All the stuff I can pack into a single post — and weekend *UPDATED*
Every year, there’s that one December weekend when every event converges. This past weekend, which really ended only yesterday, was that weekend. Friday we went to the Cirque du Soliel. I’ve seen every show since the Cirque burst onto the national scene in the mid-1980s. This show was exquisitely beautiful, with some of the most charming and amazing costumes I’ve ever seen. The music was often very good. The acts, however, weren’t consistent. The comedy act was dreadful, some of the acts were ordinary, some were really good, and some superb. In other words, although I enjoyed myself a great deal, it wasn’t up to the Cirque‘s usual standards. I still recommend seeing it, though since the really good and the superb acts alone were worth the price of admission.
Saturday was another busy day, partly because of the planned activities, partly because of the weather and partly because of my own inefficiencies. My son’s choral group was having its big performance Saturday, so I had to get him to the City by 11 for call time. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem. What made it challenging was that I had to gather my kids from their respective slumber parties, pack for a weekend away (more on that later), rendezvous with a carpool, and then drive through a heavy downfall. I actually managed to get all that done, only to discover when I arrived in the City that I’d left our tickets at home. So, instead of a leisurely time in the City, we turned right around, drove back home (same downpour), picked up the tickets, drove back into the City (same downpour), and went to pick up a friend who’d taken the train into the City to see the concert with us. Despite having given myself 50 minutes for the 30 minute ride to the train station, I was still late: the rain, the traffic, and the insane San Francisco “traffic flow” rules meant that it took over an hour to get to the train. Then, of course, the 15 minute ride to the concert hall took another 30 minutes, and that didn’t even include the hunt for parking. San Francisco is a challenging city.
Ultimately, all of the hassles were worth it, because the concert was just lovely. I’m a sucker for youth choral groups (I love the sound), and I’m a sucker for Christmas music. Put the two together, and what could be better? The only problem, really, was the Benjamin Britten collection of Christmas carols, which was drab and atonal. I wasn’t surprised, although I know the two aren’t connected, to discover from the program that Britten was a total Leftie politically. (As an aside, it turns out that my daughter’s choral group is going to be performing precisely the same Britten piece at its holiday concert. Aagh!)
From the concert, we headed out of town for a social/business dinner. (That is, the dinner was social, but we knew the people through business.) Stopping only long enough to drop the kids off at a friend who was kind enough to babysit, my husband and I drove further into the rain to go to a two star Michelin restaurant. I’ve never been at a restaurant of this caliber, and have to say that it was impressive. The food wasn’t to my taste (I have simple tastes), but the service was extraordinary. Every dish was presented simultaneously, with a server behind each diner whispering what the dish was. These whispers were necessary, since the restaurant sure didn’t rush its customers. By the time my third dish came, 2.5 hours after ordering, I’d completely forgotten what I’d ordered. I wouldn’t eat at this restaurant again, since both the price and the food weren’t my thing, but I’m glad I had the experience. Add to that the fact that our dinner companions were delightful, and it was certainly an evening for the memory books.
The very next day, I got up at 6, collected the kids from our friend, and drove to Oakland, where my son was performing with his choral group again. Unfortunately (a) it was raining and (b) they were performing outdoors. The kids performed valiantly, but everyone was cold, wet and tired when it ended. The only antidote — at least as far as my kids were concerned — was a shopping trip. So we descended into my idea of hell: the Nordstrom Rack, on a sales day, two weeks before Christmas, with two tired, excited children. We survived the experience, though, and the kids left the store satisfied that they had gotten the best clothes possible, clothes that would satisfy not only their basic requirement for protection from the elements, but also their need to fit in socially. Yay.
Next stop, not home, but a party. This was an excellent party, hosted by a couple in my book club. I’ve never belonged to a book club before, but this one is special: we’re all political conservatives, so we don’t read mushy, Oprah-esque books. It’s also special because the people in the book club are wonderful: smart, informed, verbal, charming. No surprise, then, that this couple would host a good holiday event.
At the party, I met one man there who especially delighted me. Like me, he is an ex-liberal who woke up after 9/11 to realize that the answer to America’s ills does not lie with either liberalism nor the Democratic party. It helps that, like me, he’s fiercely pro-Israel (and, unlike me, he’s actually a religious Jew). He’s incredibly courageous. Although he didn’t boast about it, another guest told me that this man attended an anti-War rally, set up a table and, all by his lonesome, handed out leaflets explaining why the war was a good thing. Considering how violent the peaceniks are, this was brave almost to the point of insanity. Oh, and did I mention that he’s gay? He and his partner (also conservative) were there with their darling baby. In other words, this is a man who is able to pit his innate principles against every group with which he’s associates: Jews, the liberal world of the Bay Area, and gays. As to each, he recognizes his place within the group, but doesn’t allow them to set his moral compass. I like that in a person.
And then, finally, the weekend ended yesterday when I skipped ahead two belts in martial arts. I didn’t skip because I’m so wonderful. I skipped because they forgot to give me a belt a few months ago when I earned it. Yesterday, I simply leapfrogged into my rightful belt status. Considering how hard I work at martial arts, and how much pleasure it gives me, you can imagine how happy I am.
And all of the above is why I haven’t been blogging. (That, and paid work, of course.) As I get back to speed, here are some things to chew on:
John Hawkins, at Right Wing News, got word from a well-placed source that the Senate won’t be able to pull off ObamaCare before the new year. Considering that the bill is grossly expensive, that it will decimate the middle class, that it provides an economic disincentive to marriage, that it will further bankrupt Medicare (and that’s despite Reid’s yanking the bizarre buy-in plan he floated), and that it will inevitably result in government rationing, one hopes he is correct. I get nervous, though, when Lieberman, who’s been the only rock on this, starts waffling. If the rock moves, the slender reeds left behind will be of no use whatsoever. Considering the public’s well-thought out disgust with ObamaCare, I have to admit to my own disgust with nanny state politicians who are so certain that they know what’s right that they are willing to ignore the people’s will entirely. I like Jennifer Rubin’s take on the whole thing, which is that the Democrats are suffering from a mass delusion.
Is anyone surprised lately when Al Gore is wrong again? He’s wrong so often. On the Wednesday show before Thanksgiving, Rush aired a recording of a 1992 TV talk show (maybe Ted Koppel’s?) on which he and Al Gore were guests. Already then Gore was bloviating about the world coming to a boiling hot end. I didn’t realize his hysteria started so early in time. So did the lies. When Rush said that scientists did not all agree with this global warming theory, Gore said, “That’s a lie.” Well, of course, the only lie was Gore’s, since there have always been scientists who disagree with the human induced global warming theory. It’s just that, until ClimateGate, no one but Gore and a few others fully understood how the scientific establishment, in precisely the same way as the Inquistitorial Church in the Middle Ages, was systematically and brutally stifling all dissent. Rush also predicted on that same 1992 show that the whole thing was meant to fund Third World nations, decrease U.S. power, and make a lot of people rich. Smart man that Rush. Dumb man that Gore.
Speaking of Al Gore and that 1992 date, am I imagining it or was Gore pretty damn silent, or at least ineffective, about global warming when he spent 8 years as second man in the White House? The moment he got actual power, or close to actual power, it ceased to be a pressing issue so far as I know. I mean, I wasn’t as politically aware now as I was then, but I still paid attention. It was only when Gore was a politician-in-exile that he suddenly got hysterical again.
Okay, no links here, just a question: Do any of you think that it makes sense for the Obama team to remove the radical Islamic Gitmo detainees from the indubitable comfort and control of the Gitmo facility, and place them in an ordinary Chicago prison, where their creature comforts will be substantially diminished, where they’ll have access to the full panoply of civil rights granted to the American prison population, and where they’ll have the opportunity to indoctrinate and radicalize fellow prisoners? As to the last, let me remind you (again) what my cousin, the prison chaplain, had to say:
It is not a contradiction to be a Muslim and a murderer, even a mass murderer. That is one reason why criminals “convert” to Islam in prison. They don’t convert at all; they similarly remain the angry judgmental vicious beings they always have been. They simply add “religious” diatribes to their personal invective. Islam does not inspire a crisis of conscience, just inspirations to outrage.
In other words, the very nature of a prison population makes it a perfect breeding ground for the spread of radical Islam.
More to follow. Check in later.
UPDATE: Interesting article in the WSJ about the problems the big New York firms are having with recruitment, and that’s despite sweetening the pot to an incredible extent. What’s really amazing is that law school grads have figured out without even going to the big firms how dreadful it is to work for them. Sure, the pay is sweet, but the stress and boredom are astronomical. Big firms also aren’t the stable work places they used to be. Both the big firms I worked at after law school have vanished from the face of the earth, as have the big firms I clerked at while in law school. They survived for 50, 70 or 100 years, but they all vanished in the late 90s and early 21st century. That’s also a hint that the whole big firm paradigm may be over.
I was speaking with a liberal this weekend who was bemoaning the costs that pension plans put on Cities. I suggested that there might be a problem with unions. “Oh, no,” he said. “Employees are being abused by giant corporations.” Nevertheless, having made this blanket liberal statement, he agreed that SEIU is a completely corrupt outlet and that government unions are a terrible drain on the economy. When he made that last statement, he hadn’t even read this, as yet unpublished, article:
San Francisco voters may soon have the opportunity to decide major changes to the city’s pension and retiree health care systems – both of which have seen their costs skyrocket as the city grapples with consecutive years of major budget deficits.
Supervisor Sean Elsbernd, with support from Mayor Gavin Newsom, will introduce a charter amendment at today’s Board of Supervisors meeting that would drastically reshape the city’s pension system.
Ten years ago, the city paid $383.7 million to health insurance for active and retired workers, retirement contributions and Social Security. This year’s tab is $890 million, a 132 percent increase. In fiscal year 2013-14, the projected amount is $1.4 billion.
Read the rest here.
