Things on My Mind
Jan. 9th, 2004 11:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sdelmonte1. Damn, it's cold.
2. On cons we cannot attend... 2. GaFilk is this week. Arisia is next week. And we ain't going. Drat. But the Museum's centennial nears (one week from Tuesday) and there is too much to do for me to take any time off. Never mind that if we are going to do WorldCon, we need to economize on other cons. But I wish we could go.
GaFilk we did three years ago, and while I recall not enjoying the lack of a second (less ose-y) open filk, I had fun, seeing or meeting a goodly number of southern filkers who rarely come up this way. Plus, we wanted to see Mich Sampson and Howard Harrison. Alas, we are here, but if you are there, say hi to each other for us. Say hi to people we never see up north like Adam Selzer and Mike Liebmann. Give Howard a hug and tell him how glad we are to see that he's doing better. (No, I've never met him, but his very presence at GaFilk is good news, and who doesn't love the Birdie Song?)
Arisia is the Con We've Never Been To. Every year, our friends go and come back and tell us that it's much better than Lunacon. And every year, we can't make it. (And if we could make a January con, GaFilk would get first consideration.) But I suspect that once we make WorldCon, God willing, we'll get a taste of Boston hospitality and that might impel us further to get us up to Boston for Arisia. Again, if you are going, say hi to each other for us, give each other hugs, and say hi to Tom Smith and everyone else in the filk rooms.
For the record, our con sched for this year is likely limited to Lunacon, Conterpoint, WorldCon, and OVFF. Hopefully, we catch up with some of you there and then.
We may be missing Arisia, but there are other things that will fill the void. Batya's brother and nephew will be arriving from Israel next Thursday, God willing, to spend some time visiting first the New York family for shabbos and then the grandparents in New Orleans and then New York for shabbos again. As we don't get to see Yechiel or Neriah all that often, we don't mind being here when they're here at all. (I think this implies, BTW, that the time to see Grandpa Zolly while he is still relatively well is passing if Yechiel is going less than a month after we did. I hope Grandpa Zolly once again fools the doctors and us, as unlikely as that is.)
We also have tickets to the final performance of Henry IV at Lincoln Center, with Kevin Kline as Falstaff. He's long been my favorite Shakespearean actor, and that my mother was willing to once again treat us to the theater for a Hanukkah gift makes seeing him possible. (BTW, the next production at Lincoln Center's theater will be a King Lear starring Christopher Plummer. Looks like the Public Theater has some serious competition in the Shakespeare market.)
3. On the new manned space initiative... Looks like Dubya is going to propose a return to the Moon and a project to go to Mars after all. As I've said before, I have such distrust of Dubya that even his "good" ideas bother me. How will we pay for this? Is going back to the Moon even necessary to get to Mars? Will we once again go it alone, instead of working with the other space-faring nations? And why should I support this when it will serve to help support an otherwise lousy president?
Nonetheless, I cannot dismiss this. I do want to see some kind of revived manned space program, and I am not so doctrinaire that I reject every idea just because it comes from a Republican (or an idiot). Just as I refuse to dismiss Dubya's partial immigration reform as just another scheme to get really cheap labor for his corporate supporters. (We need immigration reform, and even if Dubya is pushing for it for the wrong reasons, plenty of people in his party don't want it at all.)
What I do wonder about now is how this shows up the Democrats running for office. I disagree with most of Dubya's vision, but unlike his father, I think he has one. Can I say that about any Democratic candidate? How do you respond to a Man on Mars idea? Embrace it, and you look like a mimic. Reject it, and you risk looking like William Proxmire, a capable senator but the bane of visionary men of science and SF for years. Thus far, Dubya has outmaneuvered the Democrats with ease. He may be a bad president, but he and his people are brilliant campaigners. So why can't the Dems learn from this?
4. Gotta comment on Pete Rose. (Not Pete ROSS, comic book fans.) I was always of a mind that his ban from baseball and from the hall of Fame were just, and that only once he finally admitted his misdeeds should his case be reconsidered. Then he confessed, and now everyone among the sportswriters who was in favor of treating him with a little sympathy, or at least inducting him in to the Hall, is changing their minds. Apparently, his confession is not sincere enough.
Actually, I'd say it's totally insincere, done only to get him into the Hall and not because he feels sorry. But I find it funny that Rose did exactly what he was asked to, and it's not enough. It's as if everyone really thought that he would apologize from the bottom of his heart, and I can't imagine why they thought that. Rose spent 14 years in denial, looking venal and insincere every time he opened his mouth. And yet the sportswriters (many of whom vote on who gets into the Hall of Fame) are now shocked, shocked at his gambling. Makes me wonder about the mental ability of these people, and why I'm not doing that for a living when I think I'm smarter than they. (Maybe because I am smarter, smart enough not to make my money writing about grown men playing kids' games.)
Anyway, I think that Rose has done the minimum required to let him into the Hall of Fame. And that his plaque should mention his gambling and his lifetime ban. As for letting him back into baseball, he's done little to deserve such a gift. But there is a steroid controversy looming that will challenge the integrity of the game more than Rose's gambling did. Unless and until similar bans are created for cheating by use of medical breakthrough, Rose does not deserve a total ban from the game. He doesn't, however, deserve the chance to be active on a day-to-day basis, not as long as he still has a gambling problem. Don't let him in the dugout, but at least let him come to the games again, acknowledging that he was both a great player and a lousy human being. (Oh, and they haven't kicked OJ out of the football Hall of Fame. So if he stays in, Pete Rose should go in.)
That's all from here. Be well all. And keep warm!
2. On cons we cannot attend... 2. GaFilk is this week. Arisia is next week. And we ain't going. Drat. But the Museum's centennial nears (one week from Tuesday) and there is too much to do for me to take any time off. Never mind that if we are going to do WorldCon, we need to economize on other cons. But I wish we could go.
GaFilk we did three years ago, and while I recall not enjoying the lack of a second (less ose-y) open filk, I had fun, seeing or meeting a goodly number of southern filkers who rarely come up this way. Plus, we wanted to see Mich Sampson and Howard Harrison. Alas, we are here, but if you are there, say hi to each other for us. Say hi to people we never see up north like Adam Selzer and Mike Liebmann. Give Howard a hug and tell him how glad we are to see that he's doing better. (No, I've never met him, but his very presence at GaFilk is good news, and who doesn't love the Birdie Song?)
Arisia is the Con We've Never Been To. Every year, our friends go and come back and tell us that it's much better than Lunacon. And every year, we can't make it. (And if we could make a January con, GaFilk would get first consideration.) But I suspect that once we make WorldCon, God willing, we'll get a taste of Boston hospitality and that might impel us further to get us up to Boston for Arisia. Again, if you are going, say hi to each other for us, give each other hugs, and say hi to Tom Smith and everyone else in the filk rooms.
For the record, our con sched for this year is likely limited to Lunacon, Conterpoint, WorldCon, and OVFF. Hopefully, we catch up with some of you there and then.
We may be missing Arisia, but there are other things that will fill the void. Batya's brother and nephew will be arriving from Israel next Thursday, God willing, to spend some time visiting first the New York family for shabbos and then the grandparents in New Orleans and then New York for shabbos again. As we don't get to see Yechiel or Neriah all that often, we don't mind being here when they're here at all. (I think this implies, BTW, that the time to see Grandpa Zolly while he is still relatively well is passing if Yechiel is going less than a month after we did. I hope Grandpa Zolly once again fools the doctors and us, as unlikely as that is.)
We also have tickets to the final performance of Henry IV at Lincoln Center, with Kevin Kline as Falstaff. He's long been my favorite Shakespearean actor, and that my mother was willing to once again treat us to the theater for a Hanukkah gift makes seeing him possible. (BTW, the next production at Lincoln Center's theater will be a King Lear starring Christopher Plummer. Looks like the Public Theater has some serious competition in the Shakespeare market.)
3. On the new manned space initiative... Looks like Dubya is going to propose a return to the Moon and a project to go to Mars after all. As I've said before, I have such distrust of Dubya that even his "good" ideas bother me. How will we pay for this? Is going back to the Moon even necessary to get to Mars? Will we once again go it alone, instead of working with the other space-faring nations? And why should I support this when it will serve to help support an otherwise lousy president?
Nonetheless, I cannot dismiss this. I do want to see some kind of revived manned space program, and I am not so doctrinaire that I reject every idea just because it comes from a Republican (or an idiot). Just as I refuse to dismiss Dubya's partial immigration reform as just another scheme to get really cheap labor for his corporate supporters. (We need immigration reform, and even if Dubya is pushing for it for the wrong reasons, plenty of people in his party don't want it at all.)
What I do wonder about now is how this shows up the Democrats running for office. I disagree with most of Dubya's vision, but unlike his father, I think he has one. Can I say that about any Democratic candidate? How do you respond to a Man on Mars idea? Embrace it, and you look like a mimic. Reject it, and you risk looking like William Proxmire, a capable senator but the bane of visionary men of science and SF for years. Thus far, Dubya has outmaneuvered the Democrats with ease. He may be a bad president, but he and his people are brilliant campaigners. So why can't the Dems learn from this?
4. Gotta comment on Pete Rose. (Not Pete ROSS, comic book fans.) I was always of a mind that his ban from baseball and from the hall of Fame were just, and that only once he finally admitted his misdeeds should his case be reconsidered. Then he confessed, and now everyone among the sportswriters who was in favor of treating him with a little sympathy, or at least inducting him in to the Hall, is changing their minds. Apparently, his confession is not sincere enough.
Actually, I'd say it's totally insincere, done only to get him into the Hall and not because he feels sorry. But I find it funny that Rose did exactly what he was asked to, and it's not enough. It's as if everyone really thought that he would apologize from the bottom of his heart, and I can't imagine why they thought that. Rose spent 14 years in denial, looking venal and insincere every time he opened his mouth. And yet the sportswriters (many of whom vote on who gets into the Hall of Fame) are now shocked, shocked at his gambling. Makes me wonder about the mental ability of these people, and why I'm not doing that for a living when I think I'm smarter than they. (Maybe because I am smarter, smart enough not to make my money writing about grown men playing kids' games.)
Anyway, I think that Rose has done the minimum required to let him into the Hall of Fame. And that his plaque should mention his gambling and his lifetime ban. As for letting him back into baseball, he's done little to deserve such a gift. But there is a steroid controversy looming that will challenge the integrity of the game more than Rose's gambling did. Unless and until similar bans are created for cheating by use of medical breakthrough, Rose does not deserve a total ban from the game. He doesn't, however, deserve the chance to be active on a day-to-day basis, not as long as he still has a gambling problem. Don't let him in the dugout, but at least let him come to the games again, acknowledging that he was both a great player and a lousy human being. (Oh, and they haven't kicked OJ out of the football Hall of Fame. So if he stays in, Pete Rose should go in.)
That's all from here. Be well all. And keep warm!
(no subject)
Date: Jan. 9th, 2004 07:16 pm (UTC)2. Is Howard still alive? I hope I'm mistaken, but I thought I heard he passed away sometime last year.
3. I agree -- as much as I'd love to see us return to space, I have no idea how we're going to fund it.
4. For what it's worth, the reaction in Cincinnati hasn't been that much different. Even if he broke down and sobbed during the interview, I'm not sure I'd buy that either. I'm still saying and thinking "gambling addiction". And of course, there's Rule 21.