Down to the Short Strokes

Babi Yar will be performed on Sunday. We've been living with this work since the end of August. It has had a deep impact upon me. After performance of the first movement in September, we've turned to the next 4. As we've worked through them, their meaning has deepened. Babi Yar is a story of cruelty and resilience. The human spirit survived Hitler and Stalin, and other barbarous tyrants before and after. Its themes: genocide, resilience, the consistency and steadfastness of women who endure despite oppressive and disheartening circumstances; the pervasive fear in a totalitarian world to speak truth to power; and finally, the misunderstood prophets, people of vision - Galileo, Newton, Pasteur, Tolstoy - who are scorned and destroyed in their own time out of the institutional narrow-mindedness and reactionary behavior. Shostakovich and Yevtushenko make profound comment on the human condition.

We as Americans have a history of shameful genocide of Indians in our own land. The McCarthy era and the post-9/11 world steeped ordinary people in fear of their neighbors, encouraged by an administrative so narrow in its view and so closed to finding solutions. Let the prophets of our times step forward and help us find our way back to the path of humaneness, justice and peace.

Left of Center

It's been a busy week for your obedient blogger. I have had very little time to consider hats or camels. There's been quite a shift in direction.

For the first time in many years, the Republican orthodoxy is under fire. Viewing this through the window of TV, I see many more Democrat comedians and tragedians than Republican.

Now, the religious right is coming forward and expressing its disappointments with this regime.
The administration apparently screwed everybody to coddle its most vital friends.

The force of realignment is resonating, throbbing with vibrancy not seen in 25 years.

The Matter of Hats

When I put on a coat and hat today, dressing for the early fall New York weather, I will have the opportunity to make a statement. Sports caps make a statement, especially in New York, especially in October. I could wear my vintage Yankees hat, a statement of consistency, loyalty over time. Their season was a bit of a bust in the end; a powerful team that could not overcome Detroit's superior pitching and a ragtag pitching staff that was suspect all season. Not out of disloyalty will I pass on that cap. It's not their time.

I don't own a Mets hat, but if I did I would wear it. The Mets had a great team, a great season, but fell just short of the World Series. There are lots of little reasons why they couldn't win it all this year. Even if they'd beat the Cards, it was doubtful that they had the pitching to go further. But it was not the pitching in the end that failed them. Their juggernaut offense screeched to a halt. No matter. It was a great season, and I would put the orange and blue on if I owned it. It would make a nice transition for the upcoming Orange and Black Holiday.

Other possible choices: a Los Angeles (of Anaheim) Angels championship, a vintage Twin Cities, the 2006 Fishers Island Annual Cruise, the V fishing cap, a nice straw number I picked up God knows where clearly out of season, as are the white Blues Rider caps waiting to be adorned. Then there's that snappy blue number my godson brought home from Barcelona.

I know which one I'll pick. The New York Public Radio Cap: blue crown and red brim. A team always worth rooting for.