“Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie...”

Today is the anniversary of when the music died. More than just a President died on this day, at this hour, fifty years ago.

President John F. Kennedy for many was special — an icon, an idol, seemingly worshiped like a god in published and broadcast media — even before he seemingly single-handedly averted nuclear destruction of living beings from this earth by successfully negotiating with Russia the removal of missiles from Cuba. He was portrayed in photos and written accounts as a loving father and as an engaging conversationalist with an easygoing personality.

This President’s death seemed to unleash an obsession for subculture exploration — a probing, searching, investigative, serious inquiry into the life behind a veneer — not just of a President, but of our very existence. We changed — big time.

John Kennedy’s secrets were laid bare to the public. Few knew of the serious pain that he experienced most days of his life, a result of the injuries he sustained when the patrol boat he commanded sank in World War II. We all came to know that he cheated on his wife. And some still debate the connections he might have had with organized-crime leaders.

His death ripped off the superficial cover that was what we still call “The American Dream”.

“Quest for Truth” was not a priority in American culture before November 22, 1963. It became so in the years after his death. Further on and to the present day, this probe has not always been good. Too often this quest has been twisted, morphed, and spun into a convoluted, exorbitant race for many to show proof that they showed the true path to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”.

But this quest also opened the world’s eyes to see the richness that lay beneath the superficial cover that existed before a beloved President’s death. Today, the wonderful mix that is American culture is well-established, and we are more aware and careful of how all of us humans relate to each other and to the globe on which we live. We are more wholesome souls, even though it took the death of one man to give us a better vision and more motivation to search for wholesomeness.

Of course, we could look at the death of one and ask why the deaths of many does not result in similar reactions. Yet events like the Holocaust of World War II didn’t have the intense focus that four days of non-stop broadcast of the mourning of a President’s death had. We don’t have a bugler’s emotional, quivering sound at a graveside to tug our heartstrings, even to this day, and spawn remembrances of fifty years ago — and also spawn analysis anew of what it meant and means to have something special wrenched from our grasp.

More than President Kennedy’s death is being considered today. We consider yet again who we are as humans, what we are doing to our existence, and why we haven’t yet learned how to live together in peace, relating in love to each other without hate or malice or prejudice.

The music isn’t dead. I know it isn’t; it lies there — new tunes of love and cooperation and inclusiveness and joy and, most importantly, hope. And I know that John F. Kennedy hears the music of a greater existence that we all will experience after this life. Knowing that is reason enough and motivation enough to keep searching for the notes and melodies that leave us with a renewed, rebuilt, restored world.

Thank you, Mr. President, for your service and your legacy.

(November 22, 2013 at 2:15pm EST)

The debt-limit crisis has come to this...

The President needs to go before the Supreme Court if the House of Representatives does not approve debt-limit-raising legislation approved by the Senate this week.

A petition would be presented by the President asking the Court: 1.) to declare the House dysfunctional and obstructive in a Declaration of Fact, 2.) order the House dissolved and special elections held within three months, 3.) give the Senate temporary (emergency) powers to initiate budget legislation and be the sole representative of the People until such time as the House can reconstitute itself through the aforementioned elections, and 4.) forbid any incumbent from running in these special elections.

In Amendment 10, the constitution allows that there are rights not enumerated in the other nine amendments that comprise the rest of the Bill of Rights — in this case, the right to have a functional government. Although seldom cited, between that amendment and the "Commerce clause", and maybe other sections of the Constitution, we can get a House that might actually do what they are elected to do — debate, compromise, and legislate.

Senate Republicans are giving the House too much power in negotiations, but at least everyone is talking... AND there have been versions of both funding and debt-limit-raising legislation which were sent to the House and ignored. Get rid of the House for a few months; replace everyone; after that, comes November 2014, when the Republican idiot fools in the House may very well receive their due.

Yes — it has come to this.  Another constitutional crisis, brought to you by the selfish, self-centered, self-absorbed members of the House that comprise the "Tea Party" branch of the Republican party, a dark comedic tragedy choreographed by Speaker John Boener. To these people, no one else matters.

Throw the bums out!

The month of June began with a splash — literally. A tropical storm washed out our planned event, June Jazz Café. We rescheduled the event for this week, and I look forward to seeing readers of this blog at the event.  (We don't plan on rescheduling it again [!!], so this is your last chance to catch fine jazz and food at St. Mary's until next June.)

Jazz Café at St. Mary’s Church, located at Classon and Willoughby Avenues in the Clinton Hill neighborhood, is proud to host one of Brooklyn’s own: the acclaimed Jeff Newell Quartet on Friday evening, October 4.

A variety of food dishes, prepared by St. Mary’s parishioners, will be served beginning at 7:30 p.m. The Quartet performs two sets of their unique mix of jazz styles that night, starting at 8:30 p.m., with dessert served between sets.

Tickets are $25, available in advance, or can be purchased at the door. Feel free to phone St. Mary’s at (718) 638–2090, Fr. Jerry Keucher at (347) 713–2218, or send an email to me or to music.stmarysclintonhill@verizon.net to find out more about this annual jazz event.

This event is made possible with public funds from the Decentralization Program of the New York State Council on the Arts, administered in Kings County by Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC).

A Plan for Syria

The situation in Syria presents many difficulties. How do we deal with this civil war? Should we bomb or send aid? How do we keep from getting entangled in the fighting?

Well, I had an idea and wanted to flesh it out. In the process, I came to the conclusion that I cannot support military action. Instead, I came up with a different plan.

I sent this to my U.S. senators and representative. I sent a shorter version to the White House. Making my ideas known to our nation's leaders could help them temper their actions so that the citizens of Syria can be better enabled to reform, rebuild, restructure, and renew their government in a more rational manner than war affords.

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A “carrot only” approach to dealing with the Syrian civil war is the best approach toward the final goal of ending Syria’s civil war. “Carrot only” may not be the best descriptive phrase for a policy, but it will do for the purposes of explaining my concept. This proposal features incentives for those who would build-up and rebuild and disincentives for those who destroy and deter. It is much more comprehensive and farsighted than a “stick” plan — specifically, the limited 60- to 90-day intervention being considered by Congress.

Bashar al-Assad use of chemical weapons is horrific and also illegal by any international standard. However, trying to destroy these weapons or their delivery systems will not result in a positive outcome. In order to completely destroy the actual chemical within these weapons sufficient heat needs to be present. The only device sufficient to provide this heat is a small nuclear weapon; the U.S., indeed most countries, would not approve. Using other conventional devices presents a high chance of producing a cloud of toxic gas, which will indiscriminately injure and kill within the area downwind of the explosion. Since some chemical weapons will remain intact, the Syrian government will find a way to deploy them regardless of the state of their delivery systems, so destroying equipment (“capability”) will not work.

Justification for military action by using the “punishment” argument is at best a self-serving, emotional response and is equally ineffective. Only non-combatants will suffer. Syria’s leaders will only make sure that “collateral” damage is maximized. Not only will the innocent suffer, but infrastructure ruin — possibly greater than is already occurring — will result in the need for more copious funding after the war for rebuilding.

A strong argument against military action by the U.S. and its coalition is made in the Wonkblog of The Washington Post (written by Ezra Klein, published on August 31). The author cites research supporting his argument that intervening militarily results in a significant increase in civilian (non-combatant) deaths. The “stick” of retributive military action is not the way to reply to the horrific acts of the al-Assad regime and to help bring an effective end to the civil war.

The greatest resource in waging war is people — not (among other resources) weapons, infrastructure, ancillary equipment, or food. The best way to end war is to starve it of its most important element, whether it be fighters, support personnel, or human shields. Therefore, I propose that we depopulate Syria.

How do we do this? Already, over three million people have left Syria as a result of the war; many of them are now part of a ring of refugees in surrounding countries. Most do not have a desire to be soldiers in this conflict. These refugees form the foundation for creating a new Syria after the war ends — but only if we treat them with care and respect to mitigate adding more combatants to the mix.

These refugees need money, sufficient housing, water, food and, as important, jobs. These refugees need positive motivation and support to keep them from reentering Syria as combatants. Currently, as reported by the BBC in an interview a few days ago with a U.N. refugee-aid official, only forty percent of money pledged as refugee aid has materialized. Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, and even Iran are bearing a heavy burden and are unable to properly care for the needs listed above.

Rather than spending money on a fruitless act of war, the U.S. and the world community should spend that money to encourage the population of Syria to leave the country. It should spend the money on housing, short-term food and monetary aid, and a more long-term project to find temporary jobs for these refugees — whether those jobs be in the surrounding countries or elsewhere in the world — in part by using the U.N. develop funds and NGOs. The world community may have to spend a good deal of cash to make this happen, but I believe that the amount spent will be less than that spent on military action. And I believe that the more prosperous Arab countries (and maybe even Russia and China) would welcome this and provide concrete support, both with personnel and with funds.

As proposed in an amendment to the Senate authorization bill, a long-term plan for reconstruction, rehabilitation, and the rebuilding of Syria is essential to the success of any action by the U.S., the U.N., or for that matter any country. A depopulation/repopulation plan for Syrian, by nature, includes this type of planning.

Depopulating Syria quickly, by providing strong incentives for non-combatants to leave and then caring for them in a humane and respectful manner, could very well end the war more quickly than intervening with military force. A country with a population of only warring groups can be declared a “failed state.” One can look at some of the more recent changes in Somalia — establishment of relatively peaceful city-based, self-governing territories, organizing refugees into groups that have started to resettle in areas of the country — for possible positive examples of a depopulated country that has started to rebuild itself. We need to empower the ordinary people of Syria who are not warriors.

Please vote to spend our money on the Syrian citizens who matter, on rehabilitating the country, and restoring the people of Syria to their communities, accompanied by a well-funded plan to rebuild the country. Vote for the people and against war. It’s the right thing to do.

June Jazz Café — Postponed until later this year.

Unfortunately, June Jazz Café is postponed due to the stormy weather.  Please stay tuned — we hope to reschedule this jazz and food event for early this fall.

Join us on Friday June 7 to hear the acclaimed Jeff Newell Quartet, accompanied by a feast of delights prepared by (mostly) St. Mary's parishioners.

For directions to St. Mary's, click here and click on "Contact Us" for a map.

We hope to see you on June 7!

A tour of the 20th Century American Musical

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A Potpourri of Song℠ is pleased to present the fourth concert of this year's series at St. Mary's Church, Clinton Hill:  Broadway on Willoughby!  "Fables and Fairytales.  Attached are the flyer and a press release with details of the concert.

Gregg and Paula and I have put together a wonderful review of music and scenes from 20th Century American musical theatre.  Along with talented singers from St. Mary's and the Willoughby Theatre Chorus, we present this entertaining one-hour program program on Saturday, May 11 at 6:00pm.

Please join us.  See you at Willoughby and Classon on May 11!

Dueling Divas to perform in Brooklyn!

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My concert series, A Potpourri of Song℠, has a new production in Brooklyn in March:   Dueling Divas, Two Women in Conflict and Cooperation.  St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, at Classon and Willoughby Avenues in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn, hosts this concert on Sunday, March 10 at 5:00 p.m.  Mezzo-soprano Esther Hickman, soprano Cynthia Simeone, myself as pianist, composer Douglas Anderson, and librettist Andrew Joffe collaborate to present this program.  The concert features the world premiere of Cassandra Songs, by Dr. Anderson and Mr. Joffe, three duets from operas and shows by Mozart, Delibes and Bernstein, and a comic duet by Rossini — for two cats!

A reception, full of food and drink, will follow so that all can greet the artists and each other.  Tickets are available in advance or at the door for a donation of $15.  For more information and tickets, call the church at (718) 638–2090, call me at (917) 502–5761, or send an email to office.stmarysclintonhill@verizon.net . 

This is a special production for me and my colleagues, especially since it includes the first performance of Cassandra Songs.  Also, the five of us have a rich history of working together — composing, acting, performing, accompanying, singing — in many productions at a long list of venues.  We continue to cooperate and collaborate together throughout the New York Metropolitan area, and it is a great joy for me to have organized this concert with these, my friends and dear colleagues.

St. Mary's was fortunate to have received a grant from the Brooklyn Arts Council for two other performances this calendar year — An Inauguration Community Celebration, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in January, and June Jazz to occur the first Friday of... well... June!  St. Mary's is positioning itself to serve as a center for performing arts in the future, and A Potpourri of Song℠ is part of the mix.

I sincerely hope that you and your friends may attend this performance.  Many thanks for your consideration and for spreading the word.  Hope to see you there!