There is a disturbing new trend on Broadway, concerning live music and musicians. What is it with these cheapskate producers, who hire incredible actors, top-notch technical people, then want to go cheap on the musicians? There's a production of Sweeney Todd running now that has the actors playing the instruments, in a kind of high art, the loonies-are-putting-on-a-show-for-the-attendants concept. Patti LuPone is playing the tuba, fer chrissakes! The same producer is said to be putting together a revival of another Sondheim show, "Company." A London production of Jerry Herman's "Mack & Mabel" just opened there with the same concept.

Where does it stop? When the NY Philharmonic is populated by players who haven't touched an instrument since high school? For that matter, if I choose to go see a Patti LuPone performance, shouldn't I expect her tuba playing to be of the same caliber as her acting and singing? Should I expect Alan Baer of the NY Phil, Gene Pokorny of the Chicago Symphony, or Carol Jantsch, recent winner of the Philly auditions, to be able to step in for Bernadette Peters or Robert DiNiro?

If we wouldn't pay $60 or more to see a HS production of a show, why should we pay the same amount to see a show that has the highest of professional standards in every area EXCEPT the music? Patti LuPone hasn't played the tuba since Kennedy was President. She has performed Sweeney Todd with the NY Philharmonic. I bet it sounded a helluva lot better then than it does now, with "musicians" that haven't touched an instrument since the Vietnam era, or never advanced in their guitar playing past the garage band level.

All to save the producers a couple of bucks, garbed in the excuse of "the director's artistic vision." They can't cut anywhere else, and the musician's union is a joke. Some guy who can pull on a rope at the right time, plug in a light, or move something heavy gets to make big money, while the musician who spends his life honing his craft, and endless hours every day maintaining his skills gets cast out into the trash in favor of people who treated playing an instrument as a high school dalliance. The message is clear- Forget about being a professional musician, just take some acting classes instead...

W's Daddy had this to say...

" I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by exposing the name of our sources. They are, in my view, the most insidious, of traitors."

I wonder how #41 feels about #43 being revealed as the instigator of leaks from the White House? I know that I'm royally pissed-off. That lying sack of fertilizer stood there and told us that he would not tolerate any leaks from the White House, and that whoever did it would "no longer be a part of this administration." Now, it turns out that HE was the leaker. The right is trying to spin this by saying that the President has the authority to de-classify secret materials. Isn't there a procedure that has to be followed in such cases? I'd bet there is, and I'd also bet that it was not followed. The material was still classified when Libby was told to leak it, and the mere act of telling someone to leak it does not absolve the President of following the law concerning release of classified material.

Legal arguments aside, what was done is MORALLY wrong. Secrets were leaked for the express purpose of MARKETING a war in Iraq to the American public. Yeah, Saddam was a bad guy, blah, blah, blah, I've heard all of those arguments before. They don't stand up to the fact that the President stood there and lied to us all in order to get us to go to war. Those are the facts, and the White House does not deny them. Alberto "Torture and wiretaps are OK" Gonzales says that since the President has the ok to de-classify whatever he wants, then no crime was committed.

I don't tolerate lying from my kids, and I won't tolerate lies to advance a bogus agenda from this President, either.

I've written a few times already about reactions to the sign on the back of my car that says "America Stands With Cindy." Cindy is Cindy Sheehan, who is probably the most famous protestors of the Iraq War. I had been thinking about removing it, because these large angry men have been objecting to the sign, and I don't want to get into an altercation with them, verbal or otherwise.

Two things happened in the last few days that have caused me to reconsider removing the sign. First, I was driving down the Taconic Parkway, when a black woman of about 45-50 passed me. She gave me a big thumbs-up as she went by, and on the back of her car were bumperstickers proclaiming her to be the proud Mom of a soldier. That was a great feeling!

Then, today, I was reading a magazine that my wife gets, and the entire issue was devoted to Patriotism and Education. Inside, there was a brief article by Cindy Sheehan, and she wrote about some of the letters she has gotten from other moms who have lost loved ones in Iraq. Today, April 4th, is the 2nd Anniversary of the death of Cindy's son, Casey. There are too many omens, signs, or whatever you want to call them, that are telling me to keep the sign up on my car, at least for now.

Most of those who denounce Cindy Sheehan do not even have anyone from their family over in Iraq. They haven't lost a loved one there. Most have never served in the military. I fit all of those categories myself. The difference is that I would never question the motives of why Cindy protests against this stupid war, nor would I question her motives if she supported it. She has paid a price that 2342 other families have also paid, and all of these families deserve our utmost respect. So, I support her cause with my sign, and I volunteer to play Taps at military funerals, and I send care packages to Iraq, and I give money to the USO. I'd venture a guess that most of the folks who hate Cindy Sheehan haven't sacrificed anything more than a few bucks for those stupid yellow ribbon magnets.

Thank you Cindy, and thank you to that lady on the Taconic!

A great quote about patriotism...

"My country, right or wrong' is a thing no patriot would ever think of saying except in a desperate case. It is like saying 'My mother, drunk or sober."
-Gilbert K. Chesterton


If anybody needs to have it explained, let me know. (You'd probably be one of those "right or wrong" types if you DID need it explained...)