Studs Terkel....."Curiosity didn't kill this Cat!"

So farewell then Studs....

When I first came to this country, I was in Borders & there in the discounted books, I discovered a gem...."Will the circle be unbroken...".

In summary, it was a reflective work. Studs doing what he did so best & so effortlessly- putting ordinary Americans at ease & acquiring their lifetime of insight on the topic in hand...this particular topic was on life, death & faith...as we get older we tend to focus on our destiny & ultimate journey.

It was a comment on American Society of that snapshot in time then that such a book be discarded & ignored so easily , to be put in the “marked down” section so soon after publication.

The humanity of Terkel's prose & his ability to let the true America speak....softly, quietly in these pages....away from all the chattering classes & masses, the talk-radio clan - the diatribes, the wingnuts of either side - made me realize and thankful for this country that I am honored to be a resident.

As I began to voraciously read this & his other "tomes"...the Pulitzer prize winner "The Good War", "Hope dies last", "American Dreams", "Working" , "Hard Times"...among others, I found one, "Coming of Age" to be his unbidden masterwork...it was reflections on the 20th century by those who had lived it...It's still a work that I read from time to time...simply for grounding myself & realizing how fortunate we are for the previous generations' toil, effort and sacrifice before us.

We were out (the better half & I) last night - It was our anniversary. On the radio, it was announced that Studs had passed to that "big rally in the sky". As we got out of the car, I said to my wife...how ironic that he should go just before the election on Tuesday to see a son of an immigrant, a community activist from his own town of Chicago be on the ballot of President of the United States. As I said this, I felt a chill , not a chill of cold or some eerie Halloween phenomenon but a shiver no a tremor of emotion on the whole import of the moment of his passing in such a time in our history.

The fact that the candidate is of African heritage would be a celebration of all that Studs believed & espoused about this wonderful, wonderful country. Studs was a light to me & countless others in some dark times...now that he is gone, it's time to pick up his torch & lead on. Studs Terkel was a true American superhero.

Leading is not some ego filled pastime but simply to do good in your life & the lives of others. It's time for our generation to do the same as previous ones and work for our kids & grandkids. Ensure that they have worthwhile lives too!

To those of you reading this, read Stud's work, read it & be filled with hope..the hope that good always wins out in the end.

http://dlv1.matrix.msu.edu:8080/ramgen/terkel/a0/a1/terkel-a0a1i9-b.rm
This is a clip from interviews he did on a train ride to Washington DC for a civil rights march. 54 weeks before I came into the world...a fitting finale before next Tuesday.

The Confessor

The Shoah revisited.

The methodical extermination of Europe's Jews by the Nazis is well documented. Such documentation is crucial to show the depraved depths to which humankind can sink to.What is not so well known is the methodical killing of 1.5 million men, women & children in the Ukraine during WW2. The Ukraine has an unsavoury role in this part of World history supplying whole regiments of soldiers and prison guards, both men & women to the "Final Solution".

A remarkable French priest, Fr. Patrick Desbois (pictured left*) records the details from those Ukrainians who as children & teens witnessed horrors that should never have been seen by such young eyes let alone have been allowed to have happen in the first place by supposed "Human Beings". Fr. Desbois is profiled in this weekend's New York Times, It is an amazing work of journalism. The link is here,

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/06/world/europe/06priest.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

Ukraine is predominantly Orthodox but has a substantial Uniate Catholic population. This faith submits to Rome though sharing some traditions with the Byzantine Rite. The role therefore of Fr. Debois is understandable and remarkable.

Desbois' role of confessor (& critically) not of that as an accuser allows souls to confess some 60 years after their participation, willing or unwilling in crimes so heinous - they defy description. These confessions, I am sure may aid the penitent in the process of seeking some type of absolution if not peace before they leave this world and face the next. This in turn allows Desbois to chronicle past, forgotten crimes against humanity in an up to now hidden part of history.

Desbois states in the article of his role, "I have to use simple words and listen to these horrors — without any judgment. I cannot react to the horrors that pour out. If I react, the stories will stop."

The cry from all regarding the Shoah or the Holocaust is "Never Forget!".

The images in years past from Bosnia, Rwanda and nowadays Darfur however seem to suggest regrettably that we have.

* pic courtesy of Antoine Antoniol for The New York Times

Setanta & "The Daily Red"

For those that got the service last year because it had Chelsea TV & games, Setanta TV became "Satanta" as it was very unreliable in it's scheduling however it has dramatically improved in service and dare I say it is a much better offering than Fox Sports World.

The Guardian or "The Daily Red"as I call it has a decent article on it here;

http://sport.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1974142,00.html

Setanta's site is here: www.setanta.com

Back home my papers of choice were The Irish Times, the Guardian -whenever in the UK & the Sunday Times (great writing by their Insight team & their sport's columnists).

The Guardian pissed me off no end though a couple of years ago when it instigated it's readers to ring Ohio Voters and urged them to vote Democrat, a very misguided if not alarmingly naive attempt to swing an election. It had the opposite effect, causing a great outcry locally and galvanising the local GOP. Not that it ensured the re-election of "W", I believe Mr. Kerry's charisma ensured that just as much as special issues placed on local ballots.

The Guardian's patronising attitude to America & it's outright hostility to my favourite footy team make it a paper easy enough to ignore but not quite yet..old friends should not be so easily discarded.

To paraphrase the Godfather "Keep your friends close but your enemies closer"

I rather like this poster which happens to be situated on the way in from Heathrow airport,

It appears that the Adidas tie up is working quite nicely!

Deadbeat poetry contest winner 2001

A sort of Irish peace . . .

Beyond the mute TV Screens
Beyond the limp handshakes
Beyond the forced hilarity
Of false bonhomie
And goodwill to all men
through gritted teeth
Beyond the bland smiles
and empty posturing of graceless politicos
lies a peace process
that took two score more years
and then some to discuss
the blood of three thousand martyrs
cries out the grave
"We died for this peace
-- Make it work!"

5 years ago I entered this “masterpiece” in the local Citybeat…jayze, didn’t they put it in the paper as a winner despite some whining from them about people not putting in as much as the year before.

Well 5 years on and I am still awaiting my prize/s , We’ve had 911, the war on terror, war in Afghanistan, war in Iraq, the Muppets join Disney, Chelsea win their first league Championship in 50 years, I become a dad!...and still no prize!

No wonder people weren’t bothered sending in stuff…they never got anything back!

That is why I refer to Citybeat amongst polite company as Deadbeat!

http://citybeat.com/2001-06-28/cover9.shtml

Hackwatch

The Da Vinci code & other hackworks….

What is all this hoopla about this bloody book? It is fiction, folks, fiction…and people get their knickers in a knot about it?…Whoever is the PR person at Random House - He/She should get pr award of the decade!

There is an Industry spawned on this book and one can only laugh, throw a dog a bone, I guess and he’ll gnaw away!

It almost reminds me of James Joyce and some of the assorted glitterati that follow him, trying to make head & tail out of “Ulysses” not to mention “Finnegan’s Wake”. I have tried to understand these Joycean scholars & their constant theorizing on Leopold Bloom but I simply don’t get it, maybe I am simply not an intellectual…or maybe is it that I feel like the child in that fable of “The Emperor’s New Clothes” when surrounded by these “Arsigans”. It's almost like being a Chelsea supporter or getting lost in the turmoils of a writer like Brendan Behan!

I enjoy Joyce but then again I enjoy Enid Blyton too!

The man was ahead of his time, pushed out the boundaries of writing and in so doing, brought reflected glory to his countrymen - reinforcing the view of the Emerald Isle as a place of “Saints & Scholars”. It’s a pity in those days that the saints ran the scholars out of the country! More’s the pity that Mr. Joyce eked out a living at the end of his days thanks to their fascism.

A decent man called Philip Thompson organizes a “Bloomsday” on or around June 16th in Jack Quinn’s Alehouse in Covington. The following is an article with Mr. T who explains his passion to Citybeat (a great paper for lagging btw!).

http://www.citybeat.com/2001-06-14/art.shtml