A Day at the Getty

Barbara and I spent Sunday afternoon at the Getty Museum here in LA. We arrived early (which I highly recommend) and toured four featured exhibits: “Gustav Klimt: The Magic of Line”, “Heaven, Hell, and Dying Well: Images of Death in the Middle Ages”, “Drama and Devotion: Heemskerck's "Ecce Homo" Altarpiece from Warsaw” (I proudly explained the definition of triptych—a three-part panel painting with a central scene flanked by two hinged wings that fold shut; the interior scenes were visible on important liturgical feast days, when the altarpiece was opened, doubling in size and magnificence), and the most enjoyable exhibit – “Herb Ritts, LA Style” – which we thoroughly enjoyed.

We loved the view and architecture of the Getty but the restaurant had a 30+ minute wait, so we opted for the café which was like eating at the airport: limited choices all overpriced.

The Central Garden is the unexpected treat at the Getty. The Central Garden, created by renowned artist Robert Irwin, lies at the heart of the Getty Center. The 134,000-square-foot design features a natural ravine and tree-lined walkway that leads the visitor through an extraordinary experience of sights, sounds, and scents. You’ll have to visit the Garden to fully appreciate the experience. 

The Museum is free, but parking is $15. Arrive early, otherwise parking may be limited and the wait for the tram will remind you of Disney.




Dionysius the Areopagite Converting the Pagan Philosophers, 1570 Artist: Antoine Caron, French, 1521-1599
Oil on panel
When Saint Paul was in Athens preaching on the hill of the Areopagus., Dionysius heard him speak and became a Christian. The artist depicted Dionysius converting pagan philosophers in Athens, telling them of his vision of the eclipse of the sun that occurred at Christ’s Crucifixion.

Female Figure (Possibly Venus), 1571-73 Artist: Giambologna, Flemish, active in Italy, 1529-1608
Marble
Bathing as she sits on a low column, this woman may represent Venus (Roman goddess of live). Typical of Giambologna’s work, the figure is conceived in an elegant spiraling pose, inviting the viewer to see the sculpture from multiple angles. Smooth expanses of marble flesh contract with the detailed depiction of the wavy and braided hair, an armband, and crumpled drapery.

 

Adolf Hitler, Nuremberg, September 1934
Artist: Paul Wolff, German, 1887-1952
Gelatin silver print
By the time this photograph of Hitler (1889-1945) was made, he had become the absolute dictator of Germany. Like Napoleon I and Benito Mussolini, Hitler understood the power of appearances to help shape his political destiny. In 1943 he stated, “Imagine me going around with a potbelly? It would mean political ruin.” This over the shoulder snapshot by Wolff is particularly effective in conveying the raw power of Hitler’s menacing stare.



Portrait of Marilyn Monroe as Chairman Mao, 1952
Artist: Philippe Halsman, American, 1906-1989. Salvador Dali, Spanish, 1904-1989
Gelatin silver print collage
What would you get if you crossed Chairman Mao Zedong (1893-1976), the leader of Communist China, with Marilyn Monroe (1936-1962), the American movie star and sex symbol? The idea for such a portrait was hatched by the Surrealist painter Salvador Dali and adroitly executed by Halsman. The clash of Eastern and Western cultural icons is both humorous and unsettling. Dali used Halsman’s image when he was invited to create cover art for Vogue magazine in 1972.

Jazz – Billie Holiday, 1954 Artist: Lisette Model, American, 1901-1983
Gelatin silver print
A jazz legend, Billie Holiday (1915-1959) had battled addiction, abuse, and racism when this photograph was taken. In 1952 Model embarked on a long-term book project about jazz musicians. Though the book was never realized, she photographed Holiday multiple times with the project in mind. Shown here silhouetted and positioned at the microphone, Holiday appears poised and contemplative in spite of the misfortunes and health issues that plagued her at the time.



Prince Edward and Mrs. Simpson, 1934
Artist: Vincenzo Laviosa, Italian, 1889-1935
Gelatin silver print
Opposed by the monarch and condemned by the Church of England, the affair between Prince Edward (1894-1972) and American divorcee Wallis Simpson (1896-1986) scandalized Britain in the 1930s. This portrait shows the couple before Edward’s brief reign as King Edward VIII. Edward abdicated his throne in 1936 to marry Simpson, and they assumed the titles Duke and Duchess of Windsor. In this portrait, their faces express the determination that would facilitate their unorthodox decision.

Joe Louis – “The Brown Bomber”, February 1935
Artist: Coy Watson, Jr., American, 1912-2009
Gelatin silver print
Covering news and events in Los Angeles, photographer Watson captured boxer Joe Louis (1914-1981) training at Main Street Gym for a fight with Lee Ramage. Louis won the fight by TKO (technical knockout) in two rounds. Two years later, Louis became the world heavyweight champion, a title he held until 1949, longer than any boxer in history. Louis was among the first African American athletes to be considered a national hero.

Boiled-in-the-Husk Corn on the Cob

"Straight from the garden, corn is so close to perfection that I don’t do much more than just buff up what’s already there,” Scott Peacock says. One simple way to “buff up” fresh corn, is including boiling it in the husks, a technique that protects the just-picked flavor. Boiling in the husks keeps the flavor in the kernels and protects the corn from overcooking. Serving the ears still in the husks adds a little bit of drama to the meal, too.

30 min Prep, 10 min Cook

1. Prepare Flavored Butter. Peel husks from tip of each cob to base, but do not detach from the cob. Remove and discard any damaged or discolored outer husks. Thoroughly remove all silks from each ear of corn (a nubby kitchen towel rubbed briskly between rows of kernels makes easy work of this). Pull husks back up over the corn and tie ends with strips of husks or 100% kitchen string.


2. In large kettle, bring 6 quarts water to boiling and add 3 Tbsp. kosher salt. Add corn. Cook 10 minutes. Using tongs, remove corn and let drain briefly. Serve with Flavored Butter.


Flavored Butter – In small bowl stir together 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened, ½ tsp. sea salt or kosher salt, 2 tsp. crushed Aleppo pepper, and 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper. Cover and allow to stand at room temperature 3 hours to allow flavors to meld or refrigerate up to 24 hours. Bring to room temperature before serving. Scott prefers Maldon sea salt, which is available at specialty food and grocery stores, or online at kingarthurflour.com

Outstanding Soprano – MICHELLE JOHNSON

Outstanding Soprano – MICHELLE JOHNSON
Glimmerglass Festival: Aida

Michelle Johnson's impressive lirico-spinto voice is most familiar to those operagoers who frequent the competition circuit: in 2011 alone, Johnson was a top prizewinner in the William Matheus Sullivan Foundation, Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. But she's about to step out in a highly exposed way. This July and August, she takes on the title role of Aida in a new production at the Glimmerglass Festival, staged by Glimmerglass's artistic and general director, Francesca Zambello.

At Glimmerglass, Johnson will become the latest in a long line of gifted African-American sopranos to sing Verdi's Ethiopian princess. Clearly, Zambello doesn't want this to be just another generic Aida: an African-American tenor, Noah Stewart, has been cast as Radames, and on the podium is someone who should be well equipped to capture Verdi's "Egyptian" sound Nader Abbassi, artistic director and principal conductor of Cairo Opera.

Zambello heard Johnson singing "Dove sono" in the finals of the National Council Auditions and offered her Aida. The Glimmerglass performances will come just after she winds up her fourth and final year at Philadelphia's Academy of Vocal Arts, where she studies with William Stone. "I thought about it for a couple of months," says Johnson. "1 went out and bought a score and started to pay attention to what was going on. I started off with 'Ritorna vincitor' and got that into my body, and then 1 went to the father-daughter duet. I had to take the time to say, 'Michelle ... are you ready?' No pressure was put on me. I felt that I could say no. I went to my coaches at AVA and my voice teacher, and they all said, 'You're smart. You know what you can handle. If you take your time, we believe that you can do this.' It's not going to be a cakewalk by any means."

Now twenty-nine, Johnson is accustomed to challenges and points out that although the competition circuit may seem far removed from the real world, it really isn't. "It gets tougher as it goes on," she says. "My name is sort of a familiar name in the competition world, so there's always a greater expectation, and it gets more nerve-wracking as you go." She credits the faculty at AVA with helping her become a far more consistent performer, and to develop her middle voice. She wants to keep building her repertoire sensibly and hopes to avoid the trap that has ensnared many other black sopranos. "I hope to not be stuck in Aida. I would like to open the door, do this, let it simmer awhile, and then jump back into it. I don't want to sing this Aida and then sing ten more after this."

by Brian Kellow
Opera News, June 2012

Outstanding Soprano – ELIZABETH FUTRAL

Outstanding Soprano – ELIZABETH FUTRAL
Lincoln Center Festival: Emilie

When you first hear Elizabeth Futral's laugh, you may be fooled by its tripping lightness into thinking she's not really the serious sort. But this summer she'll be portraying a seriously brainy heroine - the eighteenth-century mathematician and physicist Emilie de Breteuil, Marquise du Chatelet, better known in history books as the longtime mistress of Voltaire. For Kaija Saariaho's seventy-five-minute one-woman opera Emilie, with a libretto by longtime Saariaho collaborator Amin Maalouf, Futral will be reprising a role she first sang at Spoleto Festival USA in 2011.

"She is a fantastic woman, it seems to me, but she is also a great character to play," says Futral. "The whole Voltaire relationship was a very important part of her life, and for a long time I think that was what people remembered her for, unfortunately. Gradually people started recognizing her writings and her brain and her contributions to math and science and philosophy, too." Among other accomplishments, Emilie (1706-49) translated and wrote the commentary to Isaac Newton's Principia Mathematica, published posthumously in 1759 - still the standard French-language version of that work.

Emilie is broken up into nine movements in the form of the tide character's letters to Voltaire and to Jean Francois de Saint-Lambert, by whom she is pregnant. At forty-two, Emilie is filled with foreboding that she will die giving birth to her daughter. One of the movements ("Enfant"), directed to her unborn child, is a favorite scene for Futral. "The text is really poignant, because she's telling the child that you have to stand up for yourself, and you're a woman, and it's going to be difficult for you, but you've got to believe in what you believe, and don't let anyone tell you that you can't do something - all the struggles that she had had being a woman in her time. It's an interesting reflection on herself, but it's also this tender moment."

Lincoln Center Festival will use the same Marianne Weems production from the Spoleto performances, which Futral describes as "brilliant, with all these geometrically shaped screens hanging down, on which she projected still and moving images, sometimes mathematical equations Emilie was working on. Gradually, as I walked across the stage, there were live candles, and the flame was flickering on the screen as I walked past, giving the idea of a time when there was no electricity." At the end, Emilie heads for the abyss, and there is an "amazing wash of color and fire" as she sings about one of her "big theories about how fire acted and reacted," says Futral. "It looks like she is walking into a wall of fire."

Futral says the challenges of Emilie - being onstage alone for well over an hour in a wide-ranging, musically difficult and dramatic part - are "huge, just staying in the piece and staying focused." But, she says, "In the end it is the most fulfilling and electrifying part I've ever done."

by Jennifer Melick
Opera News, June 2012

Outstanding Soprano - MEASHA BRUEGGERGOSMAN

Outstanding Soprano - MEASHA BRUEGGERGOSMAN
Cincinnati Opera: Porgy and Bess

Measha Brueggergosman seems incapable of mincing words. She doesn't do it when alternating the tricky sung and spoken lines of Luciano Berio's frenetic, hyper-allusive multilingual operatic mashup, Recital I (for Cathy), which the soprano has made something of a calling card. Nor does she do it when charting about the nearly 160 pounds she lost several years ago through a combination of gastric bypass surgery and an obsession with Bikram yoga. In conversation, she will jokingly refer to the aortic dissection that very nearly killed her in June 2009, at the age of just thirty-one, as nothing less than the "worst weight-loss program ever." And before an interviewer can even work up the courage or justification for asking, Brueggergosman will casually mention the yearlong separation she underwent from her husband, whom she first met in high school, as well as the painful miscarriage of their twins that has kept her off the stage of late. "If I ever write a memoir," she laughs, "it'll be called This Isn't What I Thought Would Happen." There are open books, and then there's Measha Brueggergosman's disarming candor is just one indication of why the Canadian soprano, who this month makes her return to the opera stage as Bess in Cincinnati Opera's Porgy and Bess, has become a certifiable mainstream celebrity on her native soil as well as perhaps the most engaging, amiable ambassador the spheres of classical voice and opera have seen since Beverly Sills. Brueggergosman's instrument - a gleaming, vernal lyric soprano with an appealing duskiness around its edges and an adaptable vibrato - is a thing of uncommon beauty, seemingly as suited to Mozart's Elertra or Vitellia as to the lyrisme of Satie, the Expressionist flair of a Schoenberg song or the chatty quirkiness of a Bolcom cabaret number. And while the primary focus of her classical career, up to this point, has been high-profile concert and recital performances with top-tier symphony orchestras and ensembles, Brueggergosman's relatively limited involvement with staged opera - which has included roles such as Jenny in Madrid performances of Mahagonny, Sister Rose in Houston Grand Opera's Dead Man Walking and Madame Lidoine in a Vancouver Opera Carmelites - has confirmed her as an engaged singing actress of vivid nobility. Yet it's a sign of just how engrossing, even obsessive a communicator she is that the soprano's professional opportunities have extended beyond the concert and opera stage to different styles and venues, including cabaret gigs in Maritimes pubs, the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver Winter Olympics in February 2010 - where she performed the Olympic Hymn to a broadcast audience of more than a billion people - and stints on Canadian reality-TV shows such as Canada's Got Talent, where she presides as a judge.

For Brueggergosman, who began taking voice lessons when she was just seven years old, the multiple facets of her dizzying career aren't so much dissimilar as they are outlets for expression along the continuum of her own interests. ''I'm very respectful of what I think is the evaporating line between who we are as classical artists - and what our industry has traditionally expected of its artists - and the actual world, who, given the chance, given the opportunity or an overture, would absolutely be super on fire for classical music," she remarked last February while chatting by phone from her home in Ottawa during a break in filming for Canada's Got Talent. "We have this growing generation, and it is undeniable that we're influenced by many things, many media outlets besides the classical-music ones. It can just sometimes be very difficult to find an inroad, to approach it with the understanding that this music is for everyone. So we lead by example. People will come to this genre of music if they're given a sense of being welcome."

This month, on the day she turns thirty-five, Brueggergosman will give audiences another inroad when she performs her first Bess in Cincinnati Opera's production of Porgy and Bess. (In September, she'll reprise the role in concert performances with Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker.) Diane Paulus's recent Broadway production of Gershwin's opera revived longstanding questions about whether the inhabitants of Catfish Row amount to living, breathing American archetypes or demeaning racial caricatures concocted by a white southerner and two Jewish brothers from New York. Brueggergosman - perhaps, as a proud Canadian, unencumbered by the weight of America's history of race relations - isn't having any of it. "Well, who cares?" she says, when asked about the work's perceived baggage. "I mean, that's like the conversation you have in the restaurant after the show. I understand why one would ask the question. It's kind of like the whole debate that arose out of The Help, for instance - 'Why isn't this story being told by a black person?' But obviously, from my perspective, I don't care. I think that the music is so strong, and the story - whether [the creators]were black or not – is absolutely essential. And that's not even speaking of the quintessential American soundscape and the innovation and orchestration. I think it's not to downplay a question that should be raised, but we don't ask the same thing with Jenuft. We don't ask the same thing of The Rape of Lucretia. It's like, I'm not going to apply a standard to Porgy and Bess that I don't apply to other repertoire. That just cheapens the work."

If Brueggergosman holds Porgy and Bess in particularly high esteem, she's certainly had time to consider why. Her first onstage assumption of the title role was initially slated for the 2009 Styriarte Festival in Graz, where she would have performed it under the baton of Nikolaus Harnoncourt - "had my aorta not exploded," she laughs. Following nearly a year of recuperation and the subsequent separation and reconciliation with her husband, Brueggergosman opted to clear much of her performance schedule with the intention of starting a family. It somehow seems appropriate, she says, that her first appearance back on the opera stage following her recent challenges will be as Bess. "It's a real blessing for me. This work I know has had a real significance in my life. And of course, I resisted for a long time. I resisted it because I didn't want to be that black soprano singing all the black repertoire all the black time," Brueggergosman says. ''I'm often offered the role of Serena or Bess, because it's essentially the same voice type. But Bess gets to sing, 'Oh, what you want with Bess? She's getting old now.' That line - when I was reading the libretto, I was like, 'I wonder how that's set.' So I went into the score, and that solidified it for me, because that whole scene is the essence of Bess. That struggle - it is so operatic. It's so human. Just as she's getting on her feet, just as she starts to believe in happiness and just as she's reintegrated into the community.... It's heartbreaking. But that's opera. I mean, if it doesn't break your heart, I'm kind of not interested."

Another thing that doesn't interest Brueggergosman – perhaps surprisingly for a classical vocalist who has cultivated such inroads into the popular culture - is what she perceives as the frivolous indecency behind many modern opera productions mounted today. ''I'm a woman of faith. I'm a Christian," says Brueggergosman, whose father and brother are both Baptist pastors. "There are probably operas out there that would make me uncomfortable. If my parents can't come see it, franky, I can't really be a part of it. I'm not against trying something new, but there's just something about the gratuitousness of the novelty of just trying something for trying's sake - that is boring." Mahagonny’s Jenny, on the other hand, which she performed in a striking Fura dels Baus production at the Teatro Real during the fall of 2010, allowed her to "work out a lot of demons," she jokes. The staging, which literally set the city of Mahagonny on top of a garbage heap and had the soprano's Jenny wearing lingerie over a skin-tight body stocking, was "such a fantastic exploration. Jenny is just this horrible, horrible woman - I mean, absolutely manipulative and selfish and egotistical and all of the things I fight against in my own personality. And I got to do an aria on a stripper pole. What?! Totally in my bucket list! The parents did not come and see that."

Brueggergosman says that opera in the U.S. will likely become increasingly important to her career as she and her husband look to start a family and mitigate travel. But there's no indication that she intends to approach the next chapters in her art or her life with any measure of complacency or routine. "It's very much a work in progress, and with some things, there's been a bow on them, and then you move on," she says of her career. "When you start singing at seven with the intention of becoming an opera singer, once you get to twenty-six years later, you are looking for things to do that will round that out. There's no shortage of classical music, but I think it's a testament to this incredible repertoire that after twenty-six years it's still so rich and bottomless, you know? I feel older in this job than the majority of my colleagues just because I started so early. But I am still in it to win it. I quite enjoy it."

by Adam Wasserman
Opera News, June 2012

Black and Blue

The bruised hilarity of “Louie”

by Emily NussbaumTo his fans, Louis C.K. is more than just an artist. He is Lenny Bruce, he is Bob Dylan-the performer who serves the truth raw, not cooked. It's a reputation that could rankle, if the man didn't pretty much deserve it. If you're not familiar with him, Louis C.K. (short for Szekely) is the country's best standup. With a radical level of productivity (he generates an hour of new material per year, then discards it), Louis has built a confessional act that covers the birth of his kids, his divorce, and his rancorous arrival into middle age-with the odd political leap, like the time he peppered Donald Rumsfeld with questions about whether he and Dick Cheney are "lizards from outer space who eat human flesh."

In 2010, Louis C.K. created the sitcom "Louie" for FX, the show that transformed him-at least for those of us in the church of the sitcom-into a modern saint. It wasn't his first time on television, but over the years he'd become fed up with the sour collaboration of sitcom and late-night-show writers' rooms. In 2006, he created and starred in HBO's "Lucky Louie," a bleak deconstruction of "The Honeymooners," which won praise from critics but was cancelled after one season.

That show led to "Louie," the stripped down half hour he occupies on FX. The channel gave him an unheard-of deal: a tiny budget in exchange for total control, to the point that Louis doesn't even get notes from network executives. For the first two seasons, Louis wrote, directed, edited, and starred in every episode, and was also the music director. The result was a series that, despite its small audience, has had a broad influence, upending notions of what a sitcom can be. (Among other things, it helped inspire Lena Dunham's "Girls.") Like his standup act, Louis's sitcom is melancholic, profane, and hilarious, shifting in tone from week to week. Scored to jazz, the show can be lushly cinematic (Louis's roots are in independent film), then loose and skitlike. There are slow passages, and sequences that lean too hard on self-pity, but there are many more moments of crazy transcendence, plus a fart joke or two. "Louie" takes risks rare for television, including the risk of not being perfect.

Season 1 was good; Season 2 was better. Louis plays a lo-fi version of himself, spending his days drifting through New York, brooding, bingeing on ice cream, slumping in wintry playgrounds, like Charlie Brown with a buried temper. As Season 3 begins, he has begun dating, his daughters are older, and he has some money (enough to buy a motorcycle). But the biggest change has taken place offscreen: Louis hired as editor Susan E. Morse, who has worked for Woody Allen. As impressive as the solo-built TV model is, it's exhausting to maintain-and, perhaps for this reason, the third season of "Louie" is a revelation. It's so good I’m afraid to praise it too highly, for fear you'll be let down.

The new episodes start well, then keep improving, with narrative clarity and a fresh visual beauty. The first one, which aired last Thursday, opened, as the episodes often do, with his standup act. It's a shaggy-dog routine that begins with Louie miming masturbation, then looking down to see that his penis is blurry: he needs reading glasses. Somehow this builds up to a riff about rich men buying new penises. 'I don't mean like a synthetic, kind of transvestite, kind of pink peapod, Frankenstein, grafted-off-your-leg dick," Louie says, laughing, controlling the audience like an orchestra. "I mean: some dead kid's dick. On your body. Like a happy ending to a sad story, on your body."

One scene later, we're in a Manhattan diner, where Louie has none of his onstage swagger: he's silent, repressed, and twitchy. (In the past, the show has sometimes been sentimental about Louie as sad sack, but the new episodes feel smarter and tougher about his state of mind.) Louie's dating April, a girlfriend we haven't met before, and in minutes their relationship dissolves, as she interprets his grimaces like a sooth-sayer. “What is this, a game of relationship charades?” she kvetches. I’ve seen sitcom breakups before, but the rhythms here are very different, helped by a great performance by Gaby Hoffman. There’s a brief shot from outside the window, with a rush of traffic that lets you into Louie’s head. The dialogue is alienating, to the point of discomfort, but funny. Then suddenly, as April actually starts to do this thing – to break up with herself – a guitar swells. Rhythms slow; she looks shocked. There’s a closeup of Louie’s thumb, pressed against an ice-cream spoon. When April leaves, Louie walks outside to fin his car getting crushed by a city vehicle, the hood crumpling under a metal arm – a stunt so obviously expensive for this low-budget series that I gasped. It also felt like a callback to a solid bit from Season 1, in which a water bottle tumbling from a high window crushed a different car.

Later, we get a glimpse of Louie’s ex-wife, Janet, something he had said might never happen. Last season, Louie’s sister described her as “that pasty, big-titted, black-eyed Guinea bitch,” but when she shows up she’s played by a black actress. The show has made playful gambits like this before, casting two actresses as Louie’s mother, adding a niece who was later deleted. The second episode burns into your brain, fuelled by a truly wild guest performance by Melissa Leo. The third episode, which is set in Miami, features a gorgeous, wordless sequence at dusk, as fat bald men like Louie gather to swim once the hard bodies have packed up for the night. That story edges toward something stranger: an affecting meditation on human intimacy.

The fourth episode is also terrific. And then comes the fifth, which is so good that I don’t even want to talk about it, which puts me in an odd position as a critic. (On Twitter, I said the episode was so good “it beat the previous episodes to death.”) So, you know, go watch it. Maybe you won’t like it as much as I did: it happens. I just want you to find it for yourself. We can come back and talk about it later.

New Yorker, July 9 & 16, 2012 issue, page 96.

Why do politicians reverse their positions?

by Ezra Klein

 This kind of thinking is, according to psychologists, unsurprising. Each of us can have firsthand knowledge ofjust a small number of topics-our jobs, our studies, our personal experiences. But as citizens-and as elected officials-we are routinely asked to make judgments on issues as diverse and as complex as the Iranian nuclear program, the environmental impact of an international oil pipeline, and the likely outcomes of branding China a "currency manipulator."

 According to the political-science literature, one ofthe key roles that political parties play is helping us navigate these decisions. In theory, we join parties because they share our values and our goals-values and goals that may have been passed on to us by the most important groups in our lives, such as our families and our communities-and so we trust that their policy judgments will match the ones we would come up with if we had unlimited time to study the issues. But parties, though based on a set of principles, aren't disinterested teachers in search of truth. They're organized groups looking to increase their power. Or, as the psychologists would put it, their reasoning may be motivated by something other than accuracy. And you can see the results among voters who pay the closest attention to the issues.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/06/25/120625fa_fact_klein

When Dealing With the Police

You Have The Right . . .

- to be in a public place and to observe police activity.

If The Police Stop Anyone . . .

-  STOP AND WATCH

-  Write down officers’ names, badge numbers, and car numbers.  Sometimes it can be difficult for a third party to get close enough to an officer to record their information without needlessly escalating the encounter.  OFFICERS CAN BE IDENTIFIED BY THE NUMBERS ON THEIR VEHICLES.

-  Record using your cell phone video camera, or write down the time, date, and place of the incident and all details as soon as possible.

-  Ask if the person is being arrested, and if so, on what charge.

-  Get eye witnesses’ name and contact information.

-  Document any injuries as soon as possible.

If The Police Stop You . . .

-  Ask, “AM I FREE TO GO?” If not, you are being detained.

-  Ask, “WHY ARE YOU DETAINING ME?”  To stop you, the officer must have a “reasonable suspicion” to suspect your involvement in a specific crime (not just a guess or a stereotype).

-  It is not a crime to be without ID.  If you are being detained or issued a ticket, you may want to show ID to the officer because they can take you to the station to verify your identity.

-  If an officer tries to search your car, your house, or your person, say repeatedly that you DO NOT CONSENT TO THE SEARCH.  If in a car, do not open your trunk or door – by doing so you consent to a search of your property and of yourself.  If at home, step outside and lock your door behind you so officers have no reason to enter your house.  Ask to see the warrant and check for proper address, judge’s signature, and what the warrant says the officers are searching for.  Everything must be correct in a legal warrant.  Otherwise, send the police away.

-  The office can do a “pat-search” (search the exterior of one’s clothing for weapons) during a detention for “officer safety reasons.”  They can’t go into your pockets ot bags without your consent.  If you are arrested, they can search your possessions in great detail.

-  DO NOT RESIST PHYSICALLY.  Use your words and keep your cool.  If officers violate your rights, don’t let them provoke you into striking back.  Wait until you are out of custody, then organize for justice.

-  Officers can arrest someone they believe is “interfering” with their actions.  Maintain a reasonable distance, and it officers threaten to arrest you, EXPLAIN THAT YOU DON’T INTEND TO INTERFERE, BUT YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO OBSERVE THEIR ACTIONS.

If The Police Arrest You . . .

-  You may be handcuffed, searched, photographed, and fingerprinted.

-  Say repeatedly, “I DON’T WANT TO TALK UNTIL MY LAWYER IS PRESENT.”

-  Even if your rights aren’t read, refuse to talk until your lawyer/public defender arrives.

-  Do not talk to inmates in jail about your case.

-  If you’re on probation/parole, tell your P.O. you’ve been arrested, but NOTHING ELSE.

REMEMBER you have legal rights – BE CAREFUL – BE STREET SMART

http://www.crimethinc.com/

Great Books for Entering Black Freshmen

What books should African-American freshmen be reading at the onset of their college careers?  Some of the nation's leading scholars offer their choices of recommended readings and why these books may have a profound effect on the lives of African-American students.  Reprinted from The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, No. 2 (Winter, 1993-1994), pp. 97-101

Many of us, reading a particular book at a particular time in life has had a dramatic and profound effect on our view of the world and our outlook for the future. This can be especially true for a young student entering college. It is a time when young people, many of whom are away from home for the first time, are bombarded with a massive array of new life experiences. It is a time when their inquisitive minds are open to vast new horizons of knowledge. College freshmen particularly are at an impressionable age, where new ideas are not rejected out of hand but tend to be given a fair hearing. Under these circumstances, certain books have the power to open one's eyes to an entirely new field of scholarly pursuit or to dramatically change our political, social, or religious views. The great works tend to steer us onto a new career path, or even alter the way we view ourselves and our world. For African-American freshman students, the beginning of the college experience can be a most exciting time. Yet it can also be a period when there is a great deal of apprehension. For black students who come from largely segregated public school systems to attend a predominantly white college or university, the adjustment can be something of a shock. Black students, who have attended predominantly white suburban high schools and have chosen to attend a historically black college or university, also make major intellectual adjustments. As they adapt to their new environment, what they read can be extremely important to their ultimate academic success and overall happiness. With this in mind, we asked a select group of scholars for a list of books they would recommend to entering black freshmen. The works of W.E.B. Du Bois, Richard Wright, and Toni Morrison were frequently mentioned. Some of the others may surprise you. Here are the replies we received:


Henry Louis Gates Jr., chair of the Afro-American Studies Department and WE.B. Du Bois Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University, offers a list of recent nonfiction books that incoming black freshmen could read with profit:


• Race Matters by Cornel West. Wide-ranging and penetrating analyses of black America's current crises, both cultural and political.
• In My Father's House by Kwame Anthony Appiah. What does it mean to be an African? What does it mean to be an African American? This book probes fundamental issues of identity, and provides the most incisive conceptual analysis of race and racism available.
• Slavery & Social Death by Orlando H. Patterson. A challenging, sophisticated book that explores the crucible of slavery and its legacies. A model of scholarship and comparative study.
• Invisibility Blues by Michele Wallace. A dazzling assortment of essays by the author of the best-selling Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman; it doesn't just assert the strengths of the black feminist movement, it displays them.
• Reflecting Black by Michael Eric Dyson. Just published, this collection by a young African-American cultural critic brings together reflections on popular culture with thoughtful inquiry into black intellectual debates.
• The Black Atlantic by Paul Gilroy. A rigorous consideration of the cultural meanings of Diaspoa, by one of the / leading figures of black British cultural studies.
• When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Sex and Race in America by Paula J. Giddings. Already a classic, this book stands as a powerful analysis of the race gender conundrum.

Rita Dove, Poet Laureate of the United States and Commonwealth Professor of English at the University of Virginia, recommends:


• The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois. If students have not read this book yet by the time they enter college, they should read it immediately. It is simply one of the most eloquent expressions of the trauma of discrimination in this country.
• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. From one of our early modem African-American feminists, Hurston's book is a must.
• Harlem Gallery by Melvin B. Tolson. A fantastic book length poem which delineates the dilemma of the black artist with humor, acumen, and dazzling linguistic pyrotechnics.
• Middle Passage by Charles R. Johnson. A hilarious, fictional romp through this grim period of African-American experience, this novel nevertheless is intensely moving.
• Omeros by Derek A. Walcott. The Nobel Laureate's masterpiece is an epic detailing the traumas of slavery from a contemporary. Caribbean perspective in a poem to rival Dante's Divine Comedy.
• The Bluest Eye, Sula, Song of Solomon, Beloved, and Loved all by Toni Morrison, our newest Nobel Laureate in literature, a must for all students.


Manning Marable, professor of history and political science and director of the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University, writes: I think that the best approach is not to craft some type of multicultural curriculum with a set of required works. Rather, students should be acquainted with what I could term "the black intellectual tradition" in the humanities and social sciences. That is, the various writings of key women and men whose ideas continue to challenge and to stimulate us. The critical works of the black intellectual tradition would include any of the following:


• The Souls of Black Folk and Black Reconstruction by W.E.B. Du Bois.
• Black Jacobins by C.L.R. James.
• Caste, Class and Race by Oliver Cromwell Cox.
• Native Son by Richard Wright.
• The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual by Harold Cruse.
• How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney.
• Wretched of the Earth and also Black Skins, White Masks by Frantz Fanon.
• Black Awakening in Capitalist America by Robert L. Allen.
• Sula and Beloved by Toni Morrison.
• The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin.
• From Margin to Center and Ain't I A Woman by Bell Hooks.
• Race Matters by Cornel West.
• Women, Race and Class by Angela Davis.
• The Truly Disadvantaged by William Julius Wilson.
• There is a River and Hope and History by Vincent Harding.


The approach which we must take is to permit young people to explore the full range of works of these and other significant African-American writers and black intellectuals throughout the world. We must apply the information to our own unique setting at the present time, making scholarship serve the conjunctural demands of the present.


Franklyn G. Lenifer, president of Howard University, offers a list of 19 books he would recommend to incoming black freshmen:


• Go Tell It On the Mountain, The Fire Next Time, and Stranger in the Village by James Baldwin.
• Bronzeville Boys and Girls and Children Coming Home by Gwendolyn Brooks.
• The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois.
• The Measure of Our Success by Marian Wright Edelman.
• Invisible Man by Ralph W. Ellison.
• Slave Narrative by Olaudah Equiano.
• When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Sex and Race in America by Paula J. Giddings.
• Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry.
• The Best of Simple by Langston Hughes.
• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.
• Blues People by Imamu Amiri Baraka.
• The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison.
• Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington.
• The Mis-Education of the Negro by Carter G. Woodson.
• Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley.
• Jubilee by Margaret Walker.
• Native Son by Richard Wright.
• Black Apollo: Biography of E.E. Just by Richard Manning.
• Blacks in Science: Ancient and Modern by Ivan Van Sertima.


Leonard A. Slade II, professor of Africana Studies at State University of New York at Albany, writes: The creative writers and literary critics candidly evaluate the interconnection and values of the American people and American dream. The authors of these masterpieces give us a slice of the American scene in all its indigenousness to the controversial and challenging past and present:


• Clotel by William Wells Brown.
• Walden and Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau.
• The Hope of Liberty by George Moses Horton.
• Invisible Man by Ralph W. Ellison.
• Native Son by Richard Wright.
• Beloved and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison.
• The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden by John Steinbeck.
• The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass.
• The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin.
• Selected Poems, by Langston Hughes.
• Middle Passage by Charles R. Johnson.
• Cane by Jean Toomer.
• Annie Allen by Gwendolyn Brooks.
• Grace Notes by Rita Dove.
• A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry.
• The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois.
• Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington.
• Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor.
• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
• Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe.
• The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane.
• Moby Dick by Herman Melville.
• Daisy Miller by Henry James.
• Brown Girl, Brownstones by Paule B. Marshall.
• The Man Who Cried I Am by John Williams.
• Why We Can't Wait by Martin Luther King Jr.
• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.
• Manchild in the Promised Land by Claude Brown.
• The Piano Lesson by August Wilson.
• The Sun Also Rises and The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway.
• As I Lay Dying and The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner.
• A Passage to India by E.M. Foerster.
• The Journey Back by Houston A. Baker Jr.
• A Southern Odyssey by John Hope Franklin.
• Signifying Monkey by Henry Louis Gates Jr.
• Black Writers of America by Richard K. Barksdale and Keneth Kinnamon.
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.
• The Color Purple by Alice M. Walker.
• History of Afro-American Literature by Blyden Jackson.
• From the Dark Tower by Arthur Davis.
• Playing in the Dark by Toni Morrison.
• Langston Hughes (biography) by Arnold Rampersad.
• Richard Wright (biography) by Margaret Walker.
• Praisesong of Survival by Richard K. Barksdale.


Sharon P. Holland is a member of Stanford University's English department. In formulating this list, Dr. Holland would have liked a forum to point out some of the problematics of literary canon formation. A "canonical" view of African-American literature, she contends, must consider blacks' political, spiritual, and sexual baggage.


• Essays and Speeches by Maria Stewart. The first black woman to speak to a mixed (male and female) audience about the need for the abolition of slavery - her speeches are filled with political metaphors which call for African-American women to rise up against the oppression of slavery, taking up arms if necessary.
• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Multivocal narrative exploring one black woman's quest for sexual and personal freedom in the 1920s.
• Native Son by Richard Wright. Analysis of the brutality of class and race relations in 1940 America. The story of a black man's struggle to achieve agency inside an institution whose doors are soldered shut.
• Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin. Brilliantly written story of the emotional struggle of a gay white man in France, circa 1950. A novel whose bare language of emotion makes it one of the best examples of the art form.
• Gemini by Nikki Giovanni. Essays written by one of black America's most renowned poets of the 1960s. Giovanni offers this book as a diary of life as a black poet through turbulent times in this nation's history.
• Meridian by Alice M. Walker. Set during the civil rights struggle, this novel captures the beauty and the contradiction inherent in any revolutionary struggle. Much of the tension of the novel occurs between African-American female and male protagonists, suggesting that our next hurdle as a people might revolve around gender issues.
• Zami by Audre G. Lorde. Lorde chronicles her own coming out story in what she calls a "biomythography," a blending of myth, her story, and fiction. This work is a powerful testament to one of the world's most renowned black lesbian poets and intellectuals.
• Sister Outsider by Audre G. Lorde. Lorde's second collection of political essays and speeches spanning over 10 years and focusing on subjects from the United States' invasion of Grenada to the contemporary women's movement.
• A Visitation of Spirits by Randall G. Kenan. Haunting portrayal of a gay black youth who commits suicide and returns to narrate his own story, set in rural North Carolina. Kenan's first novel is tragically and magically real and contributes to the rarity that is southern fiction.
• The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. Striking portrayal of African-American women and the effect of American standards of beauty on their lives as children, mothers, and lovers. Remarkably devastating.
• Beloved by Toni Morrison. Multidimensional narrative about the return of the dead to the land of the living. In this story of fleshy haunts, Morrison attempts to unveil the damaging language of slavery and the responsibility we all have to its living ancestral legacy.
• Platitudes by Trey Ellis. A postmodern pastiche of the desires of one sixteen-year-old youth and his adult counterpart, a struggling author. Hilarious and strange, this novel blurs categories of blackness and whiteness and challenges our conception of what constitutes a "black" text.


Richard A. Goldsby, is the John Woodruff Simpson Lecturer and professor of biology at Amherst College, replies: Lists of book recommendations for incoming African-American freshmen are often too narrow in scope. Why should a young black be told by blacks they regard highly to limit themselves to contemplation of their ethnic navels? Why is there so little recommended that was written prior to last night or yesterday? Why is there generally so little effort made to assure that young African Americans have some sense of who the great black writers of past were? This is bad role modeling and bad intellectual guidance. I offer the following list to broaden the perception of what and who is perceived as important by incoming black freshmen:


• Black Boy by Richard Wright. A powerful classic that reminds us of a time not so long ago when legal access to public facilities was, for blacks, an aspiration yet to become a right. This autobiographical piece, far less widely read now than it deserves to be, provides an example of the work of an American writer of extraordinary power who wrote in a time when a black writer was unlikely to be recognized by the award of Nobel or Pulitzer prizes.
• Simple Speaks His Mind by Langston Hughes. A wry, pungent and often hilarious evocation of the sharp and insightful social commentary that was easy to hear in the neighborhood barbershop - in prior generations, the major men's club of the black community.
• The Double Helix by James D. Watson. Few forces will be as important as the ongoing revolution in genetics in shaping the world and destiny of all incoming freshmen. This irreverent, instructive and still informative memoir by one of molecular biology's "founding fathers" is a must for all who wish to understand the forces that will shape their future.
• Rabbit Is Rich by John Updike. A chance to look into the minds and study the motivations of America's most powerful emerging minority, the prospering white middle class. This is a group that blacks must come to know and understand. No one provides a more deft description than this remarkably gifted writer.
• Eichman in Jerusalem by Hanna Arendt. The holocaust remains the sharpest and most horrible example of what a powerful, determined and bigoted majority can do to a targeted minority. As with slavery, no single work can tell the whole story of the holocaust, but a profound knowledge and understanding of the destruction of European Jewry can come from this book.

"Inside" by Alix Ohlin - a novel

Inside by Alix Ohlin.  The scarred, silent sufferers at the heart of this novel of inter-connected stories don't know a warning sign when they see one: a therapist rescues a man from an attempted suicide only to fall in love with him; a deeply troubled aspiring actress takes in the homeless runaway sleeping on her doorstep; a divorcee starved for connection leaves one hopeless situation for another.

Even knowing these story arcs are unlikely to end happily, you can't help but become invested. Ohlin displays a profound empathy for people at their least rational - and most human.

review by Stephan Lee, 15 June 2012

Fraternity Tip #2

People who say they don't care about being liked are full of it. Everyone wants to be liked. If you want to be the most well-liked brother (or the most popular brother) in your fraternity then follow this rule:

Don't talk bad about a brother - EVER.

If you can follow this rule, then your brothers will hold you in high regard. They will look at you as a man of character who has the integrity not to talk bad about someone behind their back. You will be seen as above the pettiness that grips a lot of chapters. You will seen as a positive leader in your chapter.

More importantly, this is a good trait to carry on through life. There are going to be a lot of people and situations you disagree with. Complaining about it will never get you anywhere. Taking the high road will.

If you doubt me, try it for a week and see if you notice a difference. I am sure you will.

Fraternally,
 Alvin

The Fraternity Advisor tips

Fraternity Tip #27

In both your fraternity life and your real life, you will eventually have to speak in public.  Always, always, always prepare what you are going to say. You don't have to write it out word for word, but you have to avoid winging it.

You may not realize it, but those listening are judging you when you speak. They aren't doing it consciously. Immediately when you start talking they will say to themselves that 'this guy is sharp' or 'this guy's an idiot'.

This is your opportunity to impress. Don't blow it!

Fraternally,
 Alvin

The Fraternity Advisor tips

Recommended Chinese restaurants in LA

Foo Chow, 949 N. Hill Street, Chinatown, 213-485-1294.
CBS Seafood Restaurant, 700 N. Spring Street, Chinatown, 213-617-2323.
Mr. Chow, 344 N. Camden Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-278-9911.
Duck House, 501 S. Atlantic Blvd., Monterey Park, 626-284-3227.
Green Island, 500 N. Atlantic Blvd., Monterey Park, 626-289-7788.
Hsi Lai Temple, 3456 S. Glenmark Dr., Hacienda Heights, 626-961-9697.
Savoy Kitchen, 138 E. Valley Blvd., Alhambra, 626-308-9535.
Shaanxi Gourmet, 8518 E. Valley Blvd., Rosemead, 626-283-5188.
Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant, 3939 N. Rosemead, Rosemead, 626-288-3939.
Hunan Chilli King, 534 E. Valley Blvd., San Gabriel, 626-288-7993.
Happy Kitchen, 301 W. Valley Blvd., San Gabriel, 626-284-2619.

Also should visit:

Roscoe’s House of Chicken ‘N Waffles, 5006 W. Pico Blvd., Mid City, 323-934-4405.

A Teachable Moment

I had the pleasure of spending a few minutes with my fraternity brothers this afternoon.  I found myself in an intense conversation regarding “leadership”.  A comment was made which made me think of my relationship to my brothers: “What have you done to groom, teach, and support new brothers to accept the mantle of leadership?”  This statement caused me to look within myself and tally my accomplishments and achievements over the past few years and conclude that I have not done much in the area of supporting my (younger) brothers as they navigate the waters of leadership.  It is not a simple as voting for a brother and hope that he will do a good job – rather it is a responsibility to support that brother and lend a hand during his term or tenure as a leader.  He may make mistakes or fall short of his goals, but his accomplishments and successes will be harder without the support and guidance of brothers who have already traveled the road that he is on.  Alumni brothers have a fundamental responsibility to train, teach and support our brothers as they step up and into positions of leadership.  I appreciate my brother for using the situation to impart some wisdom – it was a teachable moment.

$$$ Savings: Convert to a BiWeely Mortgage Payment

Total Estimated Savings on the Loan: $19,300 to $42,000

Money expert Farnoosh Torabi says one of the simplest ways to save tens of thousands over the long term is to pay your mortgage every two weeks rather than once a month.  That tiny change reduces the principal faster and adds one extra payment each year, exponentially shaving interest on an average 30-year loan.  Not only are you acting as a smart financial role model, you can reinvest those savings into the health and happiness of your family.

While My Guitar Gently Weeps

I look at you all see the love there that's sleeping
While my guitar gently weeps
I look at the floor and I see it needs sweeping
Still my guitar gently weeps.

I don't know why nobody told you
How to unfold your love
I don't know how someone controlled you
They bought and sold you.

I look at the world and I notice it's turning
While my guitar gently weeps
With every mistake we must surely be learning
Still my guitar gently weeps.

I don't know how you were diverted
You were perverted too
I don't know how you were inverted
No one alerted you.

I look at you all see the love there that's sleeping
While my guitar gently weeps
Look at you all...
Still my guitar gently weeps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDs2Bkq6UU4&feature=related

The Coming Meltdown in College Education

from Mark Cuban, "University Presidents care about nothing but getting their endowments and revenues up. If it means saddling an entire generation with obscene amounts of school debt, they could care less." Here is the link to his blog which I encourage you to read.

http://blogmaverick.com/2012/05/13/the-coming-meltdown-in-college-education-why-the-economy-wont-get-better-any-time-soon/

Not knowing how to swim was not a barrier

Several of this year’s Navy SEALs who participated in the 2012 Combine Competitions did not know how to swim until they joined the Navy.

African-Americans historically do not learn how to swim and have an emotional barrier to learning how to swim. Everyone can be taught how to swim – and a number of this year’s elite Navy SEALs did not know how to swim when they joined the Navy.

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2012/04/navy-special-forces-seals-diversity-043012/

There are no shortcuts to become a Navy SEAL. However, these men had an open mind and learned how to swim and prepared themselves for the next steps. It takes a special dedication to compete in collegiate athletics for four years. These men on this list applied themselves and they excelled to the point where they were invited to participate in the 2012 Regional Combines.

CDR Brent "Noise" Phillips
Navy Recruiting Command
Millington, TN
901-874-9388/9340
cell: 901-288-5269
www.facebook.com/usnavylife
www.twitter.com/americas_navy

How to Handle Adversity with Class

You need to realize that you will have trying moments as a brother in your fraternity. Things won't always go as planned. And I'll tell you something - I hope you have those moments. Now I don't hope you have them because I want you to struggle - just the opposite. How you handle adversity will define you as a leader. Think about it - it is easy to lead when times are good. Anyone can be a leader during those times. The true test though is during those trying times. Those times when the answer isn't easy, and it puts your character to the test. That is why I hope you have those times, because you will grow from those experiences. You will look back and remember the tough calls you made, and be proud that you had the courage and conviction to stand up for what is right. Remember this lesson when your chapter is struggling. This is an opportunity to show outsiders, your brothers, and most importantly yourself what you are capable of. Relish these opportunities and learn as much as you can along the way. These opportunities are what sets us apart from non-Greeks. And these opportunities are what will set you up for a lifetime of success.

Fraternally,
Pat
---
Pat Daley - The Fraternity Advisor

(Small) Challenge to Alumni Chapters

Collegiate chapters that are successful during recruitment make the guys they are rushing believe that they want to belong to this group of brothers. You may not realize it, but your collegiate chapter has an identity and brand. Whenever they step onto the quad or into the student center they extend the collegiate chapter’s brand and identity.

Alumni chapters can help collegiate chapters extend the Fraternity’s brand and identity. How? Very simply by supporting collegiate brothers to wear their colors.

Alumni chapters should spend at least 10 percent of their annual budget on fraternity wear for their collegiate brothers. Specifically, order polo or t-shirts from the Sigma Exchange and gift them to a collegiate chapter. Collegiate brothers will wear our colors and extend the Fraternity’s brand and identity.

To Alumni chapters – this is a small and simple challenge that does require some effort and energy – but it is an easy way for you to support a collegiate chapter and have a positive impact on that collegiate chapter’s campus. Put your alumni chapter Vice-President and Collegiate Advisor in charge of fulfilling this simple and small challenge and help build our Fraternity’s brand and identity.