DONALD PHIPPS, THE MIGHTY WURLITZER AND HANOVER THEATER

Most of us don't dream as big as Don Phipps nor do we have two as big as Don's ever come true by our own hands.  This man built a steel, 60 foot long, boat in his Medfield back yard.  It was used by MIT as an oceanographic research boat as well as many cruises, housing for a while in Boston Harbor, as backup in the basin on the Charlies on the 4th of July as a backup to the fireworks boat, and until it was sold recently after nearly 40 years, lived as active life as the builder himself.

His second dream was to build a huge theater organ which he did while he had a marine business and warehouse in which to house the organ. As retirement time rolled around, the organ was donated to the Hanover Theater in Worcester.  Tonight I was privileged to attend an appreciation night to Don by the Theater.  See more on Hanover Theater here.  Watch the video.

This was 'An Evening of Majestic Proportions'.in honor of Don Phipps and the Hanover Theater's Mighty Wurlitzer Organ Team.  There was a march  specially written by Len Beyersdorfer which will remain a permanent theme song for the organ.  The program included vocal performances by Maureen Brennan, Brian De Lorenzo and Kathy St. George  and the organist was Jonathan Ortloff. Mr. Ortloff played the organ while the Laurel and Hardy silent movie. Liberty  was projected. Whoever planned the program did a beautiful job of balancing moods.  The spell was broken to energize the audience with some sing alongs.  I'm always in awe of the theater organist who must be ambidextrous with  hands and feet as well as the ability to multi-task and think ahead.

There was much joy seeing my friend so honored.   I will always be left with admiration for anyone who can play a Theater Organ well, build one, and give it away to be enjoyed in perpetuity by many.  He is a truly remarkable man and friend.

AL VEGA,: A BOSTON LEGEND IN JAZZ

Tonight I was privileged to listen to some great Swing and Jazz music at the Sherborn Inn. The group, led by Jeff Hughes on cornet and flugelhorn, Craig Ball on clarinet and tenor sax, Jimmy Mazzy on banjo and vocals, Steve Taddeo on drums,  Jason Meyer on bass, and guest on piano, Al Vega.  Al Vega is 89 years old and still gigging.  He is beginning his 7th playing decade and as strong as ever.  Looking at him, he no longer looks in his 20s but listening to him, you could never guess his age.

Mr. Vega plays the vibraphone as well, but more recently, he took a job playing at the Copley Plaza because he liked 'sitting at a real piano'.  He plays there every Tuesday and Wednesday evening.In the 50's he started at the Hi-Hat Club as the house pianist and has played with so many well-known musicians,  the list would fill an encyclopedia of greats.

On Friday he plays at Antonio's in Revere for people 'who don't like coming through the tunnel in Boston'.  On Sunday he plays at Luckie's in the South End, and all-Sinatra show with Adam Herbert.

All this, accomplished currently, also  includes his 53rd year of coaching Pop Warner baseball.  This wonderful, talented, humanitarian man who may be little known to most people in this area, is as much of a Boston icon all those who are more readily recognized as such, like Arthur Fiedler, Ted Williams those who have public buildings or sites named after them.  .Despite all he can claim, he remains humble, accessible, and a delight with whom to reminisce.  I hadn't thought about the (mostly for musicians) after hours club in Roxbury called the Pioneer Club since the late 40s or early 50s when I went there a few times.

Click here for more bio on this inspiration for musicians and people planning to retire.

HOW DOES ATONING FOR SOMEONE ELSE'S SINS WORK?

Recently I read that "God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins."  Cursed with a logical mind, I wondered what kind of credit card God assumed would allow his son's death to pay for the sins of one's predecessors,

Am I the only American who is puzzling over the sin committed last night by the elections?  Is Karl Rove no longer playing God of the electorate? It seemed that the candidates he didn't like in the Tea Party were the ones to lose.   If computers are still being used anywhere to tally the votes, is there a reason to believe they have not been programmed to favor Republicans as they were before?

My mind is split between wanting to believe there is a Master Plan behind all the money that went to support the Teapartiers and a conspiracy in ballot counting, or all of the above.  The alternative is to believe that the voting majority is made up of people who have lost their ability to understand that 'Rome wasn't built in a day' and that this isn't the way to get 'their government back', whatever they can mean by that which isn't spelled out clearly.

It leaves me wondering if I will live long enough to see people respecting both the President AND the Office of the President; to see people who work for the Legislature, Judicial and Administrative branches filled with people dedicated to the welfare of their countrymen and not just ripping of the taxpayers as all their efforts go into securing their own re-election. It would also be nice to not have to see President Obama have to atone for the sins of GW Bush and Cheney.  I would also like to see Supreme Court Justices get periodic reviews rather than life appointments.  I'd like to see people who seek office pass tests as to their competency and preparation to do the job they are seeking..  Lastly, I'd like to see 'set and equal budgets' for all candidates...none given by corporations, or those who may have a vested as well as conflict of interest in seeing their candidate in a position to show appreciation by handing them deals and working to please them.

Message to those who believe that Jesus died to atone for the sins of mankind; who will atone for the sins of the politicians?. 

LET US OBSERVE A DAY OF MOURNING

Last night's election results should have saddened any person with the ability to to see the whole picture of what it took to make this a great country once.  To lose it to people who could buy the elections through a large outpouring of money and lies to the gullible and those naive enough to think as representatives in the House, they stand a chance of changing the Constitution and doing away with existing laws would be laughable but there is no humor in it. 

If you voted for those who have an agenda of making the country theirs 'under God' you will find that their goals lack awareness of what it takes to make this country work.  Some people were voted out who may have deserved it, but there were many voted both in and out who were undeserving of what the voters did to them.

 For those who think this is a way to 'take our country back'...whose country are we talking about  Lincoln's or G. W. Bush's corrupted administration?  It would seem the latter...we will now have more divisiveness.

I mourn my countrymen who were duped and persuaded to give in to their own selfish motives rather than those of the people who elected them.   

Democracy's death deserves its flag to be at half mast for the next two years, at least.

WHY DOES EVERYTHING GO WRONG ON THE SAME DAY?

Murphy's Law strikes again!  If something can go wrong...it will.  When I have a day when most of what I try to do doesn't work; everything I try thereafter doesn't work either.  The only thing I have been doing really well is procrastinating.  With a few major pieces of software waiting around for me to install, I thought I'd do that simple chore today.  Windows 7 update in my hands since April was the wrong version; not returnable.  I had to order the correct, costly one, with a customer service suggestion that I auction the untried one on the Internet.  I find that suggestion as attractive as someone suggesting it is fun to sit and watch paint dry.

There is a reason researchers try to minimize variables.  It confuses the diagnosis or conclusions..  My cordless mouse stopped working as I finished installing a software program.  Naturally I assumed that the software made my mouse not work.  Even finding out how to turn the machine off is difficult without the mouse.   I suffered mouse withdrawal for several hours...even tried another cordless mouse which had worked well when I changed to the new one that came with my cordless keyboard (apparently designed for young, delicate Asian female fingers, which I lack) a  few months back.  I finally went to my laptop and 'borrowed' the tiny mouse that works with just a tiny USB plug which is the power transmitter to the wireless rodent.  It worked.  By the process of elimination and the fact that I could now navigate again, I will deal with the original mouse's comatose carcass after my votes have been cast for our new fearless, wise, and prepared-for-the-job leaders; and I have single-handedly saved our democracy.

Least expected wa when Google sent an Error 503 message.  Before I melt down to a frustrated blob, I use Google search to find out what the Error Messages meant wasn't much to worry about.  It just meant that Google blogspot was unavailable so I would have to write this entry later than my tired mind would function without a battery charge.  However, perseverance pays just as it did when I tried to get a problem solved on a website 'live chat'.  Five ahead of me in the 'queue', I was just contacted when my doorbell rang and I had to speak to someone who arrived without a call to measure and get an estimate on some repairs.  When through, I then went back to the site and only had to wait for three more in the queue ahead of me.

By the law of averages, tomorrow should be a better day and I might fully regain sanity...or at least, comfort again..

DO POLLS UNDULY INFLUENCE VOTING?

Since the cable news and the Internet provide viewers with instant access to news...even to those stories that go on for hours called 'breaking news',  I've wondered to what extent voters are influenced by majority counts.  It seems that there have been Gallop Polls forever, in my lifetime, but now there seems to be a plague of them.  If they are an accurate reflection of the voting public's leanings, they should all be reasonably close.  That they might be biased is reflected in the varying results.

The media has now appointed itself to cover them as 'news' as well as having panel after panel of 'experts' spreading their own untruths and biases.  It may be that their intention is to counter some of the shocking untruths in campaign ads but it is clear that it is not a real description of the complicated process presented to the viewers of Cable News.  I find only rare people capable of rotating the cable news they watch.  Once preferences are set, viewers seem to be loyal to them.  It shocks me that viewers believe lies that are so blatant one might think even the least intellectually gifted of us would notice.  This, too, seems not to be the case.  Some owners of cable and radio stations seem to have purposefully peppered their stations with evangelists pushing all sorts of manufactured 'facts'.  Fox news and Murdoch owned radio stations seem to top this list.

Anyone interested in a history of the American political polling might wish to read further here.

It is not clear to me why I am so rarely included in polling.  The last time I was called (and the caller raced through the fact that he he was requesting permission to ask a few polling questions,) I agreed though I can't even remember if I was told who was doing the polling.  A few questions were asked, which I answered honestly, and the I was asked if I agreed that Sarah Palin would make a good candidate for Presidency.  When I gave my candid negative opinion, politely, I was thanked for my response and the phone clicked off.  This led me to speculate that the poll was like the early straw polls had been; to see how many could be added to a supporter list and how many could be contacted for donations.  I was clearly not going to be among them, thus my opinion didn't matter.

.One site posts a comment from a reader of a Republican pollster:  If we do more calls, I will be using your company because you call cell phones and I love how quickly I could set up the call [project] online." -Devonna W., Colorado    I was not aware that cell phones  have public lists that can be called but I'm apparently behind the times.  I can see that a phone call to a land line will not be charged to the receiver, but that is not true for cell phones where calling minutes are often rationed.

Hopefully some day soon, we will understand not only the results of the polls but will also have access to the questions asked.  A full disclosure of the process might help explain some of the discrepancies among pollers findings.  Meanwhile, I would like to see no polls taken a week before voting and none discussed during voting hours.  I would also like it if exit pollers were prohibited to discuss results until the following day.

OUR VATICAN EQUIVALENT: THE SUPREME COURT

It seems that the Supreme Court acts as though they feel they were appointed by God.  There are many who believe that court of Justice Roberts has sold out Democracy    The court can only follow laws, not create or change them.  So why don't those who make laws do just that...figure out a way to make a law that would overturn that ruling?  At the moment it seems to be because the majority in both houses doesn't seem to have the wisdom, creativity, love of country and fairness to the people to do that.

Joshua Holland wrote:  "The floodgates are open, and American democracy is at risk. But the decision didn’t emerge out of thin air. Rather, it was the culmination of the development, over more than a century, of a bizarre theory of jurisprudence that holds that corporations enjoy the same Constitutional rights as human beings"

"For years, it was believed the concept was enshrined in the law by the Supreme Court in 1886, but in his groundbreaking book, Unequal Protection: How Corporations Became People -- And How You Can Fight Back, historian and radio host Thom Hartmann revealed that the principle was in fact the result of what may be the greatest corporate fraud ever perpetrated on the American people.".  Asynopsis of the book follows:  "
Was the Boston Tea Party the first WTO-style protest against transnational corporations? Did Supreme Court sell out America's citizens in the nineteenth century, with consequences lasting to this day? Is there a way for American citizens to recover democracy of, by, and for the people?

Thom Hartmann takes on these most difficult questions and tells a startling story that will forever change your understanding of American history. Amongst a deep historical context, Hartmann describes the history of the Fourteenth Amendment--created at the end of the Civil War to grant basic rights to freed slaves--and how it has been used by lawyers representing corporate interests to extend additional rights to businesses far more frequently than to freed slaves. Prior to 1886, corporations were referred to in U.S. law as "artificial persons." But in 1886, after a series of cases brought by lawyers representing the expanding railroad interests, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations were "persons" and entitled to the same rights granted to people under the Bill of Rights. Since this ruling, America has lost the legal structures that allowed for people to control corporate behavior.

It's time for "we, the people" to take back our lives. In this revised and expanded second edition, Hartmann incorporates specific examples from today's headlines, and proposes specific legal remedies that could truly save the world from political, economic, and ecological disaster."
Does the term corporate fraud sound at all familiar?

Our elected politicians have it within their power to correct the ridiculous ruling that equates people and corporations as well as the making of donations 'free speech'.  Perhaps some of the groups that are constantly asking for donations to exist might take up the banner to get some change in the House and Senate and stop the obstructionist Republican party from pushing the country into further decay and oblivion.