Orel Family

Now that Bruce Springsteen's one-man show on Broadway is over, and the Netflix video is out and sporting a 95% rating on rotten tomatoes , with comments such as "transformative" and "a master class"  coming from reviewers in the major New York papers, I'm re-evaluating my own thoughts on the show. Where and how did it resonate? And, why? The show was based, in large part, on Springsteen's autobiography. I wasn't able to get beyond about page 80 reading  the book, but then I got the audio book, read by Springsteen himself. There, the narrative seemed to take off, and I listened to the whole thing multiple times. Many of the items from the book that I found the most engaging, ween't in the Broadway show: sister Pam's hair getting caught in a blender, and Bruce still  laughing  about it, 50 years later! Or, the details of getting kicked out of his parents' former home after just one month  of being on his own, and laughing about those...

We saw Mary Poppins Returns a couple nights ago. This wasn't my first choice, but as it was Lori's birthday, I deferred. I don't post much about movies these days, but I figured after having fun with Princess Leia's bit as Mary Poppins in the most recent Star Wars flick , I'd take a bit of a closer look at the "real" Mary Poppins. First, I'll note that I never read the PL Travers books. But I've seen the first Mary Poppins movie many times, on laser disc (I date myself!). The first movie was a silly, elitist celebration and gentle lampooning of lily white Northern European aristocracy -- a popular Disney theme of the time. But that movie had Julie Andrews at the top of her craft, and Dick Van Dyke at his charismatic best, no matter his atrocious Cockney accent . It also had an overload of some of the Sherman Brothers'  best songs -- the sound track included instantly memorable classics such as "Sister Suffragette," "A S...

Who would combine the best rock show in ages, with a lesson plan? There is only one person I can think of: Little Steven. Last night, Stevie brought The Disciples of Soul Teacher Appreciation Tour to the Detroit Music Hall. Promising to "leave all politics aside," the show, according to Steve, "took a little trip down my influences, which also happens to be the history of Rock and Roll" The Disciples of Soul  total 15 musicians. Some go way back with Steve: Eddie Manion and Stan Harrison were not only part of the original Disciples of Soul, they were part of the great  Asbury Jukes  recordings and shows before that. Many of the other players weren't born until long after those records had been made. Before the show, there was a TeachRock workshop  on how teachers could use music to engage their students. Not being a teacher myself, I wasn't eligible. But Aaron was; he's primarily still a college student, but he has also been involved on the teac...

It was March 1980, and I was at the Statler-Hilton Hotel in New York City. I was at a party, but I was bored and on the whole pretty miserable. I was at the hotel as part of the National High School Model United Nations ( NHSMUN ). After a successful run in 1979 representing Nigeria, this time I'd been tapped for a coveted Security Council spot representing France. There, I got to support France's pro-nuclear energy stance, in the aftermath of Three Mile Island. 38 years later, that's about all I can remember of my positions that week. I also remember one of the delegates from the USA and the USSR, but only because we all went to the same college a few months later. In 1979, the delegation from my high school had been somewhat small. But I'd met up with my old camp friend Andy the first day, he was working the event on "security," and we had skipped out across the street one evening to sit courtside for a Knicks game. That was fun even though the Spurs go...

I've been considering Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court a bit, lately. It's been discussed a great deal, and his confirmation could have significant consequences for the court, for a long time. Democrats have tried pretty much anything they could come up with, to delay or derail the confirmation. Not easy, of course, when they have no power to stop it. Today, Senator Feinstein reported a letter apparently alleging misdeeds of Kavanaugh while he was in high school. But I'm considering Kavanaugh's documents, the ones he released voluntarily. Back in July, Tim Mullaney at Marketwatch asked a question: "Brett Kavanaugh has saved almost nothing -- so does he actually understand business?" . From the article:"he has $15,000 to $50,000 in the bank, no reported stock, bond or fund holdings, and a 401(k) retirement account held by his wife that holds less than $15,000." In a word, that's pathetic. Sure, Kavanaugh has a salary ov...

Earlier this week, the United States opened its new embassy in Jerusalem. That same day, there were massive protests in Gaza, and dozens of Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces. There are many ways to report the events of the day. I had expected, however, that at least some  of the facts were important enough to be reported in any major news source. I was wrong. It has been said that we are in "post-truth" times. Maybe that's true. The following website from pages were all pulled within a span of a few minutes of each other on Monday evening. Which truth is your truth? In a multiple choice test, I'm thinking my answer may be, "none of the below." THE NEW YORK TIMES "Death in Gaza, a New Embassy in Jerusalem and No Sign of Peace." A nearly two minute video showing the juxtaposition, and then one analysis of the events in Gaza, one of the event in Jerusalem, and also an analysis of the controversial speaker. Also, an editorial in add...

Things to do on my birthday: WGI Semi-finals in Dayton! Ezra turned 17 this week. Start with the name. That's the first thing. Ezra. But that'll be for Part 2. (If there is a Part 2) First, I have Winter Guard on my mind. What is Winter Guard, anyway? Fortunately, there's a web page that succinctly answers that question: "Winter guard is the sport of indoor color guard. Modern color guard is a combination of the use of flags, sabers, mock rifles, and other equipment, as well as dance and other interpretive movement." Winter Guard lineage ultimately goes back to military color guards, which helps explain the use of flags, rifles and sabres. I could do without that portion of the symbolism, even while admiring the mastery with which high school kids -- mostly girls -- can spin, toss and throw them. Ezra first joined Winter Guard as an 8th Grader. Aaron convinced them to go to a "try it out" night. The coach at the time had just created a ...

"We are going to be the last mass school shooting." So said students in Parkland, Florida, a couple weeks ago. Of course, nobody -- likely not even the students who said that -- believed it to be literal truth. All it would take is for one person, somewhere, to go off. Yesterday morning, we had the 4th shooting on a college campus  since Parkland. The first 3 didn't include any deaths, but 2 people died yesterday. According to news reports, a student killed his own parents, who were on campus to pick him up and take him home for spring break. In the current news cycle, an event like this seems sadly unremarkable. It can be dismissed as a "domestic dispute."   No students were killed in the making of this story. Move along. But this one was at Central Michigan University , where Aaron is studying. Yesterday morning, he was preparing to come home for spring break. He had an 11am class, after which he was going over to the music building to practice. He was ...

Has it really been more than 5 years since Newtown ? Little Noah Pozner, maybe he'd be... still in Sandy Hook Elementary School, along with his classmates. Maybe he'd be starting to dream about his bar mitzvah. A crazy 20-year old former student with 4 semi-automatic weapons came in to the school one December day, and in less than 5 minutes unloaded more than 150 shots to ensure that dreams would not come true. Noah was shot 11 times, the shots literally blowing off his jaw and a hand. The governor cried. The president cried. He begged for congressional action to create laws that might at least reduce the risk. At a vigil shortly after the massacre, he said, "Are we really prepared to say that we're powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard? Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the price of our freedom?" So here we are. Five years later. I start typing in the s...