Today, in an unexpected and tragic way, someone very special and important on our theatre group lost someone very close to her. Bobbie Bateman, our gifted artistic director, had recently found herself in a loving relationship with a man whom I only know as Uriah. She had lost her husband several years ago to cancer, and more recently, her beloved dance mentor, Freddie Martinez. Bitten by tragedy, she had found a way to move and grow with her new relationship. But that was taken away from, as Uriah experienced a horrible late night motorcycle accident while trying to go into work.
Why do horrible things happen to good people? How does one make sense of the awful tragedies that confound mankind, both on a societal and on an individual level? It's the oldest question man asks himself, and I'm not sure there is an easy answer.
At these terrible times, I know it can be tempting to think of God as one mean son of a B. But, at the risk of offending some theologically, that is not God. God is love. God, Christ and the Holy Spirit is in each and everyone of us, saint and sinner, believer and unbeliever alike. God is in the calming breeze. God is in the hand that reaches out to you. God is in the strength, compassion and caring we give each other. God is in the small child that looks up to us, filled with hope, looking for our guidance, love and support.
I know this will sound silly, redundant, and sentimental, but it's important. Every day, be sure to tell the ones you love that you love them. Every day tell the ones that you care about that you care for them. Do it both in what you say and what you do. Love is not a limited resource, like oil or gold. Love is limitless and should be given freely, wastefully, constantly.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Saturday Political Soap Box 8
My gosh! Before you know it, people will be asking for federal assistance on this Irene thing! What a bunch of freeloaders! I mean, stop depending on the Feds to help you out - do we want limited government or not? What's that, Exxon? You want another loophole? Well, COME ON DOWN! Lockheed, you want us to build that weapons system that even the Pentagon doesn't want? Why, golly gee bum, get down here - You're FIRST IN LINE! You want to start a charter school that pays it's teachers half what public schools do and with no benefits, while paying it's CEOs 500 times what it pays it's teachers, and winds up costing the taxpayer even MORE than public schools? What are you waiting for? Your friendly servants at RepubliCorp stand READY TO SERVE YOU! Middle class? Middle class? We don't need no stinking middle class!
Thursday, August 25, 2011
What makes Waycross Special?
What makes Waycross special to me? Why does it stand out from other towns? Everybody thinks their home town is special, which is probably a good thing, but what traits truly stand out, at least for me?
Let's get the choady stuff out of the way right off the top. It's special because this is where many of the people that are important to me live. Theatre and church friends, people I work with, some I've met through facebook - all make this town special to me. Some are even people who may live outside Waycross but I know primarily because of our connections in this town.
This town is special because of Pogofest. That's the only thing about this area that I knew about before I moved here. Here was going to be a place to honor the work of our great cartoonists, including a Cartoonist's Walk of Fame. Alison and I will always cherish the memory of taking Jeff Smith, the creator of the fabulous comic book Bone, and his wife Vijaya, around the area, including the swamp park. This was truly something special that would help Waycross stand out all around the country!
Of course, all that has been abandoned now, in some stupid dispute. So we just have a "Swampfest". So what? Do you know how many towns neighboring swamps can have Swampfests?
Maybe one golden day, Pogofect and the Cartoonists Walk of Fame will come roaring back - one can only dream!
Waycross is special because of Wong's. A great restaurant that demonstrates the value of customer service. At Wong's, you can have it whatever way you want it. And the owner, Paul Tang, is very friendly, will greet you and shake your hand, remember details of your life that even you had forgotten.
Waycross is special because of it's railroad foundation and the railroad union. That gives Waycross a tiny bit of history of supporting the middle class and worker's right a little tiny bit better than other small southern towns. Over time, as the railroad fades in importance to the area, this little edge is getting lost, but you can still see it a tiny bit in the voting patterns. Republicans win here, but not quite by the same margin as they do in neighboring counties.
And Waycross is special because of WACT, Waycross Area Community Theatre, one of the oldest continually running community theatres in South Georgia, operating in a renovated Ritz Theatre. The recent production of Hairspray was as close to Broadway quality as ?I've ever seen from a community theatre.
Waycross is special because it has it's own musical written bout it's history called Lydia, Queen of the Swamp. This great production is largely the brianchild of John Youmans, a very talented performer and craftsman whom Waycross is blessed to have.
Finally, and most importantly, Waycross is special because of the Flying Dragons Art Center. This is a children's theatre that a town four times the size of Waycross would be proud to have! A full slate of seven or more productions each year, exposing many, many children to the arts. Everybody gets to act! Everybody gets to learn what it's like to be onstage, what it's like to practice and get better. Chris and Tamara Jeffords, along with Bobbie Bateman and JoAnn Fields, have done this community a great service by bringing a first rate children's theatre to Waycross. It deserves your support - with money, time, and attending their wonderful shows.
And very soon, the Flying Dragon will be offering tutoring classes, further expanding the ways in which they benefit our children. Dragon voice taught by the brilliant vocalists Chris Jeffords and Michelle Chancey, Dragon Acting by the first-rate young and talented Blake Kildow, Dragon Art by the artiste' extraordinaire Kayti Jeffords, and Dragon Language taught by the amazing Kimberly Beck, fluent in several languages. This special effort also deserves your support! Please, if you live in the area and you have children, sign them up TODAY!
So those are a few of the things that make Waycross special. If you're from here, feel free to add some of your own. If not, think about the truly unique things about the towns in and around you. I welcome your comments!
Let's get the choady stuff out of the way right off the top. It's special because this is where many of the people that are important to me live. Theatre and church friends, people I work with, some I've met through facebook - all make this town special to me. Some are even people who may live outside Waycross but I know primarily because of our connections in this town.
This town is special because of Pogofest. That's the only thing about this area that I knew about before I moved here. Here was going to be a place to honor the work of our great cartoonists, including a Cartoonist's Walk of Fame. Alison and I will always cherish the memory of taking Jeff Smith, the creator of the fabulous comic book Bone, and his wife Vijaya, around the area, including the swamp park. This was truly something special that would help Waycross stand out all around the country!
Of course, all that has been abandoned now, in some stupid dispute. So we just have a "Swampfest". So what? Do you know how many towns neighboring swamps can have Swampfests?
Maybe one golden day, Pogofect and the Cartoonists Walk of Fame will come roaring back - one can only dream!
Waycross is special because of Wong's. A great restaurant that demonstrates the value of customer service. At Wong's, you can have it whatever way you want it. And the owner, Paul Tang, is very friendly, will greet you and shake your hand, remember details of your life that even you had forgotten.
Waycross is special because of it's railroad foundation and the railroad union. That gives Waycross a tiny bit of history of supporting the middle class and worker's right a little tiny bit better than other small southern towns. Over time, as the railroad fades in importance to the area, this little edge is getting lost, but you can still see it a tiny bit in the voting patterns. Republicans win here, but not quite by the same margin as they do in neighboring counties.
And Waycross is special because of WACT, Waycross Area Community Theatre, one of the oldest continually running community theatres in South Georgia, operating in a renovated Ritz Theatre. The recent production of Hairspray was as close to Broadway quality as ?I've ever seen from a community theatre.
Waycross is special because it has it's own musical written bout it's history called Lydia, Queen of the Swamp. This great production is largely the brianchild of John Youmans, a very talented performer and craftsman whom Waycross is blessed to have.
Finally, and most importantly, Waycross is special because of the Flying Dragons Art Center. This is a children's theatre that a town four times the size of Waycross would be proud to have! A full slate of seven or more productions each year, exposing many, many children to the arts. Everybody gets to act! Everybody gets to learn what it's like to be onstage, what it's like to practice and get better. Chris and Tamara Jeffords, along with Bobbie Bateman and JoAnn Fields, have done this community a great service by bringing a first rate children's theatre to Waycross. It deserves your support - with money, time, and attending their wonderful shows.
And very soon, the Flying Dragon will be offering tutoring classes, further expanding the ways in which they benefit our children. Dragon voice taught by the brilliant vocalists Chris Jeffords and Michelle Chancey, Dragon Acting by the first-rate young and talented Blake Kildow, Dragon Art by the artiste' extraordinaire Kayti Jeffords, and Dragon Language taught by the amazing Kimberly Beck, fluent in several languages. This special effort also deserves your support! Please, if you live in the area and you have children, sign them up TODAY!
So those are a few of the things that make Waycross special. If you're from here, feel free to add some of your own. If not, think about the truly unique things about the towns in and around you. I welcome your comments!
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Saturday Political Soap Box 7
Is President Obama a great President? I am a huge fan of our current president, but even I would have to say the jury's out on that one. That may be something only history can judge. I do respect and admire much of his efforts, even if I don't think many have gone far enough.
As a progressive/liberal, it is tough realizing we are not going far enough to solve the problems that we have. Achingly simple solutions to many of our problems stare us in the face, and many Americans wear blinders that do not allow them to even consider them. The President may have only moved us a few tiny inches in the progressive direction, but even that has been painful to achieve.
I am disappointed that I don't have a president that will take on the Republicans and their associated entrenched special interests. After so many brutal years under Reagan/Bush, it would have felt so real good to push back hard. I still think that President Obama needs to take them to the mat on something and smack them down hard, so hard that they have difficulty getting back up again. But he won't do that. Why? Because the White House strategists think that if Obama comes on strong, people won't see a strong and effective President. They will see an angry black man. For more on this, please my article in The Strait Line about the Blazing Saddles moment. I think they're wrong. Well, I pray that they are wrong.
I knew in 2008 that the gigantic problems that Bush Jr. had left us with were so mammoth that they were virtually unsolvable. I knew that failure was 100% certain if we elected McCain/Palin. I thought they still was an 80% chance of failure if Obama was President, but at least there was a glimmer of hope.
Now that he has been President for awhile I see that glimmer of hope starting to fade. Given the severity of what we are facing, he simply hasn't been bold enough. Like it or not, health care can only be fixed by single payer, and failing that, a public option was a must. Unions are being crushed in this country, and the Employees Free Choice Act is a necessity that has been just left to wither. Global warming is real and terrifying and it is mostly being ignored. We are not wrapping up the Bush/Cheney wars quickly and effectively enough. Financial reform has been pitiful, certainly not enough to prevent another meltdown. And failing to stop the Bush tax cuts on the wealthy from renewing - oy vey!
But nothing in what I'm complaining about can be made better by turning to RepubicCorp and their wholly owned subsidiary, TeaParty Amerika. And America in 2010 had an opportunity to give progressives a majority or to turn back the hands of time. Guess what they picked? When the history of this time is written, this knee jerk reaction by the American people will be front and center. Hopefully, more Americans will wake up as they are in Wisconsin and Michigan and Ohio and many other states, and go "What the hell was I thinking?"
.
As a progressive/liberal, it is tough realizing we are not going far enough to solve the problems that we have. Achingly simple solutions to many of our problems stare us in the face, and many Americans wear blinders that do not allow them to even consider them. The President may have only moved us a few tiny inches in the progressive direction, but even that has been painful to achieve.
I am disappointed that I don't have a president that will take on the Republicans and their associated entrenched special interests. After so many brutal years under Reagan/Bush, it would have felt so real good to push back hard. I still think that President Obama needs to take them to the mat on something and smack them down hard, so hard that they have difficulty getting back up again. But he won't do that. Why? Because the White House strategists think that if Obama comes on strong, people won't see a strong and effective President. They will see an angry black man. For more on this, please my article in The Strait Line about the Blazing Saddles moment. I think they're wrong. Well, I pray that they are wrong.
I knew in 2008 that the gigantic problems that Bush Jr. had left us with were so mammoth that they were virtually unsolvable. I knew that failure was 100% certain if we elected McCain/Palin. I thought they still was an 80% chance of failure if Obama was President, but at least there was a glimmer of hope.
Now that he has been President for awhile I see that glimmer of hope starting to fade. Given the severity of what we are facing, he simply hasn't been bold enough. Like it or not, health care can only be fixed by single payer, and failing that, a public option was a must. Unions are being crushed in this country, and the Employees Free Choice Act is a necessity that has been just left to wither. Global warming is real and terrifying and it is mostly being ignored. We are not wrapping up the Bush/Cheney wars quickly and effectively enough. Financial reform has been pitiful, certainly not enough to prevent another meltdown. And failing to stop the Bush tax cuts on the wealthy from renewing - oy vey!
But nothing in what I'm complaining about can be made better by turning to RepubicCorp and their wholly owned subsidiary, TeaParty Amerika. And America in 2010 had an opportunity to give progressives a majority or to turn back the hands of time. Guess what they picked? When the history of this time is written, this knee jerk reaction by the American people will be front and center. Hopefully, more Americans will wake up as they are in Wisconsin and Michigan and Ohio and many other states, and go "What the hell was I thinking?"
.
Saturday Political Soap Box 6
Today's tragic news from Afghanistan, involving a crash that has killed 31 of our brave soldiers, brings to mind the direction of Afghanistan in specific , and Middle Eastern policy in general. I don't disagree that Afghanistan was a more proper front for our conflict, as the Taliban were complicit in hiding and promoting al Queada. Some sort of stability must be achieved in that country so as to prevent it being a base for terrorist operations. That being said, is the current military involvement an effective way to achieve those ends?
I'm no expert, and generally am inclined to support the administration on this. But I do lean towards Vice President Biden's strategy involving greater withdrawal of US troops, relying more on air power and strategic attacks. To win the war more traditionally would require a much greater troop presence than is there now, and I don't think we have the political will or stomach for that.
There is the broader question of the Mideast and the political unrest that many countries are going through. What should we do on that front?
I always feel like there are no good answers in foreign policy. Every action , or inaction, leads to unintended consequences. Even making no choice effects things. So, given all that, what should we do?
.
I'm no expert, and generally am inclined to support the administration on this. But I do lean towards Vice President Biden's strategy involving greater withdrawal of US troops, relying more on air power and strategic attacks. To win the war more traditionally would require a much greater troop presence than is there now, and I don't think we have the political will or stomach for that.
There is the broader question of the Mideast and the political unrest that many countries are going through. What should we do on that front?
I always feel like there are no good answers in foreign policy. Every action , or inaction, leads to unintended consequences. Even making no choice effects things. So, given all that, what should we do?
.
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