Monday, December 30, 2013

Crosswords


Presidio Sentinel San Diego, January 2014, 
(Originally published in the S. D. Union-Tribune, Aug. 2009, “Slants/Rants”)

By Laura Walcher

If everyone did crosswords, the world would be a better place.
   
We who experience undue stress in our lives (most of us) might want to share this inside secret.   

I am a recognized serene person.  In fact, I’ve actually been cited and commended for my easy-going nature.  

This is entirely due to crosswords.

It’s nearly impossible to think of the real stress and complications in your life while struggling with a crossword puzzle.  If you are not deeply searching for a four-letter word for infinite (vast), you are in deep contemplation about the French word for vineyard (cru), or experiencing a triumphant high for remembering that Tokyo Rose’ real name was Iva Toguri.   

It simply offsets worrying about your job or where your children are.  Believe me, this is very relaxing.

There’s satisfaction to be had, too, when you’re just guessing and you’ve actually GUESSED right.  See?  You’ve intuitively resolved an important issue of the moment - giving you exquisite confidence for real-life conundrums. 

You may be thinking hard about a word, and suddenly realize that it’s the definition that’s throwing you off.   Take “refuse.” It could be a noun or a verb or refer entirely to something in Shakespeare. Or Beowulf.
  
I worried when I began writing this - how am I going to gather all the examples I need?    Easy:  any daily paper can deliver - to say nothing of the Sunday puzzle - more demanding and always theme’d.  Once you “get” the theme for the Sunday puzzle, you might have it made, and by then it’s the end of a very calm day.  (Or it might already be Monday.)

I once knew a guy who regularly finished the Sunday New York Times puzzle by l0 a.m. – on Sunday. I never talked to him again.

It’s popularly thought that crosswords help maintain an educated and  agile mind -   an as-yet undecided issue.

Certain categories continually defy me, so maybe the educational angle is iffy.  For instance, I’m not good on biological suffixes, nor Greek legends, tho I have learned that “ase” is an enzyme suffix and Leto is the Mother of Artemis.  I may, however, be the only one is my circle who knows the rivers Oise and  Aare. I worry, too, that contemporary “culture” will  creep into crosswords - like who survived “Survivor,” or the winner of “American Idol,” or oddly-named rock groups or star-for-a-day performers. Scary.

Besides being unable to solve a puzzle altogether, which while frustrating, doesn’t really matter (in the scheme of things, the only downside of crossword puzzles is when the solution turns out to be - a stretch.  For instance, why is “eat” the solution to the definition, ‘tuck in?”

People who put together crosswords are very under-appreciated. Except, of course, for Will Shortz.  If you have to ask, “who’s Will Shortz?” you probably shouldn’t read this piece altogether.  ###






.



Tuesday, December 3, 2013

BARNEY CAN’T BE BOTHERED …



Presidio Sentinel San Diego, December 2013
By Laura Walcher 

Frenzied!  Now, you wouldn’t expect this adjective to be 
used to describe a dog –or any dog -  but after careful observation and consideration – this is it:  Ginger is one
excitable dog.  

Yes, this column is about Barney, and in his youth, Barney was occasionally frenzied.  But now, in his dotage, the only
motivations for that much excitement are  his declining enemies’ list (i.e. Boxers) and, as had been exhaustively reported, the parking ticket scooters. (We still haven’t figured that one out. But we have lost a few puzzled parking scooter  driver friends.) 

Ginger, however, is a puppy; the newbie canine in son Bill Walcher’s family.  At just a few months old, she is strong and smart, and…frenzied. Ruby, who’d been an “only” dog there ‘til Gnger showed up, has resigned herself to long-suffering-itis.  Around here, it’s something like “bombs away!” when that branch of the clan shows up. Ginger makes a maniacal bee-line for  Barney’s food. Only when that’s been inhaled, she makes the ‘rounds, and heaven help us if we get in the way of that swinging tail. 

There was a time when Barney would have gone to war over his food. Today, he doesn’t merely sigh (“here she goes again!”). He cedes.  He’s cool.  Maybe he’s just not hungry, but we think it’s… the wisdom of age.   

Herewith, Barney’s lessons learned: 

- He cedes over the food issue because  - he’s developed patience.  He now knows he’ll eventually win out; after these competitors have gone home, he’ll get a bonus: his food – and  a walk. 

- On these walks, he has bagged the “look both ways while crossing the street” lesson.  He’s learned, if you look four ways and no cars are coming, you can cross faster -  diagonally. 

Cats scratch. 

Can a dog who’s become deaf “hear” the distinction between “Stay!” and “Okay!” ?  Yes. 

Yawn.  If he doesn’t need to go, he doesn’t need to go. One eager walk-offerer could possibly get a bored glance; at an invitation to a walk, Barney might even stretch or turn over – acknowledging  - but  not to be confused with -  enthusiasm. 

Unless, see previous bullet, it’s me. Per excellent judgment in his dotage, I’m the favorite. I need only to wave my pinkie or glance door-ward, and he turns from couch potato into a frenzy of action, proving, as he occasionally does, that the athlete’s still in there somewhere. Just judiciously meted out.  

Fortunately for society at large, Barney’s enemies’ list has declined.  We’re actually quite impressed with his senior conflict avoidance techniques, like escaping to the bathroom rug when exuberant youngsters like Ginger show up, or - - just as unwelcome, company that he doesn’t really know.  And doesn’t want to know. And, instead of direct counter- attacking  those little guys – Chuhuahuas and Pekes – who go totally ballistic at the very sight of Barney, these days he wins  - by staring them down.   

Barney?  He just can’t be bothered. ###

Note:  Barney left us on Nov. 22, 2013.  He was a good dog.  RIP, Barney!











Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Strangers in Dallas, embroiled in the death of a president

           
                       
            Date: Saturday, November 23, 2013 9:07 PM
            San  Diego Union-Tribune,           
        
            Date:             Saturday, November 23, 2013 9:07 PM
            San  Diego Union-Tribune,           

By Laura Walcher

Veteran San Diego publicist Laura Walcher and her husband, Bob, were
living in Dallas at the time of the Kennedy assassination and had their
own encounter with the celebrated Zapruder film. The following is an
essay Laura Walcher wrote about her experience.

Here’s how it went: WFAA-TV broadcast engineer Bob Walcher took a roll
of film from a colleague at the station, who had collected it from a
distraught Abraham Zapruder. He stashed it in his pocket, waiting for
processing, to see what it might or might not contain, given the chaotic
newsroom situation. But the film was 8 mm; the station could only
process 16 mm! Staff made a frantic call to the local commercial film
processor for help — another hour crawled by before the lab could stop
the run and put it on the development schedule. At the network, Walter
Cronkite had announced the president had been shot. The president, he
now said, has died.

Meanwhile, across town, in Neiman Marcus’ cafe, along with a packed
house of diners, shoppers, and newshounds, I’d been rooted to the
blaring television set. Coverage began calmly enough, the crowd at the
scene cheering the beginning of the motorcade, close-ups of President
Kennedy smiling, waving, Jacqueline serenely by his side, the perfectly
beautiful companion, sunny, charming in her signature chapeau.

Back then, in Dallas, the Kennedys may have been the most optimistic
people on earth. Or those in the greatest denial, because too much of
the city didn’t want them, didn’t respect them. The city did not love
their president.

I did. I managed to convince my squirming toddlers in tow — Billy, 5,
and Jean, 3 — how exciting our outing was; that we were going to watch
the motorcade, that they were going to see a great American president,
one they’d remember all their lives.

Now, I stood in that packed cafe, shockingly riveted by the first news
of the shooting, gasping, awaiting the next report. When the final news
came that the president had died, every person I could see leapt up,
arms raised with screams, shouts, and cheers of glee.

Alone, enfolding my tiny children who had, of course, no understanding,
I also screamed, bursting into tears of grief and rage, unable to
believe the sight of the cafe crowd celebrating the death of President
Kennedy.

A mile from home, I’d stashed Jean into her stroller, with big-boy Billy
running along. We’d gone just for the walk, sunny day, using the
shopping center as our destination, knowing the president was coming to
town, happy to be able to watch the event.

Now we raced back, as fast as I could move with children in a stroller,
to watch in horror the rest of the story unfold — to wait, wait, wait,
for Bob to get home, to seek some understanding, to wish it all away.

It had been hard to be happy in Dallas, to say the least. To begin with,
we were Northerners, New Yorkers, Jewish. Those traits, in themselves,
were enough to draw the disdain of some neighbors. Far worse, the
appalling bigotry we encountered, pervasive and ugly toward Dallas’
African-American citizens. I needn’t repeat how they were treated, what
they were called there, then, but it was highly insulting, highly unkind.

The unfolding of events continued to batter us: the hunt for, the arrest
of, Lee Harvey Oswald, the debate about who he was, murdered before he
could reveal anything about himself — so sad, so tragic, so infuriating.

No Zapruder film was needed as witness to Lee Harvey Oswald’s death.
Nearly all the media were there. Nearly. Yet in the midst of the
tumbling events, Bob, with the WFAA staff, had inexplicably been sent to
cover a routine church service, a nonevent, wholly interrupting the days
and nights that were otherwise consumed with the president’s fate — and
taking one more potential eyewitness off the scene.

Maybe Oswald had compatriots. And maybe he didn’t. It’s still hard to
know, absolutely, for sure, the truth of the man, the truth of the deed,
despite the immense number of investigative reports, books, films, and
continuing emerging “facts.”

Today, I’m told that Dallas is a “better” city, Yet, our country is
still threatened by a polarized populace, a divisive mood that sadly
resonates: could it lead to some other cafe full of Americans cheering
for the death of an American president?

Dallas may indeed be a different city. But I might never know, at least
first hand; I don’t even want to be there to change planes.

Walcher is Principal PR Counsel to J. Walcher Communications.

© Copyright 2013 The San Diego Union-Tribune, LLC. An MLIM LLC Company.
All rights reserved.






Friday, November 8, 2013

WHAT NOW? OFF MY DESK, 2013

Presidio Sentinel San Diego, November, 2013


By Laura Walcher

If you’re not grumpy about the state of things lately, you’re
just not paying attention.

Item:  The shut and open case.  The Tea-imposed financial
hostage crises is over, and we’re good with that, tho’ we lost $24.6 billion, to say nothing of wasted time, attention,
and our good moods. “A ‘quixotic’ adventure,”  “a fools’ errand,”  - and, “no economic rationale,” say our pundits, saying the least.

Repentant, Remorseful, Rueful, Republicans? 

Hmm. Don’t think so. 

Item:  Calcutta in India is among the most polluted cities in the world, but instead of outlawing cars on the road, among the chief contributors to bad air, they have outlawed bikes. Why not outlaw cars?  “Politics!” 

Item:  Traffic laws have long managed street safety in American society:  the light turns red, you stop; green, you go.  Stop sign?  Stop.  Look around.  Safe?  Move on.

Givens? Any of us who drive or walk unquestionably subject ourselves to these practices. Not only will we live longer, we’ll maintain a safe and civil society.

Why, then, do cyclists by the dozens - flying through every kind of traffic signal - arrogantly consider themselves exempt?  Great minds want to know.

Governor Brown recently signed legislation requiring California drivers to give bicyclists a 3-ft. buffer zone when passing. Not a word, though, about how easily bikers can endanger themselves  - and us - by disobeying traffic laws. 

The S. D. County Bicycle Coalition (sdcbc.org) gives us  “lessons in sharing the road.” Now, for instance you’ll begin to see “Sharrows” – “Shared Lane Markings,” to indicate a lane too narrow for cyclists to ride side-by-side with cars.  When you see a bicycle painting in the middle of a lane, you know that the bike has a right.

We’ll soon have bike sharing fleets in every community, so be prepared – indeed, brace yourselves - for many more cyclists on the road.

Item:  What’s “popular”?  I dunno.  What kids think is popular, for instance, is music I probably never heard – and there’s a good chance will ever hear again.  This is due to our entirely fragmented world of entertainment. You can tell this is true; except perhaps for the Star Spangled Banner (and I’m not too sure about that),  just try singing anything in unison in a multi-generational crowd.  Adam Sternbergh, a New York Times’ writer, nails it:  “”Thanks to today’s ubiquitous media choices, rather than sharing our experiences, we are all relegated to ‘our own individual cocoon.’ “

Item: The ironies of life:  here at home, we’ve recently been turned down for new credit cards.  Why?  We don’t maintain enough
debt.

Item:  This column is getting me grayer) – but I have lots of company. From earliest B.C. days, gray-heads have somewhat yielded to hundreds of reversals, from oils and cat-blood, vinegar and salts, black powders, and numerous other “solutions” – but by the mid=1600’s most figured out that just wearing a black wig does the trick. Today, getting “rid” of it is comparatively easy.
Don’t thank me, wig-makers, for building your business.

Enough already: Fast Company ran a list of how to buy happiness.
The “purchases” – i.e. money, lifestyle upgrades, community
support, etc., are all myths, they say.  It’s much more productive –
and successful - just to be happy. 

I’m in.  ### 



 



 



Sunday, October 6, 2013

WHAT NOW? GETTING ON WITH THE SHOW!


Presidio Sentinel San Diego, October, 2013


By Laura Walcher

Just for fun, think over the musicals you’ve seen and loved.   Here’s a little launch:  The Fantastics,   Dames at Sea, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Good News; No, No, Nanette; Promises, Promise…... 

Add dozens more, and you’ve probably named many of the shows that Rick Simas has produced, and/or directed, or
both - in his long musical theater career.

Since 1992, Mr. Simas, a theatre director, professor and musical theatre specialist, has taught in S.D.S.U,’s Master of Fine Arts Musical Theatre Program, co-directing with Paula Kalustian. Earlier, Rick taught at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York, and the American Jewish University in Los Angeles.  His dissertation, The Evolution of Dance in the American Musical Theatre, which helped earn him his Ph.D. in Dramatic Art from U.C. Berkeley, is used as a text at SDSU. 

Simas is a noted expert on the works of Stephen Sondheim, Hugh Martin, Yip Harburg, and Tom Jones & Harvey Schmidt, Leonard Bernstein and Cole Porter, among others.

We wanted to know more:

LW:  You’re the “face” of the Musical Theatre Program at SDSU … and an inviting one at that!  We’ve loved every production we’ve seen! What does it take to get students to the level of performance to which you’ve obviously brought them?

RS.  We work with our MFA students for two years—15 units per semester, 60 units total. It takes a lot of hard work, passion, and perseverance.

LW:   Clearly, the program’s meant to lead your students
into musical theater careers. How realistic is this today?  Do you have some stars out there?

RS:  We’re educating lifelong musical theatre artists who will teach and perform, direct, choreograph, music direct, or work in whatever area of specialization for which they've been extensively trained. We have alums teaching – and working in theatres – nationally and internationally.

LW: Do students come in with some innate talent, or experience?

RS: Yes, with undergraduate degrees – and extensive training from other colleges and universities.

LW:  How do students qualify for the program?

RS:  It’s definitely competitive. We usually see between 50 and 70 applicants and choose six to ten every two years. We have a multitude of criteria.

LW::  How has it happened that your program is only one of so few left in the country? What does this say about our evolving culture?

RS:  There are actually two MFA Musical Theatre Programs in the country: ours and the Boston Conservatory (now starting its second year). They are expensive to run - and have a high student/teacher ratio.

LW. What is your own experience in Musical Theatre?

RS:  Mostly as a director - but I began as an actor.

LW: If you were to play a part today, who would you wish to play?

RS:   I don't think I have the constitution for acting anymore! But, If I had to choose?  John Adams in 1776  (even though I'm too tall and too old!). .Some  suggest that I play "Man in Chair" in The Drowsy Chaperone; they insist that I am that character...

LW: You have a Ph.D in Dramatic Art.  Did you intend to be a performer?  Teacher?

RS:  No, I actually intended to be a director.

LW:   Your Spring 2013 ‘Portfolio” showcased our “greats”  -   Kander & Ebb, Sondheim, Hamlisch, Lerner & Loewe, and a dozen others. Is there an under-40 audience now who knows those names? Our entertainment culture today is so fragmented!

RS:  Our first semester covers George M. Cohan to Frank Loesser; our second is Lerner & Loewe through Stephen Schwartz; our third is contemporary writers; and our fourth is an audition showcase. We seek to engage community members and our students, hoping to instill in them a passion for the American musical theatre.

LW:  Do you have favorite shows?

RS: The truth is ... for most theatre artists, the show we’re working on  is the favorite;   if you're passionate about the work -  it consumes you,  )

Hard to choose ... but:  I’ve  loved - Good News, Triumph of Love, A Man of No Importance. Plays?  The Normal Heart, Master Class, A Man of Destiny.
   Some little gems I'd love to direct: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, The Happy Time, Anyone Can Whistle.  “Big” musicals I'd like to do: The Boys from Syracuse, Oklahoma!, Canterbury Tales, My Favorite Year. And, plays: The Owl and the Pussycat, Six Degrees of Separation, Two Gentlemen of Verona.

LW:  Your short list of notable challenging characters?

RS:  Mama Rose in Gypsy; Billy Bigelow, Carousel;  Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady;  the title role in Sweeney Todd;  And, Hamlet, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Richard III, King Lear, Medea and Oedipus!  More recently, I’d add Beverley Weston in August: Osage County.

LW:  what does the program need to ensure a long, strong future? 

RS:  Our program is now guaranteed in perpetuity, as we have two endowed positions. However, we are always seeking community support and engagement for our students and program.

LW: Your recent production is Man with a Load of Mischief at North Coast Repertory Theatre - -– good reviews!  Yet, I’m pretty sure few in your audience ever heard of it?  James Hebert (UTSan Diego) said,”… it remains about as obscure as ever…” even though he clearly enjoyed it.

RS:  I may have more experience with this ‘odd’ musical than
anyone.  But I love it – and, apparently, our audiences did as well!  Maybe it will make it into the mainstream of musical theater … or, it might make it into a sequel of my book, “The Musicals No One Came To See.”   xxxx

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

LOOKING UP .. LOOKING DOWN:


Presidio Sentinel San Diego
 September, 2013


Just gimme a minute here, while I assure you that I’m not going to
elaborate on the urgent stories of the day:  Egypt, Syria, Gay Conversion, Bradley Manning, Oscar Pistorius, Fires, Filner, the Hermanos Arellanos. By publication, the world will have turned (hopefully, not tumbled) and my deeply considered opinions will already be obsolete.

A loss, no doubt. 

No, this month, I’m an ambassador of looking on the upside.  For instance, the top guy at J C Penney’s could be booted, but in the meantime, I may be the foremost beneficiary of the company’s peculiar pricing. I admit to a craving for using all the discounts, coupons and birthday presents a retailer can come up with - which is why I cheerfully report that my new jeans cost 79 cents. 

That’s not a typo.

I urge you to follow my practice – even to Von’s, where traveling through their discount systems requires – at minimum – a Ph.D. in  Economics. Despite my sometimes futile attempts to unravel their customer specials, I’m a four-star Von’s shopper. Despite the ordeal – to say nothing of confusion – of clipping coupons, entering passwords, phone numbers and mother’s maiden names, to say nothing of simply collecting Von’s snail-mail, I save a ton.  In fact, except for what was surely a professional expert who carted off a basket of groceries for no cash at all  - I’m not making that up – I’ve drawn admiration – however reluctant - from incredibly patient shoppers behind me. 

In honor of one visit, which resulted in a 55 percent savings, I
penned a celebratory limerick:

Oh, coupons 'pon coupons I clip 
For my totals to take a steep dip 
My record - I broke!  
(This isn't a joke, 
Tho' I realize it's not very hip ... :) 
 
My family has developed any number of creative techniques for sending me up, inspired by my un-hipness. But I don’t care. They should have respect for their inheritance.

One relative, too,  sighs at my using restaurant coupons.  She’s embarrassed, imagine that. Doesn’t she know that the coupon reminded me of the restaurant, give me an incentive for choosing it over several dozen others? There’s even a reasonably good chance that, given a good meal and service, I’d return? Could even make it a regular? Either way, we all win.

(I’ll pause here to report that I never even think of “Saigon on Fifth” until I see their coupons.  Now, this lovely restaurant’s cuisine and service are really commendable, yet given other dining demands, etc., I don’t think of them until I see the coupon.  Better that I use the coupon than
don’t patronize them at all?)

Try as I might, I simply can not tell the value difference between a T-shirt for $65 and one
for $7.95.  It’s got to be the labels.  My highly affordable “Gotta Dance -  Baryshnikov!” tee may be the most-admired in the city.  And I’m not even counting those who say they love the shirt but never heard of Baryshnakov.  “More People Have Read This T-shirt Than Have Seen Your Blog,” is my second most-admired tee, but it has
a downside, of course. 

I hope I’ve persuaded you to similarly manage your money, for the good of your pocketbook and the satisfaction of your soul.  And don’t even think for one minute of the financial challenges of those guys, Manning, Pistorius, Fires, Filner, the Arellanos.   They’ve got other troubles.  ###








 







Thursday, August 1, 2013

What Now: LOVING LOCAL MUSIC, FOOD, August ll, with JAZZ88


Presidio Sentinel San Diego, August, 2013

By Laura Walcher

Excuse me for quoting myself, but the last time I reported on Jazz88.3 fm, in 2010, I described GM Mark DeBoskey, as
“energized, ebullient and articulate,” exuding over the station’s plans for expansive community programs that focus largely on bringing music experiences to, he said,  “new generations. “



Today, much of the station’s outreach has
been realized;  more has been created, conceived and
Implemented.  Programs include: the “Annual City College Educational Jazz Festival, ” for Middle and High School students; “Music Matters,” an instrument donation program providing youngsters the opportunity to study music and jazz; an “American Art Form,” which, in conjunction with “Young Audiences,” introduces grade-schoolers to the music and the cultural impact of jazz.

Yet, however energized, ebullient and articulate he may be, DeBoskey, with staff, can’t do it alone.   As a further testament to the station’s community impact, he recruited a host of volunteers to help make their August llth fundraiser -  “Loving Local Music & Food” - a huge success. 

Hosts include restaurateur Ingrid Croce, musicians Holly Hofmann and Mike Wofford, Edible S. D. Publishers Riley Davenport and John Vawter, U-T music reviewer George Varga, Amy Finley of Riviera S. D. & Modern Luxury, local chefs (Carnitas’ Snack Shack) Hanis Cavin & Sara Stroud, and the radio station’s Claudia Russell, Ron Dhanifu, Ida Garcia and Gary Beck.

Chefs and mixologists include Sara Polczynski (The Blind Burro), Tommy Fraioli (Sea Rocket Bistro), Matt Gordon (Urban Solace), Nicholas Brune & Adam Hiner (The Local Habit & Eco Caters), Miguel Valdez (The Wellington), Adam Stemmler (Blind Tiger Cocktail Company), and Lauren Williams (Jsix).

Of course, we wanted to know more:

LW:  Let’s begin with Shakespeare:  “Music soothes, heals, transforms.” Did he get this right?   Does this dovetail with Jazz88.3’s mission?

Mark DeBoskey (MDB):  Study after study clearly establishes that kids who do music do better. Our mission is to “preserve, present & promote” jazz;  a significant part of that comes thru education. By presenting opportunities for young people to listen, learn and perform, we are not only fulfilling our mission but establishing a solid forum for young people to achieve the intellectual benefits that music presents.

LW:    Your community education programs are impressive.  In what schools are these programs held?  Do you go to the schools or do kids come to you?  Sounds like a lot of management!

MDB:  To date, over 21,000 students have participated in “Jazz, an American Art Form, ” that comes with learning tools and a teacher guide. We’re partnering with Young Audiences, another non-profit committed to exposing young people to the arts. They handle the administration and co-sponsor the program with us. All  our presentations are in Title 1 schools (Title 1 funds aim to bridge the gap between low-income and other students. The U.S. Dept. of Education provides supplemental funding to local school districts to meet the needs of at-risk and low-income students). The program is brought to these schools for assemblies.


LW:  These are extraneous to your on-air business?  How are they staffed?  Besides your “Loving Local …” event, how are they funded?

MDB:   The programs are staffed by volunteers; and,  in the case of   “Jazz, an American Art Form,” staffed and presented by a stellar group of professional musicians: Rob Thorsen, Gilbert Castellanos, Bob Boss & Richard Sellers.

LW:    How hard is it for Jazz88 to keep up with the music kids are into today …i.e. rap – and its often obscene lyrics.  Besides jazz, of course, what genres do you promote – or use – in these programs?   Do you have to “convert” youngsters to these genres?

MDB:  Like us, the young people I’ve spoken with enjoy all kinds of music but, if they are musicians, love the freedom that jazz gives them -  to express themselves  through improvisation. Anecdotally, there seems to be a growing appreciation of jazz among young people tho, like some other musical genres, jazz today appears to be more adventurous and progressive.

LW: Are the kids you work with already musical?  Do they need
“talent” – ?

MDB:   Some are, some aren’t. Some want to explore music, some don’t.

LW:  Do you have stats on how many children participate in these programs? How many continue studying, playing music?  Any careers made?

MDB: .  The only stats we have are as follows:

More than 21,000+ have attended “Jazz, an American Art Form;”
more than 300 participate annually  in our “City College Educational Jazz Festival.”  The Community Council in the Schools annually lends over 1,000 instruments to children who don’t have the resources to buy or rent an instrument but want to join  their school music program. Approximately 600 of those instruments have come thru our annual “Music Matters Instrument Collection Campaign,” with the generous support of Coles Fine Flooring.


LW:    In that earlier column, we reported your, then, new programs. What of their success?

MDB:   What we think, Is that if even one kid finds his or her way into music and out of trouble, each program must be judged a success. In combination, the entire effort has made a significant difference in our community.

LW:   Anyone who knows the value of music to our minds, our souls, will want to help!   Tell us about your
August 11 gala.  What can your guests expect? 

MDB:    That’s easy ! : 

·      Great Food prepared by celebrity chefs
·      Great conversation with  wonderful  hosts
·      Great music with Sue Palmer, Steph Johnson, Rob Thorsen and Gilbert Castellanos
·      The satisfaction in knowing that a fun evening is also supporting these vital music education initiatives!  xxx

The 2nd Annual “Loving Local Music & Food” will be held at the Driscoll Wharf on Harbor Drive in Point Loma on August 11.  Seats are limited, and available now at http://www.lovinglocalmusiclocalfood.com/

More information about KSDS Jazz 88.3 FM can be found at www.jazz88.org.



Friday, July 5, 2013

What Now? THAT KIND’VE SUMMER


Presidio Sentinel San Diego, JULY 2013

By Laura Walcher

“The world is beautiful because of you. “
“ You are the reason for joy in the world.”

OK, thanks. 

Clearly brightening up our days, these and about a dozen more
cheery messages,  chalked on the bridge going into Balboa Park,
are ours with which to resonate.  Yay, they mean ME!  Who IS this chalker?

I call it a guy; just doesn’t seem like a girl thing to do. 

Anyway, it’s good news.  “He” could’ve chosen Syria, Turkey, Brazil, Myanmar, Egypt, Iraq, Afghanistan, Gaza, etc. to sidewalk-chalk about and been pretty dramatic, so thanks, whoever you are, for looking on the bright side.

So inspired am I, that instead of re-sending Anthony Wiener to the woodshed for his audacity in running for Mayor of New York and, before any ink dried on his misdeeds, reinventing himself as a business consultant, I instead now decide on admiration for his guts and gumption. Doesn’t he know that nearly every word, tweet to be written about him for the next umpteen years will note in detail his silly indiscretions?  We are one forgiving society.

One mis-guided entity has packed it in:  Exodus International,
which for nearly four decades has had as its mission various psychotherapy and prayer techniques intended to re-program, re-orient  gays into straight folk.  In closing down the organization, they’ve even officially apologized for …’the pain and hurt … shame and guilt …” their efforts put homosexuals through. Terminating a mis-guided mission with sincere remorse constitutes good news.

I could be a little miffed at San Diego’s media for being one-upped by the New York Times, breaking the news of Jack O’Brien’s new autobiography, ”Jack Be Nimble. ” Reviewed at length by Benedict Nightingale,  I concede that New Yorkers might think Jack belongs to them, too, but hey, we had him first.  In any case, the good news is that we might get another shot, since this volume takes his career only to about 1969; our media could have a shot at breaking the first announcement of his sequel. 

The brightest side of the season was the “Mother Goose Party” at Normal Heights Elementary School.  Hail teachers Elsa Leon and Irma Limon!  Guiding several dozen tots through a funny, exuberant production of the Mother’s various poems could totally compensate for the daily-news state of the world.   I‘ll figure you do remember how “Baa-Baa Black Sheep,”  “Jack Be Nimble,” Humpty-Dumpty,” and various other kiddie dittie songs go. The singin’, swingin’, adorably costumed tots were pretty delicious reminders of how we at least start out sweet and simple. Among my favorites:  the “Itsy-Bitsy Spider” break-dancer, and the ensemble/choreography of “To Market, To Market, to Buy a Fat Pig.”  I refuse to contemplate whether, in our nuevo-cultural world, the kids of fifty years hence will know Ms. Goose. 

I know you’re as sad as I am when you see a forlorn, un-used telephone kiosk.  Calls from the few tattered left-overs have declined by over 85 percent in the past five years.  But The Economist reports that some have found new life, as “gadget-charging stations, cash machines, tourist information centers”  and more; some are fitted with defibrillators.  There’s even a competition for redesigning these big guys, called “Reinvent Payphones.” 

Human ingenuity wins again.  It’s been that kind of summer; the world is beautiful because of … us.     xxx









Tuesday, June 4, 2013

What Now? LOTSA LUCK

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Presidio Sentinel San Diego, JUNE, 2013


By Laura Walcher

It was a warm and sunny Monday morning … and while I should have been recovering from the weekend’s activities, I was instead racing up 5th Ave. for a pre-arranged walk with a buddy    No biggie …

Until I tripped No, really tripped.  Careened down the street,  a-gasp, struggling to maintain balance,  already terrified,  barely braced for the for-sure fall I was about to take.

It didn’t happen.  Instead, 25-ft. later, I staggered into a tree, which I‘m willing to bet had never been hugged like that before. 

What a save!

And on my way,  still recovering, gingerly watching carefully for new obstacles, a sad and lonely $50 bill looked  up at me from the sidewalk.

Whoa!  I promise, I looked around, seeking its owner, but the street was empty. Actually, empty except for the guy walking behind me, with whom I would have split the find, if only, sigh, there was some place to give us change……

Lotsa luck?    It’s all over.

We note that former congressman Anthony Weiner, who, improbably, is running for Mayor of New York, has returned to Twitter -  presumably having learned discretion.

That’s pressing one’s luck.

On the other hand, Ms. Abedin, his wife and mother of their newish baby, stands by him, a la Hillary Clinton.  All indiscreet husbands should be so lucky.

In South Carolina, Mark Sanford recovered his political career, edging out Stephen’s sister Elizabeth Colbert Busch, despite providing his public plenty of fuel for not trusting him any more. Hey, his luck is holding:  a new Argentine beauty on his arm and
the Governor’s seat. 

Tim Cook’s been lucky, in that he’s made himself and Apple a fortune by off-shore financial shenanigans.  We’re the losers on Taxes.  His big-money strategies are earning him a  possible divorce from Apple and a probable divorce from Ireland’s haven.  All we players:  bad luck.

Speaking of taxes, do I have time for the I.R.S.? Oh, never mind. Writer Michael D. Shear notes mixed luck in the N. Y. Times:  “it’s better to be a tax dodger than a tax collector.”

In our own 4th district, Myrtle Cole won the city council seat over Dwayne Crenshaw, despite Ms. Cole’s mailer that focused on a long-debunked accusation of Dwayne Crenshaw – her rival for the seat - and his very iffy involvement with crack cocaine.  Rejecting luck altogether, Larry Remer, Ms. Cole’s advisor and the author of the mailer, defended the tactic: “This is politics."  he shrugged.


If we were really lucky, we’d be more like ants:  there are (at least) 100 species, sorts, sizes … “They treat each other as one big, happy family, ”  said Neil Tsutsui, Prof. of environmental Science, UC Berkeley. 

Finally, in Israel, new political star Yali Lapid philosophied:  “Israelis want peace and security and Palestinians want peace and justice – these are two very different things, and this is the real gap we have to close….Some say,  ‘God will help us,’ .. not a very tangible idea to me.  Others say,’ some problems are not to be solved,…’ “ 

Lotsa luck.  We need all  we can get.  ###




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