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Showing posts from 2012

Newtown: A Nightmare, and a Brief Call to Action

One week ago tonight, I was on the back end of a business trip to Texas. My computer buzzed; Lori was calling me on google. I put the call on video. Elianna got on, then Aaron. Elianna put devil's horns on her head, then a mustache on Aaron's face. It was funny and silly and care-free. But I also missed my kids, and was counting down until I could be home again. Early Friday afternoon, a holiday lunch was ending. The mood in the room was cheerful, volunteers were wrapping gifts for children served by a local charity. I checked facebook on my phone. A message said, "unable to move," and then, "god bless the 26, 18 of which were children. There are no words for this." I looked across the table, and asked to those who were still there, "Was there a shooting somewhere today?" Inevitably, the sad answer was yes. It is my worst nightmare. I expect it is the worst nightmare of many, many parents. We drop our kids off at school, we wish them a great te

"Vacated" is short for "Vindicated": Bounties, the New Orleans Saints and the NFL, concluded

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In August, I wrote a blog post called  Bounties, the New Orleans Saints, and the NFL . The post was just my personal thoughts on the then 5-months old public flogging of the New Orleans Saints organization, from its highest management level to its defensive players. While I noted that certain coaches of the Saints were "a bit detached from what I might call 'normal'," what seemed inescapable to me at the time was that the league had not presented " any  evidence of a bounty program." The league, led by commissioner Roger Goodell, suspended 4 current or former Saints players, for terms of up to one year. The league was required, per its Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the NFL Players Association (NFLPA), to provide the evidence upon which it intended to rely, as part of the players appeal process. Those exhibits are still retrievable from the  NFLPA website.  Although the league trumpeted those exhibits as "overwhelming," I found the

Graham Parker and the Rumour in Downtown Newton, NJ, December 7, 2012

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Graham Parker and the Rumour at the Newton Theater, December 7, 2012 (photo: Aaron Orel) The Newton Theater is a 605 seat theater in the small town of Newton, New Jersey. That's up in the northwest corner of the state, and I expect that even people who grew up in New Jersey -- like me -- generally have no idea where it is. The theater was built in the 1920s and has gone in and out of operation, most recently re-opening as a concert venue in late 2011. Last night Graham Parker and the Original Rumour appeared at the completely sold-out theater, playing a non-nonsense mix of songs originally recorded with The Rumour, post-Rumour songs, as well as most of Parker's newest album, Three Chords Good. Parker certainly knew where he was: as I heard one amused fan saying it on a bathroom run just prior to the show starting, "we're in bumblefuck New Jersey!" But if Parker is, as my brother described, "the best rocker no one's heard of," the Newton Theate

The Who at Jou Louis Arena, November 24, 2012

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We can't see every big show that comes through Detroit. Money and sanity are limiting factors. But, sometime after initially getting in to the Beatles -- and before keying in to Bruce -- Aaron had found The Who. He found The Seeker  on Guitar Hero III , and, as is his fashion, subsequently devoured every recording I had of them. Last summer, he brought to my attention that they -- well, Roger and Pete, anyway -- would be coming to Detroit, for a revival Quadrophenia  tour, and he wanted to go. Frankly, the prospect of a Quadrophenia tour didn't thrill me. It was hardly my favorite work, and besides, Lori and I saw The Who put on a Quadrophenia show at The Palace in 1996, back when John Entwistle was still alive. My main memories were that Pete Townshend played only acoustic guitar during the album presentation that evening, and that the tour program I had purchased was missing many of its pages. Then there was the ticketing: for the kind of seats I might want, I might have to

The Year of the Hat

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Elianna, on dad's shoulders with her new hat, takes in Obama's speech in Detroit, September 5, 2011 (photo: Aaron Orel) Elianna wearing the hat at school, September 6, 2011  (photo: Hillel Day School) Over the past two decades, one might say that I've had my share of blessings. Happily married, living in the same home since 1994, two beautiful and wonderful children. Occasionally, I write something family-oriented, and I try to be fair to the children. This blog piece, however, is going to be somewhat one sided. It's about Elianna. And her hat. And their adventures over the past year. It's a bit of a photo-essay, with occasionally useful words. I have included 45 still shots; 26 of them I took myself, and the others, I tried to credit when I knew who took them. There are youtubes for some of the events described below, but for this note I am sticking to the still pictures. This note doesn't have only Elianna. Aaron's in it, and Lori and I are e