Mr Deity returns

As one or two of the two or three regular readers know, I’m impressed by the Mr. Deity shorts. Well, after a delay following the second season, the third season is available. I recommend it.

Fiore on health-care reform

Reform Madness is a hoot. So was Beerplomocy. Jump on over to Mr. Fiore’s place!

Coverage of Perriello’s C’ville session

Hundreds of people met with Representative Tom Perriello in Martin Luther King, Jr., Performing Arts Center at Charlottesville High School Tuesday 11 August. Among those attending were representatives of the local press, including Brian McNeil (Charlottesville Daily Progress), a crew with Jennifer Black from Charlottesville CBS television affiliate, one accompanying Angela Pellerano from the Richmond CBS affiliate, Henry Graff of the local NBC affiliate, and undoubtedly others.

Mr. McNeil’s coverage refers to the people in the assemblage as mostly civil. But Ms. Black reported that the meeting was “loud.” Meanwhile, the snippet of text on the Web site for WINA characterized the audience as “different from what many of his colleagues have encountered.” There was not extended shouting, as news reports indicated occurred at meetings of representatives in other districts, but Ms. Black’s note about volume captured a few occasions when people shouted. Ms. Pellerano’s on-air comment that it was “lively” but “tame” by comparison, seems pretty accurate.

Fiore on health care

Doctor Decline.

Marvin Gaye’s anthem

For the 1983 all-star game of the National Basketball Association, Marvin Gaye sang the US national anthem, the “Star Spangled Banner.” At that time, the anthem had rarely been sung in any way but quite straightly, one exception being the rendition by Jose Feliciano. Mr. Gaye, an artist with a repretoire that included songs about peace, brotherhood, ecology, as well as love and loss, put his spin on the performance. I suspect many readers will agree with me about that it’s an inspirational performance.

Fav SSB?

Given that it’s the run-up to the US celebration of its nationhood, I have a question for you: What is your favorite version of the US national anthem, the “Star Spangled Banner?”

I consider patriotism a modest virtue. I’d prefer loyalty to human kindness over loyalty to a geographic region or a tribe. Still, I have to admit that I sometimes feel pride (or som’thin’ like that) when I hear a rendition of the patriotic song for the country of my origin.

Sacagawea recognized

Lewis-Clark-Sacagawea statue

A celebration commemorating the unveiling of a historic marker honoring Sacajawea, the Lemhi Shoshone woman who made important contributions to the success of the exploration by M. Lewis and W. Clark (and their “corps of discovery”), will be held 19 June 2009 in Charlottesville. The event, which will be open to the public, is to be begin at 1:00 PM at the site of the Lewis and Clark Statue (McIntire and West Main, Charlottesville). For those who are unfamiliar with the neighborhood, there’s a map appended to this post.

This latest development reflects concern local citizens have expressed about the statue and, more importantly, the portrayal of many people who have made unrecognized contributions to US history and culture. If either of my two current readers can remember something beyond yesterday, she’ll recall that I posted a couple of notes about this statue and others’ responses to it over the years.

The city of Charlottesville has a page about the event. There is also a PDF about the event (download). My earlier posts were “Sacagawea Day” (9 October 2007) and “More on Sacagawea” (7 July 2008)

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Seeger’s b’day show

There’s to be a celebration for Pete Seeger’s 90th birdthay in New York at Madison Square Garden. It promises to be quite a show.