Senate hearings are underway for the confirmation of Elena Kagan as our next Supreme Court Justice. We knew, of course, that conservative Republican senators would cry foul, accusing President Obama of nominating yet another "activist judge." But to trash the late, great Justice Thurgood Marshall is stepping WAY over the line. (Kagan clerked for him - what an honor that must has been.)
If you missed it, here's a mashup of yesterday's trash talking, Senate style:
Thurgood Marshall, the first African American Supreme Court Justice and simply one of the greatest Supreme Court Justices of all time, is one of my personal heroes. But as mad as this makes me, and maybe you too, let's just grit our teeth and get through this necessary yet painful nomination process. Kagan will become our next Supreme Court Justice and Marshall will be smiling from above.
Living in the north country is a mixed blessing with our long dark winters. But then comes summer. And it's a brief big wet sloppy kiss of a summer, radiating heat, humidity, sun and long hours of daylight that extend well into the evening. I come alive in the summer in a way that simply would not happen if I lived in warmer climes. Most of us who live here are like that. It's a fleeting, catch-it-while-it's-here kind of party.
Today is the summer solstice. The longest day of the year. I will not think about the fact that this means the days are now going to start getting shorter, that the long slide into cold-dark-nights-that-begin-in-the -afternoon has begun. I will not mention that. Rather, here's some music to honor the heat, the sun, the light:
Two amazing (and completely different) covers of Summertime:
Summertime -- Jill Scott and George Benson
Summertime -- Janis Joplin live in Stockholm, 1969
Summertime -- DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince (not the same song - an easy, breezy hip-hop tune)
And two more classics from back in the day:
Dancing in the Streets -- Martha and the Vandellas
Hot Fun in the Summertime -- Sly and the Family Stone
And if you want to see Sly and the fam live, here's the song as part of a great medley of their hits:
By Christy NaMee Eriksen, a simply amazing poet from Juneau, Alaska. Check out her blog TSUNAMEE. The name says it all.
My guess is that this poem is especially hilarious for Asian (specifically Korean) women, but it's pretty darn universal. Made this queer-white-grandma-who-doesn't-even-get-hit-on-by-those-drunk-white-boys-anymore laugh til I cried.
Which I think is the point of the poem (laughing til you cry).
Read it here (she tells you more about it on her blog) and here:
DRUNK WHITE BOY I HEART YOU
Drunk white boy,
I heart you.
Let me count the ways!
Kick start jump and you’re up
hand standing on a grey keg with
beer foaming at your mouth,
you tiger you
you wild thing you.
Marley shirt fallen at your neck,
your balsa wood chest flashing flabby,
just the kind of man I look for
these long, lonesome nights.
So you wanna take
long walks on the sidewalk,
kiss my ground with your leinenkugel,
drape an easy arm over my shoulder
like a hit single.
And baby I’m amazed by you.
Do that hop onto every parked car thing again.
Keep drinkin, I’m swimmin, and you’re so deep.
Maybe General Vang Pao did invent sriracha sauce.
Yah I get it, I got the fever.
You loved Korea because you slept with so many Korean girls?
I love Korea too!
We have so much in common.
YES, I text back.
Let’s definitely get married.
Oh, drunk white boy,
where you been all my life?
No one can say hello to me in 3 Asian languages like you can.
No one calls me Ming like you can.
No one tells the boy I came with about the baseball bats in the trunk like you do.
Your penis is so much bigger. I know it.
Across your dank and dirty basement,
I only have folded eyes
for you.
Can you say "how annoying" in hundreds of different languages? As the 2010 FIFA World Cup is being beamed into homes, pubs, bars, and public watching spots across the globe so is the bee-swarming sound of the vuvuzela, a plastic horn that South African fans and others love to blow during soccer matches. The idea is like the homer hanky but with sound. The vuvuzela has been part of South African soccer for a couple of years, but the horn is front and center to the soccer world this year since the World Cup is being held in South Africa.
While the World Cup brings the planet together like no other sporting event, the vuvuzela is creating its own global buzz for better and sadly, for worse. It's a global trending topic on Twitter. Check out these screen grabs (taken at different times) to see for yourself:
The venerable New York Times even has a story today about the controversy created by the noise. According to the story, World Cup organizers are debating what to do about it, but have decided the horns stay for now, and "Sepp Blatter, the president of FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, has supported the trumpets, saying Europeans must adjust to African traditions."
Here is what a stadium full of vuvuzela noise sounds like:
But alas, the vuvuzela controversy has taken an ugly turn. Fans annoyed by the constant buzzing noise (which drowns out all the normal crowd sounds) have gone beyond complaining. It goes like this: Vuvuzela = I don't like that sound = the sound is the ruining the World Cup = here is how soccer matches sound everywhere else = here is how soccer matches should sound = what is wrong with those South Africans = [a whole bunch of racist comments and You Tube videos].
Sigh.
You can dislike the sound (I do), or even hate it, but why you gotta go there, people?
The biggest environmental disaster in our nation's history continues, and I take responsibility (thanks for the lead, President Obama) because it's my fault, too. Blame BP all you want, but we who are addicted to oil -- for our cars, for our way of life -- caused this. BP wouldn't be drilling if we weren't a nation(s) of addicts needing our oil fix.
So look hard at this mess we have collectively created and the collective power we have to do something about it.
Riding my bike to work, recycling, turning off the lights, turning the thermostat down, and buying locally grown food is not enough to/does not fix this problem or appease my guilt at the images of oil coated wildlife.
But those things, multiplied by millions of people doing the same and more, do make real change. We have to start somewhere.
We need to be educated. Crude oil is used to produce everything from plastics to paint to detergent to make-up and candles. We use it all the time. But their are alternatives - know what they are and support their use.
We must reduce consumption. This map (source: Wikipedia) shows global energy consumption levels per capita (darker colors represent more consumption):
Join me in this: Make a list of the things you do to reduce your energy consumption and personal carbon footprint. Double it. Then make a list of ways you can lend yourself to organizations and coalitions working for large scale change. Sign up. Send your money.
