Fish out of Water

“I’m a fish now out of water
Falling off a giant bird that’s been carrying me.”
“Separator,” Radiohead

Sang along with Foghat on the way to school after packing a baloney sandwich, veggies, chips, and cookies for lunch. George Bodmer teased me that the Jay’s and vanilla Oreos were in the same baggie but praised the colorful vegetable selection – radishes, sweet pickles, carrots, and celery.

Missy Brush wants help naming four chicks. I suggested Jaybo or a Japanese name because she is into Japanese game shows, which she watches on the Internet. One possibility is Yoshimi, from the Flaming Lips song “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.” It could be called Yosh for short. A friend suggested Crispy, adding “LOL.”

Conservative think tanks and Republican party officials are harassing liberal university professors by seeking emails sent out on their departmental computers under various state Freedom of Information Acts. Among those targeted is Wisconsin professor William Cronon and Labor Studies professors in Michigan. In a NY Times op ed piece Cronon had called for an investigation of Governor Scott Walker’s anti-union campaign and stated that his conduct “has provoked a level of hostility the likes of which have not been seen in this state since at least the Vietnam War.” Defending Cronon, columnist Paul Krugman wrote: “The Cronon affair, then, is one more indicator of just how reflexively vindictive, how un-American, one of our two great political parties has become.”

During a library fire drill the building emptied out in less than two minutes. I chatted with Chancellor Lowe and Librarian Tim Sutherland while we waited for police to make sure the building was empty. All but two of Gary’s library branches are closing due to budget cut, including the main one downtown. Steve McShane and Tim Sutherland are working on making sure items in the Indiana Room are preserved, offering space hear. Both of them had yellow outfits on during the drill.

I congratulated Dave Goldfield on the excellent reviews for “America Aflame.” I was best man at one of his weddings, and we were softball teammates in grad school for the Wobblies. He teaches at UNC Charlotte and I thought it interesting that in Obama's Libyan speech he mentioned that Benghazi was the size of Charlotte. Twenty years ago someone mentioning Charlotte would have added "North Carolina." Now Charlotte has a larger population than Detroit, Baltimore, Boston, Seattle or Denver. I've never been to Charlotte - one of these days. David has been there almost 30 years during which time, as I told him, “Michael Jordon has gone from a skinny kid to a Tar Heel star, a Chicago icon and now a Bobcats owner. Even Walter LaFeber wrote a book about him.”

Bowled a 200 game and 530 series as the Engineers won two points and I took home the five dollars for highest over average. After an opposition bowler made no reply to my compliment, his teammate explained that he had ear plugs and couldn’t hear me because he was listening to music. Home in time for more Letterman jokes about Gadhafi and musical guests Willie Nelson, Wynton Marsalis and Nora Jones, who have collaborated on a Ray Charles tribute album.

He Gone!

The latest Sports Illustrated has L.A. Laker Kobe Bryant celebrating his fifth NBA title (just one less than Michael Jordan) on the cover. There’s a story about a tiny “Cinderella” baseball team from Illinois, the Macon Hawks, that reached the 1971 state tournament championship, along the way defeating schools with 20 times the enrollment. Their coach was a hippie type who used unorthodox motivation methods, including playing the “Jesus Christ Superstar” soundtrack during warm-ups. In the state final inning the Hawks were losing 4-2 with one out and a man on second. The next batter hit a line drive and the centerfielder threw out the base runner at the plate. The coach, of course, should have held the runner on third since it was not the tying run, but in the excitement of the moment goofed.

The latest Rolling Stone issue, with Lady Gaga on the cover, contained a sensational article about General Stanley McChrystal, in charge of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. It contained critical comments from he and his staff about President Obama and his inner circle. Obama ordered him to the White House and accepted his resignation. As Chicago White Sox announcer “Hawk” Harrelson exclaims when an opposing team’s batter strikes out, “He gone!” Obama replaced McChrystal in a seemingly brilliant stroke with General David Petraeus, credited with turning the Iraq quagmire around. The downside is that the President seems to be backing away from his pledge to start withdrawing from Afghanistan within 12 months. Could we be so stupid, in the face of Vietnam and the Soviet fiasco in Afghanistan, to think we can nation-build?

Tom and Darcey hosted a summer Game weekend at their new Chesterton home. I arrived shortly after five to find Jef Halberstadt and Evan, Patti and son Aaron engaged in games with Tom and Brady, so I had an Italian beef sandwich with yummy potato salad (a darcey specialty), chatted with Darcey, and checked out how she plays Scrabble on-line. Darcey joined us for two games of Wits and Wagers (she is the undisputed champ), and I finished second in two other games before leaving shortly before midnight. Son Dave, who came late, stayed till four a.m., he later told me. Had so many other social events not been taking place, I’d have been there all weekend.

Toni and I went shopping and she worked putting the condo basement in shape while I watched the United States lose a World Cup match to Ghana in overtime. In the afternoon we went to a high school graduation party for Melissa “Missy” Brush, who plans to study to be a veterinarian’s assistant. Why not be a veterinarian, I suggested, but that’s expensive. We gave her money plus MGMT’s CD “Congratulations.” Before his untimely death Missy’s dad Tim was the heart and soul of Voodoo Chili, and Missy sometimes sang a few numbers with the band. At bars Dave would introduce her by claiming it was her twenty-first birthday. If the places didn’t serve food in a special section, she wasn’t supposed to be there.

In three performances over the weekend James played two parts in the play “What a Knight,” a musical comedy put on by M and M Productions in Hobart. As Earl Axminister in King Arthur’s court, he wore a curly wig. He was great, and 15 of his fans, including the Michiganders, were in attendance. Afterwards, we went to the Great Wall Buffet in Portage and chowed down on Chinese food - all we could eat for nine bucks each for adults and half price for kids. Needless to say, we got more than our money’s worth.

West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd passed away at age 92, having been elected to an unprecedented ninth term. A towering figure, he was “the king of pork” when it came to funding projects in his home state. In 2003 he was almost alone in blasting the Bush administration for invading a country without just cause. At lunch
George Bodmer mentioned writing him a note thanking him for his opposition to the act of American aggression. My friend Ray Smock, formerly historian of the House of Representatives, is director of the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. I expect to receive an eloquent email from Ray on Byrd in the near future.