The Oppenheimer Report 9/15/14

Friend and fellow songwriter Douglas McLean performing at Muskoka Sound

Last weekend marked the first  Muskoka Sound music festival in Huntsville, and there were about thirty acts that played from Friday through Sunday, including the local musicians who played on the second “home grown” stage. Shauna was not able to join me, much as she wanted to, because she could not have enjoyed this outdoor event in such inclement weather. It was very cold and rainy, and there was even a frost warning Saturday night. The festival grounds were a muddy mess and people were trudging through the muck with great difficulty, many of them wearing the wrong footwear. At one point our family doctor walked by, and as she waved to me, one of her boots got stuck in the mud and came off her foot. The suction of the mud was not allowing her to hop and she planted her stocking foot deep into the bog. Regardless of Mother Nature’s lack of cooperation, attendance was good, and I very much enjoyed hearing most of the artists.  

I do not usually consult the internet for my inspiration, but I watched a short video on Facebook the other day, which Shauna brought to my attention, and the title captured my interest: “Why I Think the World Should End”. I liked it enough to share it on my Facebook timeline. It is not, as the title would suggest, a negative message at all, and the poetic language in it really moved me. It covers a lot of ground and it struck a nerve. Perhaps because it feels as if winter has arrived early, and I am a little gloomy while writing this week’s installment, that video really expressed what I have been feeling. With all the bad news stories spewing out of my TV set, sometimes it seems as if the sky is falling, and I lose my perspective. Last week, amidst the usual headliners (Syrian conflict, Isis, threat, Ukrainian struggle; who knew what, when, and who covered it up … the usual), there was yet another story of celebrity misbehavior which saddened me. NFL football player, Ray Rice was fired from the Baltimore Ravens after a video surfaced of him punching and knocking out his then girlfriend (now his wife), in the elevator of an Atlantic City casino. The incident was caught on security videos which somehow found its way into the hands of scandal-obsessed TMZ. This is the “news” organization also responsible for outing former Clippers owner Donald Sterling, when he uttered racist remarks to a young girlfriend. As disturbing as is Rice’s deplorable act of domestic violence, the bigger question is, why didn’t the NFL do anything about it until it was revealed by TMZ? Apparently this incident was made known to the NFL long before the video became public. I suspect the answer is pretty clear: what (we think) they don’t know won’t hurt them. Ugh. What amazed me were the commentators who condemned the media for jumping all over this story. The guy punches his woman unconscious, in a public place, then drags her limp body out of an elevator in front of more security cameras. Domestic violence is not defensible in any way shape or form, regardless of circumstances. One can debate the subject of how this information became public but hello, it happened in public,  and it is contemptible behavior in any modern society.

Last Thursday night, I was working with some lyrics on the computer, and it was not until I went to save the file, which I usually date, that I noticed it was the anniversary of 9-11. I paused for just a moment to remind myself that this horrible event happened thirteen years ago, and I still clearly remember the day. My generation’s Day of Infamy. Shauna and I were in our high rise apartment in Toronto when the news came out, and I remember the palpable feeling that the Free World was under attack. Now, not a day goes by when I do not feel that intangible threat looming.  I cannot seem to escape the omnipresent news stories that remind me.

 

Lies on the telly, lies in the paper, dirty little lies we believe

Everyone’s selling scandal and fame like they’re red hot commodities

Talking heads, to the walking dead, beamed off the Uranus feed

Preaching to the choir, stoking the fire, giving us all what we need  

 

excerpt from  “A Dishonest Man”

Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c2014 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED