Archive for the ‘2016 Election’ Category
February 14, 2016
It is Saturday night and I am at the cottage. I have just lit a fire and have finished prepping for tomorrow; I am doing the coffee hour after the 10:30 service. Since it is Valentine’s Day I wanted to do something a little special. I think I have, once again, succumbed to my mother’s philosophy: too much is never enough.
Oh well, hopefully it will be fun and it is the first real thing I have done since being in the hospital. My primary care physician, Dr. Paolino, summed it up: You were sick and now you’re better. You still have to see your gastroenterologist but you are on the mend.
And I am, though I am still sleeping a lot and being very careful about what I eat. My body is working to be normal and I’m grateful. Amazing things these human bodies, they often heal themselves, sometimes with help but they are wondrous.
My brother is now in Honduras, where he goes at least once a year to provide medical care to the back of beyond, to places who only have medical care when teams like his arrive. I’m terribly proud of him. When he is there, I am concerned as Honduras has devolved into one of the most violent places in the hemisphere but every year he goes back, as he has for almost forty years now.
Lionel let me know that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia passed away. I have mixed feelings about it as he spewed some hateful things these last years, particularly about gay rights and marriage equality. About six months ago, I read a speech he gave and was appalled at the intolerance, actually shocked. It seemed so bitter and unforgiving.
Still, may he rest in peace. As may we all rest in peace when our time comes.
Being ill and in the hospital, summoned intimations of my mortality, heightened by my old good friend, Tim Sparke, diagnosed some three or four years ago with a brain tumor, who is now in hospice, the cancer having spread through his body. He wrote me and told me he was now serene, something that I have heard comes to people in their last days if they are given the grace to know they are living their last days.
He is younger than me by a decade I think. Life plays itself out for each of us in its own cadence and only the universe understands it.
The Russian Premier, Medvedev, has declared we have slid into a new “cold war.” Yes, I suppose we have. I’m not sure quite how it happened but it’s been years in the making and lies, I think, largely in Putin’s lap as it serves him to prop up his power in Russia. They’re suffering from the collapse of oil prices probably as much or more than anyone with the possible exception of Venezuela.
Months ago, I read something about a dam in Iraq. It wasn’t being maintained and threatened a half million people with catastrophe. It’s back in the news and it is in bad shape. An Italian firm has been hired to repair it and, hopefully, repairs will happen in time or a half million people may drown. Think Katrina, exponentially worse.
True to form, The Donald is striking out. Apparently he has called Cruz “a pussy.” I had to Google it because polite press wouldn’t tell me exactly what Trump had said. I will need to read more about this but nothing Trump does surprises me.
Back in the olden days of the early Republic, politics was this nasty. Yes, it was. And now we have returned to it, thanks to the Donald. Ah, we shall see how this plays out. Not prettily I think.
It’s getting late. I’m off to bed. I have coffee hour tomorrow. May your tomorrow be good…
Tags:Claverack, Donald Trump, Hudson, IS, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, New York, Obama, Putin, Syria
Posted in 2016 Election, Claverack, Elections, Entertainment, Gay, Gay Liberation, Hudson New York, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Political Commentary, Politics, Putin, Social Commentary, Syrian Refugee Crisis, Television, Trump, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
February 11, 2016
Amtrak Hudson River Gary and Angel Koven The Knot Bernie Sanders Donald Trump Hillary Clinton Einstein Theory of Relativity Oregon Standoff Ammon Bundy NATO Syria Russia Secretary Kerry Lavrov Saudi Arabia
As I start this, I am riding south on Amtrak, heading into the city to see my primary care physician, who is in the city, to bring him up to date on my medical adventures.
The Hudson is a steely grey, occasionally looking like burnished silver when the sun breaks through the heavy cloud cover. My friend, James Linkin, is sitting beside me, happy to see me up and walking.
The river is choppy, not surprising as the wind is up and biting, making it feel much colder than the temperature. I am tired as I often am these days though grateful to be up and out of bed and on the move.
My world feels altered in some way by my sojourn in the hospital. My friends often describe me as thoughtful and I am more so right now. The last few days, I have lived in quiet, without my usual jazz playing in the background. I’ve started to turn it on and then decided against it, preferring silence as my solace.
Tonight, I will have dinner with my friends Gary and Angel. They have been married now for four + years and I was at their wedding. Today their love for each other is as incandescent as it was the day they married. I recommended them for a shoot for the 20th anniversary of The Knot, a website devoted to marriage. One of the crew told me they were his favorite couple.
While I have been recovering, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump won their respective races in New Hampshire. Headlines wonder whether Hillary’s campaign is about to implode and I wonder about the future of the country. The Trump juggernaut continues and that scares the hell out of me.
I’m sure I’m not the only one. The Daily News had scathing headlines about his victory saying zombies had come out to vote. One wonders…
Scientists are wondering less since they have found gravitational waves which fit into Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. Great scientific excitement and my friend, James, was particularly excited. He’s a fan of the physicist and shares his birthday with Einstein.
The Oregon Standoff is over. Bundy, Sr. has been arrested, following son Ammon to jail. And other standoff chapter is finished and this time, thankfully, without mass deaths.
NATO is sending warships into the Aegean to see if it can stem the flow of refugees, many being transported by human traffickers. The seas are rough, dozens are dying and the fighting rages back in Syria.
Saudi Arabia is said to have made a “final” decision to send troops to Syria. That is not going to uncomplicate things.
And while they might be sending troops, they’re not taking in their brethren, rather letting them suffer their fate on water than let them into their own lands.
Russia’s Foreign Minister, Lavrov, says this will result in an terminable, never ending war with the possibility of a new world war at the end of the game. Loverly.
The Saudis might make their move in concert with the Turks, who have been engaged in verbal hostilities with Russia ever since they downed a Russian jet before the New Year.
Secretary Kerry is desperately trying to get the Peace Talks going but it seems hard to get the sides into the same building not to mention the same room. Well, actually, they have no intention of being in the same room. If there is any dialogue, it will be through messengers shuttling between rooms. Could cost a lot of shoe leather but if there is progress, it would be worth it.
The Mideast already seems mired in that “interminable war.” 470,000 have died in Syria since the outbreak of protests against Assad five years ago. Millions of Syrians are in camps and desperate to get out to a better life, somewhere.
The day has faded. I am sitting in a deli in the city, sipping a cup of black coffee [I’m not allowed cream yet], looking out into the night that has fallen, the bright lights of cars heading down 7th Avenue, people scurrying from the cold.
All peaceful here. But for how long?
Tags:Ammon Bundy, Amtrak, Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, Einstein, Gary and Angel Koven, Hillary Clinton, Hudson River, Kerry, Lavrov, NATO, Oregon Standoff, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, The Knot, Theory of Relativity
Posted in 2016 Election, Airstrikes, Claverack, Columbia County, Entertainment, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Mideast, Political Commentary, Politics, Putin, Russia, Social Commentary, Syria, Syrian Refugee Crisis, Trump, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
February 2, 2016
Nick Stuart Tickety boo James Green Hillary Clinton Bernie Sanders Marco Rubio Jeb Bush Zika Virus Brazil Olympics WHO Apple Google Alphabet Yahoo Melissa Mayer IS Boko Haram Assad American Airlines United
When I drove into the drive of the cottage, behind me was a brilliant rose gold sunset illuminating the western sky. After spending the afternoon running a variety of errands, I was grateful to be home.
My very English friend, Nick Stuart, if he is concerned about either my physical or mental well being, will text me a message that says, “Everything tickety boo?”
And tonight, not everything is tickety boo.
I have been headachy and achy since about noon today and so, once the errands were accomplished, I slid home and lit a fire, changed into comfortable clothes, also warm, and began to rest.
I don’t want to get sick. I have class on Wednesday; my friend James Green is Skyping in to discuss digital advertising. It is not possible to get sick; the show must go on!
The show that is going on right now, as I write, is the Iowa caucuses and the let the games begin. The first “showdown” is happening. Hillary and Bernie are neck and neck. Trump has a lead over everyone. Marco Rubio is desperately hoping he will come in third in Iowa.
I am worn to a frazzle by all this. This campaign will go down in history, I hope, as the longest election campaign in the country’s history. I can’t imagine anything longer than this. Shouldn’t the elections be next Tuesday so we can get this all over with? We have something like another 280 days of all of them slugging it out.
As the caucuses begin, Jeb Bush is on his way to New Hampshire where he hopes to do better. Once the wind was in his sails and now he finds himself becalmed. The son of a President, the brother of another, he seemed anointed. Not so much now…
While we are bemoaning the campaign cycle [or at least I am], the Zika virus has become worse than originally thought. Brazil is harder hit than first thought. The World Health Organization has declared an emergency. And the world will be traveling to Brazil this year for the Olympics. Bring lots of mosquito repellant and use birth control while there and afterwards until you’re sure you don’t have it…
For three years now Apple has been the most valuable company in the world. Today Google became more valuable. Alphabet, the holding company for Google and its other enterprises, rose sharply as there has been a renaissance in its advertising. Ah, heavy is the head that wears the crown…
Yahoo, which once wore that crown, is now shedding 15% of its workforce. Ms. Mayer has not turned the corner.
Oil prices continue to slump and there is a slowdown in manufacturing both in China and the US. Worrisome. Pundits are wondering if we are in for another recession. Say it not so…
IS is working its wrath upon the world. Boko Haram, which has declared its loyalty to IS, killed 70 in a suicide bombing attack in Nigeria. Not to mention the trouble in Syria; 3500 have fled into Turkey as Assad’s forces advance. The Taliban have killed twenty in Kabul.
And my oh my… Free snacks have returned to American and Untied. Is this an alternative universe? Free snacks on planes? Have I been transported back to the 1990’s? No, don’t think so. Not until they make the seats bigger. I’m not big and the seats are a challenge to me. To get a good seat in economy one must upgrade to Economy Plus, which I usually do.
My fire is burning happily. I am happy and feeling better, more “tickety boo.” The flood lights illuminate the creek and I am more ready than ever to crawl into my great queen sized bed and pull the covers up to my neck, watch a little video and head off to sleep. I need it.
The show must go on!
Tags:Alphabet, American Airlines, Apple, Assad, Boko Haram, Brazil Olympics, Claverack, Google, IS, James Green, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Melissa Mayers, Nick Stuart, Obama, United Airlines, WHO, Yahoo, Zika Virus
Posted in 2016 Election, Afghanistan, China stock market rout, Claverack, Entertainment, European Refugee Crisis, Hudson New York, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Mideast, Nigeria, Obama, Political Commentary, Social Commentary, Syrian Refugee Crisis, Trump, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
January 30, 2016
Hudson Valley Lionel White Pierre Font Downton Abbey iTunes Hillary Email Crisis Hillary Clinton Bernie Sanders Iowa Caucuses Zika Virus Putin Russian Economy Ammon Bundy
It is a beautiful day in the Hudson Valley, the sun generously warming us into the mid-forties with a high of fifty promised for tomorrow. The light glints off the creek and the wind is shaking the branches of the trees just outside the dining room window.
When I found myself cognizant this morning, I realized I was happy — for no particular reason, just caught up in a pleasant kind of joy that has remained with me during the day.
Tonight I am cooking for Lionel and Pierre and we’ll watch a movie from my collection. Having subscribed to iTunes in order to watch the program, I now am in possession of the rest of the season of “Downton Abbey” and can binge if I so choose.
Not one of my students had heard of “Downton Abbey” when I asked them.
A LOT, I suspect, is going to be heard in the next few days about the twenty-two “top secret” emails found on Hillary’s server. The question remains whether they were “top secret” when she received or sent them; there has been much classification after the fact with her emails. One of the “top secret” ones seems, according to sources, to have been a publicly published article.
Whatever the truth, it will be made much of in the days to come and it is especially inconvenient as it is only three days to the Iowa caucuses and Hillary has been losing ground to Bernie.
Suddenly, the Zika virus has become a major health threat, spreading rapidly through the Americas but nowhere more prevalent than in Recife, Brazil. An impoverished city is being made more miserable by the mosquito born virus which results in some infected mothers to give birth to children with microcephaly, with heads and brains smaller than normal.
At least five countries have advised women not to get pregnant until more is known. Some are saying Zika could be more of threat than Ebola.
A Russian plane violated Turkish airspace again. Turkey did not shoot it down but did warn of consequences.
One wonders if Putin is playing with fire because he needs diversions from the rapidly declining Russian economy? His budget has been slashed again because of the declining price of oil. The Russian budget has been built on the basis of oil at $50.00 a barrel, which it’s not.
There are reports that the average Russian citizen is beginning to get restless and are beginning to protest, particularly in towns away from Moscow. Retirees are having their pensions cut. And, after a taste of a better life, Russians may not want to suffer silently for Mother Russia.
While I sit watching the placid Claverack Creek, the European Refugee Crisis continues; 37 drowned yesterday while attempting to reach Greece.
Three dangerous inmates escaped from an Orange County, California jail and all three have been returned to custody. One turned himself in and the other two were captured in a stolen van in a Whole Foods parking lot in San Francisco after an alert woman notified police of the presence there of a van matching the description of one being used by the escapees.
While Ammon Bundy is in custody, the Oregon stand-off continues with some of his followers still at the refuge even though Bundy has told them to stand down.
The sun is beginning to set, a golden light is falling on the barren trees across the creek. It is time for me to sign off and begin to cook, distracting myself from the world’s woes.
Tags:Ammon Bundy, Bernie Sanders, Claverack, Hillary Clinton, Hudson Valley, IS, Lionel White, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Pierre Font, Putin, Russian economy, Zika
Posted in 2016 Election, Columbia County, Entertainment, European Refugee Crisis, Hollywood, Hudson New York, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Political Commentary, Social Commentarhy, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
January 27, 2016
As I type, the train is sliding south towards New York City. To my right, the sun is setting and the fading glints of golden sun are reflecting off the ice floes in the Hudson.
Friends warned me yesterday when they heard I was coming in to bring my boots. The city is warming up and the snow is melting, creating rivers at the intersections.
There are a couple of meetings and then I get to see Kevin, my nephew, and to give him his wedding anniversary present to carry back to Washington, DC, where he and Michelle live.
Ammon Bundy, of the Oregon Stand-Off fame has been captured while one of his top lieutenants and frequent spokesperson for the group, was shot down after, reportedly, charging at the police. According to reports, the dead rancher, LaVoy Finicum, had vowed to die before he went to jail.
About eight occupiers are still within the Refuge and are managing a live YouTube stream from there. One faced the camera and said, “They’re coming to kill us.” The FBI has been taking a patient stance on this one, letting time play out.
Playing up, or perhaps acting out, is Donald Trump who won’t appear on the Fox Republican Debate because Megyn Kelly is one of the moderators. He used the word “bimbo” in relation to her in a tweet. The tweet went : “I refuse to call Megyn Kelly a bimbo, because that would not be politically correct. Instead I will only call her a lightweight reporter!”
What would a day right now be without another piece of mind from The Donald?
Perusing the entertainment news this evening, I fell upon a story of a new film, based on a Vanity Fair story, that has Michael Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando all jumping into a car together to reach New York after 9/11. The movie that will star Stockard Channing as Elizabeth Taylor and Joseph Fiennes as Michael Jackson. Brian Cox is Marlon. Wait, Joseph Fiennes is a white actor best known for “Shakespeare in Love.” Ahhhhhh, what are they thinking? We’ll find out someday.
But what a concept, Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando and Michael Jackson in a car crossing America, together! Sounds like an absurdist play… I think.
The Iranian President is visiting Italy. A museum there covered its statues of naked men and women to be sure he wasn’t offended. When Italian journalists questioned this, no one has taken responsibility. It happened but no one seems to have ordered it. President Rouhani didn’t ask for it. The Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, didn’t suggest it. The head of the museum is shrugging his shoulders.
Do you remember the DeLorean? It is making a comeback! A company has been formed and will make about four a month, to be sold for about $100,000 a piece. It’s the car Marty McFly and Doc Brown flew into the future with in the “Back to the Future” series of films.
The Fed has hinted today that it is possibly still on track for a March rate hike which caused another day of market swoons. But not for Facebook, it soared on rising revenue! But Apple, darling Apple, fell after reporting its best quarter ever but folks are worried it doesn’t have much up its sleeve for the future.
After the Nazis occupied Denmark and began ordering Jews to wear a yellow star, the Danish King started doing the same in an act of solidarity with his Jewish subjects. Today Danish lawmakers passed a law that allows Denmark to seize the valuables of refugees seeking asylum there.
It doesn’t seem a very Danish thing to do and underscores how frightened Europe is about the influx of immigrants. The Danes are going to make the immigrants live in specific areas or camps which is going to increase their isolation and their dependance on the Danish government.
The US, historically, simply lets immigrants in and lets them go about their business, making us incredibly diverse and relatively peaceful in our diversity. Europe doesn’t seem to be following our example — we haven’t done it perfectly but over time we have gotten more right than wrong.
The golden tinged sun has set; it is dark, the city approaches…
Tags:9/11, Ammon Bundy, Back to the Future, Danish Refugee Law, DeLorean, Denmark, Donald Trump, Elizabeth Taylor, Iran, Kevin Malone, LaVoy Funicum, Marlon Brando, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Megyn Kelly, Michael Jackson, Nazis, New York, Rouhani
Posted in 2016 Election, Claverack, Columbia County, Entertainment, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Mideast, Nazis, Political Commentary, Social Commentary, Television, Trump, Uncategorized, World War II | Leave a Comment »
January 26, 2016
Columbia Greene Community College Media & Society Hudson Valley Kevin Malone Flint Michigan Water Situation Governor Snyder Detroit Teachers’ Sick Out
It is Monday evening and I am home, safe and sound. I taught my first full class today and I survived. I had a good time and they seemed to have a good time, thank God.
One student told me he had been advised to take by his advisor and he was not happy. I think he is happier tonight. There is a young man who sits to my right when I am facing the classroom, quiet and withdrawn. I will have to work on him as one-fifth of his grade depends on engagement in the class. He has a heavy air about him.
Anyway, I was relieved. I had a good time. It’s been 35 years since I was in charge of a class and I was afraid I had lost my touch. Not yet, I hope.
The sunset tonight was pinkish so I am hoping for a good day tomorrow. I stayed in the Hudson Valley where there is no snow, forsaking the city while it works to dig itself out. My nephew, Kevin, will be in the city, I think, Wednesday and Thursday and, if his schedule permits, we will get together.
He is finishing his law degree and will be joining a law firm in DC that specializes in medical issues which is where he has been working for the last four or five years. He is an extraordinary young man and I am extraordinarily proud of him.
Not proud I am of the Flint, Michigan water debacle. What happened that lead found its way into the water supply? What a tragedy… It’s being called “economic racism” by some. In the same state a Judge has refused to stop a “sick out” of Detroit teachers who are protesting things like vermin carcasses in the schools along with black mold.
Any wonder they’re upset?
Governor Snyder of Michigan shouldn’t look for a national post anytime soon, methinks. Really! What was this about? Abandoning the poor and desperate? What state did he think he was Governor of?
I might go on a rant here about what are we doing? How can the Governor of Michigan ignore what is going on in Detroit, once the jewel in the crown of that state?
How was it that his administration chose to mock reports of bad water in Flint?
I am confused. Is this not government failing?
Yes, I think so.
A Republican Governor in Minnesota did not support maintenance of infrastructure and a bridge collapsed there. He is not the current Governor.
Governor Snyder of Michigan ignored, it appears, reports that Flint’s water had gone bad. How can one morally not investigate? How?
I am angry tonight. And I am carrying forward the anger that I heard from students today about issues like this.
It was pleasantly surprising that they are more outward focussed than I thought they might be.
Interesting days, these…
Tags:Columbia Greene Community College, Detroit Teachers' Sick Out, Flint Michigan Water Situation, Governor Snyder, Hudson Valley, Kevin Malone, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media and Society
Posted in 2016 Election, Columbia County, Hudson New York, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Political Commentary, Politics, Social Commentary, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
January 24, 2016
Winter Storm Jonas Columbia County JFK Airport The Red Dot Transform Films “Newtown” Nick Stuart The Donald Iowa Caucuses The Revenant Leonardo di Caprio Star Wars Jeff Bezos Blue Origins
The coastline of the United States has been brutalized by Winter Storm Jonas. I fled on Friday so that I could be at home when he/it hit. However, strangely enough, not a flake of snow has fallen in Columbia County. It has been cold with a bruising wind but nothing like the snow in the city.
JFK had 30 inches of snow on the runway with thousands of canceled flights. My friend Larry was stranded in the city on the way to spend her birthday with his wife in Mexico. My friend Jerry was on one of the last flights out before they shut the airport down.
And here we are, in great shape. It was my intention to go to the city tomorrow afternoon and I think I won’t, giving New York a few more days to clean itself up before I head in.
Down in Washington, DC my nephew Kevin is part of a group of volunteers who are shoveling the walks of the elderly and shut-ins. So like Kevin, which is one of the reasons I am so proud of him.
In one of the most tragic of storm related deaths, a good Samaritan pulled over to help a motorist who had slid off the road only to have the motorist shoot him to death.
Up early today, I prepped for class this week, went to church.
It is my habit these days to light candles at church for a variety of things — a friend in the UK who is fighting a brain tumor, another friend whose daughter is suffering from traumatic brain disorder, for myself, for the world in which live. Today there was only one match and so I managed to light only one candle for all those things.
I started lighting candles as thanks and hope when I was in my early teens after an incident in which I nearly drowned.
Following church, I was off to the Dot where I sat doing lesson plans until I either had to order or not. After Eggs Benedict on potato latkes, I headed home to do some more work.
One of the things I did was to log on to Twitter and follow #Transformfilmsinc.
Transform Films is premiering a film at Sundance this year, “Newtown.” It follows the ravaging of lives that has occurred since the mass shooting there a little over three years ago. Nick Stuart, my best friend, is Executive Producer.
As I type, they are screening.
As I grow older, I am aware how lucky I am and have been. I have had Death nip at my heels a couple of times and am still here to tell the tale. The loss of my friend Paul has been sobering and a reminder of my own mortality.
It is the course of life. None of us get out of here alive.
While I am here, I will continue to observe and to comment as best I can, savoring the ability to shape words to some meaning.
In the fireplace, a small fire is burning. The dishwasher is running. The flood lights illuminate the creek. I have missed Snowmaggedon.
To my political amazement, Trump has gained 15 points in the last two weeks in Iowa. The Donald is a juggernaut to be sure.
In film, everyone I know is talking up Leonardo di Caprio’s “The Revenant.” So much so I feel I must see it sooner than later. I am late to seeing “Star Wars.” I will, eventually but my passion for The Force has cooled.
Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, also has another company, Blue Origins. It successfully sent up a rocket and had it return to land upright, successfully, twice now. Pretty impressive, I think. One more step to realizing the reach out to space.
One of the things that has saddened me in my life was that having once reached the moon, we seemed to stop striving. Now it is Internet billionaires who are revitalizing the race to space. Good for them.
Tags:Blue Origins, Christ Church, Claverack, Columbia County, Iowa caucuses, Jeff Bezos, JFK Airport, Leonardo di Caprio, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Newtown, Nick Stuart, Red Dot, Star Wars, The Donald, The Revanant, Transform Films, Winter Storm Jonas
Posted in 2016 Election, Columbia County, Hollywood, Hudson New York, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Mideast, Political Commentary, Social Commentary, Television, Trump, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
January 19, 2016
Minnesota Los Angeles Fred Pinkard Rocky II Ron Bernstein Adagio Nik Buian The Eagles Glenn Frey Hotel California Paul Krich David Bowie Donald Trump British Parliament about Trump Martin Luther King Day JFK RFK Nazis Genocide
In the long ago and far away, I left Minnesota and ended up in Los Angeles. Volunteering at a theater as an usher, I met Fred Pinkard, an African American actor who guest starred in television shows and was in Rocky II; never famous but almost always working.
I needed work and he put me together with Ron Bernstein who owned Adagio, a little “Cafe California” kind of restaurant down the street from Paramount. As a favor to Fred, Ron hired me. I was not good. I was actually going to be fired. I could feel it.
Staying up half the night one night, I kept thinking about it and worked out a system. The next day everyone on the staff gathered round me at the end of my shift and asked: what happened? I had worked out a system. I went from being the worst to the best.
Late at night after all the customers had left, Nik Buian, the manager and I, would crank up the music system and pull out all the bottles of wine that had been left behind with something in them. We’d drink them, talk about life and fold napkins for the next day, sometimes to four in the morning.
We’d listen to The Eagles non-stop. They were his favorite and I can never hear “Hotel California” without thinking of those nights with Nik, folding napkins, learning about wines and sharing good times with a good friend.
Eagles founder Glenn Frey died today at 67. Not much older than I am.
I am surrounded by mortality this week. Wednesday I will be giving a eulogy for my friend Paul, much of it written but in need of a bit of burnishing. My friend Paul, David Bowie, Glenn Frey and I now find I am at the time of my life when friends are beginning to go and it is sobering.
Life is sobering. As I am sitting in my dining room the world is full of all kinds of travails. I know that and am frustrated because I can do so little to change any of it.
This morning I had a conversation with an old work friend who confessed to me how scared he is about this coming election. No one appeals to him; they all frighten him and he will vote based on which one frightens him less.
This is not good. It seems worse than the choice between the lesser of two evils.
Extraordinarily there was a debate in Parliament today about whether to ban Donald Trump from the UK because of “hate speech.” Now it is the purview of the Home Secretary to ban someone from the UK but it was an extraordinary opportunity for the Brits to weigh in on the American election process. One member of Parliament described Trump as “an idiot.”
He is far from that. He is manipulative, decisive and pandering. He is bringing out the worst of us. He reminds me of the crass politicians of ancient Rome and that’s not good.
What is good is that today is Martin Luther King Day and we are remembering an extraordinary man who changed the fabric of American life. He taught black Americans to move beyond their fears and called to white Americans to be the best they could be. When he died I was but a boy and already reeling from the death of JFK. His death and that of RFK mangled my mind, probably for the rest of my life. I still reverberate with all those deaths from the ’60’s when I was young and realizing the world for the first time, making my first realizations of what life was about and what life seemed to be about in those days was killing.
And it hasn’t changed. We have not had many high profile murders as those but we have fallen into the grinding news of killings on a daily basis all over the world, killing that is disgusting, motivated by twisted religious beliefs as the Nazis twisted people into genocide.
Tags:Adagio, British Parliament about Donald Trump, David Bowie, Donald Trump, Fred Pinkard, Genocide, Glenn Frey, Hotel California, JFK, Los Angeles, Martin Luther King, Mat Tombers, Mathew, Mathew Tombers, Minnesota, Nazis, Nik Buian, Paul Krich, RFK, RockyII, Ron Bernstein, The Eagles
Posted in 2016 Election, Claverack, Columbia County, Elections, European Refugee Crisis, Gay, Gay Liberation, Hudson New York, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Nazis, Political Commentary, Social Commentary, Trump, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
January 14, 2016
The sun has set and I’m freshly home from a haircut which means I’m a little itchy around the neck. A fire burns in the stove and jazz plays in the background. Lights illuminate the creek and I have made myself a martini to sip while writing. I spent three hours today volunteering for Habitat for Humanity of Columbia County, helping clean up their database.
The stock market didn’t swoon again today, which is good news for almost everyone I know. It was up 1.41% after falling 2+% yesterday. I was at the gym yesterday on the treadmill, watching CNN. They were tracking the market by the minute, which was too depressing to watch while on the treadmill. So I watched an ancient Kay Francis film on TCM.
It was great to escape into a world where you knew it would all come out right in the end.
Which is what we don’t know about the life we’re living now. It could go in any direction and we have no way of knowing what that direction might be.
And that, my friends, is why I treasure evenings like this at the cottage. For a moment, the world seems on hold, even as I am assimilating events from the day.
In Jakarta, IS claims responsibility for multiple explosions in the capital. At least seven are dead and there is concern that Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim State, which has a secular government, is going to be under fresh attack after several years of calm.
In brighter news, at least three people can claim a piece of the $1.5 billion Powerball jackpot though others may surface.
And today the Oscar nominees were announced. “Revenant” with Leonardo di Caprio leads the pack with twelve nominations. Also up there is “Mad Max: Fury Road.” Not long ago an industry insider wondered why they were even mounting a campaign. Today provided the reason why.
Alan Rickman passed away today. He played Professor Snape in the Harry Potter films. I saw him live in a relatively obscure Ibsen play, “John Gabriel Borkman” at BAM five years ago and he was electrifying. His characters were mostly cold and sinister, very different from the man portrayed in the memorials today.
As I type there is another Republican debate beginning. Politics is becoming reality TV in more ways than just having The Donald dancing on the scene. Whose idea was it to have all these debates so far in advance of the election? I want it over already! Really! What did my students used to say? Gag me with a spoon?
There are two iconic television series I have never seen a complete episode of, much to the amazement of my friends. One of them is “Seinfeld” and the other is “Friends.” There will be a sort of reunion of the “Friends” cast in the February tribute to James Burrows who created the program. Matthew Perry may or may not be there as he will be in London for rehearsals of a play.
My martini is finished. The fire is playful. The jazz is beautiful. I am going to sign off and watch the newest episode of “Sherlock” and then head off to bed. Have to be up early in the morning for phone calls and meetings.
It’s been a lovely day. Hope yours was too.
Tags:Alan Rickman, BAM, Benedict Cumberbatch, Claverack, CNN, Friends, IS, Jakarta bombings, Kay Francis, Leonardo di Caprio, Mad Max, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Obama, Revenant, Seinfeld, Sherlock, Snape, The Donald
Posted in 2016 Election, Columbia County, Hollywood, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Mideast, Political Commentary, Social Commentary, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
January 12, 2016
It’s late afternoon, Tuesday the 16th, and I am in the Acela Lounge waiting for my train north. I could grab an earlier one but it is probable if I wait for the 5:47, I will see one or two friends I haven’t seen for a while.
Before opening the laptop and letting my fingers tap the keyboard, I was reading about the death of David Bowie at 69. He did not much share the news of his health and the announcement of his death did not reveal the kind of cancer which felled him nor the place where he died.
I was told not long ago that he had a place up in the Hudson Valley. The now ex-wife of my friend Paul Krich, Lorraine, was a good friend of Iman, now Bowie’s widow and she was visiting them one night when I was there for dinner. She was quiet and shy and was with their daughter. She and her daughter retired early, smilingly and charmingly.
Bowie has been prolific in the last months of his life, co-writing a play titled “Lazarus” along with a music video of the same name. Now he is dead, they can be seen as his communicating to the world his time was short.
Time is short for all of us. It’s a blip of time we inhabit this planet, no matter how old we get.
Making the most of his blip of time, media mogul Rupert Murdoch has announced his engagement to the ex-wife of Mick Jagger, Jerry Hall, the former supermodel. This is her second marriage, his fourth. She is 59; he is 84. Between them they have ten children.
In Istanbul, not far from the Hagia Sofia, a sixth century Orthodox church now a museum, a young Syrian blew himself up, killing at least ten, mostly Germans, and wounding more. The Turks believe it is IS and the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, has decried the event.
Putin has hinted today that if Assad ever feels the need to leave Damascus, he might well find welcome in Moscow. If he made that choice, it would lessen the complications for a Syrian peace.
Humanitarian workers who have reached the town of Madaya have found “barely moving skeletons.” It is the worst they have seen in the five year Syrian wars and the image causes me to think of the photos taken of Jews as the camps were liberated from the Germans.
The political circus continues. ANOTHER Republican debate is upon us with Rand Paul and Carly Fiorina now relegated to the “undercard” debate. Rand Paul says no way and he is off to do more campaigning in person than appearing in the second tier debate. Paul could be smart or desperate. Remains to be seen…
Bernie Sanders has a lead over Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire and has just moved slightly ahead of her in Iowa. Chelsea has been sent out to campaign.
Though it will probably offend my conservative friends, the NY Times today did a scathing piece on Ted Cruz accusing him of exploiting evangelicals and actually espousing actions that are cruel, painful, and harmful — ones that certainly aren’t very Christian.
As Solicitor General of Texas, he went to the Supreme Court to keep a man in jail who had stolen a calculator from Walmart. Because of a judicial mistake, the man got sixteen years instead of two. When the mistake was discovered, Cruz went into overdrive to keep him in jail the full sixteen. Eventually the poor man was freed after six. All over a calculator? Cruz seems petty and mean and mean spirited all the way round.
Not feeling specially mean spirited and with suspicions friends would be on the train, I went down to Penn Spirits and purchased a bottle of a nice Sauvignon Blanc and a small bottle of sake. And I got several cups.
Now the train is moving. My friends are here. Soon we will open the bottle and enjoy good spirited company. Here’s NOT to you, Mr. Cruz!
Tags:Angela Merkel, Assad, Bernie Sanders, Carly Fiorina, David Bowie, Hagia Sofia, Hillary Clinton, Hudson Valley, Jerry Hall, Lazurus, Lorraine Krich, Madaya Syria, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Music Video Lazarus, NY Times, Paul Krich, Penn Spirits, Penn Station, Putin, Rand Paul, Rupert Murdoch, Syrian War, Ted Cruz
Posted in 2016 Election, Claverack, Columbia County, Elections, Entertainment, European Refugee Crisis, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Mideast, Political, Political Commentary, Social Commentary, Television | 2 Comments »
Letter from the Vineyard 
Letter From New York 02 13 16 Intimations of mortality…
February 14, 2016It is Saturday night and I am at the cottage. I have just lit a fire and have finished prepping for tomorrow; I am doing the coffee hour after the 10:30 service. Since it is Valentine’s Day I wanted to do something a little special. I think I have, once again, succumbed to my mother’s philosophy: too much is never enough.
Oh well, hopefully it will be fun and it is the first real thing I have done since being in the hospital. My primary care physician, Dr. Paolino, summed it up: You were sick and now you’re better. You still have to see your gastroenterologist but you are on the mend.
And I am, though I am still sleeping a lot and being very careful about what I eat. My body is working to be normal and I’m grateful. Amazing things these human bodies, they often heal themselves, sometimes with help but they are wondrous.
My brother is now in Honduras, where he goes at least once a year to provide medical care to the back of beyond, to places who only have medical care when teams like his arrive. I’m terribly proud of him. When he is there, I am concerned as Honduras has devolved into one of the most violent places in the hemisphere but every year he goes back, as he has for almost forty years now.
Lionel let me know that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia passed away. I have mixed feelings about it as he spewed some hateful things these last years, particularly about gay rights and marriage equality. About six months ago, I read a speech he gave and was appalled at the intolerance, actually shocked. It seemed so bitter and unforgiving.
Still, may he rest in peace. As may we all rest in peace when our time comes.
Being ill and in the hospital, summoned intimations of my mortality, heightened by my old good friend, Tim Sparke, diagnosed some three or four years ago with a brain tumor, who is now in hospice, the cancer having spread through his body. He wrote me and told me he was now serene, something that I have heard comes to people in their last days if they are given the grace to know they are living their last days.
He is younger than me by a decade I think. Life plays itself out for each of us in its own cadence and only the universe understands it.
The Russian Premier, Medvedev, has declared we have slid into a new “cold war.” Yes, I suppose we have. I’m not sure quite how it happened but it’s been years in the making and lies, I think, largely in Putin’s lap as it serves him to prop up his power in Russia. They’re suffering from the collapse of oil prices probably as much or more than anyone with the possible exception of Venezuela.
Months ago, I read something about a dam in Iraq. It wasn’t being maintained and threatened a half million people with catastrophe. It’s back in the news and it is in bad shape. An Italian firm has been hired to repair it and, hopefully, repairs will happen in time or a half million people may drown. Think Katrina, exponentially worse.
True to form, The Donald is striking out. Apparently he has called Cruz “a pussy.” I had to Google it because polite press wouldn’t tell me exactly what Trump had said. I will need to read more about this but nothing Trump does surprises me.
Back in the olden days of the early Republic, politics was this nasty. Yes, it was. And now we have returned to it, thanks to the Donald. Ah, we shall see how this plays out. Not prettily I think.
It’s getting late. I’m off to bed. I have coffee hour tomorrow. May your tomorrow be good…
Tags:Claverack, Donald Trump, Hudson, IS, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, New York, Obama, Putin, Syria
Posted in 2016 Election, Claverack, Elections, Entertainment, Gay, Gay Liberation, Hudson New York, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Political Commentary, Politics, Putin, Social Commentary, Syrian Refugee Crisis, Television, Trump, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »