Saturday, November 20, 2010

Did school mortify you?

Just noticed I made it to 4,000 kms biked so far this year of a possible 8,500 had I biked to work every Monday through Friday.   So I've biked exactly the distance from Vancouver to Manhattan, how about that?

This show made laugh and evoked some old, fond memories. Also some old, bad memories, which I think is the point behind the "mortified" show itself.

Teen years can be mortifying at the time, and result in cringe-worthy moments that are best locked away in the vault. For some people, these moments are forgotten, and for some they remain alive, either in memory or on paper. A duo with deep rooted mortifying memories has developed a stage act that allows individuals the opportunity for public catharsis. They audition individuals who if selected read onstage, in public, in a formal show from diaries or recount horrible stories from their younger years. What was horrible is mainly now just humorous, and the act of getting it off one’s chest and laughing at it with others is a relief to most of the people it seems.

On Point is produced in Boston, and we heard many minutes of a recent local show there all of which are available at the On Point link. The poetry, the angst, and the dreams were all right there. One woman read her bucket list from the age of 15, which ranged from “Walk into a dinner party as if you belong” to “Be a prostitute for one night.” At that age you don’t discern terribly well between things and I think the line is drawn between “childish” and “adult.” All “adult” things are lumped together in a kind of netherworld of indistinguishable importance. In a single breath, kids might say they want to “learn to surfboard” and then “become President.”

I have few mortifying moments from my teen years. I can only think of two highly embarrassing moments, the first occurring in about 1975 when my parents insisted on getting a babysitter for me at the age of 11. The girl who showed up was none other than the mature Jackie Cowieson, who wore makeup, dated 14-year olds, smoked at recess and sat next to me in grade 6 at Greenbrier Elementary in Brantford, Ontario. Why do I remember her name? It was indelibly etched on my prepubescent brain in a truly mortifying way.

The other was in French class at Horlick High School, Racine, Wisconsin in 1979. Because I was from Canada I had been taking French since 1973, but unlike Canada I found that only girls in Wisconsin take French. The guys all take German because everyone’s grandparents seemed to come from there, or else they take Spanish because it’s easy. So I was in French class with 15 other high school girls for about three years. There was a poem or sentence that involved “bras” which means “arms” in French. The teacher explained something about the sentence and that it relates to “around or under the arms” which is incidentally where “brassiere” is derived from. Everyone giggled and looked at me, then someone said “Look, he’s blushing!” which of course I was, and it only got worse. Here I was, surrounded by nubile young women, speaking in French about breasts, and tell me why wouldn’t I get a hot flash? I ran into the same girl years later at a gas station checkout in Racine, and she didn’t recognize me because: a) I was in college and had grown up a lot; and b) She looked like a heroin addict.

Vist http://www.getmortified.com/ to see if one of the dozen shows are in your area.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

John Boehner, U.S./Indian relations and Quincy Jones

Several excellent shows have been featured, and I often wish I could take notes while biking, but that’s one thing I’ve determined is just plain impossible. Some interesting ones:


- A look into John Boehner and how he will behave as the new House leader;
- The U.S./India partnership, in light of Pres. Obama’s recent trip there;
- Why American marathoners are fewer, and slower;
- Quincy Jones’ latest book, CD and seemingly endless collaborations;
- The team producing “Mortified” shows across the country, in which mature people go on stage to read their teen diaries etc. for amusement and healing;
- The grandson of an Ohio man who discovered and wrote a book on his grandfather’s acts of charity during the Depression
- Advice for Pres. Obama on his next two years

All of them were interesting and rather than digging into one, I’ll comment on them ALL over the next days.

John Boehner

He came from humble beginnings, and laboured in his father’s Ohio tavern and other jobs to earn money to put himself through college. He was a Democrat who became a Republican after running a small business and being greatly influenced by the tax code and government bureaucracy. He’s been in the House for 19 years and has been the Republican minority leader since 1996. Freshly elected in 1991, he joined the Gingrich team that gave us the Contract with America, where he saw firsthand the negative effects to Republicans by Newt Gingrich taking politicking too far by refusing to compromise with Pres. Clinton. This resulted in the infamous 1995 U.S. Government shutdown when Gingrich refused to increase the country’s debt level and Clinton refused to sign off on the Republican Congress’s budget. Now that he’s undoubtedly going to be the House Majority Leader I’m anxious to see if he’s as good at governing and crafting workable legislation as he is at being in the minority.

I think no one more greatly represents current Republican ideology than John Boehner. One thing I now respect him for is his refusal to bring pork barrel spending projects back to Ohio, and for strongarming colleagues to do the same. He’s going to be difficult to deal with and has essentially said that he’s willing to compromise with Democrats as long as they agree with his position. For all the principled rhetoric he still has to govern along with the two other branches of government which happen to be Democrat-controlled. Let’s hope he realizes that his goal should be the successful operation of U.S. Government and not simply a Republican takeover of the Senate and White House. The latter will lead to gridlock and another two years of hell for a lot of people.

He doesn’t appear to be flexible at all, and poll results will guide his willingness to compromise, currently set to zero tolerance. If the country respects him for standing up to Obama and the Senate then expect a conservative agenda to be pushed hard at the expense of the economy and the carrot of a three branch win in 2012. Conversely, if Americans grumble about Republican stonewalling then expect a conciliatory approach so that he doesn’t repeat Gingrich’s mistakes and ensure an easy re-election for Obama in 2012.

India/U.S. relations

The gist of the show was how important U.S./Indian relations are to both countries. India looks to the U.S. for economic growth and for a military ally in a very dangerous place. The U.S. wants to ensure that a U.S.-friendly India thrives as a counterbalance to an increasingly strong China.

The big message is that there are now two other superpowers for the U.S. to contend with.  I highly doubt that we'll return to a cold war posture with either of these two countries, because history has proven that in global war there are no winners.  If anything the U.S., China and India have a strong scholarly influence and a lot of educated, intelligent people.  India doesn't seem to be able to get its act together enough to be able to project military and economic power, but with a billion people and its prominent geographic location and size it is a force.  I also can't believe China would dare get into a war with any country outside the usual suspects and about anything other than local territorial conflicts.  Yes, China is powerful, but will fall apart domestically if the government is forced to divert its military and cash outside the country.

I think the war (not a great term) will be about China's desire for economic influence and power globally.  China wants an exclusive,  bilateral relationship with the U.S. and doesn't like Obama's friendly overtures to India, making for a fascinating dance between the three.

Quincy Jones

He’s been nominated for 79 Grammies and seems to know everyone in the music industry through massive collaboration and production efforts over the past 50 years. He was live on the show from NYC and was gracious and entertaining with the host and callers. He’s just written new book “Q On Producing” and launched a new CD to rave reviews“Q: Soul Bossa Nostra”. The guy’s 77 years old?

Here’s something I didn’t know: It’s his 1962 song “Soul Bossa Nova” that features heavily in The Austin Powers movies, and was the theme for TV’s “Definition” game show. And I think everyone knows his daughter Rashida Jones from The Office and Parks and Recreation.

What can I say? Look at his Wikipedia page to get a flavour for what he’s done, and listen to the interview.