Losing a generation of greats

Culture is awaiting re-definition.

George Carlin, Luciano Pavarotti, Tim Russert, Chuck Jones, Bo Diddley, Yves Saint Laurent, Sydney Pollack, Charlton Heston, and more.

Who is next to define our entertainment, the arts, journalism, and politics?

I can tell you one thing, something needs to change, because right now it’s defined by “omg brittany’s kids aren’t wearing seatbelts”, Big Macs, and American Gladiators.

Here’s to waiting for a prodigy.

Knives and Playgrounds

Tuesday night we were training on the fields at Webster Middle School.  Halfway through practice I look down, and what do I see?  That’s right, a 4 inch buck knife. (which looks like this for those that didn’t grow up in the woods).

Why was this on the field at a middle school?  Umm… no idea.  But one thing I am sure of, is that it didn’t belong there.  It didn’t have blood all over it so I assumed it hadn’t been carelessly used in a murder lately, so after some though of what to do with it, I brought it home and threw it in my garbage.  (Would have kept it but it was rusted).

Which poses the question, what do you do when you find a weapon?  My initial reaction was to find a security guard at the school (most schools in LA have security) and give it to them, which was probably the best bet, that way they could report it to the principal as well.  But I couldn’t find anybody.  So then I thought to just throw it in a dumpster, but last thing I need is a homeless guy murdering somebody with a knife that has my prints on it.  Then I thought to put it in a public mailbox, because the USPS probably has better protocol for that sort of thing than I do.  But then I thought that didn’t sound quite right either.

And I’m definitely not giving it to a cop in LA, in case you haven’t been paying attention, cops in LA aren’t the best decision makers in the world.  Sounds like a great way to end up getting tasered and put in jail, and I’m not joking at all.

What would you do?

Mr. Rogers, one of the best ever

This is amazing. Tonight was the first time I have ever seen this video, and it brought tears to my eyes. In 1969, the Nixon administration (and congress) planned on slashing federal funding of PBS.

Fred Rogers appeared before the United States Senate Subcommittee on Communications to try to sway them from cutting the funding, which would have likely had dire consequences on his show. At this time his show was relatively small-time compared to what it would become, and way before “Mr. Rogers” became a household name.

This video is 7 minutes long, and Fred Rogers with true sincerity and compassion tells Senator Pastore what PBS is all about, and Pastore, who is ice-cold at the beginning of the video, is almost reduced to tears by the end and awards $20 million in funding to save PBS. A must watch if you have the time… or even if you don’t.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXEuEUQIP3Q

I think that true compassion like Fred Rogers had is very hard to find now-a-days. Budgets for education are cut so slim that many wonderful teachers being lost every day, billions and billions of dollars are being shuffled around to be spent policing the world, while education and children at home suffer the consequences of US Tax dollars being spent abroad.

President Bush would like to cut all federal funding for PBS by 2011 (source). Don’t let it happen.

What would Mr. Rogers do?