There was a big debate last week over the “rules” governing art, because someone in their infinite wisdom decided it was time to sanitize several of Mark Twain’s works in order not to offend young children. Rewriting Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer to eliminate the “n” word might be politically correct, but it is also absurd. Of 495 people polled in the Washington Post survey, an overwhelming 98 per cent (including me) did not think the work should be rewritten to be less offensive. As one reader suggested, and I agree, HISTORY is offensive, and we don’t learn to be better people by ignoring the things man has done wrong. This baby-on-board-protect-us-from-everything mentality really riles me. By the way, substituting the word “slave” for the other word might be equally offensive to some. The issue seems to be whether or not it is correct to make an impressionable young student read the work with so many references to that offensive word, and that is a different subject. But don’t rewrite the book!
Here’s a new way man can screw up his environment. Thousands of red winged blackbirds were discovered dead in Arkansas, and it has been suggested that the deaths might have been caused by a New Years Eve fireworks display. I guess it happened a few places around the world. Oops. I had a spooky moment in Buffalo a few weeks ago. As I walked back to the garage to get my car, I noticed many hundreds of blackbirds, mostly crows I think, perched in the trees around our house. I’ve never seen that many birds in one place before, and it reminded me of that creepy Hitchcock movie “The Birds”. I recently saw part of that movie again and, as scary as it was the first time around, the special effects from 1963 look pretty silly by today’s standards. I don’t know what kind of hairspray Tippy Hedren used, but it certainly was bird proof. Maybe those crows in Buffalo were upset about the loss of their relatives in Arkansas, kind of a million bird march. Maybe they just don’t like Mark Twain.
And elsewhere in the news this week …
If you were planning on visiting Rockhampton, Australia in the northeastern section of the continent, you might want to wait until the flood waters subside. Heavy rains have caused flood-swollen rivers in that region to rise as much as thirty feet above their normal levels, and huge parts of Queensland are underwater at present. Canada is in mourning after the Canadian Junior Men’s Hockey team completely choked in Buffalo during the gold medal round with Russia. I watched the game and my jaw hit the floor. After dominating the game in the first two periods, and commanding a three goal lead, the Canadians completely choked in the third period and lost the game 5-3. To their credit, the Russian team pulled off a stunning comeback, as they had in several of their previous games, and they absolutely deserved to win. It's not as if I’ve never seen a hockey team choke before; after all, I AM a Leafs and a Sabres fan. Still, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen an all-Canadian hockey team fall apart so completely, during a playoff game, and in front of an arena packed with Canadian fans. Once again, I think a lot of people around the world are chuckling, because Canadians so publicly pride themselves on being the best hockey players in the world. Michael Jackson’s rent-a-doctor, Dr. Conrad Murray, is presently on trial for his alleged mishandling of his high profile patient. The guy was earning $150,000 per month apparently to be Jackson’s personal drug dealer. Prosecutors claim that, when Murray discovered the unconscious Jackson, his actions were suspicious. He waited a rather long time before he called 911, and he scrambled to hide some of Jackson’s prescription medications. Nobody really knows if Jackson could have been saved, but it sure looks like his doctor(s) dropped the ball. There will likely be much debate over whether or not Murray was wrong to have administered the powerful anesthesia Propofol to Jackson. One of the paramedics called to the scene that day (June 25, 2009) testified that when he first saw Jackson’s lifeless, emaciated body, he thought he was dealing with a hospice patient. I’ve never been a huge Jackson fan, but I recently saw “This is It”, the movie which recorded those last rehearsals for the ill-fated world tour. I was amazed by how talented Jackson still was, even near the end. I can’t imagine how much better he must have been in his “Thriller” days. Chalk up another victim to the demon showbiz.
Final note. Yesterday I took my recently-turned-86 mother-in-law out on the ATV for a blast around snowy Katrine and she loved it. She’s an inspiration to those fifty-somethings (like me) among us who are beginning to complain about slowing down. I hope I’m as good a sport when and if I reach my eighties!
Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c2011 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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