Naomi Klein on the election

“Neo-fascist responses to rampant insecurity and inequality are not going to go away. But what we know from the 1930s is that what it takes to do battle with fascism is a real left”: in The Guardian , Naomi Klein writes about neoliberalism and the Democratic party.

[No arguments here, please. I’m sharing this link because I think it’s good food for thought.]

Local color

[For fashionistas and fashionistos only.]

Here’s Elaine Fine, wearing the dress she made from fabric designed by our friend Jean Petree. It’s a dropped-waist Laura Ashley-like dress, from a mid-90s pattern.

*

5:20 p.m.: Washing softened and shrank the fabric. The dress fits perfectly.

[We didn’t realize until after the fact that, like Homer’s Penelope, Elaine is standing next to a column. But unlike Penelope, she is smiling.]

Hot mess

Elaine and I were idly wondering about the origin of the expression hot mess . And lookit: Emily Brewster of Merriam-Webster explains.

Robert Vaughn (1932–2016)

From the New York Times obituary:

[N]o character he played was as popular as Napoleon Solo. From 1964 to 1968, in the thick of the Cold War, millions of Americas tuned in weekly to The Man From U.N.C.L.E. to watch Mr. Vaughn, as a superagent from the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement, battling T.H.R.U.S.H. (Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity), a secret organization intent on achieving world domination through nefarious if far-fetched devices like mind-controlling gas.

Far-fetched? Napoleon Solo and fellow agent Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum) were major inspirations in my espionage-filled boyhood. This post has a couple of details.

Bernie Sanders on the election

“I am saddened, but not surprised, by the outcome”: in The New York Times , Bernie Sanders writes about the election. His description of depopulated rural towns with empty storefronts and few prospects: that’s much of downstate Illinois, among many other places.

Sanders also contributed to the Times in June: “Democrats Need to Wake Up.”

Frank Bruni on the election

I think Frank Bruni must have had a bug near our kitchen table for the past many months: “The Democrats Screwed Up” (The New York Times ). But he didn’t get the Bloomberg bit from our household.

I don’t want to argue here. I’m sharing this link because I think it’s good food for thought.

Why I am not a tree trimmer

I have a fear of heights, for one thing. It’s been with me from childhood. No bucket trucks for me. At the top of a tall staircase I hesitate, just for a second. I like banisters. At the top of an escalator I hesitate before choosing my step. The DC Metro escalators — yikes. But I managed. And I’ve climbed as high as the fifth rung of an eight-foot ladder to remove the filter panel from one of our Fujitsu ductless mini-splits. We have two, and they do a great job of cooling our house — and heating it, until the temperature begins to really drop, and then it’s simpler to put the furnace on. And get this: when the first system that our plumbing and heating and cooling guy installed didn’t work properly, because the mini-splits were just over the maximum distance at which they could function in tandem, a distance nowhere made clear in the manufacturer’s specs, our guy replaced the system at his own expense. But we gave him a very large gift certificate for our local barbecue restaurant, where we’d seen him and his family many a time.

Also, a lack of the necessary equipment (bucket trucks, &c.), and a lack of the inclination and ability that I would need for it to make sense to invest in that equipment. And did I mention that I have a fear of heights?

On Veterans Day

“November,” The Rural Life (Boston: Back Bay Books, 2002).

Related reading
All OCA Verlyn Klinkenborg posts (Pinboard)

... and does

“Sweet Lorraine” (Cliff Burwell-Mitchell Parish). Tony Bennett with Bobby Hackett, baritone ukelele; Joe Marsala, clarinet; Hal Gaylor, bass; Billy Exiner, drums. March 11, 1965. From the Bennett compilation Jazz (Columbia, 1987). Bennett says in the liner notes that when this song was recorded, Marsala hadn’t played clarinet for ten or twelve years and hadn’t recorded in twenty.

If music isn’t the healing force of the universe, it will have to do, Until the Real Thing Comes Along, if ever.

Related posts
Tony Bennett at ninety : Tony Bennett has to sing : Tony Bennett’s pencil : “We’re all here”

[Apologies if an ad kicks on. There’s no way to avoid ads when embedding YouTube.]

Tony Bennett has to sing

Tony Bennett, interviewed by James Isaacs, June 24, 1986:

Did you have to sing?

I have to sing, yes.

When did you know that?

When Joe Williams told me, “It’s not that you want to sing, you have to sing.” And I said to myself, “You know, he’s right.” I never really thought of it.

When was this?

About six years ago in Vegas.

That late?

Yeah.

From the liner notes for the Bennett compilation Jazz (Columbia, 1987). I’m making my way through my dad’s CDs: Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, Ivie Anderson, Louis Armstrong, Fred Astaire, Mildred Bailey, Count Basie, Tony Bennett. Next stop: Art Blakey. Music is much better for my mental health than the news. Really, there’s no comparison.

Related posts
Tony Bennett at ninety : Tony Bennett sings “Sweet Lorraine” : Tony Bennett’s pencil : “We’re all here”