was hit by a car from behind and thrown off my bicycle. It's truly a wonder that I was not seriously hurt, but that wasn't apparent to everyone until I walked out of the hospital later that afternoon.

The big surprise came a few weeks later when I got a hospital bill for $12,522.15 -- for my 2 hours in the Sutter Roseville's Emergency Department. Add the ambulance and other expenses, and the cost of the accident was over $14,000. And I wasn't insured.

Still, I wasn't worried because I knew that there was no fault on my part, so the driver's insurance company would cover these expenses. They eventually did, but it took two years to work out the details.

That big bill made me realize that, even though I'm a Christian Scientist and would not generally rely on medical means, I need a certain degree of protection from financial risks. So I signed up for minimal health coverage from Kaiser Permanente at a cost of $368 per month for 2007. They raised it to $407 for 2008; and for 2010, it's up to $490. That's a 33% increase over 3 years or 11% per year.

But wait, there's more! Ginger retired in November of 2004, with the promise from her school district that it would continue her health care benefits for 5 years. That 5 years ended this past New Year's Eve. We investigated adding her to my inexpensive plan, but Kaiser considers the ailments for which they have been treating her as preexisting conditions (and therefore not covered) if we should add her to my plan. So we're stuck paying the high fees for COBRA coverage of her plan extension.

The result? Starting this month, we're paying $15,360 per year ($9,480 for her; $5,880 for me) for health insurance -- from one of the least expensive providers in our area. That is, we're paying that figure until May of 2011 when we both turn 65 and become eligible for Medicare.

Our situation is bad enough, but there are millions of other Americans for whom the high cost of health care is even more burdensome. That's why there's a bumper sticker on my car that reads "Health Care for Everyone." And that's why I strongly support the current efforts for health care reform in Congress, even though they don't go far enough. Medicare for everyone!

A Gift of Gratitude

2009-12-23T12:16:00.000-08:00

Two years ago, I stumbled across a familiar name in my Internet wanderings: Walter Ehret. He was my high school choir director. Amazingly, his postal address was in that Internet posting, so I decided to write him a letter.

I started by recounting how we met. I was a sophomore at Scarsdale (NY) High School, and I had a good friend, Steve, who was in the school's Concert Choir. Steve urged me to audition for the Concert Choir, but I would have none of it: I didn't think I could sing, and besides I was way too shy to have anyone hear me singing.

Then one day Steve and I were walking in the hallway, and Mr. Ehret was approaching from the opposite direction. Steve wanted to introduce us, so I shook Mr. Ehret's hand saying something like "I'm fine, thanks." Mr. Ehret's response? "Listen to that resonance!" Without letting go of my hand, he steered me up to the "music tower" where I was auditioned and accepted into the Concert Choir on the spot.

That was the way Mr. Ehret was: brimming with enthusiasm, positive energy, and encouragement. From him, I quickly developed confidence in my singing and a love for choral music. His humor and nurturing spirit (for all of us) made my 2+ years of Concert Choir the platform for a life of singing. He saw to it that I had voice lessons, got me to enter competitions, and had me soloing in performances by my senior year. (At my first concert that sophomore year, I was so nervous just singing in the 60-member chorus that I could hardly make a sound.)

I should add that he was an extraordinarily prolific arranger, author (e.g., "The Choral Conductor's Handbook"), and was a leader in music education beyond Scarsdale High.

In my letter back in 2007, I recounted our meeting, enumerated my singing experiences over the past 45 years -- and thanked him for launching me on the activity that has so enriched my life. He sent me a nice return letter, and that was it until about a month ago.

That was when I received an e-mail from Mr. Ehret's son, David, informing me that his father, Walter, had passed on Nov. 16 at the age of 91. David was writing to me because his mother had saved that letter I wrote and wanted to read it at Walter's memorial service on Dec. 5 in White Plains, NY. Would I mind?

Would I mind? Of course not! I would be honored to have my simple expression of thanks read on that occasion 3000 miles away. But there was more. There would be a video of the service, which I could watch after the fact.

I did watch, and during that hour-long service many people got up to say how grateful they were for the influence (sometimes quite profound) that Walter Ehret had had on their lives. Then at the end of the service "Mr." Ehret's widow stood up to read my letter, one example to represent the thousands of students who had been inspired, even blessed, by his encouragement and teaching.

I had thought of my letter as a sort-of "gift" to Mr. Ehret, an expression of thanks reaching across the decades. In the end, though, I think I was the one who received a greater gift -- the appreciation of Mr. Ehret's family and the knowledge that I had been fortunate enough to have been given the opportunity to convey my gratitude to him while he was still alive.

Do a Google search on "Walter Ehret," and I think you'll be amazed.

The Best Toy I Ever Owned

2009-12-22T18:40:00.000-08:00

I've always loved toys. It's just that I have progressed from buying them at a toy store, to buying them at a hardware store, and eventually an electronic store. Now I'll say that the best toy I've ever owned is my iPhone.

The iPhone came on the market in June of 2007, and it wasn't the first smart phone with the ability to access e-mail and the Internet, but I do believe that it and the other smart phones that have been coming onto the market recently have the potential of changing society almost as much as the Internet has done over the past 15 years.

I've only had my iPhone for a couple of months, but it has changed the way I do so many things, and if I don't have it attached to my belt, I feel positively naked. Now I can read my e-mail wherever I happen to be. And I can resolve almost any question (definition of a word, location of Vilnius, the cast of "Lawrence of Arabia," etc.) from wherever I am. And that's only the beginning.

I'm not going to buy a GPS system for my car because the iPhone has built-in GPS, and I can get voice-assisted directions and locate businesses around me with my on-board software. I can even plot my progress on a map as I bicycle the streets of Roseville (and track distance traveled and average speed).

There are some 100,000 applications in the "App Store" on iTunes, and most of them are either free or cost just a dollar or two. Most iPhone aficianadoes have lots of games on their phone: I don't have any. It's not that I don't enjoy a game now and then; it's that there are too many useful applications to explore, and I feel as though I'm just beginning to learn the conveniences that are now at my disposal.

I don't listen to the radio in my car any more: I plug my phone into the car sound system and listen to exactly what I want to listen to -- without commercials. And it's not just real-time listening: if I miss "Morning Edition" on NPR, I call up the NPR app and play the current day's program at any time of the day -- as if it were recorded and just waiting for my summons (which it is).

I can download any of tens of thousands of books (classics are free) and read them on my iPhone without having to get something like Amazon's Kindle. My personal calendar, plus weather, stock market data, sports scores, and news stories are right at hand. I don't need an iPod or MP3 player because all my music, plus videos, are right on the phone. And yes, call quality is excellent.

This is clearly the electronic version of the Swiss Army Knife.

Expensive? I wouldn't say so. You can get refurbished iPhones for $50 (and the standard 2-year contract with AT&T). And although I've heard that some pay $30 per month for their service, mine is just $24.

Considering how much I use the iPhone, it has changed my life (for the better, of course), and in time (and not that much time), competent phones -- really hand-held computers -- will be changing the lives of a significant part of the population of our country and the world. For me, it's great fun to be participating in this change.

Opera? Seriously?

2009-12-21T17:13:00.001-08:00

I think I saw my first opera when I was about 17, and it impressed me to such a degree that it was about 40 years before I saw another. Actually, my first experience with opera after the age of 17 was in 2000 when I had the lead role in the production of "The Tsar's Bride" by Roseville's Russian American Music Academy. Since then I've seen a few productions at the San Francisco Opera, and they were, indeed, impressive.

But lately, I've become excited about the productions of the Metropolitan Opera that are broadcast in high definition at Century Theaters locally (and at hundreds of other theaters through the U.S. and the world). I've seen "Tosca" and "Aida" and this past Saturday Ginger and I saw "Les Contes d'Hoffman" by Offenbach with our friends, the Ellises.

As impressive as "Tosca" and "Aida" were, I was absolutely blown away by "Les Contes d'Hoffman" -- especially the first act. The singing and orchestration were top-notch, of course, but it was the acting and staging that were especially impressive. I think that even someone who is lukewarm toward opera (as I still am) would have found this performance especially impressive. (It's being rebroadcast on Wednesday, Jan. 6 at 6:30 p.m. (local time throughout the U.S.).

I'm so excited about these productions in general for a lot of reasons. The sound quality is excellent. The visuals are great: brilliant camera work gives you a better experience than you could get watching live in the theater. Costumes and sets are wonderfully creative. And there is a backstory: interviews of performers, director, etc. during intermissions. And you get all of this for about $24.

I plan to see all the remaining productions live on Saturday mornings here in Roseville, and if I've piqued your interest, you can get local details through my Placer Performance Calendar (www.perfcal.com) or the Metropolitan Opera website: www.metopera.org.

Starting Point

2009-12-21T17:03:00.000-08:00

Seems that lately I've been having more thoughts and experiences that I would like to share with friends and acquaintances, so I've finally decided to go the blog route. I'l try to keep postings brief, and I hope they'll be interesting. We'll see.

I have to add that I've dabbled in Facebook, and it just doesn't do it for me: too many friends, some close, some not -- and too many postings that just aren't very significant. It will be my objective not to waste the time of friends and family, and I'll welcome your feedback.