We I see that 30 something percent of the country still approves of the conduct of our president as leader of us all, I wonder, what exactly are they thinking about. What parts of his administration's policies do they find so valuable that they ameliorate the obvious disasters in planning and response to world events in other areas?

My great fear is that with the secrecy that is characteristic of this oligarchy of greed that is at the top of things, it may be decades before the public discovers with certainty, how evil these people really are. No sense making a laundry list of their deficits. Who has the time to read it? I starting making a list by hand it was two pages long when I paused to come up for air. The Babe's comment about President Coolidge made me think, "Who hasn't had a better year than Preznit Bush?"

I'm watching the beginning of the baseball season with some dismay this year. Home runs are flying out of the parks with record frequency. The reasons for the phenomenon? Steroid use and body building by players, and emphasis on home runs as the only way to hit, a pumped up baseball this year because of the belief that fans want to see homers, smaller ballparks, a shortage of good pitching with the vastly expanded major leagues. Well, I'm sure it is all of those things.

It is a bit disappointing to me to see light weights who look like singles hitters to me, hitting fly balls off the end of the bat that carry over the wall. Records from other eras will crumble and fall. We'll say that Babe Ruth was no Barry Bonds! And that is true. Ruth played in the dead ball era. However they made it, it just didn't go as far. Bats weren't the same either, nor was body building. "Weight lifting" meant that during the off season you had a manual labor job. Ruth, of course did pretty well. When confronted with the fact that he made more money than president Calvin Coolidge and asked how he felt about that, he said "I think I had a better year than he did."

If you want to compare a modern player to Ruth, try this standard. In 1927 when Ruth hit his record 60 home runs, no other TEAM in the American league hit that many. So when McGuire or Sosa or Bonds or Pujols hit more than all the other teams in their league, let's call attention to that. When Ruth retired he held the records for career homeruns, runs batted in, extra-base hits, walks, on base percentage, and slugging average. His records stood for decades. When one of the current crop of bombers accomplishes something like that, it will be clear for everyone to see, but it is not on the horizon in the near future. So the next time you see that newsreel footage of the Babe's round figure swinging a huge piece of lumber and then trotting around the bases, don't forget to be awe struck at the image. How did he do it? His daughter, Julia Ruth Stevens, is still alive today at 88.

Thanks AJC for reminding me.

We've been putting on a musical this week and so that meant rehearsals until 10 every night and shows on Thursday, Friday and Saturday until 10. Kind of a long week. It was fun to see the students put their all into the effort and watch them grow. We have some good young singers and actors. My Ellen had the lead in this show and if you read her bio you find that she has been in about 8 shows now and she has had the main character in every one. Rather amazing. I don't understand how she is able to grasp so well what it takes to be believeable on the stage. And the singing and dancing come so naturally to her, just an expression of character and the lines.

I have worn some of my work clothes out and went to Kohl's to check out the sales. Found so very nice pants and couldn't resist one shirt. A nice, long-sleeved Arrow shirt, for $7. The pants were also nicer material and lower prices than what we used to get years ago. It places me in an odd situation. I like the inexpensive, yet beautiful clothing in the stores, realize that they are being made by near slave labor in China, and that the people who used to make these clothes, when they were twice as expensive, are now out of work textiles workers in Ohio and North Carolina. The American economy is shifting away from jobs which require little education and pay a living wage. Oprah says that the middle class in America is shrinking and that 1% of the people own 40% of the wealth in the country.

a billion dollars

Under the leadership of our first Republican in a hundred or so years, a billion dollars has been taken out of the education budget in Georgia during the past two years. Oddly, they are running a billion dollar surplus this year. Any plans to put any of the money back? Well, no.

I meant to blog yesterday, but after juning around on the golf cart all afternoon, I ran out of energy. Prom was exciting on Saturday night, but since I stayed to clean up, it was late for me getting home.

I'll have to say that Ted Kennedy is my senator. I don't get to vote for him. I'm stuck down here in racial hatred land, where no Democrat could be elected senator these days. My district votes 70 to 80 percent Republican, so it hardly matters if I vote, though I do go to let them know there is some opposition. When you talk about Kennedy the opposition just runs out Chappaquidick immediately. Sad for Ted (and his date) that somehow he was involved in Mary Jo's death. Then he was so immature that he did not report his dilemma in a timely fashion. (Reminds one of Cheney's recent problems, except that Cheney managed not to kill his friend, and Cheney is not immature). I do wonder however, how the opposition just manages to ignore what the man has to say. The words just make sense. His concern for others is genuine. His plans for action are clear and logical. He avoids partisan bickering, but is not afraid to call a spade a spade. He has no comfort for the evildoers, slackers, and corporate robber barons. He is wealthy and not against taxes. I feel like I've had smelling salts applied to the dizziness of my understanding of politics after listening to him for a few minutes. Ted Kennedy is my senator.

Oh they think we should change the inner circle do they? Hmm. How can we do that without actually changing anything. Get those ratings out of the dumper. Not that I care. Get a new chief of staff. But not someone actually new, just one of the boys whose working on another block. And change out the spokesperson. Scott's credibility is totally shot anyway after all the lies we've had him tell. Say, since Karl is a lightning rod, tell them we're changing his responsibilities. We were moving him over to try and salvage the elections anyway, so say we are giving him that as a new responsibility. That should take some heat off me, Rummy and ole trigger finger, hee hee hee. Hey! Leak it to the press that it's a "shake up." ABC will cover it that way if you tell them to. And get Scott a talk show some where so he can still get out the talking points every day. Gotta love Scotty. He does a heckuva job. Whew all that thinking wore me out. Think I'll take a nap.

"I am the decider."

Have we ever had a more stupid president? I listened to some interviews on television last night and couldn't help but be impressed by the eloquence and insightful comments of the relatively insignificant people who were talking. How did we elect a cowboy president who cannot express and idea and sounds like the village idiot all the time?

Six generals. Fox news likens them to traitors. The preznit holds his position. Big surprise there. Someone reminded us that Sinclair Lewis said that "When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross."

I had to post the choir lists for 294 students for next year yesterday afternoon. I took some time and dressed it up colorfully. I posted the names of choirs and blank pages where the list would go the day before. Oddly, students stood in the hallway looking at the blank pages longingly. Which list would hold their name? I post the list at the end of sixth period. That way the boys in that class can give it a good look and get out of the way before the hordes that are coming at the bell. But even before the bell there is a trickle of girls. They have some how gotten out of class early to see the list. It is as important as who made the varsity soccer team (and we are often state champions in soccer). The importance of it appeals to me. It makes me think I'm accomplishing something at least in the minds of children. Perhaps we are doing something special. Charlie Bradley kind of special.
Oddly, the seniors come at the bell as well. Their names are not on the list and they come to confirm that. They are moving on. They also want to give a stamp of approval to what next year's groups look like. They nod to me and say "Good job, Dr. G. This looks good." About a minute after the bell there is a crush. Fifty or sixty will be there for 20 minutes, rotating away from the front, pushing forward from the back. The lists are alphabetical BY SECTION in each choir, so it can take awhile to find yourself. I may have changed their section, and they are hopeful I changed their choir to the next higher one. So they must scan list after list and sometimes they miss their name. (Yes I could do it another way, but I'm not going to change. It's all part of the fun).

There are shouts in the front. "What list am I on? Does anyone see my name?" There are gasps. And soon shrieks. Forty-one will discover that they have made an "A" choir for the first time. Fourteen have made "Singers," our hearalded girls. Thirty are returning to Singers. Oddly they come and look for their names as well. Michelle screams when she sees her name. He knees buckle and she drops to the floor. She's the fourth Miller girl in our program and the first one to make Singers. She can't believe it. She comes and hugs me and thanks me, but I tell her only that she earned it. "You did the audition, not me." I have Mitchell twins graduating and their little sisters, also Mitchell twins, both moved up to take their places in Chamber Choir. So there will be Mitchell twins in Chamber for 5 years straight. (If they don't move on to Singers). The younger girls come with no expectations, they look on the lowest list first. They search it and then move to the next list. When they can't find themselves in Chorale, they start shaking. There are only 10 sophomores in A choirs. It's pretty rare to make it that high. My favorite image is a girl bouncing up and down "I made Chorale!" " I made Singers!!!" " I made Chamber!!" The boys do not bounce. A clenced fist in the air, or they simply nod and walk away, perhaps saying "Yes!" quietly. Eighteen minutes later the crowd is thinned to only a few. Students will stop and study the lists all next week. Lots of non-chorus folks, students and teachers will read the names and smile. Their friend made it to the top.

Later in the evening I see one of our alumnas at a concert where she performed. I ask her, "Kaitlyn, can you remember when you came and looked at the list and saw that you made Singers?" She looks at me like I'm crazy and says "Are you kidding, Dr. G. I'll never forget that."

Sometimes there is so much to write about that you can't figure out where to start. Spring is going full blast finally. The weather and the flowers are beautiful. It will be a lovely Easter.

My friend Steve often asks me, "What's up?" That seems to be one of the more difficult questions to answer.

Did Colin Powell know what was up when he spoke to the U.N. about the war? I've seen him on TV talking about it and he said that it was something he would have to live for the rest of his life. Notice he got out of this administration.

What's up in Iraq? Only 32 % of the Iraqi population has access to clean drinking water, compared to 50% before the war; 19% have sewerage compared to 24% before. The current reconstruction money is not going for schools, water treatment, or electricity. Of 150 planned medical centers, only 15 have been built. The only money going for construction is for prisons. Why no oil production, etc., etc.? Because construction workers were being kidnapped and killed. You can't reconstruct in a zone that has no law or order. The mission is not accomplished.

War is the antithesis of humanity. The best of humanity is art. I wandered through the Metropolitan Museum of Art this week. What a breathtaking place. The American wing was full of ornate furniture. There were portraits that looked like photographs, still life that breathed still. Marble statues of indescribeable beauty. How do they do that stuff (obviously, very carefully)?

We made art at St. Paul's Chapel. It hung in the air for a few minutes for those who were there to hear. They are still thinking about it, wondering how we did it.

The Metropolitan Opera's production of Don Pasquale was flawless. The ensembles were so perfectly matched and every note so finely turned out. Intonation was amazing. There were no wobbling vibratos that one often hears in operatic productions. The singers were all phenoms.

Switch gears again to another artistic field. Wicked was amazing. And Wicked was what I started off thinking about today when considering this blog. The story takes the Wizard of Oz and turns it on its head. Nothing it seems was what Frank Baum told you it was. There was evil, but not in the places you thought it was.

There is evil in our country. But it is not in the places that the president and his men say it is. The evil is in them. It's time for change. We must throw out the wizard.

Some more specific things about our trip. St. Paul's Chapel is the church that you sometimes see in photographs of Ground Zero. It is directly across the street from the buildings that fell on 9/11/2001. By some odd miracle, the building which was built in 1766, a colonial brick and wooden structure, withstood the clouds of smoke and ash and after cleaning and repainting, it remains much as it was before. It seats about 250 I'd say, has a marble floor and barrel vault ceiling and about 3 seconds of reverberation. It is a wonderful place to sing. We participated in the morning worship and had learned all the hymns and service music. In addition, each choir sang two pieces each: the mixed choir sang Palestrina's Exultate Deo, and Hogan's Ride On! King Jesus, while the girls sang two Psalms, Raminsh 23 and Clausen 1oo. All went well, but the girls were extraordinary in that acoustic and they knew it. This was the church of George Washington when he first became president of the United States. Furthermore, when he ousted the British from New York during the war, he led a parade to St. Paul's to celebrate. His pew is still there today marked by the original painting of the seal of the United States. It was extraordinary to participate in worship there. There were visitors from New Zealand, Poland, Toronto, and points around the United States, as well as regular members of Trinity Wall Street Church (espiscopal), who meet there every Sunday. There was a nice reception afterward. The minister was interesting and gave a great compliment to one or our parents. He said that although they have 3 or 4 visiting choirs a week, that he had never heard one make the sounds of our girls. That was actually an astute observation on his part and probably correct. They are extraordinary. The Music Director Ms. H was very complimentary as well. On Monday as we toured we stopped in the financial center across from Groun Zero and could see the church on the opposite side of the now empty area. It was solemn to stand there and realize that nearly three thousand had died there. I don't think the terrorists have much understanding of who we are and how wonderful life is. The Metropolitan Museum of Art confirmed this again to me on Wednesday. I'll talk about it later.

There are so many things to write about our time in New York City that I don't know where to start. I love being in New York. The students were practically perfect. The weather was good and New Yorkers treated us wonderfully well. Mrs. G and I stayed two days after we sent the students home and had some great experiences. Wicked is absolutely amazing. Don Pasquale at the Met was flawless. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is huge. What a collection of beautiful things from all over the planet and for the last 2500 years.

We had some wonderful times on the trip. Our performance at St. Paul's Chapel was moving. The audience and the students were moved by their singing. Although I had on 24 members of Singers, the girls sounded like angels, especially on Psalm 23. The mixed group performed well too.

Oddest thing. Walking on 7th Avenue on Wednesday I ran into Gene Brooks! So I stopped him and talked for awhile. He was doing a choral festival and was just looking for some dinner.