A (Washington) Post Mortem

Two days ago I tuned into my local MPR station and within 30 seconds had correctly identified the two gentlemen talking – Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward. There was something about how they presented themselves which made me immediately think about Watergate and Nixon. I didn’t even get the gist of their topic before I knew who they were. One of them (can’t remember which), when talking about that era, mentioned that he thought they were working for the greatest editor (Benjamin Bradlee) and the greatest owner (Katharine Graham) in the business. Lo how the mighty have fallen.

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The Conscience of the Kings

Those who are not fans of the original Star Trek do not realize what a gift to our society that show was. It gave us our first interracial kiss on TV (Plato’s Stepchildren), a searing look at racism (Let That Be Your Last Battlefield), and profound episodes dealing with what it means to be “human” (Miri, Amok Time, Turnabout Intruder, The Corbomite Maneuver, and a host of others). But my favorite episode has always been “The Conscience of the King,” a terrific look at the aftereffects of dictatorship/fascism on society and on individual lives, with a little Hamlet thrown in for good measure. Some of my colleagues should sit down and watch this.

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The Super Bowl; or What’s Wrong With Classical Music

Like millions of Americans, and indeed hundreds of millions of people worldwide, I look forward to the Super Bowl every year, even if there’s not a chance in hell that my Buffalo Bills will be playing in it (again). It’s one of those cultural rituals that interrupts the long and ghastly winter, and it’s a convenient excuse to overdose on wings and guacamole. This year, of course, there is an added reason to look forward to the big game because Renée Fleming is singing the national anthem. And then the haters come out of the closet…

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The Fiscal CLEF!

I was fully prepared to leave the Minnesota Orchestra posts to my partner in Blog Bill, and Drew at Adaptistration, but something I read really ticked me off!…..this is about attitude….

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The Elephant in the Hall! – Prepared to be Deducted!

The disarray that is the orchestra world may pale into comparison to what potentially may happen to nearly all arts organizations if we don’t prepare for what the evidence suggests is coming.  The arts could be gutted as a result of this election, and it’s bigger than eliminating the NEA, much bigger…. 

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