Archive for the ‘Literature’ Category
October 28, 2016
The bright sun that launched the day has become hidden behind clouds as I progress south on the train into New York City. The fall colors still show themselves and we are definitely making a walk toward winter.
It snowed yesterday, three inches, quickly gone with the cold seeping deeply into my bones while I layered clothes for the weather.
Today and tomorrow, I am going to be attending “Produced By,” a conference held by the Producers Guild of America, of which I am a member. There are several sessions that should be helpful as I work on producing “First Guru,” a film about Vivekananda, who brought Yoga and Hinduism to the US in 1893. WTTW, the PBS station in Chicago, will be the presenting station. Near the Art Institute of Chicago, where Vivekananda gave his first speech, there is a Vivekananda Way.
There is much talk in the world today of “mindfulness,” pausing a moment to find yourself in the clutter of noise that surrounds us. As I was writing that sentence and attempting to be mindful of myself and the beauty around me, I received an email that put me out of mindfulness into gratitude.
Several weeks ago I was requested to submit a proposal to The University of Virginia’s Miller Center for Presidential Politics and Policies to do a consulting assignment for them and an email arrived while I was on the train that they had accepted my proposal and wanted to start moving.
Which generated a flurry of activity as I reached out to thank my references for graciously supporting me. Followed by other things and setting up a conference call with The Miller Center for Monday afternoon and before I knew it, the train was gliding into Penn Station.
After stopping at Tracks Restaurant in the belly of Penn Station for a bowl of their clam chowder, I am now at the apartment, finishing the letter before going off to the first session of the conference.
As I was driving to the station today, I noticed that there were many Trump/Pence signs and no Clinton/Kaine signs. Pondering that, I wonder if the liberals in Columbia and Greene Counties tend to be “closeted.” Political discord can run deep in the Hudson River Valley. I’ve been told the tale of a Greene County resident who years ago registered himself as a Republican because until he did his County services were, shall we say, spotty…
There is another FBI look into Clinton’s emails. The two big burly men seated next to me at Tracks as I chowdered were none too happy about that.
Anthony Weiner, who fell from Congress because of his sexting problems, apparently had some emails that somehow connected to the Clinton case on the computer the FBI seized after his most recent sexting troubles. His wife, a close confidante and aid to Hillary Clinton, left her husband after it was discovered he was sexting someone while their son slept next to him.
The “Produced By” Conference is being held at Time – Warner Center. Time Warner has just been purchased by AT&T.
The single most catastrophic merger in the history of corporations was the merger of AOL and Time Warner. Now, it is hoped that Time Warner and AT&T will do better. But as a friend of mine, Jeff Cole, Executive Director of USC’s Annenberg School of Communications Center for the Digital Future, has observed that it is a little hard to imagine a phone company meshing well with a Hollywood behemoth.
We will see, if the regulators allow it to happen.
And, in Jerusalem, researchers have opened, for the first time in centuries, what is believed to have been Jesus’ tomb. Since the days of Constantine, the first Christian Roman Emperor, there has been a building there to make the spot. Constantine sent his mother, Helena, to Jerusalem to find it. [Maybe a good way to get a pesky mother off your hands for a few years?]
Marble has encased the slab where is body is said to have rested. Careful archeological work will be done over the next months and years.
Off to the conference…
Tags:Anthony Weiner, Center for the Digital Future, D, Donald Trump, General, Hillary Clinton, Hinduism, Jeff Cole, Jerusalem, Jesus, Jesus' Tomb, life, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Produced By, Producer's Guild of America, technology, Time Warner, Tracks Restaurant, Vivekananda, Yoga
Posted in 2016 Election, AT&T, Civil Rights, Claverack, Columbia County, Greene County New York, Hollywood, Hudson New York, Life, Literature, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Mideast, Political, Political Commentary, Politics, Social Commnentary, Television, Trump, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
October 18, 2016
The day is diminishing; the sunset flickers through the turning leaves, a panorama of burnished gold in the west. Classical music plays in the background and a soft wind is blowing through this, the last great weather day we will probably have until spring unfolds over Claverack Creek. It was 86 degrees today with a cloudless sky and a fall wind in a warm day.
Once I recall a day like this when I was very young. It is the kind of day that holds intimations of immortality. Tonight’s sunset reminds me of the brilliant ones I witnessed on trips to Santorini, up at Franco’s Bar, poised over the caldera, thinking that in the sunset I understood the hold Greek myth has had over us for twenty-five centuries or more.
Once, at Franco’s, I wrote a poem on that and now have no idea where it is. But I remember the moment, sitting there, pen scratching in my notebook as the golden sun turned the waters in the caldera its ripe color.
We are in the cusp of fall and summer has reached out to hold us one day more in its warm embrace, harkening us to remember its feel so we will wait, patiently, for its return in another new year.
2017
Who would have thought? Certainly in my youth I never thought that year would see me inhabit it. Yet chances are I’ll be here when it comes marching in or crawling in or bursting upon us.
Soon there will be an election and someone new will move into the White House. If it is Hillary, she’ll have been there but in a very different role now than then. If it is Donald Trump, it will, perchance, signal a new and different age in our political history.
Time will tell. Tomorrow is the next debate and I will watch, though not waiting breathlessly for it. But I will watch. It is “must see” TV for me this season.
The tree tops are swaying in the wind; the burnished gold has become the color of smoky topaz. Twilight is descending.
Iraqi troops are marching toward Mosul, meeting, as expected, fierce resistance from IS. Some Iraqis, in a scene that reminded me of tales of our Civil War, went onto a mountain side to watch the battle unfold beneath them.
IS intends to hold Mosul at any cost and if it loses it, to make it a humanitarian disaster. The word that crosses my mind as I type is “barbarian.”
Iraqis remaining in the city have become bolder in their resistance of late to IS, supplying Iraq with vital information. IS is killing anyone found attempting to leave the city.
When I was with the Internet start-up, Sabela Media, Yahoo was the industry behemoth.
Its revenue declined again this quarter and Verizon is asking for a reduction in price to buy it because of the hacking scandal.
Because they were known as bullies in the early years, I have always found it hard to be empathic though it is sorry to see a once great company slowly self-immolate. And from people I know who are dealing with them currently, some within Yahoo just can’t accept what is happening now. Ostriches with their heads in the sand…
Dark has descended and I am sitting at the table on the deck, with candlelight for illumination, listening to the classical music but also listening to the sounds of woodland creatures making their noises.
It is very special tonight. The world is swinging in its orbit, momentous things are happening and as they are happening, there are the sounds of birds in the night, classical music and, because of them, a murmur of hope for the future.
Tags:Claverack, Claverack Cottage, Claverack Creek, Donald Trump, Franco's Bar, Google, Hillary Clinton, Iraq, IS, Islamic State, life, Mosul, Sabela Media, Santorini, The Donald, Yahoo
Posted in 2016 Election, Airstrikes, Claverack, Columbia County, Daesh, Elections, Entertainment, Hillary Clinton, Hudson New York, IS, Life, Literature, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Mideast, Obama, Political, Political Commentary, Politics, Social Commentary, Syrian Refugee Crisis, Trump, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
September 24, 2016
It has been days since I have written a letter. Partially it is because I have been socially busy when I am usually not. Lionel and Pierre are here. Yesterday his sister and brother-in-law and their son Harry arrived from Australia. Tomorrow they are leaving for a cruise in the Caribbean. While they’re gone, I will be caretaker for Marcel for most of the time, a task I will both enjoy and of which I am afraid. In less than a month, Marcel will be 16 years old. He is a little old man who soldiers on with bravado.
Fall has officially arrived and leaves are beginning to flutter down upon the cottage. Every few minutes an acorn falls on the roof. While still warmish in the days, it cools significantly at night. A cold front is arriving, the weatherman says.
It has been a hectic day, starting early with documents to review, followed by a string of conference calls and then more documents to review. When I went online to post something for my class, I discovered that Blackboard is offline, as it is every Friday at this time, for maintenance. It will have to wait until morning.
Social busyness was the cover for my not wanting to write, to not think about the world. I read the New York Times Briefing every day and have found discouragement in its contents.
More people have been shot. A white female officer in Tulsa has been charged with manslaughter in the case there. In Charlotte, North Carolina, the town that prided itself as being the epitome of the “New South,” is still parsing the death of a black man there while protests have grown violent, leaving one more dead.
At times, frankly, it makes me want to crawl into bed with a chill bottle of vodka and a straw. More and more people are telling me they are tuning out the acrid political scene of this year. They have determined which way they are going to vote and have no need to be brutalized anymore.
The first of the debates are upon us and I may steel myself to watch it. I just don’t know how long I will last.
Two of the most deeply disliked individuals in America are running for President. There is no joy in Mudville.
Palmer Luckey is one of the founders of Oculus, the VR hardware company scooped up by Facebook a bit ago. He is funding an anti-Clinton, pro-Trump group and a small group of developers are now dropping their support for Oculus because of his politics. It’s far from a boycott but is unusual and probably unprecedented in the gaming world.
Once nominated for President, candidates get Secret Service protection. The Secret Service reimburses campaigns for the agents’ travel. In Trump’s case, it goes to TAG Air, a company he owns. It has received $1.6 million so far. I get it… Sort of… Kind of…
Looking for things to distract me from drownings of refugees, our sordid political landscape, I turned tonight to Entertainment News, which is what feeds the American mind most of the time.
“Magnificent Seven” reigns at the box office, headlined by Denzel Washington.
The more than decade long spectacle that has been “Brangelina” is coming to an end as Angelina Jolie has filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. It was a good show, classier than most, most of the time.
The Emmys have come and gone. All reports [I didn’t watch] was that it was a good show. Jimmy Kimmel was highly praised for his hosting but the back slapping industry love fest plummeted 22% from last year in ratings.
And Jim Parsons, of “Big Bang Theory” is now TV’s highest paid actor, with $25,000,000 coming in for the next, and possibly last, season of the show.
Oh, and Bruce Springsteen called Trump a “moron.”
Tags:Angelina Jolie, Big Bang Theory, Blackboard, Brad Pitt, Brangelina, Bruce Springsteen, Charlotte shooting, Claverack, Debates, Denzel Washington, Donald Trump, Emmys, Hillary Clinton, Hudson, Jim Parsons, Jimmy Kimmel, Magnifcent Seven, Marcel, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Obama, Ocuus, Palmer Luckey, Secret Service, The Donald, Tulsa shooting
Posted in 2016 Election, Claverack, Columbia County, European Refugee Crisis, Gun Violence, Hillary Clinton, Hollywood, Hudson New York, Life, Literature, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Mideast, Political Commentary, Politics, Social Commnentary, Television, Trump, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
September 14, 2016
It is a pleasant night in Claverack, after a pleasant day in general. The weather was gorgeous, hot for just a moment, but mostly it hovered in the 70’s. I spent the latter part of the afternoon on the deck, a good book in hand, while also doing a bit of work, making a few phone calls.
This evening I went to the little Mexican restaurant down the road, Coyote Flaco, with my friend Patrick O’Connor, who bumped into some people he had not seen for a long time. We shared a shrimp appetizer and chicken fajitas and left happy.
The lights are on the creek as it flows softly toward the south. The first serious leaves have begun to fall; my drive is strewn with them and it is fine. I do not need to cling to the summer that has passed. It has been lived fully and well. As I hope will be the fall that is unfolding.
As I do most days, I spoke with my brother and he asked me if I had a take on the day’s news regarding Hillary and I had to say no. I had looked in the morning but not since. In the morning, her campaign announced she thought her pneumonia “no big deal” and so held back saying anything about it.
I was infuriated with her. How many times has she felt something was “no big deal,” only to have it turn around and bite her in the ass? How many times does this woman need to have a lesson learned?
Aye, Chihuahua!
Trump is fending off assaults on his Foundation which may – or may not – have given money to various charities. Some who said they didn’t get gifts found that they did and some just didn’t get them.
And then there is the gift of $25,000 to Pam Bondi, Attorney General for Florida, which might have swayed her to not investigate Trump University. Six months after she dropped her investigation, he hosted a $3,000 a plate fundraiser for her at Mar-a-Lago, his great Florida estate, country club.
Aye, Chihuahua!
To my amazement, Barak Obama’s approval rating is the highest it has been for years. It has always been my thought he will be remembered by history with more kindness than by his contemporaries. In my lifetime, I have known no President who has elicited such visceral hatred from so many people. Maybe I missed something along the way but what this man has endured is remarkable. And I give him high marks for trying, very hard, to be the best President he can be.
Matt Bevin, Governor of Kentucky, used violent metaphors to describe a Clinton Presidency, evoking images of blood on the ground.
My fear is that we are returning to the politics of the 19th Century when Andrew Jackson created the “Trails of Tears” as scores of thousands of Native Americans died by his direction. We, as a nation, do not have a good track record of dealing with those who are not “us” as “us” is defined at any exact moment.
I was raised Catholic in Minnesota. My 8th grade teacher, Sister Anne, told us that we would be persecuted because we were Catholics. At that moment in my life, it seemed nonsensical. No one was persecuting me because I was Catholic. I mean, really…
When I was in college, helping my friend Bill paint his garage, he told me that when he was growing up in Arkansas he would not have been allowed to know me because I was Catholic. Looking at him with incredulity from my ladder next to his, I realized there were places in my life that I did not know where my Catholicism was a liability.
Now I understand more as I see Christians slaughtered on the beaches of Libya and Christians in Iraq slaughtered. We live in world of intolerance that I did not expect or accept as a child. When I was in 8th grade and heard Sister Anne, I thought the world had moved beyond that.
It has not. No, not in any way. Shame on us.
Tags:Andrew Jackson, Barak Obama, Bill Epperson, Claverack, Coyote Flaco, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Hudson, IS, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, New York, Obama, Pam Bondi, Patrick O'Connor, Red Dot, Syria, The Donald, Trail of Tears
Posted in 2016 Election, Civil Rights, Claverack, Columbia County, Elections, Entertainment, Greene County New York, Gun Violence, Hillary Clinton, Hudson New York, IS, Life, Literature, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Mideast, Obama, Political Commentary, Politics, Social Commentary, Television, Trump, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
September 1, 2016
When I was a young boy, I was a voracious reader. I devoured Greek myths and stories of ancient Egypt. When night came, I would hide under my covers and read Tom Swift books by flashlight. Finding that ineffective, I convinced my parents I was terrified of the dark so they let me keep a light on. It made reading so much easier.
I discovered Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov. The first time I read the Foundation Trilogy by Asimov I loved it but didn’t quite understand it all. The third time I reveled in his artistry in creating a universe. I still, once and again, read Heinlein’s “Citizen of the Galaxy.”
In later years, friends and I would gather and watch “Star Trek,” at an age when we would enhance the experience with cannabis. I have looked toward the stars. When the Challenger exploded, I was driving down Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles and nearly rear ended the car in front of me in my shock.
Yesterday Elon Musk’s Space X rocket, during a test, exploded, destroying not just itself but also a satellite Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg had invested in to bring internet to Africa.
It is unlikely I will meet Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg. And I credit them for using their wealth and technology to work to expand our efforts toward space. It’s always been my belief that we, as a race, need to long beyond now to something more.
We have conquered this planet. Maybe to its detriment, but there is little left undiscovered here and so much undiscovered beyond the gravitational fields of this planet.
Okay, I am a great supporter of space exploration. I think we need it as a species. We’re, as humans, driven to look for more. Always been that way and hope it will always be that way.
When I was young, I was in a theater troupe and we all stopped that night in 1969 to watch the landing on the moon.
In my life, I’ve met the famous and the once famous and have never asked for an autograph. Except when I met Buzz Aldrin, 2nd man on the moon. It’s framed, in my study.
Okay, I have now exposed myself as a space geek.
And I admire, no matter what we think of them, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Richard Branson of Virgin everything, and Elon Musk of Tesla and Space X, for wanting to take us out there.
Since we retired the Space Shuttles we have no way of bringing personnel to the International Space Station so we use the Russians. But Elon Musk’s company has brought supplies there for a fraction of the cost of other means.
It is my belief that we need to be looking outward because looking outward gives us, the human race, a sense of hope in the future and it is the hope of a future that has propelled us from the caves to here.
Tags:Ancient Egypt, Buzz Aldrin, Claverack, Elon Musk, Foundation Triology, Isaac Asimov, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, New York, Richard Branson, Robert Heinlein, Space, Star Trek
Posted in Claverack, Columbia County, Entertainment, Hudson New York, Life, Literature, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Political Commentary, Social Commentary, Space Exploration, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
August 30, 2016
The train moves south along a placid Hudson River. I am only forty minutes out of New York and as we pull into Croton Harmon, sailboats dot the river and bob lightly at anchor. I am in town for two days to see friends, shoot a pilot with Howard Bloom and then to head home. I am feeling very mellow this morning.
Relieved I know what I am going to do my first day of class, I am now plotting out the rest of the semester.
It’s been a few days since I’ve written, days that seemed more hectic than I would have expected, with more to do and with unexpected delights.
Claire and Leonard, who almost always sit in front of me in church, offered for me to come by and take vegetables and flowers from their garden. They are off for two weeks in Greece. I went over on Friday and harvested from their garden beans and squash, flowers and potatoes, luscious tomatoes, garlic and fresh rosemary. As we gathered, a light rain fell and it seemed right to be in the garden just then. For a moment I was much in touch with my body and nature. A monarch butterfly floated by and rested on a flower near where we stood. How rarely I see them so closely.
Lionel and Pierre came for the weekend which meant long, delightful dinners with a finish of cleansing vodka and a good “chin wag.” It feels peaceful in my world.
The rest of the world, not so much. IS has killed fifty plus in Yemen, a country that has seen 10,000 die in its civil war, according to the UN, a number higher than previously thought. A suicide bomber struck the Chinese Embassy in Kyrgyzstan. 6500, sixty-five hundred, migrants have been rescued from the sea near Libya, including a pair of newborn twins. The number staggers my mind.
Venice, it appears, is being destroyed by tourism. In 65 years, the population has dwindled by two thirds and landmarks are lost to hotels. The UN may take away its status as a world heritage site.
Gene Wilder, star of one of my favorite films, “Young Frankenstein,” passed away yesterday, of complications from Alzheimer’s. It saddens me to think of his brilliance falling away, victim to the disease. Who can forget him in “The Producers?” That generation is leaving us.
Today in politics, John McCain, Marco Rubio, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz must win primaries if they are to stand in the fall for election. At this moment, while the voting goes on, all three are expected to win.
On the way to the train station, I listened to “Democracy Now” with Amy Goodman as she and others did an exegesis of the EpiPen scandal. If you somehow have missed it, EpiPen, a life saving device and drug for those with allergies, has seen its price increase 400% over the last nine years. There is a public hue and cry about the issue. One of the women on “Democracy Now” has seen her insurance co-pay for EpiPens swell from $50.00 to $300.00, a price she cannot afford.
There is going to be, I’m sure, a Congressional investigation. The woman who runs Mylan, the drug company selling EpiPen, is the daughter of a Senator from West Virginia. She is fighting the demonization of her on social media.
The train is sliding into New York, we have entered the tunnels and will soon be in Penn Station, a place called by New York’s Governor Cuomo, one of the seven levels of hell in Dante’s “Inferno.”
As I exited this “hell,” a lovely middle aged woman stood between Track’s Restaurant and McDonald’s, playing lovely classical music. I stopped and gave her a dollar for the smile she had given me as I entered the subway.
Tags:Amtrak, Amy Goodman, Andrew Cuomo, Claverack, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Democracy Now, EpiPen, Gene Wilder, Hudson, IS, John McCain, Marco Rubio, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Mylan, New York, Penn Station, Tracks Restaurant, Venice
Posted in 2016 Election, Entertainment, Howard Bloom, Hudson New York, IS, Life, Literature, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Mideast, Obama, Political, Political Commentary, Politics, Social Commentary, Syria, Syrian Refugee Crisis, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
August 12, 2016
The air is hot and heavy, damp and uncomfortable. I watch my creek from the comfort of the cottage; it is southern in its weather oppression and is the definition for languid summer days, of which I have had my share this week. Outside it is now grey and thunder rolls in the distance.
Finishing “The Hotel on Place Vendome,” I am now deeply into a history of the 304 year long reign of the Romanovs, from Michael to Nicholas II, who died with his family in front of a firing squad in 1918 in the Ipatiev House in Yektaringburg. The founder of his dynasty was called to the throne from the Ipatiev Monastery.
I napped this afternoon and have now a slew of errands to do come morning. My printer has died, a new one is needed. Groceries must be shopped for as friends come for dinner tomorrow night, the invitation offered in an effort to bring me out of the summer stupor.
Walking on Cape Cod last weekend, I did not wear the right shoes and have fierce blisters on my heels I am working to heal. Tuesday morning, I could barely walk and have been wearing flip flops all week.
Flip flops, books, a couple of good martinis, not a bad way to spend a summer week.
Trump claimed Obama and Hillary Clinton founded ISIS, now he says it was sarcasm but the reality is that Mr. Trump is on the verge of becoming a parody of himself. It makes me feel hopeful but it is 2016 and anything can yet happen.
The US claims the Head of IS in Afghanistan has been killed and the amount of territory controlled by them in Syria and Iraq is diminishing. Syria is still a hell hole and when I was complaining to myself about my blisters, I stopped myself: I could be in Syria. You have only very first world problems, Mathew.
Digital Media is being subsumed by old media. Companies like Disney and Turner and Hearst are putting hundreds of millions, even billions, into new media companies. As one declines and the other ascends, the ascendants will be owned by the decliners. Old media is putting its fortunes to work. Good moves.
Netflix, definitely a new media company, aired a documentary, “Making a Murderer.” One of the results was that today one of the accused has been ordered freed from prison, largely due to the incompetent actions of his defense attorney. Brendan Dasey has been ordered released in ninety days.
Media attention does bring action.
In a new and heartbreaking report, the CDC has released data about LGB students, indicating they are more likely to be bullied and more likely to consider and attempt suicide than their straight peers.
It is 2016 and still this happens. I was so lucky when I was their age. I wasn’t bullied in high school and I still marvel at that. I considered suicide but that had much more to do with my complicated family life than my sexuality.
A good article about the situation can be found here:
http://www.bustle.com/articles/178365-gay-high-schoolers-experience-rape-bullying-suicide-at-much-higher-rates-heartbreaking-cdc-report-finds
As I sit here, looking out at my creek, I celebrate how lucky I was, particularly in high school but also in college. This is a global problem, not just an American problem.
How lucky was I? I have gotten through life mostly not harassed by my sexuality. Only two times do I remember anything. Once early on in Minneapolis, a casual and not harsh moment, and once here in Hudson, when two teenagers called my ex-partner and I “fags.” Now, same sex couples walk down the street in Hudson and no one bothers them. Twice in a lifetime… How lucky am I?
It’s time to wind down and I want to introduce you to Beatrice, my banana plant. Beatrice came into my life when I briefly dated Raj, a psychotherapist of Indian extraction by way of Trinidad, who insisted I buy a banana plant. I did and now Beatrice has become huge and may one day well take over my home.
Meet Beatrice:
Tags:Cape Cod, CDC, Claverack, Digital media, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Hotel on Place Vendome, Hudson, Ipatiev, IS, Isis, LGBT, Making a Murderer, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Netflix, New York, Obama, Romanovs, The Donald
Posted in 2016 Election, 9/11, Claverack, Columbia County, Entertainment, Gay, Gay Liberation, Hillary Clinton, Hollywood, Hudson New York, IS, Life, Literature, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Mideast, Political, Political Commentary, Social Commentary, Syria, Syrian Refugee Crisis, Television, Trump, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
August 8, 2016
It is a little after four in the afternoon of a perfect summer day in Claverack. It is warm but not hot; humidity is low. The creek is still and mirrors back the trees that line its bank. There is the occasional thrumming of a bird’s cry. A very soft wind blows my hair.
At 3:30 this morning the alarm went off and I woke, actually rather gracefully, stretched and began the day. The weekend had been spent with my friends Nick and Lisa, at their new house in Harwich Port on Cape Cod, about a mile or so from where Lisa’s parents had had a home, a place where she grew up and not too unlike the English fishing village where Nick had grown up before going off to Boarding School.
On the way over, I resolved to listen to no news and played CD’s, particularly enjoying one by Judy Collins. On one track there is a haunting lyric, “You thought you were the crown prince of all the wheels in Ivory Town…”
On my first day of class at the University of Minnesota, I went to my Freshman Spanish class. Marvin Reich was my TA for Spanish. The sun flowed into that room that day not unlike the way it is flowing over me tonight on the deck. At one point he looked at me. “Rubio! ¿Cómo te llamas?” Blonde one, what is your name?
I answered, “Mi nombre es Mateo.”
He asked me a couple of other simple questions and I answered him. Two years before I had been in Honduras and had done my best to speak. Marvin smiled at me.
As we left class, Marvin caught up with me and started asking me about myself. Two women arrived. They were Caroline Keith and Mahryam Daniels, both Grad TA’s in Spanish. I am not sure what happened that day but they became my friends.
There was Marvin, sometimes known as “Mo,” Caroline and Marhyam, whose father very successfully sold bathroom fixtures to contractors building all the homes that were booming up in the 1950’s and 1960’s in the Twin Cities.
All three of them were years older and yet I seemed always comfortable with them and they with me. They were the most important figures of my freshman year.
Once Caroline and I sat late into the night talking, she telling me her secrets. We all have them. She looked at me and said, “I can’t believe I am telling all of this shit to an 18 year old. But I never think of you as 18.”
It was Marvin who was our glue and at the end of my freshman year, he departed, to lead a life of adventure. I am sure he did. It’s always been my hope he found all the adventures he was looking for because even though I have looked for him, I have never found him.
He introduced me to Judy Collins, Laura Nyro, Linda Ronstadt, Joan Baez. We sat all night some nights in his apartment, talking, his small, golden dog curled at our feet, drinking coffee but really fueled by benzedrine.
It was a most amazing year and when Marvin left to find his adventures, we were all devastated and drifted apart, too shattered to cling together on life’s life raft. We pulled away from the Titanic in different boats to find our futures in other places.
And yet, I have spent this past weekend thinking of them and mourning them, all brought together by a Judy Collins lyric, which took me back, suddenly and unexpectedly, to a winter morn in Marvin’s apartment, he telling me “You must hear this…”
It has never left me. That moment has never left me. And I hope that wherever they are, they have found the lives they wanted. They were extraordinary people and I was extraordinarily blessed to have been grabbed by them and incorporated by them in their lives. For one special year…
Tags:Cape Code, Caroline Keith, Claverack, Harwich Port, Hudson, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Laura Nyro, Linda Ronstadt, Lisa Cataldo, Marhyan Daniels, Marvin Reich, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Nick Stuart
Posted in Claverack, Columbia County, Education, Entertainment, Greene County New York, Hudson New York, Life, Literature, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Music, Social Commentary, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
August 3, 2016
The Hudson River flows south as I move north, the west bank is a wall of green and great, grey billowy clouds hover over the river with the sun now cutting between them to bathe me in light. I am returning from a day in the city, a meeting with a client followed by a long lunch with my friend Nick. An afternoon appointment cancelled and so I changed to an earlier train.
I haven’t written much lately. Frankly, there has been so much to say about so many things I haven’t known where to begin or where to end. There was the Democratic Convention last week. I watched the finish of it the night I returned to the cottage after my Minnesota sojourn.
Hillary, who needed to be at her best, was at her best. The Democrats were shadowed then and are today, by the hacking of the DNC’s emails, which were released by Wikileaks to the press. Julian Assange, who is the head of Wikileaks, even while sequestered behind the walls of the Bolivian Embassy in London, timed it to do the most damage he could to Hillary, whom he reputedly despises.
Today, Amy Dacey, CEO of the DNC and two other officials resigned after the leaks demonstrated their bias to Clinton over Sanders.
Donna Brazile has replaced the much reviled Debbie Wassermann Schultz, former Chairperson. Brazile is well liked and had been suggested by the Sanders camp as a possible replacement for Wassermann Schultz.
And we are all waiting to find out if the Russians were the ones who hacked the DNC as digital evidence seems to suggest which, of course, has led people to ask if Putin is working to influence our elections?
According to one poll, 50% of Americans think he is. Would he try? I am convinced there is very little he wouldn’t try.
Trump out trumps himself everyday as far as I can tell. I am seated next to a friend of mine on the train who has confessed he has had panic attacks at the thought of a Trump Presidency. He is not much given to panic attacks that I recall.
And Trump seems to find a new way to disturb me every day but nothing he does seem to sway his die hard supporters.
Jacques Hamel, the 86 year old French priest, who had his throat slit while saying Mass, was buried today. He was killed by two teenage jihadists. In honor to him, thousands of Muslims attended Mass on Sunday and appeared today at his funeral.
The Rio Olympics open this Friday and I am largely unenthusiastic. The sports I am most interested in are aquatic and the reports of the condition of the water makes me cringe for the athletes who must compete. I am not sure the pool water is safe and the open waters seem to be filled with human refuse and garbage.
I thought I was alone until my friend, Nick, echoed my thoughts.
The Syrian government and the Rebel forces are accusing each other of gas attacks. It seems someone used gas in Syria. We have forgotten the lessons of other wars or perhaps whomever did it felt justified because Saddam Hussein used it effectively against some of his citizens before he lost his place.
A friend of mine asked me a couple of weeks ago how we could still call Turkey a democracy? Magical thinking…
As we move north up the Hudson, the heavy clouds have dispersed and the sun rules the river, silver light glinting off of silver water, reflecting against banks of green rising from river’s edge.
I tried to find something funny to end today’s post. I googled “funny thing that happened today” and “laughable thing that happened today.” It doesn’t seem anything “funny” or “laughable” happened today, according to Google’s current algorithms.
But I did find this: on August 2nd, 1990, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, the beginning of all that has not yet ended.
Tags:Amtrak, Amy Dacey, Bernie Sanders, Claverack, DNC Hacking, Donald Trump, Donna Brazile, Hillary Clinton, Hudson River, IS, Jacques Hamel, Julian Assange, Mat Tombers, New York, Obama, Putin, Rio Olympics, Russia, Saddam Hussein, Syria, The Donald, Wikileaks
Posted in 2016 Election, Claverack, Columbia County, Elections, Entertainment, Hillary Clinton, Hollywood, Hudson New York, Life, Literature, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Mideast, Obama, Political, Political Commentary, Politics, Putin, Russia, Social Commentary, Syria, Trump, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
June 4, 2016
The sun is laughing down Main Street in Edgartown, with cars slowly moving down the street, toward the water but without the congestion that is coming toward the end of the month when “the season” really gets going. Across the street, Sundog, selling clothes, is as empty as we are.
A few people have wandered into the store and have wandered out, rarely with a book in hand. A lovely mother and daughter came in, the mother buying her daughter a copy of “A Man Named Ove,” by Fredrik Backman, a book she insisted her daughter read before they left the island next week.
It’s been interesting, watching people come and go, looking at books, some are wildly enthusiastic, some are just looking as they look languidly at titles, hoping something will spark their interest.
As I said to someone yesterday, I have a whole new respect for those who work in retail.
The morning was foggy, the afternoon sun blessed. Music from the 1960’s plays gently in the background, the soundtrack of my youth. It is easy here to put away the woes of the world and believe in the loveliness of life.
Unfortunately, the reality is quite different in the off island world.
Muhammed Ali is being mourned everywhere. A figure in my youth, I watched with fascination, not quite understanding his moves but also not being bothered by them. If he no longer wanted to Cassius Clay, then why not? There were days then I didn’t want to be Mathew Tombers.
Many of his moves outraged the world and shook people up. All for the ultimate good… Rest in peace, Muhammed Ali, rest in peace and may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.
Bernie Sanders has announced he will contest the Democratic Convention, fighting down to the last moment.
In France, floods are beginning to recede but not until after claiming three more lives. My friends, Chuck and Lois, who have an apartment in Paris, are somewhere else with friends, waiting to get back to their place when the waters do recede. Guards are standing watch at Louvre and artwork has been moved to higher ground as a precaution. It has been nearly 34 years since this kind of flooding has been seen in the City of Lights.
It has been determined that Prince died from an accidental, self-administered dose of fentanyl, a pain killer 100 times more powerful than morphine and 50 times more powerful than heroin. One doctor described self-administration of fentanyl as playing with death; it is not to be used outside of hospitals.
The opiate crisis is enormous. Even here on bucolic Martha’s Vineyard, meetings are being held to combat the island’s heroin problem. Everywhere you turn right now, opiates are a critical problem. It may be that Prince’s death will be a catalyst for change.
It is the 27th Anniversary of the massacre in Tiananmen Square and tens of thousands have gathered in Hong Kong to commemorate the event, shunning the official memorial because it has become too “Chinese” oriented.
In the Mediterranean, with the beginning of warm weather, more migrants/refugees are risking the sea to reach Europe and what they hope will be a better life. It is believed a thousand have drowned in the past week alone. It will only grow worse.
Many are fleeing IS, which now finds itself fighting on four fronts in Syria and Iraq. The unofficial capital of IS is Raqqa and Syrian forces, under the cover of Russian airstrikes and with help from Hezbollah have reached the border of Raqqa province.
Attempting to follow who is fighting whom in that part of the world is not easy. IS is struggling for control of a town called Marea, which is controlled by the anti-Assad Nursa Front, which is associated with Al Qaeda. There is also heavy fighting around Aleppo, once Syria’s largest city and commercial center.
The sun is beginning to set in Edgartown. The streets are still quiet. Anita, who works in the shop, has gone home as we are completely quiet. Last night, after everyone had left and I was closing down, I had the most remarkable moment of peace, surrounded by books with the walls resonating with the laughter and voices of the people who had passed through yesterday, just looking for a good read.
Tags:A Man Called Ove, Al Qaeda, Aleppo, Bernie Sanders, Chuck and Lois Bachrach, Donald Trump, Edgartown, Fentanyl, Fredrik Backman, IS, Louvre, Martha's Vineyard, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Muhammed Ali, opiates, Paris Flooding, Prince, Tiananmen Square
Posted in 2016 Election, Airstrikes, Daesh, Elections, Entertainment, European Refugee Crisis, Hillary Clinton, IS, Life, Literature, Martha's Vineyard, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Mideast, Music, Political Commentary, Russia, Social Comentary, Syria, Syrian Refugee Crisis, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
Letter from the Vineyard 
Letter From the Train, going south 10 28 2016 Mindful and grateful…
October 28, 2016The bright sun that launched the day has become hidden behind clouds as I progress south on the train into New York City. The fall colors still show themselves and we are definitely making a walk toward winter.
It snowed yesterday, three inches, quickly gone with the cold seeping deeply into my bones while I layered clothes for the weather.
Today and tomorrow, I am going to be attending “Produced By,” a conference held by the Producers Guild of America, of which I am a member. There are several sessions that should be helpful as I work on producing “First Guru,” a film about Vivekananda, who brought Yoga and Hinduism to the US in 1893. WTTW, the PBS station in Chicago, will be the presenting station. Near the Art Institute of Chicago, where Vivekananda gave his first speech, there is a Vivekananda Way.
There is much talk in the world today of “mindfulness,” pausing a moment to find yourself in the clutter of noise that surrounds us. As I was writing that sentence and attempting to be mindful of myself and the beauty around me, I received an email that put me out of mindfulness into gratitude.
Several weeks ago I was requested to submit a proposal to The University of Virginia’s Miller Center for Presidential Politics and Policies to do a consulting assignment for them and an email arrived while I was on the train that they had accepted my proposal and wanted to start moving.
Which generated a flurry of activity as I reached out to thank my references for graciously supporting me. Followed by other things and setting up a conference call with The Miller Center for Monday afternoon and before I knew it, the train was gliding into Penn Station.
After stopping at Tracks Restaurant in the belly of Penn Station for a bowl of their clam chowder, I am now at the apartment, finishing the letter before going off to the first session of the conference.
As I was driving to the station today, I noticed that there were many Trump/Pence signs and no Clinton/Kaine signs. Pondering that, I wonder if the liberals in Columbia and Greene Counties tend to be “closeted.” Political discord can run deep in the Hudson River Valley. I’ve been told the tale of a Greene County resident who years ago registered himself as a Republican because until he did his County services were, shall we say, spotty…
There is another FBI look into Clinton’s emails. The two big burly men seated next to me at Tracks as I chowdered were none too happy about that.
Anthony Weiner, who fell from Congress because of his sexting problems, apparently had some emails that somehow connected to the Clinton case on the computer the FBI seized after his most recent sexting troubles. His wife, a close confidante and aid to Hillary Clinton, left her husband after it was discovered he was sexting someone while their son slept next to him.
The “Produced By” Conference is being held at Time – Warner Center. Time Warner has just been purchased by AT&T.
The single most catastrophic merger in the history of corporations was the merger of AOL and Time Warner. Now, it is hoped that Time Warner and AT&T will do better. But as a friend of mine, Jeff Cole, Executive Director of USC’s Annenberg School of Communications Center for the Digital Future, has observed that it is a little hard to imagine a phone company meshing well with a Hollywood behemoth.
We will see, if the regulators allow it to happen.
And, in Jerusalem, researchers have opened, for the first time in centuries, what is believed to have been Jesus’ tomb. Since the days of Constantine, the first Christian Roman Emperor, there has been a building there to make the spot. Constantine sent his mother, Helena, to Jerusalem to find it. [Maybe a good way to get a pesky mother off your hands for a few years?]
Marble has encased the slab where is body is said to have rested. Careful archeological work will be done over the next months and years.
Off to the conference…
Tags:Anthony Weiner, Center for the Digital Future, D, Donald Trump, General, Hillary Clinton, Hinduism, Jeff Cole, Jerusalem, Jesus, Jesus' Tomb, life, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Produced By, Producer's Guild of America, technology, Time Warner, Tracks Restaurant, Vivekananda, Yoga
Posted in 2016 Election, AT&T, Civil Rights, Claverack, Columbia County, Greene County New York, Hollywood, Hudson New York, Life, Literature, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Mideast, Political, Political Commentary, Politics, Social Commnentary, Television, Trump, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »