More Questions from Oprah Magazine

I wish I had invented the fly swatter! How did we ever kill pesky flies before someone jerry-rigged a fly swatter?

The most awe-inspiring places are standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon, walking on the ocean floor at the Bay of Fundy, where the tide changes by almost 50 feet every cycle, and standing all alone on the prow of a cruise liner as the sun comes up across the endless ocean.

When I’m really excited I usually have to pee.

I celebrate big moments by sharing them with others.

I feel happiest when I am busy, productive, and interacting with other people.

If I could meet any fictional character, it would be Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. The parenting and peopling that Atticus exhibits in the novel is a model for the way I wanted to parent and continue to interact with people.

Whole Lot of Shakin' Goin' On

I am from the generation that influenced music to change from the “standard” melodies of the 1940s to the rock ‘n roll of the 60s. In the middle were the 1950s, a time that forever changed popular music. Four of the giants of the pre-rock and roll era were Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Presley, singers who added a beat to the music and changed it forever.

Million Dollar Quartet is the story of one magical day shortly before Christmas in 1956 when the four living legends came together in Sam Phillips’ Sun Records recording studio, where they all got their start. The impromptu jam session was unique and captured by a newspaperman who commented, “This quartet could sell a million.” This was a one-time performance by the four legends who later would be inducted into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame. What remains is the tape of the quartet's impromptu jam, as well as a photograph of the four music giants before they hit the big time.

The traveling stage show captures the intensity of the time, a time when music was forever changed. The performers were conflicted because they got their start with Phillips, but he was too small to build their careers into the cultural phenomena they each became, and so they moved on to the bigger labels. This jam session in early December 1956 was the only time they were together, a moment in time captured by the stage play. The physical appearances are spot-on, with each actor capturing perfectly the personality and the mannerisms of the four. The pianist who plays the role of Jerry Lee Lewis is over the top talented and provides a foundation for the other three men to play off. The actor portraying Johnny Cash doesn’t just have his mannerism, but he also has that deep bass voice that comes from the bottom of his soul. Carl Perkins’ character is captured well, a lesser-known influence in the gradual metamorphosis of country/western into rock ‘n roll. The hit of the show, however, is the performance of Elvis Presley, the King of rock ‘n roll, whose physical gyrations emphasized the beat of and the lack of inhibition of the music he loved to perform.

If Million Dollar Quartet comes to a stage in your neighborhood, I strongly encourage you to buy a ticket and enjoy the telling of the real story of how rock ‘n roll "... transformed the cultural landscape of the twentieth century" [quote from the stage notes]. It wasn’t the Beatles – it was the good ole country boys whose love of music challenged them to take it a step further today than they had gone yesterday.

Beckretary

This past week’s episode of Glee drove home the overwhelmingly negative effect Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) has on Becky (Lauren Potter), a Down’s Syndrome student to whom Sue has become attached. It is an opportunity for Sue to be a positive role model, yet she chooses to “teach” Becky by example how to be derogatory and disrespectful both to staff and her fellow students.

When Sue first took an interest in Becky and then revealed that she had a special needs sister, I felt that it would be an opportunity for Becky to grow into her potential within the realities of her disability. However, Sue took that opportunity to put Becky into conflict with other students through both her words and her actions, refers to her as Sue’s “Beckretary,” and has given unrestricted power to be rude, disrespectful, and derogatory with impunity. Why the writers of this popular show would morph Becky into a mini-me Sue is beyond my comprehension, but that isn’t my primary concern: what about the actress with Down’s Syndrome who has been taught through her role on this TV show to be disrespectful to the people with whom she has contact?

When I searched for the name of the actress portraying Becky (Lauren Potter), I found an interview with her and her mother: (Posted by Rob on Jun-16-2009 under Glee Episode Spoilers, News, Videos)

[Mom says} Lauren enjoyed the two-day shoot but said it bothered her that when people looked at her, they first saw the Down syndrome.

[Lauren's reply] “It’s really hard for me when people see me as a Down syndrome kid,” she said. “I want them to see me as typical.”

Can this actress understand that the behaviors and language she uses as the character Becky are not typical, and are inappropriate for use in her interactions with people off the set? Is Lauren able to make and then understand the distinctions between real and a role? Does she understand that the nastiness of her character would be inappropriate in her daily interactions with peers and adults and in no way will distinguish her as typical? And, if her goal is to be a role model for other differently abled people, does Lauren understand that this is the wrong role for that goal to be achieved?

When I see Becky being nasty, mean, and vindictive, I see a character who is far from typical in a very negative way, and not because she has Down's Syndrome.

Jingle Balls

Okay, so now I'm offended by ... a commercial? K-Mart has a chorus line of men decked out in tux tops and boxer bottoms. Believe it or not, the men, legs spread, do pelvic thrusts along with "bells" ringing out a chorus of Jingle Bells. I'm sure that someone thought this was hilariously funny, and maybe it is over a coupla beers, but for a national sales commercial?

Not so much funny.

UPDATE: I think the commercial has been removed from TV as I haven't seen it once this entire past week. Good decision!

12 Years a Slave

My movie buddy and I decided to see a special screening of the new "slave" movie playing at a local theater. The previews piqued our interest in seeing the film, so we attended with expectations. Sadly, those expectations were not met on several levels.

A film has to engage the emotions of the viewers so there is buy-in to the story being told. This film came across as actors portraying their roles, rather than actors becoming their characters. I watched the most emotional scenes from a distance, not engaging with the characters and what is happening to them. Sure, it is horrific, what is done, but it didn't feel that way during the film.

The main male slave character is too resigned, too able to accept his slavery – and since he didn’t fight what happens to him, I didn’t engage with his character. I understand the concept of “go along to get along,” and it would have cost him physically had he overtly fought his enslavement, but he seemz also to give up spiritually. There are two instances when he fights his captivity, both of which shine because the rest of the time he’s so passively resigned to his fate.

The supporting cast is excellent in the portrayal of a ruling class that takes for granted that human beings are theirs to own. The slave owner’s wife is particularly vivid in her nuanced performance of both sympathy for and acceptance that slaves are purchased products to be used and abused at will by their masters. She is the one character with depth of character in her performance.

Far too often it takes far too long to make a point in the picture, with scenes that drag out to uninteresting before they are played completely. A slow pace dulls the senses and distracts from the scenes that need empathy to be believable.

Thus, I’d give 12 Years a Slave a grade of C.

The TSA Shooter

The coverage of the TSA shooting brings questions to mind, such as why were so few shots fired and so few people involved? It seems that the shooter had “suicide by cop” in mind when he took his semi-auto rifle into the airport where literally hundreds of targets were available but left uninjured. When he shot and killed one TSA employee and wounded another, he took off running – not shooting at other TSA agents. He had spare magazines of ammo with him, but he didn’t senselessly spray the target-rich environment with bullets.

He simply took off running until the cops caught up with him and brought him down in a hail of bullets.

Thus, I think his goal was suicide by cop – which failed, as he survived 4 gunshots to his chest area.

Tough Questions

The issue of O magazine waiting for me at the therapist's office offered challenges this month. I've had to think about my responses, rather than just taking the first idea that came into my head.

I’m so glad I learned the secret to … making good gravy: use cornstarch, rather than flour, and you won’t have lumps. Many people judge the meal, as well as the cook, on the gravy.

But I hope I never figure out … how to work complicated mathematical problems! Math and I stay as far away from one another as is humanly possible.

When I need help with life’s mysteries, I turn to … a good book. Asking family and/or close friends makes me too vulnerable, and I probably already know what they will say, so an author (writing for a universal reader) keeps the advice pertinent, as well as important, and the reader can personalize it to fit.

My next challenge is figuring out … how to make a contribution without dealing with the demands people want in return. Far too often my volunteerism quickly consumes my life and I am working a full-time job with no pay, no benefits, and limited thanks.

If you could offer one piece of advice to the world, it would be … as Elvis believed, Take care of business, rather than sitting on the stoop and waiting for someone else to take care of your business for you. I don’t owe you anything, but you owe yourself whatever it is that makes your life complete. You don’t know that you cannot have what you want/need unless you first figure out how to work toward it and then put your plan into action. Doing nothing gets you ... nothing.