We're Having a Heat Wave

We're having a heat wave...a tropical heat wave...the temperature's rising....

Western Washington is in the middle of a heat wave with atypical tropic-like humidity. Temperatures today were in the 90s, and tomorrow it is expected to be 101 in the city. So hot, in fact, that the think it will even be over 100 at SeaTac Airport, home of the official temperature, where there's always a prevailing cooling breeze.

This is a first for Seattle, topping 100 degrees. Ever. Never before, at least not in the official records. It will also be the hottest heat wave. The last one, lasting 18 days, had high temperatures ranging between 78 - 85. Tomorrow is going to beat that.

We have air conditioning. When we moved here, "everybody" said, "Oh, we don't need air conditioning, it is never hot long enough." We put it in anyway. And now, it is so hot it can't keep up.

But even though it's struggling, we are still cooler inside than outside...

Soon enough will come another strong marine push, and things will cool off enough to make it comfortable again.

But for now, we are happy we had it installed.

It's too darned hot..it's too darned hot...

Health Care Reform

As the debate rages on about health care reform (which really seems more like insurance reform at this point), I wonder what is taking so long. We have needed this for decades.

Thirty years ago, when I was just starting out in the working world, I had to find a job with insurance benefits because no starting jobs paid enough to cover out-of-pocket health care costs, much less individual health insurance. Not long after that, the Reagan recession hit, and there were hiring and salary (and benefits) freezes, and it was considered insane to leave a job for one without benefits.

By the time the economy recovered, the cost of individual health care had risen to the point where many companies that had offered it were discontinuing the service, passing it on to remaining companies. And then we were saying that costs had to be brought under control, or pretty soon no one would be able to afford it.

So here we are. Health care costs have skyrocketed, health insurance companies control which doctors their insureds see and which procedures they will pay for while making huge profits, and we have a Congress that's wringing its hands, worried about their campaign financing.

The time to reform, including a public option, is now. Not down the road, not when it's politically expedient. There is NO EXCUSE for millions of people unable to get basic medical attention because they are unable to pay for it. There will always be naysayers, people afraid of changing the status quo. But we reach a point where the status quo becomes more dangerous than change. This is one of those points.

So stop yapping about this might happen and that might happen and oh we shouldn't do this and that. Find a way for everyone to have equal access to health care. End of story.

Songs Get Stuck In My Head

I am whistling (and I rarely whistle) "I Enjoy Being A Girl" from Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Flower Drum Song."

I hate that song. Or, rather, I hate the lyrics. I do enjoy the melody (hence my whistling).

The song has been stuck in my head all day. I believe it's because a friend's son is in a summer production of "South Pacific," and my head has been bouncing around all things Rodgers & Hammerstein.

My thoughts are a bit like the Microsoft Bing ads (disclaimer: this is not an endorsement nor commentary on Bing), where one person asks a question and another person sets off in a ramble of websearch-style "related" subjects. Say one thing, and in a space of about a minute I will be talking about a subject that I have related, leaving other people confused, and, at times, a little frightened.

It's especially true with songs. And once my mind settles on a song, it will play over and over in my mind, sometimes for days. I will find myself singing it, humming it, whistling, or analyzing lyrics. This is fine if it's a song I like, but when I find myself doing it with a song I dislike, it drives me batty.

And "I Enjoy Being A Girl" drives me batty: "I'm strictly a female female..." yech. Even though I understand the character, yech.

Years ago, when I was first starting out on my own, I lived in a women's residence in downtown Minneapolis. It had a large, comfortable lounge on the 2nd floor where there was usually a piano along with the stuffed chairs and a good view of the parades from the large plate-glass window. There was also a large, cement-floored basement/rec room, with a ping pong table, vending machines and a console television where the women could also gather.

But one weekend a year, the basement was off limits. The piano was moved by elevator to the basement, the furniture pushed aside, the stairway blocked off to residents, and the producers of the ampitheater musical in Medora, North Dakota, would hold auditions for the summer's production.

And the communal areas of the residence would be filled with the sounds of singing, piano, and dancing. Over and over we would hear "I Enjoy Being The Girl." I got so I knew the first verse intimately. I could have stepped in and auditioned with it, I knoew it so well. (I would never use that song, though; I'd pick something that hadn't been sung fifty times already.)

So now "I Enjoy Being A Girl" reminds me of when I was young and poor, regretting that I couldn't afford to quit my job for the summer and go sing and dance in Medora.

The show still runs. And, I suppose, young women still audition with Rodgers & Hammerstein. Or maybe the old standards sit gathering dust while the new wannabes sing songs from "Hairspray" and "Legally Blonde."

In Mourning for Walter Cronkite

The news of Walter Cronkite's death, if not unexpected, is still a blow. Much more than the untimely deaths of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson, this death deeply grieves me.

From the time I can remember, every evening the voice of Walter Cronkite floated through our living room as my parents watched "The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite." He was the one who described the events following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He was the one who told us about the conflict in Vietnam, and he was the lone voice who opined that the conflict was lost. His was the voice I heard in the late evenings on election nights when I was already in bed and my parents were waiting for election results. For kids, he was the narrator of the "You Were There' series, teaching us about great moments in history. Perhaps most significantly, he was the voice of the space program. So iconic that NASA had him narrate "The Dream Is Alive," their IMAX film about the shuttle program.

When Walter Cronkite spoke, we trusted him. He set the bar high, demanding excellence in broadcasting, integrity in journalism, and insisting on the truth. Edward R. Murrow set that standard before him, but Walter Cronkite figured out how to balance the truth with compelling presentation, to get people to listen and learn. Even in retirement, we listened to, and trusted, Walter Cronkite. If you doubt that, read what other television journalists say in this excellent blog entry in the New York Times.

While Farrah and Michael's deaths have shaken Generation X, forcing them to face the prospect of being adults, Walter Cronkite's death affects us Boomers differently. His does not define the death of our youth, but rather, defines the passing of an era of truth-telling in news. And not the hasty, let me say it first truth, but the kind of truth that can stand up to rigorous challenge, because it was fully investigated.

So tonight I grieve the loss of a symbol of integrity and truth. Rest well, Walter Cronkite. I'm sure that your place in heaven is a favored one.

Sotomayor: Day 2

Day 1 of Judge Sonia Sotomayor's hearing before the Senate Judiciary Hearing was all opening statements, most notable for Al Franken's first committee appearance as a senator.

Today, Day 2, started the first round of questioning. (Round 1 finishes tomorrow.)

If there is any question that Judge Sotomayor is well-suited to the Supreme Court, one only need watch her first day answering questions from the committee. Whether a "friendly" or a "hostile" question, she answered all with gravity, care, and respect. I was especially struck by how respectful she was throughout Sen. Lindsey Graham's frustrated questioning, often interrupting her before she barely began answering as he tried to corner her into saying something imprudent, or to prod her into showing the temper he insisted was pointed out by so many who had been in her courtroom. At one point, she even inadvertently paraphrased Sarah Palin when she explained that she didn't bother to use labels in reference to her judicial philosophy. (Not that I'm comparing her to Sarah Palin! She would leave the almost former governor a babbling mess if they were to ever debate.)

What she displayed was a thorough understanding of how the law functions, and repeatedly demonstrated why she was such an outstanding choice for the Supreme Court. She definately proved that she is smarter than anyone on that committee.

As she patiently and kindly corrected senator after senator about the particulars of cases she has heard, and displayed a thorough understanding of the rulings by the Court, I could imagine her easily holding her own with the other justices, kindly correcting them as to the decisions they referenced if they recalled them incorrectly. She certainly seems like someone who will make sure that the courts under her supervision will be well managed, the unglamorous part of being a Supreme Court justice.

I say hurrah for Sonia Sotomayor! While it is outstanding that she is a woman, and great that she is latina, if she were an old, crusty white guy, she would be the perfect pick. I can't wait to read her opinions when the Court reconvenes in the fall!

My Weakness: Elimination Musical Comedy Casting Reality Shows

Okay, kind of an awkward title.


But tonight as I sat watching the 2006 elimination show, "How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?" with Andrew Lloyd Webber on a throne and a dozen actresses who have long since gone on to other things, and became obsessed with watching the final episodes, I realized: I watch these shows.


Of course I watch "Dancing With The Stars" and "Project Runway" (doesn't everyone?), but I generally avoid the rest of them. But then I got to thinking: I watched "Grease: You're The One That I Want" in the same format as the abovementioned show, when they were casting the latest production of "Grease!" for Broadway. (BTW they ended up with the wrong Danny, and the production itself was really glossy and artificial.)

I watched "Step It Up And Dance." (They got it right that time.)


And then I suffered through the series on MTV that cast the new Elle Woods in "Legally Blonde." (She is no longer in it.) (Oh. They cast the wrong person there, too.)


And I even watched the lame Nick Lachey-hosted (need I say more?) show on which they cast someone to sing the over-the-credits song at the end of "High School Musical 3." Of course, there was Kenny Ortega once or twice, which made it more tolerable. But the judges -- ech!


So I realized -- if someone is casting a musical, I'm there watching, desperately hoping that the judges actually know what they are doing.

So when the next one comes along, and the wrong person inevitably wins, I'll be watching, picking the right one.

the 5th of July

What did you do on the 4th of July?

It's was a beautiful day, if you like hot. The temperature hit 90, warm enough to heat up the ice-cold mountain water in the wading pool.

The dog had a half an hour in the wading pool, with water up to his chest. He found out that when he walked across the pool he would get a treat. He ate a lot of treats yesterday.

Under the "My Husband Can Do Anything" category, mine worked on building the garden shed. The kit comes with cedar shingles in strips, which makes shingling infinitely faster. It looks charming nestled in the woods. His dad, who was a master carpenter, would be proud of him.

A lot of time has been spent playing the "Ghostbusters" game for Wii, and using WiiFit.

Last evening we watched "1776" on TCM, even though we have it on DVD. But DVD doesn't have Robert Osbourne. Watching it reminds us that, in politics, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

In explicably the headline all day on Huffington Post was Sarah Palin's resignation announcement. Wouldn't she be the headliner on FOX News instead?

My favorite quote of the day was a tweet from Robb Corddry: "I'm working today. Guess who else worked on the 4th of July? The Founding Fathers!"

Meanwhile, the White House held a picnic for members of the military and their family that finished with the fireworks over The Mall, and all of it was livestreamed on the White House website.

On the 4th we celebrate our independence, and remind ourselves of what a miracle our free society is. Then on the 5th we go back to living our lives, thankfully without the pop, boom and crack of fireworks. But there lingers a spirit of cameraderie, as people rememisce about how they spent their day.

Happy 5th of July, everybody.

TMI

So Mark Sanford has been going on and on about his relationship with his South American mistress.

It was bad enough that he decided he had to say that it was not just sex, but love, as if that's going to justify it. ("Oh, well, if he loves her, then heck. What does his wife have to be upset about?" Oh, wait. What were those marriage vows again?)

But then he has to go on and on and on and on about it. It's as if once the bottle was uncorked the flow just won't stop.

Does he really think we want to know about it? He can talk all he wants, but the fact remains that he broke one of the Ten Commandments, plus did something that pretty much everyone outside of the Playboy Mansion (and maybe inside) thinks is morally wrong.

And now he won't shut up about it! Won't someone please put a cork in him?