#ignorance Part 1

A few weeks ago President Barack Obama said the following at a commencement address at Rutger's University.

 "Class of 2016, let me be clear as I can be: In politics as in life, ignorance is not a virtue......facts, evidence, reason, logic, and understanding of science: these are good things. "

In my life I've been called many names.   I kind of have a thick skin for that kind of thing. But for me one of the worst things you could call me is ignorant.  I take great pride in exploring, researching and really thinking about my point of view.  I never just took in what my parents spoon fedme, what my church told me to believe or what one media source has to tell me.   Ignorant is something I work very hard not to be.

But for some, maybe many, ignorance really is bliss.  Many choose not to learn outside of what they were raised to believe or really do much thinking outside of their comfort zone. For some reality is whatever they wish it to be even if it isn't the case at all.

If you are someone who does a lot of thinking and reading, you are probably not going to be too offended by what I'm about to say.  For everyone else, this might sting a little.

I'm not going to start where you think I'm going to start just yet.  Right wing conservatives you have a few moments to take a few yoga breaths now but believe me, you will get your turn.

Im going to start with some of my progressive friends. I'm going to start with a small unyielding group of people who identify as Bernie Bros.  This does not exclude you Susan Sarandon (one of my favorite actresses but not one of my favorite outspoken liberals), for I have no gender bias.

First of all, I have nothing against anyone who voted for Bernie Sanders. I'm from the Socialist Republic of Seattle. If I had a big beef with anyone who voted for Bernie, I'd have very few Seattle friends left.   I also, get ready, DO NOT THINK Bernie should drop out.  I support the idea that every person in every state who wants to be part of the process should be able to vote.   In 2000 I still cast my vote for Bill Bradley even though it was very clear that Al Gore was going to be the nominee.  Imagine that? A democracy.

But let me clear. Senator. Bernie. Sanders. Is not winning.  the nomination and no amount of reading usuncut.com or Huffington Post (which used to be a credible news source before Bernie started running for president) is going to change that.

He just isn't. Sorry to be the ruiner of unicorn and rainbow dreams, but most of the people have voted and it really hasn't been close.

So here is the thing. If you are a young new voter and voted for Bernie as your first vote, Welcome.  I profoundly hope that you'll be a good sport and continue to participate in the process.  Because if you don't like the process the only way to change it is by being part of it and voting.  That's just the truth.  Going to Nevada and acting like a petulant brat at the convention by throwing chairs isn't going to change the process.  It's not revolution, Jean Valjean.  It is  a two year old throwing a tantrum.  And no one is going to take that seriously.

If you have been of voting age for some time, but have chosen to make a statement by not voting until this year, I welcome you also.  However, I will also say that your "statement"  you made by not voting is perhaps not the statement you were going for.  The process that was created that you do not like exists because you weren't part of it.  You let it happen.

To all of you, if you want to make change you must vote. Not just once at a caucus that you were lucky enough to not be disenfranchised for and that you were able to have enough time off work to actually attend.  You must continue to vote.  Even when it's boring.  Especially when it's boring.  The boring elections are probably the most important ones, but they are the ones that get terrible turnout.  It's the boring elections that gave the congress to Tea Party Right Wingers who continue to obstruct justice and not to do their job.  That didn't have to happen. There are more liberal minded people in this country than Tea Party right wingers.  The liberals didn't show up to vote, and the right wing conservatives did.

So again Bernie, a man who deserves respect,  is not going to be the president.  Stop pouting and become part of the process.  Democratic change doesn't happen quickly.  It's messy. It isn't perfect.  It especially isn't perfect if the people don't come out for it.


Don't worry Conservatives, you aren't getting off. Your turn is coming.  To be continued.

A Book That Changed My Life: Then Again Maybe I Won't by Judy Blume

Tales of the Fourth grade nothing was my gateway drug to "naughty" Judy Blume.

My parents knew that my teacher had read Tales to us at school so surely any other book that Judy Blume would be in that same vein.  Fortunately, there was no internet for my parents to look up what other books Judy Blume had written.  I thank God that they never checked up on what I was reading.

Judy Blume books were my education on many topics that I wasn't learning about at school or at home.  They were full of life lessons that were in many cases more important than what I was actually learning.  In the 1980s , where was I going to learn about topics like racism, sex, and bullying in an intelligent way that never talked down to a kid?  Judy Blume books were one of the only options.

"Are You There God? It's me Margaret" was a book that changed many young women's lives because of its honest depiction of a girl going through puberty (and frankly it was also eye opening for me to know what was going on with all of the girls around me).  Then Again Maybe I Won't was the boy version of that book.  It doesn't get as much  credit as Margaret gets, but for me it was a life changer.

Tony, the main character, is a boy in the middle of a lot of changes.  His family has just moved from there working class neighborhood to a more white collar neighborhood in New York, and in the middle of all this life change he dives into the pangs of adolescent change as well.

I related to Tony.  Not so much because I had just experienced a big move in class because I hadn't.   Not so much because I was girl crazy like he was because let's face it, I wasn't.  But I related to him because all the people around him thought everything was going just great because he was one of those kids like me who people just made those assumptions about but didn't actually ask.

One of the most "shocking" moments of the book is when Tony has a sexual dream and wakes up to the mess on the bed that every teenage boy wakes up to at some poin. Thank you Judy Blume for teaching me what a wet dream was! It made the first time I ever had one on a family vacation at my eighty five year old aunt's house slightly less mortifying.

Another way I related to Tony was that he was a big worrier like me.  At a certain point his worrying over something his "friend" has done gets to him so much that he develops an ulcer. We didn't have the words for those things then like we do now, but Tony struggled with anxiety.  As someone who has been diagnosed with and  continues to live with an anxiety disorder, seeing a character in a book go through sometung similar was very important.  It made me feel like I was less alone and that I wasn't totally crazy.

Last summer I was able to listen to Judy Blume speak and was able to ask her a question from the audience.  Afterward she stayed to sign her new book, and I was able to thank her for Then Again Maybe I Won't and thank her for the impact her words made on my life.

Below is a picture of the moment that I got to tell Judy Blume what a difference she had made in my life.  It isn't a particularly flattering picture of me, but it is a moment I will not forget.




Next time: A film that changed my life

Coming Soon: Art That Changed My Life- In five parts

In addition to my regular blog posts, I have been thinking about what pieces of  art have had a profound impact on my life. So coming soon, I will profile 5 different works of art over 5 posts that made a difference in my life.

They will include:
A book
A television program or series
A film
A song or album
A musical or play.

The first part will be coming soon, and it will be ....a book


Stay tuned!

My 5 Favorite Prince Songs (1978-1993) plus 14 more essential tracks.

I still can't believe Prince is gone. :( I am definitely looking forward to see what great stuff comes out of his unreleased vault. For now here is my list of great Prince songs starting with my favorite 5 with 14 other essentials. I will admit that I paid a bit less attention to his late 90s work and work that went into the 21st century.

My 5 Favorite Prince Tracks (in chronological order)

Little Red Corvette (1983)
When Doves Cry (1984)
Let's Go Crazy (1984)
I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man (1987)
U Got the Look (1987)


14 Other Essential Tracks in No Particular Order

Why Do You Wanna Treat Me So Bad
When You Were Mine
1999
Alphabet Street
I Wanna Be Your Lover
Head
Delirious
I Would Die 4 U
Raspberry Beret
Kiss
Cream
200 Balloons
Erotic City
and of course Purple Rain

On Second Thought....In Defense of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard

Sunset Boulevard, the movie starring Gloria Swanson as the iconic character Norma Desmond, is considered one of the greatest films of all time.  If you've seen it, you know that it's a biting look at the Hollywood movie system that ate up and spit out silent movie stars as the shift was made to talking films.  When Andrew Lloyd Webber created a musical version of this classic film in the mid 90s, there was a collective sigh and eye roll in the entertainment community.  Why remake something that was close to perfect?

Keep this in mind I am no Andrew Lloyd Webber apologist. While I think Evita is one of the greatest musicals of all time, I also think Cats and especially the roller skating musical Starlight Express are two of the worst things to ever grace musical theater.  All that said I think the musical version of Sunset Boulevard is some of Lloyd Webber's best work and perhaps one of the most underrated and unfairly maligned musicals in existence.

I first saw Sunset Boulevard in 1995 on the London Stage.  I had heard the mixed reviews, but I was new into my fandom of musical theatre, so I was very excited to see the show.  Some of the reviews were right. The show was a bit of a mess.  The show was known for its expensive, over the top large set pieces and frankly they were a bit much.  They were a distraction.  Take that away and what was left was a melodic piece of biting satire as well as a damnation of our culture's treatment of women past a certain age.  I left the show feeling not disappointed but also  not entirely fulfilled.  The groundwork of an amazing musical was there but not fully realized.

Generally even the people who hate the show could appreciate Glenn Close's portrayal of Norma Desmond in the original Broadway version.  She and the musical won Tony's in an admittedly weak year for musical theater.  But Close's performance was over the top and grandiose in the moments where it should be and in the next moment childlike and vulnerable.  Glenn Close is perhaps  my all time favorite actress and when I heard that she was going to be portraying Norma Desmond again in a semi staged smaller  scale version of the show in London, I had to find a way to go.

I expected that Glenn Close would be amazing and she definitely was.  I definitely felt like I was witnessing greatness in her performance in a way that I don't often feel when I see movies,television, theater or music performance.  But what did surprise me was how good the show stood on its own without the big set pieces and with the orchestra on stage.  The focus could now go on the performers who were all excellent and the beautiful music and clever lyrics.  If you were able to get past the fact that it was a remake of one of Hollywood's finest movies, you were able to  witness greatness.

I expect that based on the sold out month of shows in London that this version will make its way to Broadway with or without Glenn Close.  If you open your mind to it, you may be surprised by how well done this show really is.

The best, worst and non-winners of the Best Musical Tonys

In honor of the Tony nominations tomorrow.  May I present three lists? They pertain to musicals as I have not seen as many non musical plays.

While I've seen many musicals, I obviously haven't seen all of them.

The first is the Top 10 musicals to win Best Musicals ranked by how much I love them!
10.  Billy Elliot
 9.  Sunset Boulevard
 8.   Avenue Q
 7.  Evita
 6.  The King and I
 5.  Sweeney Todd Demon Barber of Fleet Street
 4.  A Chorus Line
 3.  Cabaret
 2.  Rent
 1. Les Misérables.


Second is an alphabetical order list of ten musicals that won Best Musicals that I'm not particularly fond of.  A few of them I hate, but most are kind of meh to me even if they have their merits.

Cats
Damn Yankees
Hello Dolly
In The Heights
Memphis
Once
Phantom of the Opera
Spring awakenings
The Sound of Music
Titanic

Finally, here is my ranked list of  the best musicals that did not win the Best musical Tony and what beat them.

10.   The Drowsy Chaperone (defeated by Jersey Boys)
  9.    Grey Gardens (defeated by Spring  Awakening)
  8.     Chicago (defeated by A Chorus Line)
  7.  Hedwig and the Angry Inch (not nominated.  When it was finally on Broadway it was nominated as a revival.  A little cheat on my part)
 6.  Ragtime (defeated by The Lion King)
 5.  Matilda (defeated by Kinky Boots)
 4.  Into the Woods (defeated by the Phantom of the Opera)
 3.  West Side Story (defeated by the Music Man)
2.   Wicked (defeated by Avenue Q)
1.  Next to Normal (defeated by Billy Elliot)

My 10 favorite cities and towns in Europe and North America.

I have done a good amount of traveling in Europe and North America.  This weekend I went to London for the first time in over twenty years and the first time as an adult.  What a great experience to have so many years later when I can appreciate it more.  As celebration I'm going to list in alphabetical order my 10 Favorite cities and towns in North America and Europe in alphabetical order.   Please feel free to comment or question.  London is not eligible as I'm still processing the experience.   Also no city or town I have lived in is eligible.   So that would explain no Seattle or Boston

1.  Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2. Budapest, Hungary

3. Florence, Italy

4.  Madrid, Spain

5. Montreal, Canada

6. Naxos,Greece

7. New York City, USA

8.  Paris, France

9. Prague, Czech Republic

10. San Francisco, USA