Archive for March, 2016
March 29, 2016
It is Tuesday afternoon, late; my version of “God’s Little Acre” is bathed in golden sunlight with the temp in the 40’s.
How that really feels like, I haven’t a clue. Prepping for the Easter brunch took it all out of me, I’m afraid.
I slept most of Monday, drifting off at 5:00 last evening and waking at 8:00 this morning. My meetings out of the house were all, thankfully, moved to other days and I rested, doing conference calls from the warmth of my bed and my terry cloth bathrobe.
As that saying goes, I guess I’m not as young as I used to be…
It’s not bad and I’m not upset about it; it is just that I have to learn what my new limits are at this age. I can’t go almost straight for 72 hours and not feel some serious consequences.
Everyone has told me it was a great success and I’m glad. Sally Brodsky did a yeoman’s job of helping me even though she was under the weather. There would have been no clean-up if it weren’t for Katerina. Thanks to April, also, and a couple of others whose names have flitted out of my head.
Going to Christ Church with Lionel and Pierre started giving me a sense of community and after they left, I have continued going, making some new friends along the way.
Not so long ago, I did a call with Louise Rosen who has worked in television as long as me and has been doing that and producing the Maine Jewish Film Festival the last four years. We, of course, talked about the changes in the business and the differences of living in Maine and Columbia County and that of living in New York City or Boston or DC.
“It’s nice sometimes to be a bit removed from the chaos,” she said and I agreed.
On Friday, I am moderating a panel on “How To Build A Better Blog” for the Religious Communicators Conference and as I was prepping for my call and scouring the Internet for some topics to throw at my panel, successful bloggers all, I was wondering what I might do to improve my blog?
I find that I am in the group who blogs to give their voice a platform but perhaps there is more that I should be doing.
Do any of you have ideas? Let me know what I can do to make this better, to resonate more for you. I do it because I enjoy it and am glad that there are folks out there who read it and sometimes comment.
But seriously, what can I do to be better?
P.S. RIP, Patty Duke, aka Anna Pearce
Tags:"God's Little Acre", Claverack, Columbia County, Hudson, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, New York
Posted in 2016 Election, Afghanistan, Claverack, Columbia County, Entertainment, Gay, Greene County New York, Hollywood, Hudson New York, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Political, Political Commentary, Politics, Social Commentary, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
March 25, 2016
Darkness has descended on the Hudson Valley; it is pitch black outside though I am heartened everyday by the weather person’s announcement we had three or so more minutes of daylight today than yesterday.
I’ve adjusted the timers on lights to accommodate the increasing daylight. I rejoice as I am sure everyone does.
My dining room table is scattered with recipes from which I will choose the ones being made for Easter. I am getting it organized. I bought upgraded plastic silverware for Sunday. Since I am doing this, I want it to be a little special — or a lot special.
In the morning I will winnow down the recipes and head out to do my shopping. My friend Robert has given me eight dozen eggs from the chickens who live at his house down in Rhinebeck. I had some for lunch. There is nothing like farm fresh eggs!
While I am typing this, Christ Church is celebrating Maundy Thursday and I wasn’t feeling very churchy tonight so I didn’t go.
Probably feeling more churchy than I do, or at least one would hope so, is Radovan Karadzic, the former Serb leader who was convicted today of genocide during the horrific Serbian conflict twenty-one years ago. Eight thousand Muslim men and boys were slaughtered in a town called Srebrenica. Justice finally has been done though it will not bring back those men and boys whose only crime was that they were born Muslim.
At the time, when it was revealed, I felt horror and I feel it today. There was a time when such things happened to Christians; indeed, they are happening today to Christians at the hands of IS. It is things like Srebrenica that make IS feel justified.
It’s been a happy day for me, feeling far from all the world’s troubles, tooling around Columbia County, collecting mail, a couple of meetings with organizations I am volunteering with, a haircut, bumping into people on the street and having a good conversation with them.
While I was doing those fun things, the police in Paris foiled an alleged terror attack in advanced stages. Obama apologized in Argentina for some of our policies and actions during their long and very dirty internal war. I suspect we turned too blind an eye to some things.
Belgium and Europe in general are struggling to balance freedom and safety in the fight against terrorist attacks.
In America, Ted Cruz and Donald Trump are exploiting our fears in their campaigns; loudly criticized and, I think, rightly so, by Obama. And I think by Hillary and Bernie, too.
Syrian troops loyal to Assad are in the suburbs of Palmyra in the early stages of reclaiming the city from IS, which has this year lost 21% of the territory it controlled. The monuments destroyed are gone and it will be good if the city can be liberated. It has suffered terribly.
At the same time, Iraqi troops are advancing into Mosul, using lessons from the recapture of Ramadi to help them win back this important Iraqi city. Many of the historical treasures there are gone also, never to be seen again.
I do not live in their mindset and cannot come close to comprehending why it was necessary for them to destroy the heritage of the planet. But they did. It ranks up there with the killings at Srebrenica. Maybe it doesn’t. At Srebrenica those were living beings that were destroyed. At Palmyra and Mosul, it was the artifacts of the past that helped create the world in which we now live.
There are echoes of that world here in the cottage. I have treasured artifacts from the past and things that echo them. Someday, when I am gone, all this will be scattered, some thrown away but in the time they have had with me I have been grateful for their presence.
There is a small collection of masks, a recreation of a bust of Athena from Greece, a painting from India that evokes Alexander, a Renoir re-strike, a wonderful painting from a Provincetown gallery of Alexander.
We need the past to build the future, to connect ourselves from where we were to where we are going.
Tags:Alexander the Great, Assad, Christ Church, Christ Church Episcopal, Claverack, Columbia County, Donald Trump, Easter, Hillary Clinton, Hudson, Iraq, IS, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Mosul, Obama, Palmyra, Radovan Karadzic, Srebrenica, Syria, Ted Cruz, The Donald
Posted in 2016 Election, Brussels terror attack, Claverack, Columbia County, Daesh, Elections, Entertainment, European Refugee Crisis, Hudson New York, IS, Life, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Mideast, Political Commentary, Politics, Social Commentary, Syria, Syrian Refugee Crisis, Trump, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
March 23, 2016
The sun is setting as I sit looking out at the creek, the vista in front of me full of greying light and the still barren branches of the trees clawing to the sky.
Mahler plays in the background. He seemed right for the moment, a day in which I have been enraged and sad, felt broken and hopeless, contemplative and escapist.
When the alarms went off this morning, the screen of my phone was cluttered with news pushes from the BBC and AP about the tragedy in Brussels. I rubbed my eyes and attempted to focus, not wanting to believe what I was reading. But it was there, a truth that had entered the world, unwanted but present, never to be put back in any bottle.
I hit the snooze alarm and closed my eyes, staying there until I had to break into the day. Playing commuter, I made a round trip to the city today for a meeting I felt I could not miss. If I missed my train, I might miss the meeting.
It seemed inconsequential when I really thought about it, a media meeting balanced against the carnage of Brussels, another IS attack on western civilization. However, our worlds go on and we met and it was good and some business might develop from it and we never talked about Brussels.
We are becoming inured to the cadence of troubles that has burst upon the world. We are accepting all of this as the new normal, much as did the Russians did during the last fifty years of the Empire when anarchists struck again and again. You have to go on because what else does one do?
Perhaps we should take a break, think about what is happening, see what individually we might do to change the horrible road we’re on.
We don’t really know how to change the map, the road; we do our best, or our worst, and keep on going. We are, at this moment, caught up in the flow of history and we poor individuals don’t know how to do much to change it yet it is somehow, in democracies, in our hands.
Ted Cruz has apparently called for the patrolling and monitoring of American Muslim communities. I wanted to take my phone and throw it across the drive when I read that.
How do we make them our friends when we cast them all as enemies?
It is frightening and complex and every Muslim I know is as appalled by IS as I am. Monitor and patrol their communities? He is taking a page from the Trump playbook.
As I drove to the train this morning a commentator on “Democracy Now” which I do not often listen to, claimed that if there were a Brussels style attack in America just before the election we will be looking at a President Trump.
And I was afraid he might be right.
On my way out of town tonight, on the 4:40 heading north, I might have been imaging it but it seemed there were a lot more soldiers in Penn Station than there normally are. And I understood it.
Facebook notified me that Facebook friends of mine in Brussels were all safe, for which I was grateful.
I am frightened tonight. I am going into the city again tomorrow and that doesn’t frighten me. But the world in which we are living frightens me.
“The War on Terror” may not be the best option in dealing with this situation which is rapidly, I think, growing out of control.
We have failed to address systemic issues in the Mideast and are reaping the rewards. Just saying…
I am in the third act of my life. It is for my younger friends and relatives I am concerned.
It is for the world I was born into that I am concerned. It is slipping away from us. IS is taking our peace and our consumption habits seem about to take much else from us.
Scientists are saying global warming is worse than they thought.
No wonder I am playing Mahler tonight.
Tags:Brussels, Claverack, Climate Change, Democracy Now, Donald Trump, Facebook, Hudson, Imperial Russia, IS, Mahler, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, New York, Ted Cruz, The War on Terror
Posted in Brussels terror attack, Claverack, Columbia County, Hudson New York, IS, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Mideast, Political Commentary, Social Commentary, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
March 21, 2016
A young, good looking man fell into his fifteen minutes of fame last month when he had sex with a strange woman on the Ferris wheel in Las Vegas, one of the biggest in the world.
Phillip Panzica III had had a falling out with his fiancé, went partying, drinking and gambling and got into trouble 550 feet in the air. His fiancé bailed him out two days later and they kissed and made up.
Back in Dallas, they were carjacked. Phillip was fatally shot while his fiancé was told to get out of the car once they had taken her money. It’s a tragic ending to a story that had me smiling a bit when I read about the Ferris wheel. As a sex scandal, it seems pretty tame in this day and age.
Vadym Kholodenko, a 29 year old renowned pianist, Ukrainian by birth and now Texas based, went to pick up his two young daughters from his estranged wife only to find them dead and his wife covered in blood from what appear to have been, according to police, self inflicted knife wounds.
Both stories remind me of the uncivilized ways we can behave in civilized places, that there are moments when murderous madness descends and death ensues. Phillip looked a bit like one of my students and Vadym and his wife appeared in earlier pictures as a textbook happy couple.
It is a stark contrast to my place in the world. I am in the process of replacing items in my bathroom now that young Nick and his team have finished their work, making my bathroom all fresh again.
It was so lovely today I could wander about with just a sweater for most of the day.
My friend Patrick and I met at Kozel’s Restaurant here in Claverack and had lunch in a place that reminded me of nothing so much as the best restaurant in Bemidji, Minnesota when I was a youngster and we stayed part of the summer at a lake nearby.
He and I chattered about the lot of things, from The Donald to the joys of life in Columbia County, particularly on sunny, crisp days like today. It felt a carefree day as a meeting in the city was moved and I could spend the day here, doing errands, some cleaning and visiting with friends.
Moments ago, Lionel texted me “martini time” which he does most evening when he is about to make one for himself. I’m going to join him, finishing this while sipping one.
A very civilized ending to a day when events almost everywhere reminded me that we have evolved but still are sometimes victim to our murderous souls.
The former Vice President of Congo was convicted at the ICC in The Hague of war crimes; murder, rape and pillage. It apparently is a landmark case.
Also a landmark moment is that death in the US from heart attacks is falling, continuing a forty year trend. That’s good and the result of work on the betterment of man.
My father had a massive coronary two years before he died from a stroke. He was younger than I am now when he passed, a moment I noted when I reached the age he died. We tend now to be healthier and more sensitive to our bodies and we have decreased the amount of smoking.
My father could never quite quit smoking. After his heart attack he had packs of L&M’s stashed here and there, like an alcoholic has his bottles stashed. He rolled his own, telling us they were better for him. Nicotine addiction contributed to his heart attack and his death.
So long ago…
But not so long ago, Governor Rauner of Illinois, said he would support whoever the party nominates, which means he will support Trump if nominated. Some Republicans have begun to move away from being party liners, saying, ah, no, anyone but Trump.
Kasich, however, has not ignited the fires of any Republicans, including the establishment, who I rather thought would choose him over Cruz. But apparently not…
Pink clouds dance on the horizon; I expect then good weather. Good night and good evening…
Tags:Columbia County, Congo, Kasich, Kozel's Restaurant, L&M's, Phillip Panzica III, Rauner, Ted Cruz, The Donald, Vadym Kholodenko, War Crimes
Posted in 2016 Election, Claverack, Columbia County, Entertainment, Hillary Clinton, Hollywood, Hudson New York, Life, Literature, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Obama, Political Commentary, Social Commentary, Television, Trump, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
March 21, 2016
It is quiet in the cottage; I am savoring the silence.
Today is Palm Sunday, a service I have not attended for a bucket of years. Doing so today, I read a small part in the Easter gospel. It was all faintly reminiscent of my Catholic childhood. The priest, however, was a woman.
After the service, Sally Brodsky and I did a tour of the kitchen and made a pact to touch base on Wednesday as to what we might need for Easter Sunday brunch. I am currently awash in recipes and will have to sort out which ones I will use before Thursday’s shopping.
Following church, I made a trip to Lowe’s for wall plates for the electric switches in my bathroom, freshly repainted by young Nick and his crew. The dark blue and white wallpaper is gone and a fresh coat of green and white glistens in the bathroom. The old vanity is gone and I am searching for a mirror that will fit beneath the new light fixture.
All pleasant diversions from the world with its rat a tat of news, a mixed bag this weekend.
Obama is in Cuba, hoping to nudge that country into being a bit more liberal. His critics say he should have waited until some liberalizations had made their way into Cuban life. As President, you almost never win; your foes will pounce on every move. Certainly that has been true of this president.
Starwood Hotels have entered into an agreement to take over three legacy properties in Havana and modernize them. The deal was made even as a Chinese Insurance Group is bidding to take them over.
Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, has reaffirmed that Merrick Garland will not get a vote on his nomination for the Supreme Court. Senator Mark Kirk, a Republican from Illinois, has said that the Republican Senate should “man up” and give Mr. Garland a vote up or down.
Some Senators are beginning to break with McConnell over the vote, especially in contested states. They’re getting heat from their constituents. In this most unpredictable of years. it will, of course, be interesting to see what transpires.
Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are leading their party’s races to the nomination. Trouble is, no one much likes them. Hillary has a particular problem with white men in 2016, a group more sympathetic to her in 2008.
Fox News, to me almost a mouthpiece for the Republican agenda, has declared that Trump has an unhealthy fixation on their popular anchor, Megyn Kelly. They have defended her loudly and often from Mr. Trump’s “comments.”
Breitbart, a very conservative news source, seems to have thrown Michelle Fields, their reporter, under the bus after she alleged that she had been pushed and shoved by Trump staffer Corey Lewandowski. At first they supported her and then they didn’t and now she has resigned as have at least two other Breitbart staffers.
It makes me think more of Fox. Not much more but more…
President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil is in increasing amounts of hot water over the scandals racking the nationally owned oil company, Petrobras. There is talk of impeachment. Former President Lula has been welcomed into her cabinet, making it harder to for prosecutors to touch him. An attempt is being made to stop the appointment as a move to “pervert” justice.
Protests in the streets, nearly a million people marching. Rousseff is dealing with some tough issues: the Petrobras scandal, zika virus, a severe recession and upcoming Olympic games that may not be ready and, if they are, might take place in unprecedented conditions — some of the aquatic events are to be held in waters claimed to be dangerously polluted.
Ian Duncan Smith, not a household name in the US, but an important politician in the UK, has resigned from Cameron’s cabinet after declaring the Tory budget deeply unfair to the working poor. Some have said the Tories are now engaged in “civil war.” Not what they need as they are approaching a vote on whether Britain should exit the EU, “Brexit” for short.
It is still quiet at the cottage. I am going to wrap up now, contemplating that the market for legal marijuana will be 23 billion dollars within four years.
Tags:Brazil, Breitbart, Brexit, Claverack, David Cameron, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Hudson, Ian Duncan Smith, Legal marijuana, Lowes, Lula, Mark Kirk, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Megyn Kelly, Michelle Fields, Mitch McConnel, Obama, Petrobas, Rousseff, Sally Brodsky, Starwood Hotels, Zika
Posted in 2016 Election, Claverack, Columbia County, Elections, Entertainment, Hillary Clinton, Hudson New York, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Mideast, Political Commentary, Social Commentary, Trump, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
March 19, 2016
A brilliant sun is beginning to set over the Catskills as I ride north on the train. There is a great swath of sunlit river streaming straight toward the train as we crawl north.
There might be snow this weekend; a nor’easter may be storming our way though the forecast for Claverack doesn’t seem to indicate snow. It will be what it will be…
I am headed down to the city on Monday so I can sit in on the taping of Howard Bloom’s podcast, “Howard Bloom Saves The Universe.” [Available on iTunes.] Then a couple of meetings on Tuesday, a lunch on Wednesday and then I’ll race back to the country.
Easter Sunday is in front of me and I’m doing the brunch after Mass. I am beginning to think the General in me will need to come out. With moderation, of course…
While I have been doing my meetings in New York, the Belgian police have been conducting raids, which netted one of the prime suspects in last fall’s Paris attacks, Salah Abdesalam. It may be an intelligence coup. Other suspects also have been detained, some for helping him.
The EU has struck a deal with Turkey to return refugees to them while Greece, a bankrupt country, is on the verge of being a refugee prison. Would this be or not be a good time for an American to go to Greece? I love the country and would like to visit.
The Hudson is now steel grey and there is pink in the sunset. “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight.” Pink? Probably good…
Mitt Romney has said he is supporting Ted Cruz. Has it come to this?
Merrick Garland made some rounds on the Hill today while the Republicans say, with absolutism, they will not consider him. Ah, love gridlock… So now that Congress in in recess the fight is going to the home front.
It’s my understanding Georgia has passed a religious freedom bill, which is interpreted by many to be anti-gay.
The NFL as in the National Football League, has said that this might impact their plans to have the Superbowl in Georgia. Unintended consequences…
The markets have finally caught up with where they were at the end of last year but more to be thought of about where the markets are. Are things good again or not? The reports in the press seem divided.
Dark has descended on the trip. We are now headed toward Hudson. The evening progresses. When I am off the train, I’ll head to the Red Dot for a bite to eat and then home.
My bathroom is being repainted and from the pictures I’ve seen looks quite wonderful. Tomorrow I am meeting young Nick to pick up a new sink and faucet while at the same time picking out new appliances for the kitchen.
Now that I am living more at the cottage than anywhere else I would like it to be more me than it is now.
It is what we all want, our homes to represent ourselves.
Home is something I have thought about all my life, a looking for home. The cottage is the most I have ever felt at home and I am so grateful I have found that place.
The world will roar and the political battles will be fought and at the end, I will be at home, in the cottage, looking over the creek while the world plays itself out.
Tags:Amtrak, Belgian Police, Claverack, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Howard Bloom, Howard Bloom Saves the Universe, Hudson, Hudson River, Iran, IS, Markets, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, NFL, NFL and Georgia, Obama, Putin, Red Dot, Salah Abdesalam, Syria
Posted in 2016 Election, Claverack, Columbia County, Entertainment, European Refugee Crisis, Greene County New York, Hillary Clinton, Hollywood, Howard Bloom, Hudson New York, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Mideast, Political Commentary, Politics, Putin, Social Commentary, Syrian Refugee Crisis, Television, Trump, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
March 16, 2016
The Hudson River is nearly mirror still as I rumble south on the train, into New York for a visit to my gastroenterologist for a [ugh] colonoscopy, a follow-up to my stay in the hospital last month.
The morning was full of news about the primaries. Trump, as had been expected, trounced Marco Rubio in his home state of Florida and Rubio, also as expected, withdrew from the race.
Bernie Sanders is wondering about what next as Hillary Clinton handily beat him in Illinois, Ohio, North Carolina and, of course, Florida. It is looking like she eked out a win in Missouri, beating Bernie by a mere 1500 votes the last time I looked.
Kasich took his home state of Ohio so he is still playing the Republican game of musical chairs.
53% of Americans would choose Trump to be the Republican nominee. 61% don’t like him. Go figure.
Trump is preening in his victories, winning everywhere but Ohio. He claims there will be riots if the Republican Party denies him the nomination. Even in victory he summons images of violence.
While there will likely not be physical violence, there will be much name calling and shouting now that Obama has nominated Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court seat left vacant by Scalia’s death. Republicans have vowed not to move on the matter until there is another President, keeping their fingers crossed a Republican will occupy the White House.
Congressional chaos…
In the streets of DC and its environs there was another piece of chaos on the streets. After two electrical fires within the last year, the new head of the Metro ordered it shut down for twenty-four hours while they inspect it to ensure it is safe.
Having once lived in DC, I can only imagine what the day was like and be grateful I wasn’t there. It’s how I usually get around DC.
Also, the Fed is being dovish about raising rates. The dollar falls, gold rises as do the markets, modestly.
In Brussels, an Algerian, illegally in the country, was killed in a raid by police. At least two others were detained; an Islamic flag was found with them. Belgian police are promising more raids.
In Nigeria, two female suicide bombers killed twenty-four at a mosque. A bomb placed on a bus in Pakistan killed fourteen.
Angelina Jolie has met with refugees in Lebanon and Greece in a bid to bring the spotlight on them. Germany’s Merkel thinks only Turkey can stem the flow and has called for a Pan-European meeting to address the issue.
The Kurds in Syria are calling for a Federalization of Syria, creating more independence for them. No else seems very much in favor of the solution, especially Assad, who sees it as the beginning of the break-up of his country.
Putin has announced in the last couple of days that Russia has accomplished its mission in Syria and is beginning a withdrawal of a majority of its forces. Indeed, half the Russian planes have departed but eyebrows are raised as to whether this is actually going to be the kind of withdrawal that Putin intimates.
“The Happiest Place on Earth” is Disney owned. However, the happiest country on the planet is Denmark, which has held the top spot for three of the four years that the World Happiness Report has been issued.
Next are Iceland, Norway, Finland, Canada, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia and Sweden.
Poor Burundi is the unhappiest country. Just above it on the list are Syria, Togo, Afghanistan, Benin, Rwanda, Guinea, Liberia, Tanzania and Madagascar. Poor and riven with war or disease or both, they are at the bottom.
You’re wondering where the US is on this scale, aren’t you? We’re number 13, actually a little higher than I thought we might be.
Russia is number 110 and China is 83rd and India is 118th.
If interested in Hollywood and the often salacious stories that come out that place, a new book is due out, “James Dean: Tomorrow Never Comes,” by Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince, claiming that James Dean and Marlon Brando had an on/off sadomasochistic sexual relationship from their meeting to Dean’s death in a car accident in 1955.
Long dead but still capable of steaming up the book sales.
New York approaches.
Tags:Amtrak, Angelina Jolie, Bernie Sanders, Brando/Dean S&M Sex relationship, Brussels, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Hudson, IS, James Dean, Kasich, Marlon Brando, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Merkel, Merrick Garland, Nigerian Mosque Bombing, Obama, Pakistan Bus Bombing, Putin, Syria, World Happiness Report
Posted in 2016 Election, Afghanistan, Elections, Entertainment, European Refugee Crisis, Hillary Clinton, Hollywood, Hudson New York, Life, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Mideast, Political Commentary, Politics, Putin, Russia, Social Commentary, Syria, Syrian Refugee Crisis, Television, Trump, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
March 13, 2016
It is grey and overcast outside; warmish but not so much as yesterday, a bright and beautiful day in the Hudson Valley. Yesterday, with my friend, Pam, I went down to the Farmer’s Market, still held this time of year in the Parish Hall at Christ Church, purchasing a ganache for dessert, a freshly baked baguette and a few other things.
Since I have volunteered to lead the charge for Easter Brunch at church, I tarried while Sally Brodsky, the chief kitchen person at Christ Church, showed me how to operate the stove and ovens, which had befuddled me.
As I type this on Sunday morning, I am sitting in the living room with shards of sun slipping between the clouds. Pamela is showering and Tory is catching a few more winks of sleep. In a bit of time, I will be taking them down to the Hudson Train Station, sending them off to New York, where both have business this week.
They have been together for twenty-six years; Tory and I have known each other for thirty-one.
As everyone does these days, we talked politics as the fantastic scenario of this year plays out.
Trump rallies have grown violent, left wing protestors and Trump supporters clashed in Chicago. Conservative reporter Michelle Fields has claimed that Trump’s campaign manager assaulted her when she tried to pose a question to the candidate.
Marco Rubio is making Tuesday’s Florida primaries a make or break it for him, as Kasich is doing in Ohio. If they cannot carry their home states, what hope is there?
Just moments ago, former Speaker of the House, John Boehner, endorsed Kasich.
There seems to be an effort by many Republicans to rally around Ted Cruz in an effort to stop the Trump momentum, a thought only slightly less scary than having Trump as the Republican nominee.
Hillary Clinton made an appearance at Nancy Reagan’s funeral and absurdly praised the Reagans for their leadership in the AIDS crisis which unfolded during his administration. Anyone who lived through that era, and I did, will remember that they were famously silent on AIDS.
What was Hillary thinking?
While all eyes here are focused on the race for the presidential nomination for the Democratic and Republican parties, there are major elections happening today in Germany, a major test for Angela Merkel’s open door to refugees and migrants.
I don’t think of the Ivory Coast as a vacation spot but in that country, Grand-Bassam, is a popular destination for Ivorians and foreigners. Gunmen roamed its beaches and killed many; the number still undetermined and for reasons still unknown.
Suspicion, of course, goes immediately to IS for this kind of attack. At the same time, it has been revealed that IS is forcing females to use birth control so that pregnancy will not interfere with their use as sex slaves. You can’t rape a woman if she’s pregnant, so birth control is being use to prevent pregnancy and allow for continued rape.
The world’s oldest man is a 112 year old survivor of Auschwitz, a former confectioner, living in Haifa, Israel. It took awhile to confirm his status as so many records were scattered during the war. But he has been now affirmed, a living monument of a terrible time. The oldest living person is a 115 year old American woman, who was born in 1899. What they have seen…
Not so long ago, the head of IS’s chemical attack force was captured. It did not prevent them from launching a chemical attack in which 600 were wounded, a child died and thousands fled their homes.
I’m home now, after dropping Tory and Pam off at the train station for their trip into the city. We had lunch at Vico, on Warren Street, where we all had a great burgers and wonderful fries.
In the time since I’ve left home, now about three hours, the Ivory Coast has confirmed 14 dead and there has been a suicide bombing in Ankara that has killed at least 27 and wounded 75.
So the world beat goes on, while I am now seated on the deck, looking at the creek slowly passing by, a mallard having just taken flight to the north, bleating as it ascended into the sky.
When I came here, there were hundreds of mallards. Most are gone now. It is quieter but somehow less peaceful.
Tags:Amtrak, Angela Merkel, Ankara bombing, Auschwitz, Claverack, Donald Trump, German Elections, Hillary Clinton, Hudson, IS, Isis, Ivory Coast Killings, John Boehner, Kasich, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, New York, Pamela Carter, Rubio, Ted Cruz, Tory Abel, Trump Rallies, Vico, World's oldest man
Posted in 2016 Election, Claverack, Columbia County, Daesh, Elections, Entertainment, Gay, Hollywood, Hudson New York, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Mideast, Political, Political Commentary, Politics, Social Commentary, Trump, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
March 10, 2016
The day we all lived through here in Columbia County was physically the most exquisite day of the year and it may hold that crown all year; it’s hard to imagine a day that will be more splendid than this one. The sky was blue, the air was warm — after I finished teaching it was scratching at hot.
My students had presentations to make today and they pleaded with me to let them do it outside and I was game but one of my students was allergic to the sun [as was I as a child] and had been outside for her last class and was feeling the effects. So I let them go ten minutes early and stayed after talking with several students about the graded presentation they were going to be making after spring break.
It was a sweet day. As I drove around the county on errands, bits and pieces of the news filtered in over the radio.
Bernie had won Michigan, either stunning the Clinton camp or, according to some reports, they were just shrugging it off. He is capturing something she isn’t. In Michigan, it was largely, I understood, about his trade positions.
Tonight they are facing off against each other in Miami. I may look at some of it but then again may not. We still have months of this in front of us.
Trump continues his romp, causing, I’m sure, many Republicans to pull their hair and mimic Munch’s “The Scream.” Carly Fiorna has come out for Ted Cruz.
It’s a quiet night, sequestered in the cottage, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald are singing their classics, a martini is nearby and the lights are illuminating the creek. For this minute, the world is my oyster and I’m savoring it.
As we probably all know, “Downton Abbey” has finished its six year run, all the plots and subplots neatly tied up by Lord Fellowes, the creator who rose to the aristocracy himself during the program’s run. Not just knighted but made a Baron. Good job! There is now talk of a “Downton Abbey” movie. I am sure it will come together. Both sides of the Atlantic are mad for the Crawley family and their servants.
Either critically wounded or dead is a man known as Omar the Chechen, a lead military figure for IS. Interestingly, when he was fighting the Russians in his homeland he received training from American Special Forces and was a star pupil. Later he became the “Minister of War” for IS and was largely responsible for the push that took them within a hundred miles of Baghdad.
A captured IS official seems to be spilling the beans about IS’s efforts in chemical warfare. They seem to be centered on the use of mustard gas, used by the Germans in World War I to devastating effect.
A former American soldier has been convicted of attempting to join IS and faces 35 years in prison. He had left a note for his wife telling her he wanted to die a martyr.
Mourners are paying respects to Nancy Reagan, who lies in review at the Reagan Library where she will be buried next to her Ronnie.
And I love — sort of — the story of a Floridian mother who had bragged about her four year old son getting really “racked up” to go practice shooting with her. Hours later, he shot her in the back. They were out for a drive when it happened. WHAT?!
Kathyrn Popper died today at 100. She was the last surviving cast member of “Citizen Kane,” the movie named by the AFI in 1997 as the greatest film ever made. She was also Orson Welles’ longtime assistant.
Kim Kardashian has been posting nude selfies. Outrage has broken out in some circles. In other circles, people are posting their own naked selfies in support of her, including Sharon Osbourne, reality star, talk show host and wife of Ozzy Osbourne. I am NOT going to search it out. No. No, thank you…
Lastly, Sir George Martin passed away today at the age of 90. Longtime producer of the Beatles, he helped shape their sound and redefined the role of music producer.
The evening is rich. There is no sound quite like Louis Armstrong married with Ella Fitzgerald. The cottage is more than cozy. Friends are arriving from Nashville for the weekend and it will be good to share with them my home.
Tags:Bernie Sanders, Claverack, Columbia County, Columbia Greene Community College, Donald Trump, Downton Abbey, Ella Fitzgerald, George Martin, Hillary Clinton, Hudson, IS, Julian Fellowes, Louis Armstrong, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Munch, Nancy Reagan, Omar the Chechen, The Scream
Posted in 2016 Election, Claverack, Columbia County, Elections, Entertainment, European Refugee Crisis, Hudson New York, Income Inequality, IS, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Mideast, Political Commentary, Social Commentary, Syrian Refugee Crisis, Uncategorized, World War I commentary | 2 Comments »
March 6, 2016
Winston Churchill used to say he was chased by the “black dog,” depression. It chased him his whole life and he ran, mostly successfully, from it his whole life. Sometimes, when the “black dog” felt particularly close, Winston would sometimes go off to Morocco and paint, drink and think and probably write. He wrote more than Dickens and Shakespeare combined.
He may well have been a manic-depressive. During the war he was followed around by his personal physician, Lord Moran, who prescribed upper and downers to manage the moods of the great man.
He was black dogged by depression and I was thinking about that last night as I rode home on the train, black dogged myself. I had gone down to the city yesterday, had a full day of appointments and when I stepped on the train last night I was exhausted and felt the old black dog nipping at my heels.
When I got home, I went to bed almost immediately and fell asleep early watching an episode of “Doc Martin,” about an English doctor only marginally more cranky than I was last night.
When the morning broke, I was my usual sunny self and, while sipping tea, worked on next week’s lectures. The day was spent on that and the Saturday chores. Young Nick was here and we did things that needed to be done, mounting a light fixture, cleaning, sorting, rearranging, bringing in wood and dealing with the trash. The things we do on Saturday.
Going down to the Dot, I welcomed Alana back from three weeks in Costa Rica and then, after an omelet and a Bloody Mary, came home to write my letter, which often is one of the most pleasurable times in the day.
Turning on the floodlights so the creek is illuminated, I sorted through the last couple of days.
The rise of Trump has been a constant cause for conversation though as I returned home, I discovered Ted Cruz had won the Kansas caucuses and he is at least as frightening to me as Trump. Both of them seem to me to be wack-a-doodles from some other dimension. This earns me no points with my conservative friends but it’s true; it’s how I feel.
Caitlin Jenner wants to be Ted Cruz’s “trans ambassador.” I am not sure he’s interested in having one.
Popular comedian Louis CK has implored his fans not to vote for Trump, likening him to Hitler. Trump, not necessarily looking to support Louis CK’s view of him, announced he would increase the use of torture if he were President.
“Downtown Abbey” ends tomorrow night. I have already seen the last episode as I subscribed to the feed through iTunes. Let’s tip a hat to Alistair Bruce, who was in charge of making sure it was historically accurate. He did a magnificent job.
A fire is burning in the stove; I’ve rearranged some lights in the house. I like the effect as I sit here at the dining room table, the creek lit in front of me, jazz playing and my thoughts running.
Four nuns and twelve others were killed in Yemen during an attack. Gunmen entered the building, handcuffed the victims and then shot them. It’s not yet clear who carried out the attack. The Pope has decried it; the nuns were members of the order founded by Mother Theresa.
Boko Haram, the scourge of Nigeria, is suffering from a food crisis. With all the people who have fled them, no is left to grow crops or herd animals and they are beginning to starve. Hungry and desperate, they are ruthlessly raiding which, I suspect, will only increase the cycle they have created.
And in my cycle, I am going to sign off for tonight. I need to be up in the morning, work on my lectures and then to church. I signed up to do coffee hour on Easter Sunday, not quite realizing that it was a major, major thing and I am now expected to come up with something quite spectacular. Cookbooks are out. Recipes are being reconnoitered.
I have a meeting about this tomorrow at 12:30. I think I may have over stretched and I will rise to the challenge.
Tags:Alistair Bruce, Boko Haram, Claverack, Cruz, depression, Dickens, Donald Trump, Downton Abbey, Easter, Hudson, Lord Moran, Louis CK, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Pope Francis, Red Dot, Shakespeare, The Black Dog, Winston Churchill
Posted in 2016 Election, Boko Haram, Civil Rights, Claverack, Columbia County, depression, Elections, Entertainment, Hudson New York, Life, Literature, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Nazis, Political Commentary, Pope Francis, Social Commentary, Television, Trump, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
Letter from the Vineyard 
Letter From New York 03 29 16 Some advice, please, from you…
March 29, 2016It is Tuesday afternoon, late; my version of “God’s Little Acre” is bathed in golden sunlight with the temp in the 40’s.
How that really feels like, I haven’t a clue. Prepping for the Easter brunch took it all out of me, I’m afraid.
I slept most of Monday, drifting off at 5:00 last evening and waking at 8:00 this morning. My meetings out of the house were all, thankfully, moved to other days and I rested, doing conference calls from the warmth of my bed and my terry cloth bathrobe.
As that saying goes, I guess I’m not as young as I used to be…
It’s not bad and I’m not upset about it; it is just that I have to learn what my new limits are at this age. I can’t go almost straight for 72 hours and not feel some serious consequences.
Everyone has told me it was a great success and I’m glad. Sally Brodsky did a yeoman’s job of helping me even though she was under the weather. There would have been no clean-up if it weren’t for Katerina. Thanks to April, also, and a couple of others whose names have flitted out of my head.
Going to Christ Church with Lionel and Pierre started giving me a sense of community and after they left, I have continued going, making some new friends along the way.
Not so long ago, I did a call with Louise Rosen who has worked in television as long as me and has been doing that and producing the Maine Jewish Film Festival the last four years. We, of course, talked about the changes in the business and the differences of living in Maine and Columbia County and that of living in New York City or Boston or DC.
“It’s nice sometimes to be a bit removed from the chaos,” she said and I agreed.
On Friday, I am moderating a panel on “How To Build A Better Blog” for the Religious Communicators Conference and as I was prepping for my call and scouring the Internet for some topics to throw at my panel, successful bloggers all, I was wondering what I might do to improve my blog?
I find that I am in the group who blogs to give their voice a platform but perhaps there is more that I should be doing.
Do any of you have ideas? Let me know what I can do to make this better, to resonate more for you. I do it because I enjoy it and am glad that there are folks out there who read it and sometimes comment.
But seriously, what can I do to be better?
P.S. RIP, Patty Duke, aka Anna Pearce
Tags:"God's Little Acre", Claverack, Columbia County, Hudson, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, New York
Posted in 2016 Election, Afghanistan, Claverack, Columbia County, Entertainment, Gay, Greene County New York, Hollywood, Hudson New York, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Political, Political Commentary, Politics, Social Commentary, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »