Idol This

American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert has released his official album cover for his first CD For Your Entertainment. What do ya think? Glam-glam-glamorous. Or too much?




I vote for Glam. Well, it's Adam, and I can't wait to hear it.

Maine-stream America

This 86 year old man testified at a Maine hearing on marriage equality. He gives his true American creditials as well as his all American family man creds. Phillip, an 86 years old veteran, widower and father of four sons is amazing. He is America. He is trying to teach Americans what America is suppose to be about.



Yes, he is a lifetime Republican. No, you don't have to be a backward thinking, name calling obstructionist to be a Republican. You can be like Phillip and be a human being with respect for other human beings. Phillip gives no hedges on his humanity. You know the, I respect all people but....

(Hat tip to Eric)

Sporting Bodies Beautiful

October 9th, ESPN the Magazine premiered something new they call The Body Issue. This is to be an annual issue that will showcase the physical attributes of athletes from all sports. ESPN says it will all be very artfully and tastefully done. Well, from what I've seen of it so far, they have some talented photographers that have achieved that goal.

There will be six covers out for this issue featuring three female and three male athletes; Serena Williams (tennis), amputee triathlete Sarah Reinertsen, Gina Carano (Mixed Martial Arts), Adrian Peterson (NFL), Dwight Howard (NBA), and NASCAR’s Carl Edwards.

In the section "Bodies We Want" top athletes either pose in the buff (with private parts strategically covered) or with minimal clothing. The section is "essentially ESPN's version of the best bodies in sports."

In another section called "Exposure," groups of athletes from the LPGA, the U.S. Women's Softball Team, the NHL's Edmonton Oilers, Major League Soccer's D.C. United and even a group of poker players pose.
Poker is a sport? Getouttahere.

Gorgeous, talented Serena Williams. Here is her mag cover.



Olympic hurdler Lolo Jones decided she would be in The Body Issue if she could take a tasteful picture that would send young girls the message they don’t have to be skinny or starve themselves. The 5 foot 9 inch Jones says she weighs 160 pounds. She knows that number surprises people, but muscle weighs more than fat, and Lolo has a lot of muscle, and next to no fat.

There’s something to be said for a naturally athletic figure untainted by bad nutritional habits. A Buck sixty that works.



Adrian Peterson of the MN Vikings. Wow! How would you like those guns coming at you?


Just beautiful.


Nascar's Carl Anderson has the six pack needed to cross that finish line. Damn.


Australian professional surfer Claire Bevilacqua


Orlando Magic star center, 6'11" 265lbs Dwight Howard does indeed look like his nickname, Superman.


Gina Carano is the biggest female mixed martial art star.


Triathlon and Amazing Race athlete Sarah Reinertsen


Sarah was the first female leg amputee to complete the Ironman Triathlon World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. How 'bout that!


Natasha Kai of the U.S. Soccer team believes in body art on her artfully athletic body.


U.S. Olympic Softball team members; Natasha Watley, Cat Osterman, Jessica Mendoza and Lauren Lapper.


Jessica Mendoza posed while eight months pregnant. "I try to get young girls to see themselves as beautiful and to not feel insecure about their bodies," she said. "The more we can get more realistic bodies in front of them, the better."
“I am excited about this issue because it is unique and shows the beauty of the athlete’s most powerful tool: their body. Rather than having the stereotypical bodies that we are used to seeing through the media every day, the bodies in this issue vary from super buff, to lean, to stocky … all exemplifying beauty in their own way. I was proud to be in this issue at a unique time of my life. I felt that by showing athletes in every shape and form, including those of us who have children and continue to play, ESPN the Magazine is trying to break those stereotypes. I hope those who see this issue see it as a refreshing and celebratory view of the athletic body in all its beauty and forms, influencing women and girls in a positive way to appreciate their own unique, athletic bodies.”

Healthy, strong and successful men and women. What can be more beautiful. What do you think?

Jazzy Chicagoans, Listen Up!

The 3rd Hyde Park Jazz Festival will be held on Saturday, September 26, 2009.
Over 100 musicians including jazz headliners Garaj Mahal, Ari Brown, Von Freeman, Jon Faddis, Richie Cole, Willie Pickens, Dee Alexander, Maggie Brown, and Orbert Davis will be performing along with local emerging artists for 15 hours of FREE, non-stop jazz.
Yes, I said FREE!

Venues and Schedule
The Hyde Park Jazz Festival utilizes 13 creative and unexpected, indoor and outdoor venues in Hyde Park.
The Festival begins in two places at 11:00am -The DuSable Museum with The Awakening and the James W. Wagner Stage on the Midway with the U-High Band. The Festival closes Sunday, September 28, 2009 at the International House with a Slam Jam that begins at midnight and ends at 2AM.
All venues are identified on the Jazz Festival Venue Map.

Tickets
I told yall, all performances are FREE and open to the public. Please note because some venues have a limited seating capacity, seating will be available on a first come first served basis. At the Midway Plaisance there will be seating but, you can certainly bring your lawn chairs.

Dining
Hyde park has anything you could possibly want to chow down on. From a variety of ethnic fare to great burgers and pizza to fine dining to Micky D's. So grab something to bring to the Midway or dine in style before or after a performance.

For special needs access, transportation and all info on the fest go here.

Hyde Park Jazz History
This area in Chicago had at one time been known as the home of the great Chicago jazz scene.
In 1995, James W. Wagner formed the Committee to Restore Jazz to Hyde Park with the goal of returning Hyde Park to its glory days as a mecca for jazz musicians and fans. The committee enlisted the support of the past two presidents of the University of Chicago, Hugo Sonnenschein and Don Michael Randel, which resulted in the relocation of the Checkerboard Lounge to Harper Court in Hyde Park.

The Committee to Restore Jazz to Hyde Park reconstituted itself as the Hyde Park Jazz Society in 2006 and resulted in successfully sponsoring CheckerJAZZ, a Sunday night jazz series at the "New Checkerboard Lounge for Blues and Jazz," and supporting performance by high school jazz musicians with a Sunday afternoon school series. The Sunday night jazz series is now being held at Room 43 on 43rd Street.
Sadly, we lost Jim Wagner this year. But his great smile and love for jazz will be felt all over Hyde Park on Saturday. The James W. Wagner Stage on the Midway will host the James Wagner All-Star Band and every note will celebrate his spirit and dedication to jazz. I am proud to have known Jim.

So, come on out with you jazzy selfs and celebrate the first weekend of autumn by enjoying a diverse list of artists known in Chicago and around the world as the best in traditional and progressive jazz.

Archie's Choice

Hey Boomers, remember Archie? Did you know that Archie Andrews got Married. My friend Monica Roberts the TransGriot is a true griot who never lets anything historical pass by us, reports that Archie finally popped the question and did the deed. Perhaps Beyonce's hit Single Ladies put the right pressure on him. (I'm sure guys will be ECSTATIC when that song fades down the chart.)

Since 1941, Archie comic books have been telling the adventures of teenage angst at Riverdale High. It was sort of the Saved by the Bell of it's time.
Archie is the cute, nice, freckle faced, redhaired teen caught in a love triangle that lasted 69 years. Damn!


The rivalry for Archie's affection was famously between Veronica (Ronnie)Lodge the rich, spoiled, manipulative, raven haired beauty, and Betty Cooper, the beautiful, down to earth, girl-next-door.




Which one did he finally choose?



VERONICA!


Reggie comforts Betty. The rich and devious Reggie liked Ronnie too.



So, Archie grew up and married Ronnie.

Betty was in the wedding. How 'bout that. Did he pick the right girl?

Celebrate BB King

Today is BB King's 84th birthday. The man is still touring, singing the blues and playing his Gibson guitar as only he can. Every year Monica and I look forward to going to Merriville Indiana on Easter weekend to see BB. I probably don't have to tell you he is a dynamic performer or that his melodic shimmering guitar solos with his signature vibrato and wavering pinky finger changed and influenced every blues and jazz guitarist since the 1950's. He took blues in a decidedly different direction than his contemporaries like Muddy Waters. Waters went from acoustic to electric but BB went farther by creating a style of soloing that was more melodic and took blues to a new audience. BB created his own chords and melody riffs that are unmistakably his own. His influence reached not only blues and jazz but rock. Rockers such as George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Jeff Beck right down to players today like Tracy chapman and John Mayer, all influenced by BB. I doubt if there are many guitarists of any genre he hasn't played or recorded with. He owns several Blues clubs and his BB King Museum in Jackson, Mississippi is said to be always packed.
If you've never seen this legend in action yet, I guarantee you'll love his show. Not only is he a great musician, he is a very funny story teller.
Happy Birthday to the King of the Blues!

BB sits for much of his concerts now but it takes nothing away from how he still puts his hands on his hips and gets saucy. I love how his fingers seem to be a performance of their own and he plays every note with his body and facial expression.



A younger BB jams on one of my favorites "Sweet Sixteen". What a story!
This is sweet, just BB and Lucille.

Chicago in Sync

If you didn't see Oprah's outdoor block party celebrating her 24th season with the Black Eyed Peas, Jennifer Hudson, (Sweet Baby) James Taylor, Chris Angel and Rascal Flats you missed a history making event. The largest flash mob in the world was performed by 20,000 Chicagoans. Yeah, 20,000 peeps dancing in sync to the Pea's "I Gotta Feeling".



It's amazing and yeah I agree, only in Chitown.

Remembering and Honoring

As we begin our day today, let us not forget the sacrifices made by the men and women who were killed or injured on September 11, 2001.

America is strong, America is safe only when we are able to engage one another with honesty and respect.

We will be honest and respectful with one another only after we practice honest evaluation of our own actions, and respectful acceptance of the effects our actions have on others.

Chocolate Math

Monica got this from a friend.

YOUR AGE BY CHOCOLATE MATH
This is pretty neat.

Don't tell me your age; you'd probably lie anyway-but the Hershey Man will know!


DON'T CHEAT BY SCROLLING DOWN FIRST!
It takes less than a minute .
Work this out as you read ..
Be sure you don't read the bottom until you've worked it out!
This is not one of those waste of time things, it's fun.


1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to have chocolate (more than once but less than 10)



2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold)


3. Add 5


4. Multiply it by 50 -- I'll wait while you get the calculator



5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1759 ...
If you haven't, add 1758..



6... Now subtract the four digit year that you were born.



You should have a three digit number


The first digit of this was your original number
(i.e., how many times you want to have chocolate each week).


The next two numbers are


YOUR AGE! (Oh YES, it is!!!!!)



THIS IS THE ONLY YEAR (2009) IT WILL EVER WORK, SO SPREAD IT AROUND WHILE IT LASTS.

Chocolate Calculator.

President Obama to American Kids K-12

Prepared Remarks of President Barack Obama
Back to School Event
Arlington, Virginia
September 8, 2009


The President: Hello everyone – how’s everybody doing today? I’m here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I’m glad you all could join us today.
I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it’s your first day in a new school, so it’s understandable if you’re a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you’re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.
I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday – at 4:30 in the morning.
Now I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."
So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year.
Now I’ve given a lot of speeches about education. And I’ve talked a lot about responsibility.
I’ve talked about your teachers’ responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn.
I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.
I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren’t working where students aren’t getting the opportunities they deserve.
But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.
And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.
Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.
Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.
And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.
And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.
You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You’ll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.
We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.
Now I know it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.
I get it. I know what that’s like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn’t fit in.
So I wasn’t always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I’m not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.
But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn’t have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.
Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there’s not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren’t right.
But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.
Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.
That’s what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.
Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn’t speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.
I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who’s fought brain cancer since he was three. He’s endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer – hundreds of extra hours – to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he’s headed to college this fall.
And then there’s Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she’s on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.
Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren’t any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same.
That’s why today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education – and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you’ll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you’ll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you’ll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.
Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.
I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things.
But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. You won’t click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.
That’s OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
These people succeeded because they understand that you can’t let your failures define you – you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.
No one’s born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You’re not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don’t hit every note the first time you sing a song. You’ve got to practice. It’s the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it’s good enough to hand in.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust – a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor – and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.
And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you – don’t ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.
The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.
It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.
So today, I want to ask you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?
Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down – don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

Ted Kennedy

Last night at Arlington National Cemetery, Ted Kennedy's grandchildren, nieces and nephews surrounded his casket, kneeling, laying on it and weeping. They seemed to be holding onto him as hard as they could, not wanting to say a final goodbye. Such a private moment. That family has shared so much grief with the public. While family members and friends visited the graves of JFK and RFK after Ted's graveside service, the kids stayed with him holding on as long as they could to their grandpa or uncle Teddy.

The new generations of young Kennedy's that we got to see during this mournful time let me know that the Kennedy legacy is far from over. I was impressed with eleven year old Ted III with his round full face and long hair. And I'd never seen Rory Kennedy who was an infant when Robert was killed. For her, Ted Kennedy had to be more father than uncle. Caroline Kennedy spoke on how Ted didn't miss a graduation, or birthday or any important or not so important event in the lives of all his children which included his brothers' children and their children.

Caroline and others also spoke of how Teddy took them all (some of the teens went kicking and screaming) on family history excursions. Ted showed them where their grandparents lived, where the Irish first came ashore to Boston, where Joseph P. Kennedy's first job was. He had them look at American relics and historical documents and see Irish American cultural places of history and literature as well cultural sights from other ethnic and religious interests. He wanted them to make the connection. To know where they came from so they could understand how they fit in the present and in the world. And, how America fit in the world.
He taught them to understand that everyone has a journey and to respect the journeys of others. He taught them to make connections regardless of differences.
I see on the streets everyday, young people who are disconnected. They make no connections to the past or to each other in the present. No sense of loyalty to family, culture or country. No sense of obligation to those who struggled and survived. Isolated from the past, directionless for the future. Disconnected.

Ted Kennedy's time spent with these children making those connections is a great gift. He knew that making connections would build strength and character. He knew spending time with children would too. And not only his children but a young black girl who he taught to read and tutored for years, and a 9 year old black boy who he promised $1 for every A on his report card. Ted kept that promise through college.
Ted Kennedy who could have been bitter after giving up three brothers to America, could have spent all of his time sailing. He could have spent his career resting on the laurels of his brothers. But he didn't. He served Massachusetts and this country well. Particularly by teaching children that we are all connected.

Ted Kennedy

Edward Moore Kennedy died last night at age 77. I am very sad about his passing. His sister Eunice died just two weeks ago. Another giant gone. Now only Jean Kennedy Smith remains of JFK's siblings. There will be much said now about the Kennedy legacy and about the "Lion" of the U.S. Senate. I will say more too, later.

But for now I will simply say that he was a champion in many ways and I appreciated him and America will miss him.

Johnny Carter, Oh What A Night!

R&B singer John E. (Johnny) Carter, famous for his soulful voice and work with supergroups the Dells and the Flamingos, passed away in his hometown of Harvey, IL, Thursday evening after a long battle with lung cancer ending his lifelong career in the music industry. He's survived by his five daughters and several grandchildren.

Carter's death was announced by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which twice inducted Carter for his work with the two groups and for hits like "Oh What a Night," the 1954Dells hit that featured Carter on falsetto lead.

Carter was also the last surviving member of the Flamingos, which he left in 1960 to form the Dells with four other friends from his high-school days at Thornton Township High in Harvey.



Remember how short cuts were back in the day?
Johnny Carter was also famous for the Dells blockbuster "Stay in My Corner," one of the first R&B tracks that lasted longer than six minutes.

Talkin' about bringing back good memories especially for you Boomers and for you music lovers, check this out. There's nothing like
the Mighty Mighty DELLS!

Remembering Woodstock 1969

40 years ago America experienced Woodstock, the largest outdoor concert ever. Three days on a dairy farm. Outside in the heat and the mud and the rain with close to 500,000 strangers, lots of them high. Most of them with long hair, big afros, bell bottoms, head bands and love beads. What a time in America. Historic in it's scope and historic in what it meant to music. About 200,000 tickets were sold but more than double that number showed up. It was the time for peace and music, man.





I am not an outdoor roughing it type, never was. Missed Woodstock but love the idea of it. For me it would be about the music. All in three days there was: Creedence Clearwater Survival, Ritchie Havens, Melanie, Ravi Shankar, Alrlo Guthrie, Joan Baez, Canned heat, Greateful Dead, Sly and the Family Stone, Jefferson Airplane, The Who, Santana, Country Joe and the Fish, John Sebastian, Joe Cocker, Johnny Winter, Neil Young, Crosby and Stills and Nash, Paul Butterfield Blues Band.. (Take a breath yall.) Ten Years After, Sha-Na-Na, Blood Sweat and Tears, The Band, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and more. Unbelievable. All that in one weekend. Just recalling those musicians makes me happy.
Real music, real guitar heros. Right on! Right on!

A Special Place In Heaven

Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the sister of President John F. Kennedy and a champion of the disabled who founded the Special Olympics, died this morning. She was 88.

Born on July 10, 1921, in Brookline, Massachusetts, Shriver was the fifth of nine children to Joseph P. and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. She emerged from the long shadow of siblings John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy as the founder of the Special Olympics, which started as a summer day camp in her backyard in 1962.

Today, 3.1 million people with mental disabilities participate in 228 programs in 170nations, according to the Special Olympics.

I had every intention of paying a short tribute to this woman who has always been one of my sheroes. But, her life accomplishments are long and substantial.

Even before launching the Special Olympics in 1968, Shriver had established a reputation as an advocate for the disenfranchised and a trailblazer for the rights of the disabled through a variety of roles in the private and public sector.

She also persuaded the Kennedy family to go public with one of its most guarded secrets. In September 1962, Shriver wrote an article about her mentally disabled sister, Rosemary, which was published in The Saturday Evening Post. There is no doubt that this began to ease the stigma attached to mental disabilities.

After receiving a degree in sociology from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, Shriver worked for the U.S. State Department in the Special War Problems Division from 1943 to 1945, helping former prisoners of war readjust to civilian life.

From 1947 to 1948, she worked for $1 at the Department of Justice as executive secretary for the National Conference on Prevention and Control of Juvenile Delinquency.

In the early 1950s, she was a social worker at a federal prison for women in West Virginia and in juvenile court in Chicago, Illinois.

She married Robert Sargent Shriver Jr., a World War II veteran who was building his career as a lawyer and lifelong public servant, in 1953. R. Sargent Shriver had roles in many top government initiatives of the 1960s, including Head Start and the Peace Corps. He also worked with his wife on the Special Olympics. He ran President Johnson's War on Poverty and was U.S. ambassador to France from 1968 to 1970. He was Democrat George McGovern's running mate in the 1972 presidential election.

The couple had five children, including California's first lady, Maria Shriver.



In 1957, Eunice Shriver became executive vice president of the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation, which was established in 1946 to honor the family's eldest son -- who was killed in World War II -- to research the causes of disabilities and to improve the treatment of disabled people.

Her work with the foundation paved the way for a number of initiatives furthering the cause of disability advocacy. In 1962 she helped establish the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, a government agency that conducts research on topics related to the health of children, adults and families that was named after Shriver in 2008.

Disturbed by the treatment of disabled people in institutions across the country in the 1950s and 1960s, Shriver began inviting disabled children to a summer day camp, called Camp Shriver, on her farm in Maryland. Her vision expanded over the years, and in July 1968 the first International Special Olympics Games were held in Chicago.

She also assisted in the establishment of a network of university-affiliated facilities and intellectual disabilities research centers at major medical schools across the United States, including centers for the study of medical ethics at Harvard and Georgetown universities in 1971.

In 1981, Shriver began the Community of Caring program to reduce disabilities among babies of teenagers. That led to the establishment of Community of Caring programs in 1,200 public and private schools from 1990 to 2006.

Along the way, Shriver earned worldwide accolades and awards, including the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame's Founder's Award and nine honorary degrees.

In 1995, the U.S. Mint issued a commemorative coin with her portrait. The Mint says that made her the first living woman to be depicted on an American coin.

In 2009, a painting of Shriver with several Special Olympians was added to the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery.

Eunice Kenedy Shriver, a life well spent in service to others. Yet, she said of all her hard work, at an event honoring her in 2007:

"Most people believe I spent my whole life really interested in only one thing and that one thing is working to make the world a better place for people with intellectual disabilities.

"As important as it has been, it is not the whole story of my life. My life is about being lucky as a child to be raised by parents who loved me and made me believe in possibilities. It is also about being lucky to have had these extraordinary children. ... It is also about being especially lucky to have a wonderful husband."

Eunice Shriver goes on to say she was also lucky to have seen and suffered the sting of rejection as a woman. She spoke also of the great influence her sister Rosemary's mental retardation had on the Kennedy children especially on President Kennedy. It has been said that she should have easily been the first female U.S. President. Of course back in the day that was not possible. But this woman of great compassion, humor, courage, savvy and vision changed the world and made it better.
She was known to quote Luke 12:48 To whom much is given, much is expected.
She has a special place in heaven.



Rose Marie Kennedy (Rosemary) mental retardation and/or a lobotomy at age 23? She had a profound effect on Eunice, JFK and the other Kennedy children.

Now, is the Season of Concern

Alexandra credits programs supported by organizations such as Season of Concern for helping her way back in the day when there wasn't a lot of help. Back when being HIV positive was a death sentence. Back when people (including their churches and families) were shunning, isolating, denying care and compassion to anyone suspected of being HIV positive.
Now hopefully most people have learned better. HIV/AIDS is not automatically a death sentence and there has been much progress for treatment. But, the pendulum has swung so far the other way that many now think it's no big deal to be HIV positive or to have AIDS. That it's curable or easily treatable and managed. There is no cure and "easy" is not in the HIV/AIDS equation. The virus is still here and it does not discriminate. It mutates and challenges the researchers and demands we remain vigilant and informed. The epidemic is still here too.
The epidemic is surging especially in the black community for many complex and simple reasons. Reasons stemming from lack of medical care to religious stigmas attached to AIDS. Yes, and the epidemic now includes Senior citizens, college students, young teens, and women in the rising number of new HIV/AIDS infected people.
In 1988 Chicago's theater community formed Season of Concern (SOC) to support programs that provide care to Chicago and Mid-Western community members experiencing the effects of catastrophic illness. SOC supported programs provide direct care such as personal finacial support, housing, meals, and medication and more.

SOC fundraising also supports programs such as HealthWorks Theater Chicago that educates children and teens with age appropriate productions and info. Sadly SOC is still needed now as it was in the 1980's. Season of Concern needs to remain strong and vital. Although Season Of Concern's focus is on AIDS and HIV-related illness, they are there for everyone facing illness, disease, or injury of any kind.

When you go to the theater and you see Season of Concern donation cans or the performers request donations, you'll know what's up. Please give.

Naomi Sims 1949 - 2009

The first African American Super-Model died Saturday at age 61. Naomi Sims lost her battle with cancer but won many battles in her lifetime. She was a trailblazer, a beauty, and successful business woman. A nice tribute here posted by Monica Roberts.
R.I.P and thank you to a great American lady.

Beer Here!

Well, by now I'm sure President Obama wishes he'd never mentioned beer. I mean, what a fuss. In trying to diffuse the big hubub after Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. was arrested for disorderly conduct after being suspected of breaking into his own home, Prez Obama thought a little one on one guy talk would help turn this incident around into something meaningful. Obama felt he should do this since his own comments made matters worse.

First people wanted to know why "beer". Well, they could have had tea. Oh please. Then folks got peeved that although all three guys wanted different beer, none were American made. Actually that's not entirely true. None of these particular breweries are American owned any more, but Bud Light (Obama's choice) is still made here.

Anyway, I think it's a good thing to discuss racial profiling especially with policeman. I'll bet you somebody's first born that both Prof Gates and Officer Crowely overreacted. Stubborn guys won't admit it.
This is an important discussion over that beer. Racial profiling goes on with such regularity that many black people assume it even when it may not be the case. When this happens to you in every area of life so much in stores, parking lots, gas stations, driving, etc., you either ignore it and deal or get pissed and yell. If you are coming home from a long plane trip from China and cannot wait to see the inside of your house, you might get mad and yell like Prof Gates did. (Not that it is an excuse.) Policemen should be sensitive to these assumptions and learn to diffuse that reaction not inflame it.

I know this is a sensitive and complex issue. But, we should join the president, Dr. Gates and Sgt. Crowley for some dialouge and self examinations.
So yeah, we all need to have a beer or tea or cherry coke and honestly think about our own assumptions.

Pearls, Diamonds and Lilies!

Monica and I celebrate our 30th Anniversary today. It is hard to believe. We've been through it all, births, deaths, ups and downs, highs and lows you name it. We done it together.
We've learned from each other, changed each other and meshed together while retaining our own selves. And, we love each other even more, respect each other even more and most of all, still have great silly fun together.


To our friends and family who supported us and loved us, thank you. To our University Church family who encouraged, comforted, supported and validated us, thank you. You have all been our pearls, diamonds and lilies these 30 years. We truly love you all.

This Could Happen To You

Park on a fire hydrant and you and your car could get busted? Well this Beemer owner did and the firemen got revenge. Sweet.



(hat tip Electronic Village)